enthusiastically, to his chum, as the crowd of boys poured tumultuously
out of school for their morning recess, Dr. Longstrap having, with a
grim smile, just announced that in view of the freezing of the harbour
being such an extremely rare event, he had decided to grant them one
day's liberty.
"We must put in the whole day on the harbour," responded Andy heartily.
"Couldn't we take some lunch with us, and then we needn't go home in the
middle of the day?"
"What a big head you have, to be sure!" exclaimed Harvey, with a look of
mock admiration. "That's a great idea. We'll do it."
The following day was Thursday, and when the two boys opened their eyes
after such a sleep as only tired healthy schoolboys can secure, they
were delighted to find every promise of a fine day. The sun shone
brightly, the air was clear, the wind was hushed, and everything in
their favour. As Harvey, in the highest spirits, took his seat at the
breakfast table, he pointed out the window, from which a full view of
the harbour could be obtained. "Look, father," said he, "if there isn't
the English mail steamer just coming round the lighthouse! There'll be
no getting to the wharf for her to-day. What do you think they'll do?"
"Come up the harbour as far as they can, and then land the mails and
passengers on the ice, I suppose," answered Mr. Silver.
"But how can she come up when it's all frozen?" queried Harvey.
"Easily enough. Ram her way through until it is thick enough to stop
her."
"Oh, what fun that will be!" exclaimed Harvey. "How glad I am that we
have a holiday to-day, so we can see it all!"
"Well, take good care of yourself, my boy, and be sure and be back
before dark," said Mr. Silver.
When, according to promise, Andy Martin called for him soon after
breakfast, Harvey dragged him to the dining-room window, and pointing
out the steamer, now coming into the harbour at a good rate of speed,
said gleefully,--
"There's the English mail steamer, Andy, and father says she'll ram her
way up through the ice as far as she possibly can. Won't that be
grand?"
Shortly after, the two boys left the house, and hastened off down Water
Street until they reached a wharf from which they could easily get out
upon the ice. They were both good skaters for their age, strong, sure,
and speedy, and their first proceeding was to dart away across the
harbour, spurting against one another in the first freshness of their
youthful vigour, until they had reached the outer edge of the Dartmouth
wharves. They then thought it was about time to rest a bit and regain
their breath.
"What perfect ice!" gasped Andy. "It's ever so much better than
fresh-water ice, isn't it?"
Harvey, being very much out of breath, simply nodded.
Andy was right, too. Whatever be the reason, the finest ice a skater
can have is that which forms upon salt water. It has good qualities in
which fresh-water ice is altogether lacking.
"Hallo, Andy! there's the steamer," cried Harvey suddenly, having quite
recovered his wind.
Sure enough, just beyond George's Island the great dark hull of the
ocean greyhound was discernible, as with superb majesty she solemnly
pushed her way through the thin, ragged ice which marked where the
current had been too strong for the breastplate to form properly. Full
of impatience to watch the steamer's doings, the two boys hurried toward
her at their best pace, so that in a few minutes they were not far from
her bows, and as far out upon the ice as they thought it safe to
venture.
No doubt it was a rare and thrilling sight, and not only the boys, but
all who were upon the harbour at the time, gathered to witness it. The
steamer was now in the thick, well-knitted ice, and could no longer
force her way onward steadily, so she had to resort to ramming. Her
course lay parallel to the wharves, and about one hundred yards or more
from them. Reversing her engines, she would back slowly down the long
narrow canal made in her onward progress until some hundreds of yards
away; then coming to a halt for a moment, she would begin to go ahead,
at first very slowly, almost imperceptibly, then gradually gathering
speed as the huge screw spun round, sending waves from side to side of
the ice-walled lane; faster and still faster, while the spectators,
thrilling with excitement, held their breath in expectation; faster and
still faster, until at last, with a crash that made even the steamer's
vast frame tremble from stem to stern, the sharp steel bow struck the
icy barrier, and with splintering sound bored its way fiercely through,
but losing a little impetus with every yard gained, so that by the time
the steamer had made her own length her onset was at an end, and
sullenly withdrawing, she had to renew the attack.
