All Aboard

蟐All Aboard

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Title: All Aboard; or, Life on the Lake A Sequel to "The Boat Club"
Author: Oliver Optic
Release Date: February 9, 2005 [EBook #15002]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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All Aboard or Life on the Lake
A Sequel to "The Boat Club"
By Oliver Optic
CHICAGO: M.A. DONOHUE & CO.

PREFACE.
"ALL ABOARD" was written to gratify the reasonable curiosity of the readers of "THE BOAT CLUB" to know what occurred at Wood Lake during the second season; and, though it is a sequel, it has no direct connection with its predecessor. The Introduction, in the first chapter, contains a brief synopsis of the principal events of the first season; so that those who have not read "The Boat Club," will labor under no disadvantage on that account.
The story of each book is entirely distinct from that of the other. As the interest of the first centers in Tony Weston, so that of the second does in Charles Hardy. I have tried to make the boys believe that the path of truth and rectitude is not only the safest, but the pleasantest path; and the experience of Charles with the "Rovers" illustrates and supports the position.
Perhaps some of the older readers of these books will think that, in providing the boys at Wood Lake with a whole fleet of boats, with bands of music, with club rooms, libraries, and apparatus, I have furnished them with very magnificent recreations; and that I might as well have told a "fairy tale" while I was about it. The only excuse I can offer for this extravagance is, that it would have been a pity to spoil a splendid ideal, when it could be actualized by a single stroke of the pen; besides, I believe that nothing is too good for good boys, especially when it is paid for out of the pocket of a millionaire.
The author, grateful to his young friends for the kind reception given to "The Boat Club," hopes that "All Aboard" will not only please them, but make them wiser and better.
WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
DORCHESTER, October 25, 1855.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER.
I. Introduction II. The New Member III. All Aboard! IV. The Fraternal Hug V. Up the River VI. Hurrah for Tony! VII. Commodore Frank Sedley VIII. The Race IX. Little Paul X. A Unanimous Vote XI. Better to Give than Receive XII. First of May XIII. The Lighthouse XIV. The Conspiracy XV. The "Rovers" XVI. The Camp on the Island XVII. The Escape XVIII. Wreck of the Butterfly XIX. The Cruise of the Fleet XX. The Hospitalities of Oaklawn XXI. Conclusion

CHAPTER I
.
INTRODUCTION.
It can hardly be supposed that all the boys who take up this book have read the Boat Club; therefore it becomes necessary, before the old friends of the club are permitted to reunite with them, to introduce whatever new friends may be waiting to join them in the sports of the second season at Wood Lake. However wearisome such a presentation may be to those who are already acquainted, my young friends will all allow that it is nothing more than civility and good manners.
Frank Sedley is the only son of Captain Sedley, a retired shipmaster, of lofty and liberal views, and of the most estimable character. He is not what some people would call an "old fogy," and likes to have the boys enjoy themselves in everything that is reasonable and proper; but not to the detriment of their manners or morals, or to the neglect of their usual duties.
Having been a sailor all his life, he has none of that fear of boats and deep water which often haunts the minds of fond parents, and has purchased a beautiful club boat for the use of his son and other boys who live in the vicinity of Wood Lake.
Some fathers and mothers may think this was a very foolish act on the part of Captain Sedley, that the amusement he had chosen for his son was too dangerous in itself, and too likely to create in him a taste for aquatic pursuits that may one day lead him to be a sailor, which some tender mothers regard as "a dreadful thing," as, indeed, it is, under some circumstances.
But it must be remembered that Captain Sedley had been a sailor himself; that he had followed the seas from early youth; and that he had made his fortune and earned his