Haste and Waste; Or, the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain. a Story for Young People
Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897
English
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HASTE AND WASTE
OR
THE YOUNG PILOT OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN
A STORY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
BY
OLIVER OPTIC
BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
William Taylor Adams, American author, better known and loved by
boys and girls through his pseudonym "Oliver Optic," was born July
30, 1822, in the town of Medway, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, about
twenty-five miles from Boston. For twenty years he was a teacher in
the Public Schools of Boston, where he came in close contact with boy
life. These twenty years taught him how to reach the boy's heart and
interest as the popularity of his books attest.
His story writing began in 1850 when he was twenty-eight years old
and his first book was published in 1853. He also edited "The Oliver
Optic Magazine," "The Student and Schoolmate," "Our Little Ones."
Mr. Adams died at the age of seventy-five years, in Boston, March
27, 1897.
He was a prolific writer and his stories are most attractive and
unobjectionable. Most of his books were published in series. Probably
the most famous of these is "The Boat Club Series" which comprises
the following titles:
"The Boat Club," "All Aboard," "Now or Never," "Try Again," "Poor
and Proud," "Little by Little." All of these titles will be found in
this edition.
Other well-known series are his "Soldier Boy Series," "Sailor Boy
Series," "Woodville Stories." The "Woodville Stories" will also be
found in this edition.
CHAPTER I
THE SQUALL ON THE LAKE
"Stand by, Captain John!" shouted Lawry Wilford, a stout boy of
fourteen, as he stood at the helm of a sloop, which was going before
the wind up Lake Champlain.
"What's the matter, Lawry?" demanded the captain.
"We're going to have a squall," continued the young pilot, as he
glanced at the tall peaks of the Adirondacks.
There was a squall in those clouds, in the judgment of Lawry
Wilford; but having duly notified the captain of the impending danger
to his craft, he did not assume any further responsibility in the
management of the sloop. It was very quiet on the lake; the water was
smooth, and the tiny waves sparkled in the bright sunshine. There was
no roll of distant thunder to admonish the voyagers, and the youth at
the helm was so much accustomed to squalls and tempests, which are of
frequent occurrence on the lake, that they had no terrors to him. It
was dinner-time, and the young pilot, fearful that the unexpected
guest might reduce the rations to a low ebb for the second table, was
more concerned about this matter than about the squall.
Captain John, as he was familiarly called on board the
_Missisque,_ which was the name of the sloop, was not a man to
be cheated out of any portion of his dinner by the approach of a
squall; and though his jaws may have moved more rapidly after the
announcement of the young pilot, he did not neglect even the green-apple
pies, the first of the season, prepared with care and skill by
Mrs. Captain John, who resided on board, and did "doctor's" duty at
the galley. Captain John did not abate a single mouthful of the meal,
though he knew how rapidly the mountain showers and squalls travel
over the lake. The sloop did not usually make more than four or five
miles an hour, being deeply laden with lumber, which was piled up so
high on the deck that the mainsail had to be reefed, to make room for
it.
The passenger, Mr. Randall, was a director of a country bank,
journeying to Shoreham, about twenty miles above the point where he
had embarked in the _Missisque_. He had crossed the lake in the
ferry, intending to take the steamer at Westport for his destination.
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