As at the beginning, so at the end of the steamer's charge, there was a
moment when she stood perfectly still. This was when all her impetus was
exhausted, and for a brief second she paused before rebounding and
backing away. During this almost imperceptible instant it was just
possible for a swift skater to dart up and touch the bow as it towered
above the ice hard pressed against it. There was absolutely nothing in
such a feat except its daring. Yet--and perhaps for that very
reason--there were those present rash enough to attempt it. Big Ben
Hill, the champion speed skater, was the first, and he succeeded so
admirably that others soon followed his example. Harvey and Andy were
intensely interested spectators as one after another, darting up just at
the right moment, touched with outstretched finger-tips the steamer's
bow, and then, with skilful turn, swung safely out of the way.
[Illustration: "THE ICE OPENED BENEATH HIS VERY FEET."]
"I'm going to try it too," said Andy, under his breath.
"You'll do nothing of the kind, Andy," answered Harvey. "It's just touch
and go every time."
"Yes, I will. Buntie Boggs just did it, and if he can do it, I can,"
returned Andy eagerly.
As he spoke, the steamer came gliding on for another charge. With eyes
flashing, nerves tingling, muscles tense, and heart beating like a
trip-hammer, Andy awaited her onset. Crash, crack, splinter; then
pause--and like an arrow he flew at her bow. Harvey tried to hold him
back, but in vain. Over the smooth ice he shot, and right up to the big
black bow. With a smile of triumph he stretched out his hand,
when--crash! the ice opened suddenly beneath his very feet, and he
pitched headlong into the dark swirling water.
A cry of horror went up from the crowd, and with one impulse they moved
as closely as they dared to the edge of the open water. There was a
moment of agonized silence, then a shout of joy as a fur cap, followed
by a dark body, emerged from the water, and presently Andy's frightened
face was turned imploringly toward them. He could swim well enough, and
keep himself afloat all right; but the steamer retreating along the
narrow canal created a strong current, which bore him after her, and he
was in no slight danger.
"Save him! oh, save him, won't you?" cried Harvey, grasping Ben Hill's
arm imploringly.
"I will that, my lad; never fear."
But how was it to be done? All along the edge of the canal in which
Andy was struggling for life, and for some yards from it, the ice was
cracked and broken into jagged fragments, making it impossible for any
one to approach near enough to the boy to help him out, and for the same
reason he was unable to climb out by himself.
"A rope! a rope! I must have a rope!" shouted Ben Hill, looking eagerly
around him. His quick eye fell upon a schooner lying at the head of a
wharf near by.
"Cheer him up, boys," cried Ben; "I'll be back in a second;" and like a
flash he sped off toward the schooner.
Almost in less time than it takes to tell it he reached her side, sprang
over the low bulwarks on to the deck, snatched up a coil of rope that
lay upon the cabin poop, leaped back to the ice, and with mighty strides
came down toward the water, amid the cheers of the onlookers.
"Look out for yourself, Andy!" Ben shouted, as he drew close to the
canal's edge, coiling the rope for a throw. "Now, then, catch!" and the
long rope went swirling through the air.
A cry of disappointment from the crowd announced that it had fallen
short.
"All right, Andy--better luck next time," called Ben, as he rapidly
recovered the rope for another fling. Venturing a little nearer, and
taking more pains, he flung it out with all his strength, and this time
a shout of joy proclaimed that his aim had been true.
"Put it under your arms," called out Ben.
Letting go the cake of ice to which he had been clinging, Andy slipped
the rope under his arms.
"Now, then, hold tight." And slowly, carefully, hand over hand, big
Ben, with feet braced firmly and muscles straining, drew Andy through
the broken cakes and up upon the firm safe ice. The moment he was out
of danger a shout burst forth from the relieved spectators, and they
crowded eagerly round rescued and rescuer.
"Out of the way there, please! out of the way!" cried Ben, as he
gathered Andy's dripping form up in his arms. "This lad must be beside a
fire as soon as possible."
Fortunately the crew were still on board the schooner from which the
precious rope had been borrowed, and they had a fine fire in the cabin.
Into this warm nook Andy was borne without delay. His wet clothes were
soon stripped off, and he was turned into a bunk until dry ones could be
procured. A messenger was despatched with the news to his home, and
before long his mother, with feelings strangely divided between smiles
and tears, drove down for the boy who had come so near to being lost to
her for ever.
