xt7x0k26bf25 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7x0k26bf25/data/mets.xml Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897. 19  books b92-166-30116622 English Hurst, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Work and win, or, Noddy Newman on a cruise  : a story for young people / by Oliver Optic. text Work and win, or, Noddy Newman on a cruise  : a story for young people / by Oliver Optic. 19 2002 true xt7x0k26bf25 section xt7x0k26bf25 

 























































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v    -I

 




WORK



AND



WIN



OR



NODDY NEWMAN ON A CRUISE

    2a Story for JNoung people


             BY
       OLIVER OPTIC
 AUTHOR OF "BOAT CLUB," "ALL ABOARD," "NOW
        OR NEVER," ETC., ETC.










          NEW YORK
    HURST  COMPANY
          PUBLISHERS

 This page in the original text is blank.

 






















           To

     MY YOUNG FRIEND,

 Ebwarb C. Utellows,

        TIlS BOOK

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

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PREFACE.



  IN the preparation of this volume, the author has
had in his mind the intention to delineate the prog-
ress of a boy whose education had been neglected,
and whose moral attributes were of the lowest order,
from vice and indifference to the development of a
high moral and religious principle in the heart,
which is the rule and guide of a pure and true life.
  The incidents which make -tp the story are intro-
duced to illustrate the moral status of the youth, at
the beginning, and to develop the influences from
which proceeded a gentle and Christian character.
Mollie, the captain's daughter, whose simple purity
of life, whose filial devotion to an erring parent,
and whose trusting faith in the hour of adversity,
won the love and respect of Noddy, was not the least
of these influences. If the writer has not " moral-
ized," it was because the true life, seen with the
living eye, is better than any precept, however skil-
                        5

 





6                   Preface.

fully it may be dressed by the rhetorical genius of
the moralist.
  Once more the author takes pleasure in acknowl-
edging the kindness of his young friends, who have
so favorably received his former works; and he
hopes that "WORK AND WIN," the fourth of the
Woodville Stories, will have as pleasant a welcome
as its predecessors.

                       WILLIAM    T. ADAMS.
  HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,
     November 10, 1865.


 


















                 CONTENTS.

CRAMER                                         pAGN
    I. The Mischief-Makers ........................  9
    II. The Circus at Whitestone  .   .21
    III. A Moral Question  .      ................. 33
    IV. Noddy's Confession .45
    V. Squire Wriggs at Woodville .57
    VI. Noddy's Engagement .............. ........... 70
  VII. The Ring-Master .   ................,,.,.,  81
  VIII. Good-by to Woodville.                    93
  IX. An Attempt to Work and Win .     .105
    X. Poor Mollie    .        .117
    XI. The Schooner Roebuck............1.......... 129
  XII. The Drunken Captain .141
  XIII. The Shark     .       .154
  XIV. The Yellow Fever .............................,167
  XV. The Demon of the Cup .180
  XVI. Night and Storm .193
XVII. After the Storm ......... ..................... 206
XVIII. The Beautiful Island .....   ........... 217
XIX. The Visitors    .       ................... 228
  XX. Homeward Bound.                   .      239
  XXI. The Clergyman and his Wife  .    .247
                        7

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       WORK AND WIN;
                     OR,

NODDY NEWMAN ON A CRUISE.


                CHAPTER I.

            THE MISCHIEF-MAKERS.

  "HERE, Noddy Newman! you haven't washed out
the boat-house yet," said Ben, the boatman, as the
young gentleman thus addressed was ambling down
towards the river.
  "Hang the boat-house! " exclaimed Noddy, im-
patiently, as he stopped short in his walk, and seemed
to be in doubt whether he should return or continue
on his way.
  "You know what Mfiss Bertha says-don't you"
  " Yes, I know   what she says," added Noddy,
rubbing his head, as though he were trying to recon-
cile his present purpose, whatever it was, with the
loyalty he owed to Bertha. "1 I suppose it don't make
                     9

 






Work and Win.



