ON BOARD THE ARK.
The craft on which the old man and the sleeping boy were now slowly
drifting down the broad, moonlit stream, was a tiny house-boat, such as
are common on all American rivers. It had floated down, empty and
ownerless, with the high waters of the preceding spring, and had
stranded and been left by the receding flood at the point where Uncle
Phin discovered it some weeks before. It was a small, flat-bottomed
scow, on which was built a low house, ten feet long and six wide. This
house contained but a single room; and beyond it, at either end, the
deck of the scow projected about four feet. At each end of the house was
a door, and on each side a square hole or window, that closed with a
wooden shutter.
At the stern was a steering oar, as has been stated. It hung on a swivel
and its long handle projected up over the end of the roof, on which the
steersman stood. From each side of the roof hung a heavy sweep, by means
of which the craft might be slowly propelled or turned in any desired
direction. When not in use, the lower ends of these could be lifted from
the water by ropes attached to their blades, and fastened to the sides
of the house. A rude ladder reached from each of the small end decks to
the top of the roof. The whole affair was strong and in good condition,
but rough and unpainted.
When it came down with the flood and stranded on the river bank, it
contained nothing in the shape of furniture, save a couple of bunks
built against the sides, the same number of rough benches, and several
shelves put up here and there in convenient corners.
Uncle Phin had not thought of making use of this stranded craft, when he
first found it among the trees that he was marking to be cut down for
firewood. He slept in it one night, and merely regarded it as a
convenient shelter that he could occupy when working in that distant and
lonely place. When, however, he and Arthur conceived the idea of running
away, and he made up his mind that if they did, it must be to travel in
the direction of Dalecourt, a vision of the little old house-boat
crossed his mind.
If it could only be got into the water, and should prove to be tight and
sound, how easy and pleasant it would be to float down the river in it.
Whenever they had gone as far as they saw fit by water, they could
probably sell the boat for enough money to meet their expenses on the
rest of the journey. It seemed a fine scheme, and Uncle Phin hastened to
lay it before Brace Barlow and ask his advice concerning it.
The young man listened to it with great interest, and then they drove
over to take a look at the stranded craft. After a careful examination,
Brace said that, with a little calking of its seams, the boat could be
made tight and river-worthy, and that Uncle Phin’s plan seemed to him a
first-class one. He furthermore offered his own labor and the use of his
team to help prepare the craft for its voyage, and get it once more
afloat.
This offer was thankfully accepted, and the two succeeding days had been
busy ones for both men and horses. It was found necessary to make
several trips back and forth between Brace Barlow’s house and the “Ark,”
as he called the boat. Then they calked her open seams, and smeared them
thickly with pitch. They constructed a rude track of straight young
tree-trunks, from the boat to the water, into which, aided by rollers,
long levers, and the horses, they finally succeeded in launching her.
After this they had the sweeps to make, and, as there was no stove,
Uncle Phin built a fireplace in the middle of the floor, near one end of
the cabin. This he did by forming a square of large rocks, filling it
with small stones, and covering the whole with a thick layer of earth.
They filled the bunks with sweet, fresh straw, and made pillows of the
flour sacks stuffed with the same material. Brace Barlow covered one of
these bunks with a coarse sheet and a blanket drawn from his own slender
stock of household goods. Uncle Phin had his own bedding, that consisted
of a thin old army blanket and a tattered comforter. He also had an axe,
which was the only piece of valuable property that he possessed.
Then Brace Barlow bought several cooking utensils, a few dishes, and a
small supply of provisions, to which he added potatoes and a dozen eggs
from his own little farm.
When all this had been accomplished, the two men surveyed their work
with great satisfaction, and nothing but his duty to his mother
prevented Brace Barlow from joining the party and making the voyage down
the river with them.
From information furnished by Uncle Phin the young man gained an idea
that the greater part of their journey was to be performed by water, and
that Dalecourt was somewhere in West Virginia, within a few miles of the
point to which the ark could be navigated.
This was also Uncle Phin’s idea when he learned that the river on which
his craft was launched flowed into the Ohio, which in turn washed one of
the borders of West Virginia. This new name meant nothing to him. There
had been but one Virginia when he left it, and even of its extent he had
not the slightest conception. He imagined that, once within the borders
of the State, it would be a simple matter to discover and reach his old
home. All he knew of travelling and distances was, that when he followed
his young mistress to New York, the journey occupied less than two days,
and that the one from New York to the oil country had been accomplished
in about the same space of time. So now, while he was well aware that a
boat, drifting with the current, would not travel quite as fast as a
train of cars, he did not, for a moment, doubt that two or three weeks
or a month at the very most, would see them safely established beneath
the stately magnolias of Dalecourt.
Had he known that between the place where they must leave their boat and
their destination, there stretched a weary distance of nearly five
hundred miles, much of which was across rugged mountain ranges, it is
probable that even his stout heart would have shrunk from so great an
undertaking. But he had no knowledge of this, and, as happily ignorant
of what was before them as was his beloved “lil Marse,” now sleeping so
peacefully on his bed of straw, the old man floated contentedly over the
gleaming waters, and recalled bright pictures of the dear old home he
hoped so soon to see.
The night was far advanced; he was worn out with the fatiguing labor of
the preceding two days, there was no sound to disturb him, and so, after
a while, his head sunk low over the steering oar, and ere long he too
was fast asleep.
Thus, with no wakeful eye to determine her course, the Ark drifted on
through the night; now in deep shadows of great hills or dark forests,
then across long stretches of silvery moonlight; here caught by an eddy
and turned slowly round and round; there held for a moment on the point
of some glistening sand-bar from which she would slowly swing off and
again move ahead.
While the occupants of the boat still slept, the moonlight paled before
the rosy dawn of a new day, and at last a mischievous beam from the
round red sun, just peeping over the eastern hills, found its way into
the little cabin and shone full across Arthur’s eyes. In a moment the
boy was wide-awake, and gazing upon his strange surroundings with the
utmost bewilderment. He heard no sound, perceived no motion, and had not
the faintest idea that he was on a boat. He only wondered whose this
strange house was, where it was, and what had become of Uncle Phin, of
whom he could see no sign.
He almost expected to hear his Aunt Nancy’s harsh voice calling him.
Then the events of the preceding night came slowly back to him; and,
with a thrill of joy he remembered that he was far from her dreaded
presence, and had actually started on a journey toward his own dear
mother’s beautiful home.
But he must get up and find out where he was, and what had become of
Brace Barlow and Uncle Phin. At the very moment he stepped from his
straw-filled bunk there came a crash and a shock that flung him to the
floor. At the same instant he heard a frightened cry and a loud splash.
Regaining his feet he sprang to one of the open doors and looking out
saw nobody. Then he ran to the other, with the same result. He was
evidently alone on some sort of a boat, which at that moment was
drifting beneath a great iron bridge.