That evening, as Harvey and Andy were sitting by the fireside recounting
for the tenth time the stirring incidents of the day, and voicing
together the praises of big Ben Hill, Andy, with a sly twinkle of the
eye, turned to Harvey, saying, "Do you remember saying to me that it was
a touch and go every time?"
"Yes, Andy; what of it?"
"Well, I was just thinking that in my case I didn't touch, but I
went--under the water, and I won't be in a hurry to try it again."
*THE CAVE IN THE CLIFF.*
"Say, Bruce, don't you think we could manage to put in a whole week up
among the hills this autumn?" asked Fred Harris of Bruce Borden, as the
two friends strolled along together one September afternoon through the
main street of Shelburne, one of the prettiest towns upon the Nova
Scotian sea-board.
"I guess so, Fred," responded Bruce promptly. "Father promised me a
week's holiday to spend any way I chose if I stuck to the shop all
summer, and I've been thinking for some time what I would do. That's a
grand idea of yours. When would we go?"
"About the first of next month would be the best time, wouldn't it? We
could shoot partridges then, you know, and there won't be any mosquitoes
or black flies to bother us."
"All right, Fred. Count me in. I'm just dying for a shot at the
partridges; and, besides, I know of a lake 'way up in the hills where
there are more trout than we could catch in a year, and splendid big
fellows, too! Archie Mack was telling me about it the other day."
"Why, that's the very place I wanted to go to; and it was Archie who
told me about it, too," said Fred. "I'll tell you what, Bruce, we must
get Archie to come with us, and then we'll have a fine time for sure."
"Hooray! You've got the notion now," cried Bruce with delight.
"Archie's a splendid fellow for the woods, and he's such a good shot; he
hardly ever misses. Why, I wouldn't mind meeting a bear if Archie was
present."
"Ah, wouldn't you though, Mr. Bruce!" laughed Fred. "I guess if either
you or I were to come across a bear he'd see more of our heels than our
face. I know I wouldn't stop to make his acquaintance."
"I'll warrant Archie wouldn't run from any bear," said Bruce, "and I'm
not so sure that I would either. However, there's small chance of our
seeing one, so it's not much good talking about it. But I must run back
to the shop now. Won't you come in after tea to-night, and we'll make
our plans?"
Fred promised he would, and went on down the street, while Bruce
returned to his place behind the counter; and if he was a little
absent-minded in attending to the customers, so that he gave Mrs. White
pepper instead of salt, and Mrs. M'Coy tea instead of coffee, we must
not be too hard upon him.
Bruce Borden was the son of one of the most thriving shopkeepers in
Shelburne, and his father, after letting him go to school and the
academy until he was sixteen years of age, had then put an apron on him
and installed him behind the counter, there to learn the management of
the business, which he promised him would be Robert Borden and Son in
due time if Bruce took hold of it in the right way. And Bruce did take
hold. He was a bright, active, energetic lad, with a pleasant manner,
and made an excellent clerk, pleasing his father so well that as the
first year's apprenticeship was drawing to a close, Mr. Borden, quite of
his own accord, made glad Bruce's heart by saying that he might soon
have a whole week's holiday to do what he liked with, before settling
down to the winter's work.
Bruce's friend, Fred Harris, as the son of a wealthy mill-owner who held
mortgages on half the farms in the neighbourhood, did not need to go
behind a counter, but, on the contrary, went to college about the same
time that Bruce put on his apron. He was now at home for the vacation,
which would not end until the last of October. He was a lazy, luxurious
kind of a chap, although not lacking either in mind or muscle, as he had
shown more than once when the occasion demanded it. Bruce and he had
been playmates from the days of short frocks, and were very strongly
attached to one another. They rarely disagreed, and when they did, made
it up again as soon as possible.
In accordance with his promise, Fred Harris came to Mr. Borden's shop
that same evening just before they were closing up, bringing Archie Mack
with him; and after the shutters had been put on and everything arranged
for the night, the three boys sat down to perfect their plans for the
proposed hunting excursion to the hills.