much difference to her whether I wash out the boat-
house now or by and by."
  " I don't know anything about that, my boy," said
the old man. " Miss Bertha told me to find some
regular work for you to do every day. I found it,
and she say you must wash out the boat-house every
morning before nine o'clock. If you don't do it,
I shall report you to her. That's all I've got to say
about it."
  , I calculate to wash out the boathouse."
  "You've only half an hour to do it in, then.
You've not only got to wash it out every morning,
but you have got to do it before nine o'lock, Them's
the orders. I always obey orders. If Miss Bertha
should tell me to tie you up, and give you as big a
licking as you deserve, I should do it."
  " No, you wouldn't."
  "eI haven't got any such orders, mind ye, Noddy;
so we won't dispute about that. Now, go and wash
out the boat-house like a good boy, and don't make
any fuss about it."
  Noddy deliberated a few moments more. He evi-
dently disliked the job, or did not wish to do it at
that particular time; but Miss Bertha's influence was
all-powerful; and though he would have fought, tooth



to

 






Work and Win.



and nail, against anything like compulsion on the
part of Ben, he could not resist the potent spell
which the name of his young mistress cast upon him.
  " Hang the old boat-house! " exclaimed he, as he
stamped his foot upon the ground, and then slowly
retraced his steps towards the boatman.
  "Hang it, if you like, Noddy, but wash it out
first," said Ben, with a smile, as he observed the
effect of the charm he had used to induce the way-
ward youth to do his duty.
  "I wish the boat-house was burned up!" added
Noddy, petulantly.
  " No, you don't."
  " Yes, I do. I wish it was a pile of ashes at this
moment."
  " Don't say so, Noddy. What would Miss Bertha
think to hear you talk like that"
  "' You can tell her, if you like," replied Noddy, as
lie rushed desperately into the boat-house to do the
disagreeable job.
  Notd(Jdy Newman was an orphan; and no one in the
vicinity of Woodville even knew what his real name
was. Two years before, B6rtha Grant had taken the
most tender care of him, after an accident by which
he had been severely injured. Previous to that time



II

 



Work and Win.



he had been a vagabond, roaming about the woods
and the villages, sleeping in barns and out-buildings,
and stealing his food when he could obtain it by no
other means. Efforts had been made to commit him
to the poorhouse; but he had cunningly avoided
being captured, and retained his freedom until the
accident placed him under the influence of Bertha
Grant, who had before vainly attempted to induce
him to join her mission-school in the Glen.
  Noddy had been two years at Woodville. He
was neither a servant nor a member of the family,
but occupied a half-way position, eating and sleep-
ing with the men employed on the estate, but being
the constant companion of Bertha, who was labor-
ing to civilize and educate him. She had been par-
tially successful in her philanthropic labors; for
Noddy knew how to behave himself with propriety,
and could read and write with tolerable facility.
But books and literature were not Noddy's forte, and
he still retained an unhealthy relish for his early
vagabond habits.
  Like a great many other boys,-even like some of
those who have been trought up judiciously and
carefully,-Noddy was not very fond of work. He
was bold and impulsive, and had not yet acquired



12

 





Work and Win.



any fixed ideas in regard to the objects of life.
Bertha Grant had obtained a powerful influence over
him, to which he was solely indebted for all the prog-
ress he had made in learning and the arts of civil-
ized life. Wayward as he always had been, and as
he still was, there was a spirit in him upon which to
build a hope that something might yet be made of
him, though this faith was in a great measure con-
fined to Bertha and the old boatman.
  He had a great many good qualities-enough, in
the opinion of his gentle instructress, to redeem him
from his besetting sins, which were neither few nor
small. He was generous, which made him popular
among those who were under no moral responsi-
bility for his future welfare. He was bold and dar-
ing, and never hesitated to do anything which the
nerve or muscle of a boy of fourteen could achieve.
His feats of strength and daring, often performed
from mere bravado, won the admiration of the
thoughtless, and Noddy was regarded as a " charac-
ter " by people who only wanted to be amused.
  Noddy had reached an age when the future be-
came an interesting problem to those who had labored
to improve his manners and his morals.        Mr.
Grant had suggested to Bertha the propriety of have



13

 





Work and Win.



