THE HOSPITALITIES OF OAKLAWN.
The boys all had remarkably good appetites, and therefore dinner was no
unimportant event in the experience of the day. Somehow, boys contrive
to be hungry at almost all times of the day, even without the stimulus
of pulling three hours at an oar. There was something, too, in the
circumstance of dining in a beautiful grove, on the bank of the river,
with their boats floating near them, which rendered the occasion
peculiarly pleasant--which made their cold meat, doughnuts, and apple
pie taste much better than usual.
But the adventure was not yet completed. The head waters of navigation
had not been reached, and their love of exploring did not permit them to
spend any unnecessary time over the meal. Tony and his oarsmen had
reported themselves at the grove, and after "bolting" their dinner, had
resumed their occupation; and the boys perceived the Dip half a mile up
the river before they were ready to start.
"All aboard!" said Frank; and the crews, hastily gathering up their tin
pails, and their baskets, tumbled into the boats.
The Zephyr led off, followed by the other boats of the squadron.
"I see no buoys ahead," said Frank, after they had advanced some
distance. "The navigation must be unobstructed."
"It looks like deep water," answered Charles.
"And Tony's crew are pulling very hard; they are going faster than we
do."
"He is trying to gain time against he reaches a bad place. There he goes
round the bend. Were you ever up here before, Frank?"
"I have been to Oaklawn, which is about four miles from Rippleton. Of
course I never came up the river."
"Wouldn't it be fine if we could get up to Oaklawn?"
"Perhaps we can."
"This is smooth work," continued Frank. "Can't we give a little variety
to the excursion?"
"What?"
"Hoist the yellow, signalman," replied the commodore. "We will pull a
while in sections of two, and sing some songs."
Obedient to the signal, the boats of the fleet came into the order
prescribed, and the boys waked up the hills and the woods with the
earnestness of their song. It was a beautiful and cheering sight to see
them gliding over the clear waters, while their voices mingled with
those of the songsters which nature had given to the hillside and the
forest. Their hearts were glad, and in beautiful unison with the scene
around them.
"Rapids!" exclaimed Frank, when the boat reached the bend. "Up with the
blue!"
"Steady!" added Charles. "Pull slowly."
"Tony has been very busy," continued Frank, pointing to the buoys, that
speckled the waters. I am afraid the cruise is about up."
"Tony has passed the rapids. You know steamboats go down the rapids on
the St. Lawrence River."
"Ah, there is Oaklawn," said Frank, pointing to the spire of a church in
the distance. "We cannot go much farther, I know."
"We have made nearly four miles."
What the commodore had styled "rapids" were not a very formidable
difficulty. Near one bank was a ledge of rocks, over which the waters
dashed with considerable energy; but though there was the same descent
on the other side, no obstruction appeared to check them from attempting
the passage. Tony had accomplished it, and had left no warning to deter
them.
"Shall we go through, Frank?"
"Ay; bend on sharp, and she will leap up like a fawn. Now for it!"
The Zephyrs applied all their strength to the oars, and the boat darted
up the rapids with no other detriment than taking in two or three
pailfuls of water.
The rest of the fleet followed, with the exception of the Lily, without
accident; and she, not having sufficient headway, was carried down
again. By the skill of her coxswain, however, she was saved from damage,
and her second attempt was successful.
The navigation was again tolerably safe, and for half a mile they
proceeded on their way without interruption.
"There's a bridge," said Charles, pointing ahead.
"And there is the Dip, with the red hoisted. Tony seems to have given
it up. He has made fast to the bridge."
On the shore was a crowd of men and boys, who were holding a parley with
the pilot of the expedition; but when they saw the squadron approaching
they seemed petrified with astonishment. The boys thrust their hands
deep in their trousers' pockets, and with mouths wide open stared in
speechless wonder. The arrival of Columbus on the shores of the new
world could not have been more astounding to the natives than was the
coming of the Wood Lake squadron to the boys of Oaklawn.
"Sheer off, Charley, to the port side of the river, and we will come
into line. The river is wide enough here, I believe. Up with the green!"
On dashed the boats in the rear till they came into the line. The river
widened into a kind of pond; but the line stretched clear across
it--making a very imposing appearance.
"Slowly; cease--rowing!" continued Frank. "Ready--up!" and the
sixty-eight oars of the fleet glittered in the sunshine before the
astonished Oaklawners, who were gathered in great numbers on the shore
and bridge.
"Well, Tony, the cruise is up," said Frank, when the Dip came into line.
"Yes," replied the pilot, pointing under the bridge, where the river
dashed its foaming waters down a long reach of half-exposed rocks. "We
can't get over those."
"No; and we may as well land and take a look at Oaklawn. Hoist the
orange. Ready--down!"
Each boat landed its crew at a convenient place, and they were then
marshaled into a procession. They were formed in sections of four, each
crew preceded by its coxswain, with one of the flags on each side of
him. The commodore marched at the head of the company, and in this order
they proceeded through the principal street of the village. Of course
their appearance excited a great deal of wonder, and not a little
admiration. Several of the principal citizens, unwilling that their
guests should depart unwelcomed, got up an _impromptu_ reception, and
the clubs were invited to the Town Hall, where some very pretty speeches
were made by the chairman of the Selectmen, of the School Committee, the
representative to the General Court, and other distinguished
individuals; to whom the commodore replied with a great deal of dignity
and self-possession.
While the speeches were proceeding, the ladies were not idle; and the
boys were next invited to a collation on the green; after which they
marched back to the river and re-embarked. Three times three cheers were
given for the people of Oaklawn, and the word was given to pull for
home.
The boys of the village were not so ready to part with them, and some
twenty of them followed the boats, on the bank of the river.
"I say, Frank, these folks were very kind to us," Charles remarked.
"They were, indeed."
"And the boys seem to enjoy it."
"I suppose not many of them ever saw our boats before."
"Suppose we take them in; they will be very willing to walk home, say
from the grove where we dined, for the sake of the sail."
"Good! I didn't think of that before. Up with the orange!"
The boats landed, and the astonished Oaklawn boys were distributed among
them. They seemed to regard the favor as an unexpected condescension,
and their delight knew no bounds. As Little Paul expressed it, "they
were tickled half to death"; and when they reached the grove it was a
sad and bitter disappointment for them to get out and go home.
"I was thinking of something," said Charles, a little while after they
had landed their passengers.
"What was it, Charley?" replied the commodore.
"That we might invite the boys of Oaklawn to spend a day with us on the
lake."
"Capital!"
"We could give them a picnic on Center Island."
"We will do it; and now that we know the river we can easily come up as
far as the grove after them."
"Or up to the rapids; there is no danger this side of them."
This plan was discussed in all its details, and everything was agreed
upon by the time they reached the lake. The passage down the river had
been much quicker than the upward trip, and before sunset the boats were
all housed, and the clubs had separated.
On the following week the courtesies of the club were extended to the
boys of Oaklawn, as arranged by the commodore, and a very fine time they
had of it. Their guests, numbering over forty, were entertained in every
conceivable manner--the day's sports concluding with a grand race, in
which all the boats were entered, and in which the Butterfly won the
honors.
A new program was made up every week during the vacation. Lighthouses
were built, channels surveyed, shores charted; indeed, everything which
the ingenuity of the boys could devise was brought forward to add fresh
interest to the sports of the lake.
And thus the season passed away, and winter came again. The fleet was
laid up, and the useful and pleasant recreations of the club rooms were
substituted for the active excitement of boating. Lectures were given,
essays were read, debates held, every week; and the progress of the boys
out of school, as well as within, was highly satisfactory to all
concerned.