waving farewells. There they stood till the vessel rounded a promontory
which shut them from sight.
They were on their way to Pratt’s Cove.
XI.
_Pratt’s Cove.--A Dinner Party.--The faithless Cook and
Steward.--Songs.--Sudden and startling Interruption.--Stealing a
Wood-pile.--Overwhelming Piece of Intelligence._
THE wind and tide were both, rather unfavorable, and it was late before
they reached Pratt’s Cove. This place is formed by the bed of a creek
which runs up from the bay, and, like all the streams of these waters,
is subject to very great variations, being fordable at low tide, but
at high tide deep enough to float a ship. It was half tide when they
arrived, and the schooner was able to run a little way up the stream,
where she anchored. It was quite dark, but they could see that the
nearest land was a projecting point, clear of trees, and promising
a pleasanter camping-ground than the hold of the schooner. It was
therefore unanimously decided to go ashore, kindle a fire, and pass as
festive an evening as possible. The shore was close by, and in a very
short time they were all out of the vessel. Plenty of fuel lay there in
the shape of a long pile of dry birch wood which lay heaped up along
the shore. To this they helped themselves, kindled an enormous fire, and
were soon seated around it, waiting for their evening repast.
At the outset of the trip, Johnny Blue and Sammy Ram
Ram had been appointed steward and cook, owing to their personal
application for those very honorable offices. Their duties had been very
light; in fact, partly on account of rough weather, and partly owing
to the anxiety of the previous day, there had been little or no occasion
for their services. It was therefore expected that on the present
occasion they would surpass themselves and astonish everybody by the
brilliancy of their performance. As the party sat round the fire waiting
for their repast, they all anticipated something of extraordinary
excellence, and were impatient for the banquet to begin. Sammy and
Johnny Blue, however, made no very great haste. In fact, it seemed to
some that they were astonishingly slow, if not reluctant. Slowly they
turned over the things, slowly they opened and shut the boxes and
baskets, and very slowly indeed they took out the dishes.
“See here, you fellows,” cried Bruce, suddenly. “You don’t appear to be
aware of the fact that we’re all starving.”
“Hurry up your cakes!” cried another.
“Come, be quick about it, Sammy Ram Ram! What’s the use of being so
particular?”
“Tumble out the things any way! We don’t want a regular set table.”
Sammy and Johnny quickened their motions a little, and said they would
be ready “in a minute.”
Meanwhile Messrs. Simmons and Long, assisted by the devoted Bogud,
had been sorting their minerals’ in a general way, and wrapping each
specimen in paper. Two good-sized baskets were filled, and many of them
were very fine indeed. There were some fern prints, and some tracks of
birds on sandstone, which Mr. Long had found, and which he regarded with
the tenderest admiration. There was a very excellent amethyst, found by
Mr. Simmons, some mica, some barytes, and, above all, a piece of quartz,
in which faint flecks of gold were visible. It was taken from a vein
which ran up the cliff, and was a foot or more in thickness. It seemed
to promise a rich gold harvest to any one who might choose to try
gold-crushing in so remote a place.
The tender interest excited by all these treasures, and the occupation
of putting them into separate baskets, had so fully engrossed their
thoughts, that they had not noticed any particular delay. At last,
however, the work was done; and then it was that Mr. Long thought about
the claims of appetite.
He started to his feet.
“What!” he cried, as he looked around; “not ready yet? Why, what’s the
matter?”
“In a minute,” said Sammy Ram Ram.
“Yes, yes--in a minute,” chimed in Johnny Blue.
“A minute? Well, that’s longer than I can wait. So come along, all
of us!” said Mr. Long, advancing to the place where a cloth had been
spread. The rest all followed.
There was a very meagre repast--in fact, but the beginning of a
repast--before them.
“Come, hurry up!” said Mr. Long, as he and Mr. Simmons, followed by the
rest, threw themselves on the grass around the table-cloth. “Fetch along
some of the turkey and chickens quick!” There was no response. Sammy and
Johnny both stood looking excessively guilty.
“Come, hurry up! We can’t eat ham and-biscuit. Why, what’s the matter?”
“Why--there--there isn’t any,” stammered Sammy.
“What’s that?” cried Mr. Long.
“The turkey--it’s all gone, sir.”
“Gone!” cried Mr. Long, in amazement. “What do you mean?”
And twelve astonished faces confronted the cook and steward.
“Why, sir,” said the cook, “you see we ate a good many before we
started.”