ing him bound as an apprentice to some steady
mechanic; and, at the time of our story, she and her
father were in search of such a person. The subject
of this kind solicitude did not relish the idea of
learning a trade, though he had not positively re-
belled at the disposition which it was proposed to
make of him.
  He had always lived near the river; and during
his residence at Woodville he had been employed,
so far as he could be employed at all, about the boats.
He was a kind of assistant to the boatman, though
there was no need of such an official on the premises.
For his own good, rather than for the labor he per-
formed, he was required to do certain work about
the boathouse, and in the boats when they were in
use.
  We could recite a great many scrapes, of which
Noddy had been the hero, during the two years of
his stay at Woodville; but such a recital would hardly
be profitable to our readers, especially as the young
man's subsequent career was not devoid of stirring
incidents.
  Noddy drew a bucket of water at the pier, and car-
ried it into the boat-house. Ben, satisfied now that



14

 





Work and Win.



35



the work was actually in progress, left the pier, and
walked up to the house to receive his morning in-
structions. He was hardly out of sight before Miss
Fanny Grant presented herself at the door.
  Miss Fanny was now a nice young lady of twelve.
She was as different from her sister Bertha as she
could be. She was proud, and rather wayward.
Like some other young ladies we have somewhere
read about, she was very fond of having her own
way, even when her own way had been proved to be
uncomfortable and dangerous. But when we mention
Miss Fanny's faults, we do not wish to be understood
that she had no virtues. If she did wrong very often,
she did right in the main, and had made a great deal
of progress in learning to do wisely and well, and,
what was just as good, in doing it after she had
learned it.
  Fanny Grant walked up to the boat-house with a
very decided step, and it soon appeared that she was
not there by chance or accident; which leads us sor-
rowfully to remark, that in her wrongdoing she often
fond a ready companion and supporter in Noddy
Newman. She was rather inclined to be a romp;
and though she was not given to "playing with the
boys," the absence of any suitable playmate some-

 





Work and Win.



times led her to invite the half-reformed vagabond
of Woodville to assist in her sport.
  "You are a pretty fellow, Noddy Newman,! " said
she, her pouting lips giving an added emphasis to her
reproachful remark. " Why didn't you come down
to the Point, as you said you would "
  "Because I couldn't, Miss Fanny," growled Nod-
dy. " I had to wash out this confounded boat-house,
or be reported to Miss Bertha."
  " Couldn't you do that after you got back"
  "Ben said I must do it before nine o'clock. I
wanted to go down to the Point, as I agreed, but you
see I couldn't."
  "I waited for you till I got tired out," pouted
Fanny; but she neglected to add that five minutes on
ordinary occasions were the full limit of her patience.
  "Hang the old boat-house! I told Ben I wished
it was burned up."
  "So do I; but come along, Noddy. We will go
now.'5
  "I can't go till I've washed out the boat-house."
  " Yes, you can."
  " But if Ben comes down and finds the place hasn't
been washed out, he will tell Miss Bertha."
  " Let him tell her-who cares "



ii6

 






Work and Win.



  " She will talk to me for an hour."
  " Let her talk-talking won't kill you."
  " I don't like to be talked to in that way by Miss
Bertha."
  " Fiddle-de-dee!  You can tell her I wanted
you," said Fanny, her eyes snapping with earnest-
ness.
  " Shall I tell her what you wanted me for " asked
Noddy, with a cunning look.
  "Of course you needn't tell her that. But come
along, or I shall go without you."
  "No-you wouldn't do that, Miss Fanny. You
couldn't."
  "Well, won't you come"
  Not now."
  "I can't wait."
  cI will go just as soon as I have done washing the
boat-house."
  " Plague on the boat-house! " snapped Fanny. " I
wish it was burned up. What a nice fire it would
make !-wouldn't it, Noddy "
  The bright eyes of the wayward miss sparkled
with delight as she thought of the blazing building;
and while her more wayward companion described the
miseries which he daily endured in his regular work,



17

 






Work and Win.



