It was some time before the canoes were ready, and in the mean time the
young canoeists met with a new difficulty. The canoe-builders wrote to
them wishing to know how they would have the canoes rigged. It had never
occurred to the boys that there was more than one rig used on canoes,
and of course they did not know how to answer the builders' question. So
they went to the Commodore, and told him their difficulty.
"I might do," said he, "just as I did when I told you to go and ask four
different canoeists which is the best canoe; but I won't put you to that
trouble. I rather like the Lord Ross lateen rig better than any other,
but as you are going to try different kinds of canoes, it would be a
good idea for you to try different rigs. For example, have your 'Rob
Roy' rigged with lateen sails; rig the 'Shadow' with a balance lug; the
'Rice Laker' with a sharpie leg-of-mutton, and the canvas canoe with the
standing lug. Each one of these rigs has its advocates, who will prove
to you that it is better than any other, and you can't do better than to
try them all. Only be sure to tell the builders that every canoe must
have two masts, and neither of the two sails must be too big to be
safely handled."
"How does it happen that every canoeist is so perfectly certain that he
has the best canoe and the best rig in existence?" asked Tom.
"That is one of the great merits of canoeing," replied the Commodore.
"It makes every man contented, and develops in him decision of
character. I've known a canoeist to have a canoe so leaky that he spent
half his time bailing her out, and rigged in such a way that she would
neither sail nor do anything in a breeze except capsize; and yet he was
never tired of boasting of the immense superiority of his canoe. There's
a great deal of suffering in canoeing," continued the Commodore,
musingly, "but its effects on the moral character are priceless. My dear
boys, you have no idea how happy and contented you will be when you are
wet through, cramped and blistered, and have to go into camp in a heavy
rain, and without any supper except dry crackers."
While the boys were waiting for their canoes, they read all the books on
canoeing that they could find; and searched through a dozen volumes of
the London _Field_, which they found in Uncle John's library, for
articles and letters on canoeing. They thus learned a good deal, and
when their canoes arrived, they were able to discuss their respective
merits with a good degree of intelligence.
The "Rob Roy" and the "Shadow" were built with white cedar planks and
Spanish cedar decks. They shone with varnish, and their nickel-plated
metal-work was as bright as silver. They were decidedly the prettiest of
the four canoes, and it would have been very difficult to decide which
was the prettier of the two. The "Rice Laker" was built without timbers
or a keel, and was formed of two thicknesses of planking riveted
together, the grain of the inner planking crossing that of the outer
planking at right angles. She looked strong and serviceable, and before
Tom had been in possession of her half an hour he was insisting that she
was much the handiest canoe of the squadron, simply because she had no
deck. The outside planks were of butternut, but they were pierced with
so many rivets that they did not present so elegant an appearance as did
the planks of the "Shadow" and the "Rob Roy." The canvas canoe consisted
of a wooden skeleton frame, covered and decked with painted canvas. She
was very much the same in model as the "Shadow," and though she seemed
ugly in comparison with her varnished sisters, Charley claimed that he
would get more comfort out of his canoe than the other boys would out of
theirs, for the reason that scratches that would spoil the beauty of the
varnished wood could not injure the painted canvas. Thus each boy was
quite contented, and insisted that he would not change canoes with
anybody. They were equally contented with the way in which their canoes
were rigged, and they no longer wondered at the confident way in which
the canoeists to whom the Commodore had introduced them spoke of the
merits of their respective boats.
Of course the subject of names for the canoes had been settled long
before the canoes arrived. Joe had named his "Rob Roy" the _Dawn_;
Harry's canoe was the _Sunshine_; Tom's the _Twilight_; and Charley's
the _Midnight_. The last name did not seem particularly appropriate to a
canoe, but it was in keeping with the other names, and as the canoe was
painted black, it might have been supposed to have some reference to her
color.
The boys had intended to join the American Canoe Association, but Uncle
John suggested that they would do well to make a cruise, and to become
real canoeists before asking for admission to the association. They then
decided to form a canoe club of their own, which they did; and Harry was
elected the first Commodore of the Columbian Canoe Club, the flag of
which was a pointed burgee of blue silk with a white paddle worked upon
it. Each canoe carried its private signal in addition to the club flag,
and bore its name in gilt letters on a blue ground on each bow.
Where to cruise was a question which was decided and reconsidered half a
dozen times. From the books which they had read the boys had learned
that there is, if anything, more fun in cruising on a narrow stream than
in sailing on broad rivers; that running rapids is a delightful sport,
and that streams should always be descended instead of ascended in a
canoe. They therefore wanted to discover a narrow stream with safe and
easy rapids, and also to cruise on some lake or wide river where they
could test the canoes under sail and under paddle in rough water. They
learned more of the geography of the Eastern States and of Canada, in
searching the map for a good cruising route, than they had ever learned
at school; and they finally selected a route which seemed to combine all
varieties of canoeing.
The cruise was to begin at the southern end of Lake Memphremagog, in
Vermont. On this lake, which is thirty miles long, the young canoeists
expected to spend several days, and to learn to handle the canoes under
sail. From the northern end of the lake, which is in Canada, they
intended to descend its outlet, the Magog River, which is a narrow
stream emptying into the St. Francis River at Sherbrooke. From
Sherbrooke the St. Francis was to be descended to the St. Lawrence, down
which the canoes were to sail to Quebec. They wrote to the post-master
at Sherbrooke, asking him if the Magog and the St. Francis were
navigable by canoes, and when he replied that there was one or two
rapids in the Magog, which they could easily run, they were more than
ever satisfied with their route.