“Yes, sir. There were eight turkeys eaten that evening and next
morning.”
“And fifteen chickens, sir.”
“And ten mince pies,” added the steward, gathering courage at the sound
of his own voice.
“And all the cheese,” responded the cook. “And most of the tarts.”
“And a good deal of the cake.”
“And a good many of the ham sandwiches, and half of the eggs, and--”
“And ever so much ginger beer.”
“The boys were, eating, sir, steadily through the night.”
“And through the next day, till they got sick, and couldn’t eat any
more.”
To this all present listened in the utmost astonishment, and without
saying a single word.
“So we ate most of the things before we left--did we?” asked Mr. Long,
with a sour smile. “Yes, sir.”
“How many turkeys did we leave with?”
“Seven, sir.”
“And how many chickens?”
“Four, sir.”
“And how many mince pies?”
“Eight, sir.”
“Have we eaten all these since?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well,” said Jiggins, “all day yesterday I only ate one ham sandwich,
and to-day only a turkey drumstick, except at O’Rafferty’s.”
“I ate a mince pie yesterday,” said Billymack “and another one
to-day--that’s all.”
“Well, well, I’m not inquiring into what you ate, boys,” said Mr. Long,
good-humoredly. “I was only amazed to find that our stores had gone so
fast. We’ll have to live on clams, or go home, unless we can buy some
provisions here. Well, well,” he concluded, with a sigh, “we’ll have to
attack this ham bone. Here, cook; isn’t there any more ham left?”
“One more, sir.”
“Any pie?”
“A half of a mince pie, sir.”
“Hm--well--we’ll have to wait till to-morrow--that’s all. It’s my own
fault, I suppose. I didn’t make allowance for the appetites of growing
boys.”
“Especially of the cook and steward,” growled Bogud.
They had to bear with their disappointment as best they could. The cook
and steward looked very meek and subdued, for though nothing was said,
yet they felt that they were under a ban. The repast consisted of
nothing but bread and butter, and ham, and cold water. But still, as
they all had excellent appetites, they ate with a relish what was before
them, and had no trouble, except about provisioning the ship for the
future. It was tacitly understood, however, that Sammy Ram Ram and
Johnny Blue should be henceforth relieved from these onerous and
responsible duties. The repast was at length finished, and Messrs.
Simmons and Long went aside to take another look at their beloved
specimens, and speculate upon the probabilities of gold-mining at the
Five Islands. The others sat round the fire. Captain Corbet sat, with
a patriarchal smile, surveying the young faces around him. The mate sat
among a crowd of noisy lads, who were trying to draw him out.
“Yes,” he said, in continuation of some statement which he was making,
“it’s true. I’m tellin’--”
“And that’s your name--is it?” asked Billymack.
“My name’s Wade,” said the mate, “an’ my old ’oman’s name’s Gipson;
and ye’ll not find many of that name in this counthry. No, sir.”
“But how can your name be Wade, and your old ’oman’s name be Gipson?”
“How? because my name _is_ Wade, and me old ’oman’s name _is_
Gipson.”
“But she’s your wife--ain’t she?”
“My own wife--married be me brother the praste.”
“Then she must be Mrs. Wade.”
“I tell ye her name’s Gipson.”
“If she’s your wife, she must be named Wade.”
“I tell ye _me_ name’s Wade, and me old ’oman’s name’s Gipson; an’
ye’ll not find many o’ that name in this counthry.”
And so the mate prosed on, unable to see that his wife’s name was the
same as his own.
And now fresh wood was heaped upon the fire. Some went off and gathered
brush, and the bright, flaring flame burst forth, rising far into the
sky, and throwing a vivid light. Then they all sat round’ it, watching
the flames as they shot up and illuminated the scene, throwing a gleam
of radiance across the water, and lighting up the old schooner as she
lay afloat.
Then a song was proposed. Captain Corbet opened the proceedings by one
of his own peculiar harmonies, which was received with loud laughter and
cheers. Others then, sang; and finally they called on Bart for “Bingo,”
a favorite song with all. So Bart sang Bingo, and they all joined in the
chorus.
“A farmer’s dog sat on the floor,
And his name was little Bingo;
A farmer’s dog sat on the floor,
And his name was little Bingo.
Bart. B!
Bruce. I!!
Arthur. Nil!
Tom. G!!!!
Omnes. O! O! O! O! O!
‘And his name was little Bingo!