she hardly listened to him. She seemed to be plot-
ting mischief; but if she was, she did not make
Noddy her confidant this time.
  " Come, Noddy," said she, after a few moments'
reflection, " I will promise to make it all right with
Bertha."
  Noddy dropped the broom with which he had
begun to sweep up some chips and shavings Ben
had inade in repairing a boat-hook.
  "If you will get me out of the scrape, I will go
now," said he.
  " I will; you may depend upon me."
  "C Then I will go."
  "Where is Ben, now"
  "lie has gone up to the house."
  "Then you run down to the Point, and bring the
boat up to the pier. I am tired, and don't want to
walk down there again."
  Noddy was entirely willing, and bounded off like a
deer, for he had fully made up his mind to disobey
orders, and his impulsive nature did not permit him
to consider the consequences. Hie was absent but a
few moments, and presently appeared rowing a small
boat up the river. At the pier he turned the boat,
and backed her up to the landing steps.



i8

 




Work and Win.



  "All ready, Miss Fanny! " shouted the young boat.
man, for his companion in mischief was not in sight.
  Still she did not appear; and Noddy was about to
go in search of her, when she came out of the boat-
house, and ran down to the steps. Her face was
flushed, and she seemed to be very much agitated.
Noddy was afraid, from her looks, that something had
happened to spoil the anticipated sport of the muorn-
ing; hut she stepped into the boat, and told him, in
hurried tones, to push off.
  "What's the matter, Miss Fanny " he asked, not
a little startled by her appearance.
  "Nothing, Noddy; pull away just as fast as ever
you can."
  "Are we caught" said he, as he followed Fan-
ny's direction.
  " No; caught! no. Why don't you row faster,
Noddy You don't pull worth a cent."
  " I am pulling as hard as I can," replied he, un-
able to keep pace with her impatience.
  "I wouldn't be seen here now for anything!"
exclaimed Fanny, earnestly, as she glanced back at
the boat-house, with a look so uneasy that it almost
unmanned her resolute companion.
  Noddy pulled with all his might, and the light boat



I9

 




20             Work and Win.

darted over the waves with a speed which ought to
have satisfied his nervous passenger. As they reached
the point of Van Alstine's Island, a dense smoke was
seen to rise from the boat-house on the pier; and a
few moments later, the whole building was wrapped
in flames.


 






Work and Win.



                 CHAPTER II.

           THE CIRCUS AT WHITESTONE.

  "Do you see that " exclaimed Noddy, as he
stopped rowing, and gazed at the flames which leaped
madly up from the devoted building.
  "I see it," replied Fanny, with even more agitation
than was manifested by her companion.
  " I don't understand it," added Noddy.
  "The boat-house is on fire, and will burn up in
a few minutes more. I think it is plain enough;"
and Fanny struggled to be calm and indifferent.
  " We must go back and see to it."
  " We shall do nothing of the kind. Pull away as
hard as ever you can, or we shall not get to White-
stone in season.''
  "I don't care about going to Whitestone now; I
want to know what all that means."
  "Can't you see what it means  The boat-house
is on fire."



21

 





22



Work and Win.



  " Well, how did it catch afire   That's what
bothers me."
  " You needn't bother yourself about it. My father
owns the boat-house, and it isn't worth much."
  " All that may be; but I want to know how it got
afire."
  "We shall find out soon enough when we return."
  " But I want to know now."
  "You can't know now; so pull away."
  "I shall have the credit of setting that fire," added
Noddy, not a little disturbed by the anticipation.
  "No, you won't."
  "Yes, I shall. I told Ben I wished the boat-house
would catch afire and burn up. Of course he will
lay it to me."
  "No matter if he does; Ben isn't everybody."
  "Well, he is 'most everybody, so far as Miss Ber-
tha is concerned; and I'd rather tumbled overboard
in December than have that fire happen just now."
  "You were not there when the fire broke out;'
said Fanny, with a strong effort to satisfy her boat.
man.
  " That's the very reason why they will lay it to me.
They will say I set the boat-house afire, and then ran
away on purpose."

 





Work and Win.



