It was an easy matter to help Joe out of the old well. He had fallen
into it while running after the wild-cat, but a heap of decayed leaves
at the bottom broke the fall, and saved him from any serious injury.
Nevertheless, he must have been a little stunned at first, for he made
no outcry for some time, and it was his first call for help that was
heard by Charley.
The boys returned to their canoes, and as it was not yet midnight,
prepared to resume the sleep from which they had been so unceremoniously
awakened. They had little fear that the wild-cat would pay them another
visit, for it had undoubtedly been badly frightened. Still, it was not
pleasant to think that there was a wild beast within a few rods of them,
and the thought kept the canoeists awake for a long time.
The wild-cat did not pay them a second visit, and when they awoke the
next morning they were half inclined to think that their night's
adventure had been only a dream. There were, however, the marks made by
its claws on the varnished deck of Joe's canoe, and Joe's clothing was
torn and stained by his fall. With the daylight they became very
courageous, and decided that they had never been in the least afraid of
the animal. The so-called wild-cat of Canada, which is really a lynx,
is, however, a fierce and vicious animal, and is sometimes more than a
match for an unarmed man.
There was a strong west wind blowing when the fleet started, and Chambly
Basin was covered with white-caps. As the canoes were sailing in the
trough of the sea, they took in considerable water while skirting the
east shore of the Basin, but once in the narrow river, they found the
water perfectly smooth. This day the fleet made better progress than on
any previous day. Nothing could be more delightful than the scenery, and
the quaint little French towns along the river, every one of which was
named after some saint, were very interesting. The boys landed at one of
them, and got their dinner at a little tavern where no one spoke
English, and where Charley, who had studied French at Annapolis, won the
admiration of his comrades by the success with which he ordered the
dinner.
[Illustration: SAILING DOWN THE RICHELIEU RIVER.]
With the exception of the hour spent at dinner, the canoeists sailed,
from six o'clock in the morning until seven at night, at the rate of
nearly six miles an hour. The clocks of Sorel, the town at the mouth of
the Richelieu, were striking six as the canoes glided into the broad St.
Lawrence, and steered for a group of islands distant about a mile from
the south shore. It was while crossing the St. Lawrence that they first
made the acquaintance of screw-steamers, and learned how dangerous they
are to the careless canoeist. A big steamship, on her way to Montreal,
came up the river so noiselessly that the boys did not notice her until
they heard her hoarse whistle warning them to keep out of her way. A
paddle-wheel steamer can be heard while she is a long way off, but
screw-steamers glide along so stealthily that the English canoeists, who
constantly meet them on the Mersey, the Clyde, and the lower Thames,
have nicknamed them "sudden death."
Cramped and tired were the canoeists when they reached the nearest
island and went ashore to prepare a camp, but they were proud of having
sailed sixty miles in one day. As they sat around the fire after supper,
Harry said:
"Boys, we've had experience enough by this time to test our different
rigs. Let's talk about them a little."
"All right," said Joe. "I want it understood, however, that my lateen is
by all odds the best rig in the fleet."
"Charley," remarked Tom, "you said the other day that you liked Joe's
rig better than any other. Do you think so still?"
"Of course I do," answered Charley. "Joe's sails set flatter than any
lug-sail; he can set them and take them in quicker than we can handle
ours, and as they are triangular he has the most of his canvas at the
foot of the sail instead of at the head. But they're going to spill him
before the cruise is over, or I'm mistaken."
"In what way?" asked Joe.
"You are going to get yourself into a scrape some day by trying to take
in your sail when you are running before a stiff breeze. If you try to
get the sail down without coming up into the wind it will get overboard,
and either you will lose it or it will capsize you; you tried it
yesterday when a squall came up, and you very nearly came to grief."
"But you can say the same about any other rig," exclaimed Joe.
"Of course you can't very well get any sail down while the wind is in
it; but Tom can take in his sharpie-sail without much danger even when
he's running directly before the wind, and Harry and I can let go our
halyards and get our lugs down, after a fashion, if it is necessary.
Still, your lateen is the best cruising rig I've ever seen, though for
racing Harry's big, square-headed balance-lug is better."
"You may say what you will," said Tom, "but give me my sharpie-sails.
They set as flat as a board, and I can handle them easily enough to suit
me."
"The trouble with your rig," said Charley, "is that you have a mast
nearly fifteen feet high. Now, when Joe takes in his mainsail, he has
only two feet of mast left standing."
"How do you like your own rig?" asked Harry.
"Oh, it is good enough. I'm not sure that it isn't better than either
yours or Tom's; but it certainly isn't as handy as Joe's lateen."
"Now that you've settled that I've the best rig," said Joe, "you'd
better admit that I've the best canoe, and then turn in for the night.
After the work we've done to-day, and the fun we had last night, I'm
sleepy."
"Do you call sitting still in a canoe hard work?" inquired Tom.
"Is falling down a well your idea of fun?" asked Harry.
"It's too soon," said Charley, "to decide who has the best canoe. We'll
find that out by the time the cruise is over."
The island where the boys camped during their first night on the St.
Lawrence was situated at the head of Lake St. Peter. This lake is simply
an expansion of the St. Lawrence, and though it is thirty miles long,
and about ten miles wide at its widest part, it is so shallow that
steamboats can only pass through it by following an artificial channel
dredged out by the government at a vast expense. Its shores are lined
with a thick growth of reeds, which extend in many places fully a mile
into the lake, and are absolutely impassable, except where streams
flowing into the lake have kept channels open through the reeds.
