bridge across a stream. It was the same stream where they had sat upon
the rocks and seen George and the other boys fishing; but this was a
different part of the stream, and the water was deep and still. Lucy
and Miss Anne stopped upon the middle of the bridge, and looked over
the railing down to the dark water far below.
“O, what deep water!” said Lucy.
“How could we get over this river if it were not for this bridge?”
“Not very conveniently,” said Miss Anne.
“We could not get over at all,” said Lucy.
“Perhaps we might,” said Miss Anne; “there are several ways of getting
over a river besides going over upon a bridge.”
“What ways?” said Lucy.
“One is by a ferry.”
“What is a ferry?” said Lucy.
“It is a large boat which is always ready to carry persons across. The
ferry-man generally lives in a house very near the bank of the river;
and if any body wants to go across the river, they call at his house
for him, and he takes them across in his boat. Then they pay him some
money.”
“But suppose they are on the other side,” said Lucy.
“Then,” said Miss Anne, “they have to call or blow a trumpet. Sometimes
they have a trumpet for people to blow when they want the ferry-man to
come for them. But sometimes, where there are a great many travellers
on the road that leads to the ferry, the boats are coming and going all
the time; and then people don’t have to call or to blow any trumpet.”
“How much money do they have to pay,” said Lucy, “for carrying them
across?”
“That depends upon circumstances,” said Miss Anne. “If a man goes
alone, he does not have to pay so much as he does if he is in a
chaise; and if he has a carriage and two horses, he has to pay more
still.”
“Why, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “can they carry over a carriage and two
horses in a boat?”
“Yes,” said Miss Anne, “a stage-coach and six horses, if necessary.
They have large, flat-bottomed boats for the carriages and carts, and
small, narrow boats for men, when they want to go alone.”
While this conversation had been going on, Miss Anne and Lucy had
walked along to some distance beyond the bridge. They took a road
which led to an old, deserted farm-house, and some other buildings
around it, all in a state of ruin and decay. The man who owned it had
built himself a new house, when he found that this was getting too old
to be comfortable to live in. The new house was upon another part of
his farm, and it was another road which led to it; so that these old
buildings had been left in a very secluded and solitary position. Miss
Anne liked very much to come to this place, when she came out to make
sketches, for she said that in all the views of the buildings, on every
side, there were a great many beautiful drawing lessons.
The roof of the house in one place had tumbled in, and the shed had
blown down altogether. There was one barn, however, that was pretty
good; and, in fact, the farmer used it to store his surplus hay in it.
Lucy sat down, with Miss Anne, under the shade of some trees, at a
little distance from the buildings, and they began to take out their
drawing materials.
“Now, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “what shall I draw?”
“I think that the _well_ will be the best lesson for you.”
There was an old well at a little distance from the house, upon the
green, with a group of venerable old lilac bushes near it. The water
had been raised by a well-sweep, but the sweep itself had long since
gone to decay, though the tall post with a fork at the top, which had
supported the sweep, was still standing.
So Miss Anne recommended that Lucy should attempt to draw the well.
“But, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “I want to draw the same thing that you
do.”
“Very well,” said Miss Anne; “then we will both draw the well.”
“So we will,” said Lucy; “but, Miss Anne, you must tell me how. I don’t
know how to draw, myself.”
Miss Anne gave Lucy some instructions, according to her request. She
told her that she must mind the shape of the things more than anything
else. “All depends upon the proportions,” said Miss Anne.
“What is proportion?” said Lucy. “Royal told me something about it, but
I could not understand him very well.”
“Suppose you look over me a few minutes, and see how I do it,” said
Miss Anne.
Lucy liked this proposal very much; and she stood very still, for some
time, while Miss Anne, with her paper upon her book, and her book upon
her knee, began to make her drawing, talking all the time as follows:--
“First, there is the post; I will draw that first. I must make it look
just as long upon the paper as it does in reality. And do you think it
stands quite upright?”
“No,” said Lucy, “it leans.”
“Which way does it lean?” asked Miss Anne.
“It leans towards the well, I think,” said Lucy.
“So it does; and I must draw a line for one side of the post, and make
this line lean over towards the place where my well is going to be,
just as much as the post really leans.”
Miss Anne then drew the line, and asked Lucy to look at it carefully,
and see whether it leaned any more, or any less, than the real post did.