  " I can say you were with me when the fire broke
out, and that I know you didn't do it," replied
Fanny.
  " That will do; but I would give all my old shoes
to know how the fire took, myself.:
  " No matter how it took."
  " Yes, it is matter, Miss Fanny. I want to know.
There wasn't any fire in the building when I left it."
  "Perhaps somebody stopped there in a boat, and
set it on fire."
  "Perhaps they did; but I know very well they
didn't," answered Noddy, positively. " There hasn't
been any boat near the pier since we left it."
  "Perhaps Ben left his pipe among those shavings."
  "Ben never did that. He would cut his head off
sooner than do such a thing. He is as scared of fire
as he is of the Flying Dutchman."
  "Don't say anything more about it. Now row
over to Whitestone as quick as you can," added Fan-
ny, petulantly.
  " I'm not going over to Whitestone, after what has
happened. I shouldn't have a bit of fun if I went."
  "Very well, Noddy; then you may get out of the
scrape as you can," said the young lady, angrily.
  "What scrape"



23

 




Work and Win.



  "Why, they will accuse you of setting the boat-
house afire; and you told Ben you wished it was
burned down."
  "But I didn't set it afire."
  "Who did, then "
  " That's just what I want to find out. Thats what
worries me; for I can't see how it happened, unless
it took fire from that bucket of water I left on the
floor."
  Fanny was too much disturbed by the conduct of
her boatman, or by some other circumstance, to laugh
at Noddy's joke; and the brilliant sally was permit-
ted to waste itself without an appreciative smile. She
sat looking at the angry flames as they devoured the
building, while her companion vainly attempted to hit
upon a satisfactory explanation of the cause of the
fire. Noddy was perplexed; he was absolutely wor-
ried, not so much by the probable consequences to
himself of the unfortunate event, as by the cravings
of his own curiosity. He did not see how it hap-
pened; and if a potent juggler had performed a
wonderful feat in his presence, he could not have
been more exercised in mind to know how it was
done.
  Noddy was neither a logician nor a philosopher;



24

 





Work and Win.



and therefore he was utterly unable to account for
the origin of the fire. In vain he wasted his intel-
lectual powers in speculations; in vain he tried to
remember some exciting cause to which the calamity
could be traced. Meanwhile, Miss Fanny was delib-
erating quite as diligently over another question; for
sale apparently regarded the destruction of the boat-
house as a small affair, and did not concern herself
to know how it had been caused. But she was very
anxious to reach Whitestone before ten o'clock, and
her rebellious boatman had intimated his intention
not to carry out his part of the agreement.
  "What are you thinking about, Noddy" asked
she, when both had maintained silence for the full
space of three minutes, which was a longer period
than either of them had ever before kept still while
awake.
  "I was thinking of that fire," replied Noddy,
removing his gaze from the burning building, and
fixing it upon her.
  "Are you going to Whitestone, or not" con-
tinued she, impatiently.
  "No; I don't want to go to Whitestone, while
all of them down there are talking about me, and
saying I set the boat-house afire."



25

 




Work and Win.



  " They will believe you did it, too."
  ""But I didn't, Miss Fanny. You know I didnt."
  "flow should I know it "
  "Because I was with you; besides, you came out
of the boat-house after I did."
  "If you will row me over to Whitestone, I will
say so; and I will tell them I know you didn't do it."
  Noddy considered the matter for a moment, and,
perhaps concluding that it was safer for him to keep
on the right side of Miss Fanny, he signified his
acceptance of the terms bV taking up his oars, and
pulling towards Whitestone. But he was not sat-
isfied; he was as uneasy as a fish out of water;
and nothing but the tyranny of the wayward young
lady in the boat would have induced him to flee
from the trouble which was brewing at Woodville.
He had quite lost sight of the purpose which had
induced him to disobey Bertha's orders.
  Our young adventurers had not left Woodville
without an object. There was a circus at White-
stone-a travelling company which had advertised
to give three grand performances on that day. Mies
Fanny wanted to go; but, either because her father
was otherwise occupied, or because he did not ap-
prove of circuses, he had declined to go with her.



26

 






Work and Win.