“This farmer he brewed right good ale,
And called it rare old Stingo;
This farmer he brewed right good ale,
And called it rare old-Stingo.
Bart. S!
Bruce. T!!
Arthur. I!!!
Tom. N !!!!
Phil. G!!!!!
Omnes. O! O! O! O! O!
And called it rare old Stingo!
Bart. “Now, don’t you call this a merry tale?
Omnes. We think it is, by jingo!
Bart. O, don’t you call this a merry tale?
Omnes. We think it is, by jingo!
Bart. J!
Bruce. I!!
Arthur.
Tom.
Omnes. NO! O! O! O! O!
“We think it is, by jingo!”
As the last chorus, roared out in tremendous tones, burst into the air
and ceased, it was followed by a sudden roar of thundering laughter
coming from some strange voice from the direction of the wood-pile. In
an instant every one had started to his feet, and looked in amazement
for the cause of the noise.
There, on the top of the wood-pile, stood a stout, burly, red-faced
man, laughing, and stamping, and clapping his hands. It was a long
time before he could gain breath, to speak. At length he conquered his
laughter, and shaking his fist, he bawled out,--
“See here, you young rascals! What do you mean by coming here and
burning up my wood? Hey!”
At this Mr. Long came forward, and Captain Corbet followed. Mr. Long
introduced himself, explained the situation, apologized, and offered to
pay.
This the stranger laughingly listened to.
“Pooh, pooh! Mr. Long. I’m delighted to see you, sir,” he said. “Don’t
apologize for the wood. You’re welcome to all of it. I’m Captain Pratt,
and I want you to come up to my house, and put up there as long as
you like. As for the wood, I’ll give you free liberty to burn it, on
condition that the boys sing that song again.”
Captain Pratt now advanced among them, and his bluff manner, hearty
laughter, and stentorian voice at once made him a great favorite. He
informed them that he was the owner of the cove and all the region round
about; that he had a sawmill up the stream; that he had a schooner which
was away; and finally he insisted that they all should go at once to
his house, and take up their quarters there for as long a time as they
liked.
This invitation was unanimously accepted, with thanks from the teachers
and cheers from the boys. So, leaving Captain Corbet and the mate to
extinguish the fire, to prevent danger to the wood-pile, they followed
Captain Pratt through the darkness to his house.
It was a small-sized farm-house, where Captain Pratt and his wife lived
by themselves. He had three beds, into one of which he proposed to put
Messrs. Simmons and Long, leaving the other beds and a huge kitchen
sofa for the twelve boys. Captain Corbet and the mate could sleep on
the vessel. The boys succeeded in packing themselves away in some
extraordinary fashion or other; and though they would have had far more
real comfort on board of the schooner, yet they preferred this for the
novelty of the thing.
On the following day, the first care was to secure a supply of
provisions. Captain Pratt had a rude sort of shop, in which he kept
supplies for the mill, but unfortunately the stock was low; but the
schooner was expected every day with fresh stores. All that the shop
contained, at present, was some meal and molasses, with a box of tobacco
and a barrel of pork. Out of these they had to select the ship stores;
and as they had only Hobson’s choice, they laid in some meal, molasses,
and pork. Captain Corbet tried hard to induce them to lay in some
tobacco also, but Mr. Long declined.
Strolling about the cove, they found it a very pretty place, encircled
by hills which were covered with hard-wood trees. A stream ran from
among the hills into the creek, supplying it with a little fresh water,
which at low tide was the only water in its bed. Going up the stream a
short distance, they came to a very romantic spot, where the stream ran
through a narrow gorge, and tumbled over a small precipice, forming a
miniature cascade of a very charming kind. Here the boys spent a greater
part of the day in fishing, and succeeded, after six hours’ laborious
effort and patient waiting on the part of ten of them, in catching five
very small trout.
After getting the supplies for the schooner, Messrs. Simmons and Long
went along the shore to a place which Captain Corbet told them of, where
they expected to secure some petrifactions. Captain Corbet went with
them as guide. The mate took possession of the barn, and slept all the
time.
As for the boys, two of them, Bogud and Billy-mack, went with the
teachers by special invitation, for the others preferred remaining.
Six hours were consumed in fishing, and the remainder of the time in
dawdling. They _did_ Pratt’s Cove so thoroughly that there was not a
nook unexplored.
On the following night, the “B. O. W. C.” decided to quit Captain
Pratt’s house and sleep in the schooner. So they went down about dusk,
and were put on board by Jiggins, who brought back the boat to the
shore.