Lucy looked at it very carefully, but she could not see that there was
any difference.
“Now,” continued Miss Anne, “I must begin to draw the well; and I must
have it at just the right distance from the post.”
Then Miss Anne put down her pencil very near to the post, and asked
Lucy if she thought that that was about right.
“O no,” said Lucy, “that is a great deal too near.”
Miss Anne then moved the point of her pencil off almost to the end of
the paper.
“Would that be right?” said Miss Anne.
“O no; that is too far.”
“But it is not so far as it is in reality, on the ground, from the post
to the well.”
“No,” said Lucy, “but you are not going to have the picture so large as
the real well.”
“That is it, exactly,” said Miss Anne. “The picture itself is all going
to be smaller than the reality; and the drawing of the well must be
just as much smaller than the real well, as the drawing of the post is
than the real post. Then it is all in proportion.”
“Now,” said Miss Anne, “I will move my pencil up nearer, and you may
tell me when it is too far off, and when it is too near, for the proper
place for me to draw the side of the well. Is _that_ right?” she added,
after placing the point of the pencil in a new position.
“That is too near,” said Lucy.
“And _that_?” said Miss Anne.
“That is about right,” said Lucy.
“Look again, carefully.”
“Hark! what’s that?” said Lucy.
“It sounds like thunder,” said Miss Anne; “but I rather think it is
only a wagon going over the bridge.”
A few minutes afterwards, however, the sound was repeated, louder and
more distinct than before, and Miss Anne said it _was_ thunder, and
that they must go home, or that they should get caught in a shower.
They looked around, and saw that there were some large, dark-looking
clouds rising in the west; and Miss Anne said that they must put away
their things, and go home as fast as they could.
“But, Miss Anne,” said Lucy, “it is a great way home. I am afraid it
will rain on us before we get there.”
“Why, if we can get across the bridge,” said Miss Anne, “we can go
into some of the houses.”
“Are there no houses before we come to the bridge?” asked Lucy.
“No,” said Miss Anne; “but I think we shall have time to go farther
than that.”
By this time they had put up their drawing materials, and began to walk
along towards the main road. Miss Anne said that she presumed that they
should have ample time to get home; for showers seldom came up so very
suddenly as to prevent their getting home from a walk.
But when they had gone about half way to the bridge, Miss Anne began
to be afraid that they should not get home. There was a large, black
cloud spreading along the western sky, and the low and distant peals of
thunder came oftener, and grew gradually louder and louder. Miss Anne
walked very fast, leading Lucy, who ran along by her side.
Just as they came to the bridge, the great drops of rain began to fall.
“There!” said Lucy,--“it’s beginning.”
“Yes,” said Miss Anne, “and I have a great mind to go under the bridge.”
Miss Anne had just time to say “under the bridge,” when there came
another heavy clap of thunder, which sounded louder and nearer than
any which they had heard before. This decided Miss Anne at once. She
turned off from the entrance to the bridge, and began to walk down the
steep bank, leading Lucy. When they had descended to the margin of the
stream, they found a narrow strip of sand between the water and the
foundation of the bridge.
“Yes,” said Miss Anne, “here is plenty of room for us to stand.”
They found a good place to stand, with the water of the stream before
them, and the great wall, which the bridge rested upon, behind them.
There were also some large, smooth stones lying there, which they could
sit down upon. A very few minutes after they had fixed themselves
in this place of shelter, the rain began to come down in torrents.
The thunder rolled and reverberated from one part of the heavens to
another, and once or twice Lucy saw a faint flash of lightning.
Lucy was very much amused at the curious effect produced by the drops
of rain falling upon the water. They covered the water all over with
little bubbles. She kept calling upon Miss Anne to see; but Miss Anne
looked anxious and afraid. By and by, the rain began to come down
through the bridge, and they had to move a little to keep from getting
wet. But they succeeded in getting a dry place, and keeping pretty
comfortable.
“But what shall we do,” said Lucy, “if it rains all night? We can’t
stay here all night.”
“Thunder showers don’t last long,” said Miss Anne. “I presume it will
be pleasant by and by, only we shall get our feet wet going home; for
the roads will be very wet, and full of pools of water.”
