CHAPTER III.

MR. NICHOLAS VAN WOLTER.

Mr. Nick Van Wolter, a young gentleman of eighteen, and the oldest son of the mate of the Ucayga, was dressing himself with extraordinary care on the morning preceding the incidents of the last chapter. He was very little like his father, who was a plain, honest, straightforward man, and very much like his mother, who was a vain, aspiring, ambitious woman. The mate was willing to do his duty faithfully and patiently, and let the future take care of itself, though he was not without a reasonable ambition to distinguish himself, and make his fortune. His wife thought the world, and particularly Colonel Wimpleton, had wronged and defrauded her husband out of money and position. She had high hopes of Nick, for he was of an aspiring nature, and did not believe that he had yet found his true sphere.

Nick had brushed his hair with remarkable precision; he had carefully laid each individual hair of his downy mustache; and he was now engaged in the difficult and trying operation of tying his cravat. He had donned his Sunday clothes, though it was Monday, and though he was going in the Raven, which was the name of Waddie Wimpleton’s new sail-boat. The fact that Miss Minnie Wimpleton was to be one of the party may explain the reason of all the extra pains the young man bestowed upon himself. Miss Wimpleton was certainly a very beautiful girl, though this need not have made any difference with Nick, who had only been invited to help work the Raven, for Waddie had a lame arm, wrenched at the shoulder in playing base ball.

It would be difficult to describe the precise social or business position of Nick Van Wolter. He had worked on the steamer as a deck hand, and as a waiter in the cabin; but he had become disgusted with both of these places. They were beneath his dignity, and below his sphere. He had obtained a place in a store in Centreport, where his father’s family resided; but sweeping out, working in the cellars, and carrying bundles were so far beneath his aspirations that he had also abandoned the store. He now appeared to be “waiting for something to turn up.” He wanted to be the clerk of the Ucayga, as a stepping-stone to a higher place; but the present incumbent obstinately persisted in retaining the situation. He was devoted, mind, heart, and soul, to Waddie Wimpleton, through whom he expected finally to accomplish his purpose. He was willing to “toady” to the great man’s son, to bow down before him, and cling to the skirts of his garments. When Waddie, therefore, in his partially disabled condition, needed assistance in the boat, Nick was available for the service, and had gladly accepted the invitation.

Nick labored heavily at the neck-tie, and his ambitious mother stood in the middle of the floor, watching with interest the effect produced by various experiments. Bow knots, square knots, and sailor’s knots were successively tried and successively discarded, until it was evident that the cravat would be worn out before it could be adjusted. But at last Mrs. Van Wolter interfered, and insisted that a simple crossing of the ends of the tie, fastened by a large breast-pin, which was borrowed from the mate’s wardrobe, gave the most stunning effect. She was satisfied, and Nick could devise nothing better, though he was not wholly pleased.

“Now, let me put this moss-rose on the lapel of your coat,” said the devoted mother. “If Miss Wimpleton thinks it is a pretty one, or makes any remark about it, be sure you make her a present of it.”

“I don’t think she cares anything about me,” replied Nick, as he glanced at the looking-glass to observe the effect of the rose.

“Well, I don’t suppose she does; but you must make her care for you. If you have any wit at all, you can make yourself useful and agreeable. Why, look at Wolf Penniman. They do say that he and Grace Toppleton are good friends, at the very least. Wolf is smart; he knows what he is about.”

“So do I know what I am about,” retorted Nick, repelling what appeared to him to be an insinuation that he did _not_ know what he was about. “If there is any such thing as getting on the right side of Minnie Wimpleton, you will find me there.”

“I hope so. You ought to be as high up in the world as Wolf Penniman. You are a better looking fellow,” added the fond mother, gazing with admiration at the form and features of her son. “If you are not as smart as he, it is because you have never put yourself forward, and it is high time for you to begin. There’s Wolf, captain of the Ucayga, while you can’t even be clerk. It’s a shame. I know your father ought to be captain of that steamer, for he has really run the boat, while Wolf has had all the credit of it. But I can’t get your father to do anything about it.”

“Father is his own master,” said Nick, with something like malice in his tones.

“I know he is. If he would hear to me, he would be captain of the steamer, and you would be clerk. Only to think of it! Your father, who has been a steamboat man all the days of his life, acting as mate to a boy, a mere snipper-snapper, who don’t know any more about managing a steamboat than I do! It’s a shame! I can’t bear to think of it!”

“Don’t, then.”

“Well, if your father won’t do anything for the family, you must, Nicholas. Waddie is your best friend; and, if you can only make an impression upon Miss Minnie, your fortune will be made, for I don’t believe the colonel will live a great many years. He is soaked in rum all the time.”