Archie Mack bore quite a different appearance from his companions. He
was older, to begin with, and much taller, his long sinewy frame
betokening a more than usual amount of strength and activity, he had
only of late come to Shelburne, the early part of his life having been
spent on one of the pioneer farms among the hills, where he had become
almost as good a woodsman as an Indian, seeming to be able to find his
way without difficulty through what looked like trackless wilderness,
and to know everything about the birds in the air, the beasts on the
ground, or the fish in the waters. This knowledge, of course, made him
a good deal of a hero among the town boys, and they regarded
acquaintance with him as quite a privilege, particularly as, being of a
reserved, retiring nature, like all true backwoodsmen, it was not easy
to get on intimate terms with him. He was now employed at Mr. Harris's
big lumber-mill, and was in high favour with his master because of the
energy and fidelity with which he attended to his work.
"Now then, Fred, let's to business," said Bruce, as they took possession
of the chairs in the back office. "When shall we start, and what shall
we take?"
"Archie's the man to answer these questions," answered Fred. "I move
that we appoint him commander-in-chief of the expedition, with full
power to settle everything."
"You'd better make sure that I can go first," said Archie. "It won't do
to be counting your chickens before they're hatched."
"Oh, there's no fear of that," replied Fred. "Father promised me he'd
give you a week's holiday so that we could go hunting together some time
this autumn, and he never fails to keep his promises."
"All right then, Fred, if you say so. I'm only too willing to go with
you, you may be sure. So let us proceed to business," said Archie. And
for the next hour or more the three tongues wagged very busily as all
sorts of plans were proposed, discussed, accepted, or rejected, Archie,
of course, taking the lead in the consultation, and usually having the
final say.
At length everything was settled so far as it could be then, and, very
well satisfied with the result of their deliberations, the boys parted
for the night. As soon as he got home, Fred Harris told his father all
about it, and readily obtained his consent to giving Archie a week's
leave. There was, therefore, nothing more to be done than to get their
guns and other things ready, and await the coming of the 1st of October
with all the patience at their command.
October is a glorious month in Nova Scotia. The sun shines down day
after day from an almost cloudless sky; the air is clear, cool, and
bracing without being keen; the ground is dry and firm; the forests are
decked in a wonderful garb of gold and flame interwoven with green whose
richness and beauty defy description, and beneath which a wealth of wild
fruit and berries, cherries, plums, Indian pears, blackberries,
huckleberries, blueberries, and pigeon-berries tempts you at every step
by its luscious largess. But for the sportsman there are still greater
attractions in the partridges which fly in flocks among the trees, and
the trout and salmon which Hash through the streams, ready victims for
rod or gun.
Early in the morning of the last day in September the three boys set out
for the hills. It would be a whole day's drive, for their waggon was
pretty heavily loaded with tent, stove, provisions, bedding, ammunition,
and other things, and, moreover, the road went up-hill all the way. So
steep, indeed, were some of the ascents that they found it necessary to
relieve the waggon of their weight, or the horse could hardly have
reached the top. But all this was fun to them. They rode or walked as
the case required; talked till their tongues were tired about what they
hoped to do; laughed at Prince and Oscar, their two dogs--one a fine
English setter, the other a nondescript kind of hound--as they scoured
the woods on either side of the road with great airs of importance;
scared the squirrels that stopped for a peep at the travellers by
snapping caps at them; and altogether enjoyed themselves greatly.
Just as the evening shadows were beginning to fall they reached the farm
on which Archie Mack's father lived, where they were to spend the night,
and to leave their waggon until their return from camp. Mr. Mack gave
them a hearty welcome and a bountiful backwoods supper of fried chicken,
corn-cake, butter-milk, and so forth, for which they had most
appreciative appetites; and soon after, thoroughly tired out, they
tumbled into bed to sleep like tops until the morning.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Time to get up! Out of bed with you!" rang through
the house the next morning, as Archie Mack, who was the first to waken,
proceeded to waken everybody else.
"Oh dear, how sleepy I am!" groaned Fred Harris, rubbing his eyes, and
feeling as though he had been asleep only a few minutes.
"Up, everybody, no time to waste!" shouted Archie again; and with great
reluctance the other two boys, dragging themselves out on the floor, got
into their clothes as quickly as they could.
Breakfast wras hurriedly despatched, and soon after, with all their
belongings packed on an old two-wheeled cart drawn by a patient
sure-footed ox, and driven by Mr. Mack himself, the little party made
their way through the woods to their camping-ground, which was to be on
the shore of the lake Archie had been telling them about. Without much
difficulty they found a capital spot for their tent. Mr. Mack helped
them to put it up and get everything in order, and then bade them
good-bye, promising to return in six days to take them all back again.