Messrs. Simmons and Long did not return that night, nor yet on the
following morning. About ten o’clock they got back. They were met by
Captain Pratt and the five boys who had slept at his house. They had
very serious faces.
It seems that Captain Pratt had been down at eight o’clock to call the
boys to breakfast. He found the schooner gone, and on the mud flats,
left dry by the tide, lay the fluke of the anchor broken off short. This
was the message that he brought, explaining, at the same time, that the
boys had slept on board, and must have drifted away with the schooner.
XII.
_On the Track again.--Fishing for a Duck.--Asking for Bread, and getting
Stones.--Pat shines as Cook._
AT receiving such startling intelligence, both Messrs’. Simmons and
Long looked horrified and bewildered, and neither of them said one word.
“At any rate, the mate’s on board,” said Mr. Long at last.
“The mate! That’s the wrorst of it. He got his breakfast only a half an
hour go. He slept in my barn.”
“And where has the vessel gone?” cried Mr. Long, in great distress.
“I can’t tell. I rowed out for a mile, but didn’t see any signs of
her.”
“We must go after them at once,” said Mr. Long. “Can’t we get a
sail-boat somewhere?”
“I suppose I can rig up a sail in my boat; but she’s only a punt, and I
don’t think wo could manage her at all among the currents out there.”
“I wonder if they know anything about sailing?”
“No doubt they do,” said Captain Pratt.
“O, they’re all right,” said Captain Corbet, confidently. “I said, when
they went adrift before, that they’d turn up right side up--and up they
turned. Besides, the weather’s fine, and there’s no danger in life.”
“Still we must do something,” said Mr. Long, anxiously. “Even if they do
understand sailing, they can never get back here again.”
“It’s jest what I’ve been expectin’,” said Captain Corbet, after a
profound silence, and with a tone of deep conviction.
“What?”
“Why, that there anchor.”
“What did you expect?”
“Why, that it would break off short. You see there’s been a crack in it
for nigh two years, an’ every time I used it, I said, says I, it’s bound
to go this time.”
“But why in Heaven’s name did you let it go so long, if it was cracked?”
“Wal, to tell the truth, I never gave it a thought, ’cept when I had
occasion to anchor,--and then, of course, I couldn’t get it mended.”
“And so you’ve been trusting your own life, and the lives of other
people, to that old, cracked anchor,” cried Mr. Long, indignantly.
“Wal, it held on well down thar at Five Islands, and off on the
mud-flats. You know that. It did jest as well as a bran new one, and
didn’t break fair this time, nuther.”
“Didn’t break fair! What do you mean?”
“Why, I mean the schooner has kind o’ sot on it when she was aground,
and broke it that way.”
Mr. Long turned away.
“Captain Pratt,” said he, “I won’t conceal from you that I’m very
anxious. Those boys may understand sailing, but I’m not sure that they
do. I must do something. Can’t you suggest anything?”
“Well, I was just going to take my glass,” said Captain Pratt, “and go
down to that there pint,” pointing to a headland a few miles off. “That
pint commands a view of pooty nigh the whole bay, and I shouldn’t wonder
if we’d see the schooner. I was just going there when you came. Besides,
we can get a boat down there,--a good deal better than mine.”
“We’ll start off at once, then,” said Mr. Long. “These boys can wait
here till We come back. I hope we won’t need to trouble your good nature
long, Captain Pratt.”
“Trouble! Why, sir, it’s the greatest pleasure I have to see a strange
face here occasionally.” After a few words of warning and good advice to
the boys who were to remain, Mr. Long, together with Mr. Simmons, went
with Captain Pratt, while Captain Corbet, with Bogud and Billymack,
followed after them. The party of six set out in the direction of the
headland mentioned by Captain Pratt, while the five boys who remained
sauntered down slowly to the shore, where were the boxes and baskets
which had been landed there on the evening of the arrival at the cove.
The boys felt the hours hang heavily upon their hands. The absence of
their companions made them all feel dull; the fare at Captain Pratt’s
had grown distasteful, for pork and Indian meal and molasses are things
that are sometimes not wonderfully attractive to the youthful taste. So
these things palled; and when, at twelve o’clock, they were summoned
to dinner by amiable Mrs. Pratt, she found that they had lost their
appetites--a thing which she attributed to their grief about their lost
companions; and so she set to work to condole with them and comfort
them. After escaping from this kind-hearted old lady, they went down to
the point again, and watched the water as it flowed in. Captain Pratt
and his companions had not comeback, and they were prepared for a long
absence on his part. The thought made them more disconsolate.,
“What can we do?” said Sammy.