“If I only get the chance, mother, I shall show Minnie who and what I am. She is very gentle and kind to me, and all I want is an opportunity to lay myself out before her.”

“If you don’t find the chance, make it, Nicholas--make it.”

Nick was thoughtful at this suggestion. It seemed to be a new idea to him. He had devoted no inconsiderable portion of his valuable time to the reading of exciting romances, and he was confident that if he could obtain the opportunity to save Miss Minnie from a watery grave, rescue her from a burning house, or stay the mad flight of her runaway horse, just as she was about to be dashed to pieces over a yawning precipice, doing the noble deed at the imminent peril of his own life, the prize would be won. The proud daughter of a noble house would be filled with admiration and gratitude, and would, of course, fall in love with him, and the third part of Colonel Wimpleton’s millions would drop into his lap. The last chapter of the romance would end in the unutterable bliss of the noble hero and the beautiful heroine. This was about the idea Nick had of “a chance to lay himself out before her.” He wanted such a chance, and his mother, doubtless without exactly comprehending her son’s views, had suggested that he should make the chance. The thought was worthy of consideration.

“Your father is too tame and spiritless to do anything for the family. You must do it for him, Nicholas,” added Mrs. Van Wolter.

“I’m willing to do what I can,” meekly responded the hopeful son.

“If you do, your father shall be captain of the steamer; you shall be clerk, and in good time the husband of Miss Minnie.”

“What do you mean, mother? You don’t expect me to make father captain--do you?”

“Well, well; we won’t talk about that now,” answered the mother, evasively. “We must use circumstances for our own advantage.”

Mrs. Van Wolter appeared to be a bold schemer, and even Nick was astonished at the magnitude of her ideas. He was looking for a brilliant future, and to his mind there was no reason why Wolf Penniman should monopolize all the honors and all the emoluments of the high positions. He put on his hat, and left the house. He was rather anxious to know by what means his mother expected to promote the mate to the captaincy, and to make him the clerk of the steamer; but his present business was in relation to Minnie Wimpleton, and he hastened to the pier where the Raven was moored.

Nick was only a tolerable boatman; and he was not conceited in regard to his ability to manage a sail-boat. He was willing to take lessons of Waddie, who had no superior. Indeed, he yielded the palm in everything to the young magnate. He hoisted the mainsail, and put everything in order about the boat. By the time he had finished the preparations for the trip, Waddie and his sister appeared. The young gentleman had his arm in a sling, and the young lady, in the estimation of Nick, was radiant with loveliness.

“Good morning, Mr. Van Wolter,” said Minnie, as she arrived at the pier.

There was a twinkle in her eye, and one would have judged there was no little mischief in her composition. She glanced at the elaborate toilet, and particularly at the huge breast-pin in the cravat of the aspiring Nick. Perhaps she was vain enough to suspect that all this extra preparation had been made for her sake.

“Good morning, Miss Wimpleton,” replied Nick, removing his hat with an extensive flourish, probably to afford the wealthy little divinity an opportunity to see how nicely his hair was parted, oiled, and brushed. “May I have the pleasure of assisting you on board the Raven?”

“Will it be a pleasure, Mr. Van Wolter?” said she, mischievously, as she extended her gloved hand to him.

“A very great pleasure indeed, Miss Wimpleton,” he replied, as he eagerly took the offered hand, his heart beating like the throes of an earthquake, under the delicious sensations of the moment.

He handed her to a seat in the standing-room, touched his hat, and bowed, as if to thank her for the unexpected honor she had conferred upon him.

“Cast off, and run up the jib, Nick,” said Waddie, impatiently. “We are going to have a shower to-day, and we must get up to Grass Springs before it comes on.”

“A shower, Waddie?” added Minnie.

“It looks like one.”

“I don’t want to go if it is to be rainy.”

“Only a shower. The cabin will keep you as dry as your own room,” answered Waddie. “There is a good breeze, and we shall be down there in a couple of hours.”

“It will spoil Nick’s new clothes,” laughed the sprightly miss.

“Don’t you tease the simpleton,” whispered Waddie.

“I can’t help it. I enjoy it hugely,” she replied.

“There goes the Belle,” added Waddie, pointing to Wolf’s boat, which Tommy Toppleton had chartered for the occasion, as she shot out from the wharf at Middleport. “Now for a race!”

Nick ran up the jib, and, as the Raven took the breeze, he seated himself opposite Miss Minnie, to feast his eyes upon her “matchless loveliness.”