The first four days passed away without anything of special note
happening. They had glorious weather, fine fishing, and very successful
shooting. They waded in the water, tramped through the woods, ate like
Eskimos, and slept like stones, getting browner and fatter every day, as
nothing occurred to mar the pleasure of their camp out. On the afternoon
of the fourth day they all went off in different directions, Fred taking
Prince the setter with him, Bruce the hound Oscar, and Archie going
alone. When they got back to camp that evening Bruce had a wonderful
story to tell. Here it is in his own words:--
"Tell you what it is, fellows, we've a big contract on hand for
to-morrow. You know that run which comes into the lake at the upper
end. Well, I thought I'd follow it up and see where it leads to; so on
I went for at least a couple of miles till I came to a big cliff. I
felt a little tired, and sat down on a boulder to rest a bit. Oscar
kept running around with his nose at the ground as if he suspected
something. All of a sudden he stopped short, sniffed very hard, and
then with a loud, long howl rushed off to the cliff, and began to climb
a kind of ledge that gave him a foothold. I followed him as best I
could; but it wasn't easy work, I can tell you. Up he went, and up I
scrambled after him, till at last he stopped where there was a sort of
shelf, and at the end of it a big hole in the rock that looked very much
like a cave. He ran right up to the hole and began to bark with all his
might. I went up pretty close, too, wondering what on earth Oscar was
so excited about, when, the first thing I knew, one bear's head and then
another poked out of the hole, and snarled fiercely at Oscar. I tell
you, boys, it just made me creep, and I didn't wait for another look,
but tumbled down that ledge again as fast as I could and made for camp
on the dead run. It was not my day for bears."
"You're a wise chap, Bruce," said Archie, clapping him on the back.
"You couldn't have done much damage with that shot-gun, even if you had
stayed to introduce yourself. I'm awfully glad you've found the cave.
Father told me about these bears, and said he'd give a sovereign for
their tails. There's an old she-bear and two half-grown cubs. I guess
it was the cubs you saw. The old woman must have been out visiting."
"If I'd known that they were only cubs I might have tried a dose of
small shot on them," said Bruce regretfully.
"It's just as well you didn't," answered Archie. "We'll pay our
respects to them to-morrow. I'll take my rifle, and you two load up
with ball in both barrels, and then we'll be ready for business."
So it was all arranged in that way, and then, almost too excited to
sleep, the three lads settled down for the night, which could not be too
short to please them.
They were up bright and early the next morning, bolted a hasty
breakfast, and then proceeded to clean and load their guns with the
utmost care. Fred and Bruce each had fine double-barrelled guns, in one
barrel of which they put a bullet, and in the other a heavy load of
buckshot. Archie had his father's rifle, and a very good one it was,
which he well knew how to use. Besides this each carried a keen-bladed
hunting-knife in his belt.
Thus armed and accoutred they set forth full of courage and in high
spirits. They had no difficulty in finding and following Bruce's course
the day before, for Oscar, who seemed to thoroughly understand what they
were about, led them straight to the foot of the cliff, and would have
rushed right up to the cave again if Archie had not caught him and tied
him to a boulder. Then they sat down to study the situation. For them
to go straight up the ledge with the chance of the old bear charging
down upon them any moment would be foolhardy in the extreme. They must
find out some better way than that of besieging the bears' stronghold.
"Hurrah!" exclaimed Archie, after studying the face of the cliff
earnestly. "I have it! Do you see that ledge over there to the left?
If we go round to the other side of the cliff we can get on that ledge
most likely, and it'll take us to right over the shelf where the cave
is. We'll try it, anyway."
Holding Oscar tight, they crept cautiously around the foot of the cliff,
and up at the left, until they reached the point Archie meant. There,
sure enough, they found the ledge two sharp eyes had discovered, and it
evidently led over toward the cave just as he hoped. Once more tying
the dog, who looked up at them in surprised protest, but was too well
trained to make any noise, the boys made their way slowly along the
narrow ledge, until at last they came to a kind of niche from which they
could look straight down upon the shelf, now only about fifteen feet
below them.
"Splendid, boys!" whispered Archie, gripping Fred's arm. "We're as safe
as a church-mouse here, and they can't poke their noses out of the cave
without our seeing them."