"There! What did I say?" cried one. "I told you so!" exclaimed another. "I
knew the boat would not go," said yet another. But they spoke too soon,
for after a little delay the wheels of the Clermont began to revolve,
slowly and hesitatingly at first, but soon with more speed, and the boat
steamed proudly off up the Hudson.
As she moved forward, all along the river people who had come from far and
near stood watching the strange sight. When boatmen and sailors on the
Hudson heard the harsh clanking of machinery and saw the huge sparks and
dense black smoke rising out of her funnel, they thought that the Clermont
was a sea-monster. In fact, they were so frightened that some of them went
ashore, some jumped into the river to get away, and some fell on their
knees in fear, believing that their last day had come. It is said that one
old Dutchman exclaimed to his wife: "I have seen the devil coming up the
river on a raft!"
The men who were working the boat had no such foolish fears. They set
themselves to their task and made the trip from New York to Albany, a
distance of one hundred and fifty miles, in thirty-two hours. Success had
at last come to the quiet, modest, persevering Fulton.
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