Bertha did not want to go, and also had an en-
gagement.
  Fanny had set her heart upon going; and she
happened to be too wilful, just at that period, to
submit to the disappointment to which her father's
convenience or his principles doomed her. Bertha
had gone to the city at an early hour in the morn-
ing to spend the day with a friend, and Fanny
decided that she would go to the circus, in spite
of all obstacles, and in the face of her father's
implied prohibition. When she had proceeded far
enough to rebel, in her own heart, against the will
of her father, the rest of the deed was easily ac-
complished.
  Noddy had never been to a circus; and when
Fanny told him what it was,-how men rode stand-
ing up on their horses; how they turned somersets,
and played all sorts of antics on the tight rope and
the slack rope; and, above all, what funny things
the clowns said and did,-he was quite ready to do
almost anything to procure so rare a pleasure as
witnessing such a performance must afford him. It
did not require any persuasion to induce him to
assist Fanny in her disobedience. The only obstacle
which had presented itself was his morning work



27

 



Work and Win.



in the boat-house, which Bertha's departure for the
city had prevented him from doing at an earlier
hour.
  To prevent Ben from suspecting that they were
on the water, in case they should happen to be
missed, he had borrowed a boat and placed it at
the Point, where they could embark without being
seen, if Ben or any of the servants happened to
be near the pier. The boatman, who made it his
business to see that Noddy did his work on time in
the morning, did not neglect his duty on this oc-
casion; and when Noddy started to meet Fanny at
the appointed place, he had been called back, as
described in the first chapter.
  As he pulled towards Whitestone, he watched the
flames that rose from the boat-house; and he had,
for the time, lost all his enthusiasm about the circus.
He could think only of the doubtful position in
which his impulsive words to the boatman placed
him. Above all things,-and all his doubts and
fears culminated in this point-what would Miss
Bertha say He did not care what others said,
except so far as their words went to convince his
mistress of his guilt. What would she do to him
mistress of his guilt.  What would she do to
him 



28

 



Work and Win.



  But, after all had' been said and done, he was
not guilty. He had not set the boat-house on fire,
and he did not even know who had done the ma-
licious act. Noddy regarded this as a very happy
thought; and while the reflection had a place in his
mind, he pulled the oars with redoubled vigor. Yet
it was in vain for him to rely upon the voice of
an approving conscience for peace in that hour of
trouble. If he had not, at that moment, been en-
gaged in an act of disobedience, he might have
been easy. He had been strictly forbidden by Mr.
Grant, and by Bertha, ever to take Fanny out in
a boat without permission; and Miss Fanny had
been as strictly forbidden to go with him, or with
any of the servants, without the express consent,
each time, of her father or of Bertha.
  It is very hard, while doing wrong in one thing,
to enjoy an approving conscience in another thing;
and Noddy found it so in the present instance.
We do not mean to say that Noddy's conscience
was of any great account to him, or that the inward
monitor caused his present uneasiness.  He had
a conscience, but his vagabond life had demoralized it
in the first place, and it had not been sufficiently
developed, during his stay at Woodville, to abate



29

 




Work and Win.



30



very sensibly his anticipated pleasure at the circus.
His uneasiness was entirely selfish. He had got into
a scrape, whose probable consequences worried him
more than his conscience.
  By the time the runaways reached Whitestone,
the boat-house was all burned up, and nothing but
the curling smoke from the ruins visibly reminded
the transgressors of the event which had disturbed
them. Securing the boat in a proper place, Noddy
conducted the young lady to the large tent in which
the circus company performed, and which was more
than a mile from the river. Fanny gave him the
money, and Noddy purchased two tickets, which
admitted them to the interior of the tent.
  If Noddy had been entirely at ease about the
affair on the other side of the river, no doubt he
would have enjoyed the performance very much;
but in the midst of the "grand entree of all the
horses and riders of the troupe," the sorrowing face
of Bertha Grant thrust itself between him and the
horsemen, to obscure his vision and diminish the
cheap glories of the gorgeous scene.  When "the
most daring rider in the world " danced about, like
a top, on the bare back of his " fiery, untamed
steed," Noddy was enthusiastic, and would have

 