The previous cruises that the boys had made had taught them what stores
and provisions were absolutely necessary, and what could be spared. Each
canoe was provided with a water-proof bag to hold a blanket and dry
clothes, and with a pair of small cushions stuffed with elastic felt, a
material lighter than cork, and incapable of retaining moisture. These
cushions were to be used as mattresses at night, and the rubber blankets
were to be placed over the canoes and used as shelter tents. Although
the mattresses would have made excellent life-preservers, Uncle John
presented each canoeist with a rubber life-belt, which could be buckled
around the waist in a few seconds in case of danger of a capsize. Harry
provided his canoe with a canvas canoe tent, made from drawings
published in the London _Field_, but the others decided not to go to the
expense of making similar tents until Harry's should have been
thoroughly tested.
When all was ready, the blankets and stores were packed in the
_Sunshine_, the cockpit of which was provided with hatches which could
be locked up, thus making the canoe serve the purpose of a trunk. The
four canoes were then sent by rail to Newport, at the southern end of
Lake Memphremagog, and a week later the boys followed them, carrying
their paddles by hand, for the reason that if they had been sent with
the canoes, and had been lost or stolen, it would have been impossible
to start on the cruise until new paddles had been procured.
Newport was reached, after an all-night journey, at about ten o'clock in
the morning. The canoeists went straight to the freight-house to inspect
the canoes. They were all there, resting on the heads of a long row of
barrels, and were apparently all right. The varnish of the _Dawn_ and
the _Sunshine_ was scratched in a few places, and the canvas canoe had a
very small hole punched through her deck, as if she had been too
intimate with a nail in the course of her journey. The boys were,
however, well satisfied with the appearance of the boats, and, being
very hungry, walked up to the hotel to get dinner and a supply of
sandwiches, bread, and eggs for their supper.
Dinner was all ready, for, under the name of breakfast, it was waiting
for the passengers of the train, which made a stop of half an hour at
Newport. A band was playing on the deck of a steamer which was just
about to start down the lake, and the boys displayed such appetites, and
called for so many things, as they sat near the open window looking out
on the beautiful landscape, that they astonished the waiter.
A good, quiet place for launching the canoes was found, which was both
shady and out of sight of the hotel. It was easy enough to carry the
three empty canoes down to the shore; but the _Sunshine_, with her heavy
cargo, proved too great a load, and about half-way between the
freight-house and the shore she had to be laid on the ground and partly
emptied. Here Joe, who tried to carry the spars and paddles of four
canoes on his shoulder, found that there is nothing more exasperating
than a load of sticks of different sizes. No matter how firmly he tried
to hold them together, they would spread apart at every imaginable
angle.
Before he had gone three rods he looked like some new kind of porcupine
with gigantic quills sticking out all over him. Then he began to drop
things, and, stooping to pick them up, managed to trip himself and fall
with a tremendous clatter. He picked himself up, and made sixteen
journeys between the spot where he fell and the shore of the lake,
carrying only one spar at a time, and grasping that with both hands. His
companions sat down on the grass and laughed to see the deliberate way
in which he made his successive journeys, but Joe, with a perfectly
serious face, said that he was going to get the better of those spars,
no matter how much trouble it might cost him, and that he was not going
to allow them to get together and play tricks on him again.
It was tiresome stooping over, packing the canoes, but finally they were
all in order, and the Commodore gave the order to launch them. The lake
was perfectly calm, and the little fleet started under paddle for a long
sandy point that jutted out into the lake some three miles from Newport.
The _Sunshine_ and the _Dawn_ paddled side by side, and the two other
canoes followed close behind them.
"'Boys, isn't this perfectly elegant?" exclaimed Harry, laying down his
paddle when the fleet was about a mile from the shore, and bathing his
hot head with water from the lake. "Did you ever see anything so lovely
as the blue water?"
"Yes," said Charley; "the water's all right outside of the canoes, but
I'd rather have a little less inside of mine."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry. "Is she leaking?"
[Illustration: "SHE'S HALF FULL OF WATER."]
"She's half full of water, that's all," replied Charley, beginning to
bail vigorously with his hat.
"Halloo!" cried Joe, suddenly. "Here's the water up to the top of my
cushions."
"We'd better paddle on and get ashore as soon as possible," said Harry;
"my boat is leaking a little too."
Charley bailed steadily for ten minutes, and somewhat reduced the amount
of water in his canoe. The moment he began paddling, however, the leak
increased. He paddled with his utmost strength, knowing that if he did
not soon reach land he would be swamped; but the water-logged canoe was
very heavy, and he could not drive her rapidly through the water. His
companions kept near him, and advised him to drop his paddle and bail,
but he knew that the water was coming in faster than he could bail it
out, and so he wasted no time in the effort. It soon became evident that
his canoe would never keep afloat to reach the sand-spit for which he
had been steering, so he turned aside and paddled for a little clump of
bushes, where he knew the water must be shallow. Suddenly he stopped
paddling, and almost at the same moment his canoe sank under him, and he
sprang up to swim clear of her.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]