Just then they heard the noise of wheels in the road, as if a chaise
or carriage of some sort were coming along towards them. The horse
travelled very fast, and soon came upon the bridge, and went along over
it, passing directly above their heads with great speed, and with a
noise which sounded louder to them than any clap of thunder which they
had heard. Lucy was sure that they would break through, and come down
upon their heads; and even Miss Anne was a little frightened. They
little knew who it was in the chaise. It was Royal going to find them,
to bring them home. He thought it probable that they had gone into
the old, ruined buildings, to be sheltered from the rain, and that he
should find them there.
After looking there for them in vain, he came back, and he happened to
come to the bridge just as Miss Anne and Lucy were coming out from
under it. They were very glad to see him. The shower was over. The sun
had come out; the grass and trees were glittering with the reflection
of the bright light from the drops of rain; and there were two great
rainbows in the east, one bright, and the other rather faint. Royal
said that he would have the faint rainbow, and Lucy might have the
bright one for hers. Lucy’s rainbow lasted until some time after they
got home.
CONVERSATION XIV.
DANGER.
Lucy often had singular adventures with Royal and her father; but one,
which interested her as much as any, was an adventure she once met with
in crossing a river. The circumstances were these:--
They were on a journey; Lucy and Royal were travelling with their
father and mother.
One evening, after they had reached the end of the journey for the
day, the party stopped in a village, built upon an eminence, which
overlooked a broad and very fertile-looking valley. It consisted of
extensive intervals, level and green, and spotted with elms, and with
a river winding through them, until its course was lost among the
trees, a few miles below. After tea, Royal wanted to go down, across
the intervals, to the bank of the river, to see the water.
“O yes,” said Lucy, “and let me go too, father.”
“O no,” said Royal, “you must not go.”
“Why not?” said Lucy.
“Because,” said Royal, “we may find a boat there, and want to take a
sail in it; and you couldn’t go.”
“Why not?” said Lucy.
“Because,” said Royal, “you wouldn’t dare to go.”
“Yes I should,” said Lucy.
“No,” said Royal, “you don’t dare to sleep in a room alone at night, in
a hotel.”
“But I think she will not be afraid to go in the boat,” said her
father. “At any rate, we will let her go with us.”
Lucy then went to get her bonnet; and when they were all ready, she and
Royal went out together; their father followed immediately afterwards.
Their mother, being fatigued, preferred to remain at home.
From the principal street of the village, they passed out, through a
pair of bars, into a cart road, which led through the mowing fields
down towards the intervals.
They walked on together, until they came down to the intervals, which
were level fields of grass and flowers, very beautiful, and extending
on each side of them very far. The road gradually grew narrower, until
at length it became a mere path, which finally conducted them to the
bank of the river. Royal and Lucy stood upon the bank, and looked down
into the water.
The bank was quite high and steep, formed of earth, which seemed to
be, from time to time, caving into the water. It was green to the very
brink, and some large masses of turf lay down below at the water’s
edge, and partly in the water, where they had apparently fallen from
above. The shore on the opposite side of the river was, however, very
different. It was a low, sandy beach, with the water rippling along the
pebbles, which lay upon the margin of it.
“O father,” said Royal, “I wish we could get over to that beach.”
“Yes,” said Lucy, “and then we could get down and throw stones into the
water.”
“If we had a boat,” said Royal, “we could get across.”
“O no,” said their father, “this river is too shallow for a boat.”
“How do you know, father?” said Royal.
“Why, I can see the bottom all the way; and then I know by the rapidity
of the current, that it must be quite shallow.”
Just then they observed some men coming down towards them, on the bank
of the river. Royal’s father asked them, when they came up to where he
was standing, if there were any boats on the river.
“Yes,” said the men, “there is a small boat just above here, which you
can have if you want. Only bring it safe back again.”
“I am very much obliged to you,” said Lucy’s father; “are there any
oars?”
“There are some paddles,” replied one of the men. “They’re hid in the
bushes, just opposite the boat. There is a padlock on the boat, and
it looks as if it was locked, but it is not. You can take the padlock
right off.”
The men then went on their way down the river, and Lucy and Royal
ran along the bank to see if they could find the boat. Their father
followed them more slowly. Presently, however, they all came to the
place where the boat was lying.