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given a York shilling for the privilege of trying to
do it himself.
  The "ground and lofty tumbling," with the ex-
ception of the spangled tunics of the performers,
hardly came up to his expectations; and he was
entirely satisfied that he could beat the best man
among them at such games. As the performance
proceeded, he warmed up enough to forget the fire,
and ceased to dread the rebuke of Bertha; but
when all was over,-when the clown had made
his last wry face, and the great American acrobat
had achieved his last gyration, Bertha and the fire
came back to him with increased power. Moody and
sullen, he walked down to the river with Fanny, who,
under ordinary circumstances, would have been too
proud to walk through the streets of Whitestone with
him. If he had been alone, it is quite probable that
lhe would have taken to the woods, so much did he
dread to return to Woodville.
  lie pushed off the boat, and for some time lie
pulled in silence, for Miss Fanny now appeared to
have her own peculiar trials. Her conscience seemed
to have found a voice, and she did not speak till the
boat had reached the lower end of Van Alstine's
Island.



31

 






32             Work and Win.

  "The fire is all out now," said she.
  "Yes; but I would give a thousand dollars to
know how it caught," added Noddy.
  " I know," continued Fanny, looking down into
the bottom of the boat.
  "Who did it" demanded Noddy, eagerly.
  "I did it myself," answered Fanny, looking up
into his face to note the effect of the astonishing
confession.


 






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33



                 CHAPTER IIM.

               A MORAL QUESTION.

  NODDY dropped his oars, and, with open mouth
and staring eyes, gazed fixedly in silence at his gentle
companion, who had so far outstripped him in
making mischief as to set fire to a building. It was
too much for him, and he found it impossible to
comprehend the depravity of Miss Fanny. He would
not have dared to do such a thing himself, and it
was impossible to believe that she had done so tre-
mendous a deed.
  " I don't believe it," said he; and the words burst
from him with explosive force, as soon as he could
find a tongue to express himself.
  " I did," replied Fanny, gazing at him with a kind
of blank look, which would have assured a more ex-
pert reader of the human face than Noddy Newman
that she had come to a realizing sense of the magni-
tude of the mischief she had done.

 





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  " No, you didn't, Miss Fanny! ' exclaimed her in-
credulous friend. "I know you didn't do that; you
couldn't do it."
  "But I did; I wouldn't say I did if I didn't."
  "Well, that boats me all to pieces! ' added Noddy,
bending forwvard In his seat, and looking sharply into
her face, in EA rlch of anv indications that she was
making fun oi him, or was engaged in perpetrating
a joke.
  Certainly there was no indication of a want of
seriousness on the part of the wayward young lady;
on the contrary , she looked exceedingly troubled.
Noddy could not say a word, and he was busily oc-
cupied in trying to get through his head the stupen-
dous fact that Miss Fanny had become an incendiary;
that she was wicked enough to set fire to her father's
building. It required a good deal of labor and study
on the part of so poor a scholar as Noddy to compre-
bend the idea. He had always looked upon Fanny
as Bertha's sister. His devoted benefactress was an
angel in his estimation, and it was as impossible for
her to do anything wrong as it was for water to run
up hilL
  If Bertha was absolutely perfect,- as he measured
human virtue,- it was impossible that her sister



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35



should be very far below her standard. He knew
that she was a little wild and wayward, but it was
beyond his comprehension that she should do any-
thing that was really "naughty." Fanny's confes-
sion, when he realized that it was true, gave him
a shock from which he did not soon recover. One
of his oars had slipped overboard without his notice,
and the other might have gone after it, if his coin-
panion had not reminded him where he was, and
what he ought to do. Paddling the boat around with
one oar, he recovered the other; but he had no clear
idea of the purpose for which such implements were
intended, and he permitted the boat to drift with the
tide, while he gave himself up to the consideration of
the difficult and trying question which the conduct
of Fanny imposed upon him.
  Noddy was not selfish; and if the generous vein
of his nature had been well balanced and fortified
by the corresponding virtues, his character would
have soared to the region of the noble and grand in
human nature.   But the generous in character is
hardly worthy of respect, though it may challenge the
admiration of the thoughtless, unless it rests upon
the sure foundation of moral principle. Noddy for-
got his own trials in sympathizing with the unpleas-

 





36



Work and Win.



ant situation of his associate in wron