“We’ll starve,” said Johnny Blue.
“We’ll have to do something,” said Jiggins, who was a very grave, earnest
boy, and always spoke in a very grave, earnest manner.
“Well, what?”
“For my part,” said Jiggins, “I’ll go fishing. Who’ll come with me?”
“I will,” said Muckle.
“And I,” said Johnny Blue.
“I don’t think there’s any chance,” said Pat; “so I’ll stay here and
fish for ails in the mud.”
Pat could never get rid of “a taste of the brogue,” which clung to him,
and proclaimed his nationality.
Sammy showed no inclination to move; so the three went fishing, leaving
him and Pat behind.
Pat then went into the woods and cut a long fishing-pole, after which he
went fishing for “ails.” He had no success, but kept at it bravely for
more than an hour, unwilling to give up. At last his patience was worn
out, and he returned to the point. On his arrival there, Sammy was not
to be seen.
Pat seated himself disconsolately on the shore, and watched the tide,
which was now running out, for some time. Then his roving eyes were
attracted by the baskets and trunks. To these he directed his steps, in
the hope that something might be found there with which he could satisfy
the cravings of his appetite.
He found most of the trunks empty. Some of the baskets were filled with
plates, others with cups and saucers, others with knives, forks, and
spoons. All these excited his disgust to an unmeasured degree. In one
of them he found a ham-bone, the remainder of their last repast on
the shore. This had nothing on it whatever--a fact which excited such
indignation in Pat that he flung it into the water.
At last he came to the baskets containing the minerals. Opening these,
he found a large number of parcels inside. Hoping that these would
afford something eatable, he opened one or two of them, but found, to
his unspeakable disgust, that they contained nothing but stones.
Pat was a very original character, who had drifted, by some
extraordinary chance, into the school. With a very strong desire to get
an “edication,” he had come there and begged Dr. Porter to admit him,
offering to pay his way by working.-Dr. Porter found that the Irish boy
had already learned a good deal, and that he had an exceedingly strong
desire to be taught more. He could read and write well; and so earnest
were his entreaties, that the kind-hearted doctor consented to admit
him. His industry and application soon gained the good will of the
teachers; while his flow of good spirits, his oddities and whims, made
him popular among the boys. In many respects he was intensely ignorant,
and had not been long enough at the school to acquire anything like the
general information which the rest of the boys possessed. At first they
had wondered or laughed at his blunders; but afterward Pat had been
more cautious about expressing his opinions on anything, and thus,
by exhibiting his ignorance less, was supposed to have surmounted it.
Taking him all together, he was a very remarkable boy, and promised, in
time, to surpass many of his companions.
At present, however, he was far inferior to them all. He had been asked
to go on the trip of the Antelope from a very kindly desire to give him
all the advantages possible. He had not the remotest idea what the real
purpose of the trip was, but supposed it to be a kind of pleasure party.
It is true he saw Messrs. Simmons and Long hammering, rocks; but with
his usual caution about committing himself and exposing his ignorance,
he had not asked anything about it, nor had he looked at their work.
While they were hammering rocks, he was climbing them, or running about
the beach. He had not noticed the baskets, but supposed them to be full
of provisions; nor had he seen Messrs. Simmons and Long in their tender
tare of their specimens after landing on this place. The stones, then,
which Pat discovered, wrapped in paper, were utterly unintelligible
to him, and the sight of them only seemed to cap the climax of the
indignation which was growing in his breast.
“Well! well well!” he exclaimed, as he looked at each stone on taking it
from the paper. “What’s this? A stone--a muddy stone! By the powers, but
isn’t this like a boy askin’ for bread, and gettin’ a stone.”
In fact it was no better than a dirty stone in Pat’s eyes. Two very
beautiful specimens of moss agate they were; but it would need grinding
and polishing to bring out these peculiar beauties. As yet they were
concealed.
Another and another paper was opened. One contained a white stone, like
quartz, enclosing some amethysts; another a piece of sandstone, with
peculiar marks on it, very highly prized by Mr. Simmons. These Pat threw
on the ground with great indignation. Then he took the rest out without
opening them, knowing by the touch and the weight of them what they
were. He had a strong hope that something eatable might yet be in the
bottom of the basket; but at last all was empty, and there was nothing
to eat.