On leaving the island in the morning the canoeists paddled down the
lake, for there was not a breath of wind. The sun was intensely hot, and
the heat reflected from the surface of the water and the varnished decks
of the canoes assisted in making the boys feel as if they were roasting
before a fire. Toward noon the heat became really intolerable, and the
Commodore gave the order to paddle over to the north shore in search of
shade.
It was disappointing to find instead of a shady shore an impenetrable
barrier of reeds. After resting a little while in the canoes, the boys
started to skirt the reeds, in hope of finding an opening; and the sun,
apparently taking pity on them, went under a cloud, so that they paddled
a mile or two in comparative comfort.
The friendly cloud was followed before long by a mass of thick black
clouds coming up from the south. Soon the thunder was heard in the
distance, and it dawned upon the tired boys that they were about to have
a thunder-storm without any opportunity of obtaining shelter.
They paddled steadily on, looking in vain for a path through the reeds,
and making up their minds to a good wetting. They found, however, that
the rain did not come alone. With it came a fierce gust of wind, which
quickly raised white-caps on the lake. Instead of dying out as soon as
the rain fell, the wind blew harder and harder, and in the course of
half an hour there was a heavy sea running.
The wind and sea coming from the south, while the canoes were steering
east, placed the boys in a very dangerous position. The seas struck the
canoes on the side and broke over them, and in spite of the aprons,
which to some extent protected the cockpits of all except the
_Twilight_, the water found its way below. It was soon no longer
possible to continue in the trough of the sea, and the canoes were
compelled to turn their bows to the wind and sea, the boys paddling just
sufficiently to keep themselves from drifting back into the reeds.
The _Sunshine_ and the _Midnight_ behaved admirably, taking very little
water over their decks. The _Twilight_ "slapped" heavily, and threw
showers of spray over herself, while the _Dawn_ showed a tendency to
dive bodily into the seas, and several times the whole of her forward
of the cockpit was under the water.
"What had we better do?" asked Harry, who, although Commodore, had the
good sense always to consult Charley in matters of seamanship.
"It's going to blow hard, and we can't sit here and paddle against it
all day without getting exhausted."
"But how are we going to help ourselves?" continued Harry.
"Your canoe and mine," replied Charley, "can live out the gale well
enough under sail. If we set our main-sails close-reefed, and keep the
canoes close to the wind, we shall be all right. It's the two other
canoes that I'm troubled about."
"My canoe suits me well enough," said Joe, "so long as she keeps on the
top of the water, but she seems to have made up her mind to dive under
it."
"Mine would be all right if I could stop paddling long enough to bail
her out, but I can't," remarked Tom. "She's nearly half full of water
now."
"We can't leave the other fellows," said Harry, "so what's the use of
our talking about getting sail on our canoes?"
"It's just possible that Tom's canoe would live under sail," resumed
Charley; "but it's certain that Joe's won't. What do you think about
those reeds, Tom? Can you get your canoe into them?"
"Of course I can, and that's what we'd better all do," exclaimed Tom.
"The reeds will break the force of the seas, and we can stay among them
till the wind goes down."
"Suppose you try it," suggested Charley, "and let us see how far you can
get into the reeds? I think they're going to help us out of a very bad
scrape."
Tom did not dare to turn his canoe around, so he backed water, and went
at the reeds stern first. They parted readily, and his canoe penetrated
without much difficulty some half-dozen yards into the reeds, where the
water was almost quiet. Unfortunately he shipped one heavy sea just as
he entered the reeds, which filled his canoe so full that another such
sea would certainly have sunk her, had she not been provided with the
bladders bought at Chambly.
Joe followed Tom's example, but the _Dawn_ perversely stuck in the reeds
just as she was entering them, and sea after sea broke over her before
Joe could drive her far enough into the reeds to be protected by them.
Joe and Tom were now perfectly safe, though miserably wet; but as the
rain had ceased, there was nothing to prevent them from getting dry
clothes out of their water-proof bags, and putting them on as soon as
they could bail the water out of their canoes. Harry and Charley, seeing
their comrades in safety, made haste to get up sail, and to stand out
into the lake, partly because they did not want to run the risk of being
swamped when entering the reeds, and partly because they wanted the
excitement of sailing in a gale of wind.
When the masts were stepped, the sails hoisted, and the sheets trimmed,
the two canoes, sailing close to the wind, began to creep away from the
reeds. They behaved wonderfully well. The boys had to watch them
closely, and to lean out to windward from time to time to hold them
right side up. The rudders were occasionally thrown out of the water,
but the boys took the precaution to steer with their paddles. The
excitement of sailing was so great that Charley and Harry forgot all
about the time, and sailed on for hours. Suddenly they discovered that
it was three o'clock, that they had had no lunch, and that the two
canoeists who had sought refuge in the reeds had absolutely nothing to
eat with them. Filled with pity, they resolved to return to them without
a moment's delay. It was then that it occurred to them that in order to
sail back they must turn their canoes around, bringing them while so
doing in the trough of the sea. Could they possibly do this without
being swamped? The question was a serious one, for they were fully four
miles from the shore, and the wind and sea were as high as ever.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
[Illustration: "BESIEGED."]