It was a very small boat indeed. It was drawn up partly upon the bank,
which was here not quite so steep as where the children had first
stood, but was yet considerably precipitous. The boat was fastened, by
a chain, to the root of a large elm-tree, which was growing upon the
bank, the roots having been laid bare by the action of the water. There
was a padlock passing through a link of the chain in such a way as to
give the boat the appearance of being fastened; but Lucy’s father found
that the padlock would open easily, without any unlocking, and so they
soon got the boat at liberty.
Royal then went to look around among the grass and bushes near, to see
if he could find the paddles. Presently he called out, “Here they
are!” and in a few minutes he brought them to his father.
“Now, Lucy,” said her father, “do you want to get in and sail across
the river?”
“Isn’t there any danger?” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said her father, “I think there is considerable danger.”
“What! that we shall get drowned?” exclaimed Lucy.
“No,” replied her father; “only that we shall get upset.”
“Well, father,” said Lucy, “if we get upset, we shall certainly be
drowned.”
“O no,” replied her father; “the water isn’t deep enough to drown us
anywhere, if we stand upright upon the bottom. And then, besides, there
is no danger that we shall be upset, unless where it is very shallow
indeed. The current may sweep us away down the stream, so that we shall
lose command of the boat, and then, if we strike a large stone, or a
sunken log, the boat might fill or go over; but, then, in the places
where the current is so rapid, the water is nowhere more than knee
deep. Now you may go with us or not, just as you please.”
“Royal, what would you do?” said Lucy.
“O, I’d go,” said Royal, “by all means.”
“Would you, father?” asked Lucy.
“Yes,” said her father, “unless you are very much afraid.”
Lucy said she was a little afraid, but not much; and she cautiously
stepped into the boat. Royal got in after her, and when the two
children had taken their seats, their father followed them, and took
his place in the stern, with one of the paddles. Royal had the other.
The stern is the hinder part of a boat. The forward part is called the
_bows_. There was a chain attached to the bows of the boat, by which it
had been fastened to the shore.
“Now, Royal,” said his father, when they were all seated, “you must
remember that, if you go with us, you must obey my orders exactly.”
“Yes, father, I will,” said Royal.
“And suppose,” said his father, “that I order you to jump into the
river.”
“Then I’ll jump right in,” said Royal.
“Well,” said his father, “we shall see.”
Royal was seated forward, at the bows of the boat. The boat was
flat-bottomed, and square at both ends, so that there was very little
difference between the bows and the stern, and there was a place to sit
at each. Royal put his paddle into the water, and began to paddle a
little; but they made no progress, until his father was ready to work
his paddle at the stem of the boat; and then it began slowly to glide
up the river, keeping, however, all the time near the bank from which
they had set out. The water appeared to be much deeper on this side
than on the other, and the current was not so rapid. Lucy, however, by
looking over the side of the boat, could plainly see the gravel-stones
upon the bottom.
They went along very smoothly and prosperously, but yet very slowly,
for some time; and at length Royal asked his father to put out more
into the stream. So his father turned the head of the boat out, and in
a very few minutes they found themselves in the middle of the river.
Now, however, instead of moving up, they found, by looking upon the
stones at the bottom, that they were drifting down. Royal observed,
too, that the water had become much more shallow, and the current was
stronger. He looked at his father, and found that he was exerting
himself, with all his strength, to force the boat against the current,
and keep it from being carried away.
But the water was so shallow, that the end of his paddle rubbed upon
the bottom, and prevented his keeping the boat under command. Then he
thought that he would use his paddle for a setting-pole, instead of a
paddle; that is, that he would plant the lower end of it firmly into
the gravel at the bottom, and then push against it, and so force the
boat to go up the stream.
In attempting to do this, however, he lost the command of his boat
still more. The current, setting strong against the bows, swept that
end of the boat round, so as to bring her broadside to the stream; and
then she was entirely at the mercy of the water, which here seemed to
pour over the stones in a torrent. The boat went flying along over the
rippling waves, within a very few inches of the pebble-stones below.
Royal began to be seriously afraid.
“Can’t you stop her, father?” said he.
His father did not answer, he was so intent upon the effort which he
was making. He had thought of one more plan. He planted the foot of
his paddle into the gravel on the bottom, opposite the middle of the
boat, and then, letting the middle of the boat press against it, he
endeavored to hold it by main force; but the force of the water was so
great, that the boat was crowded over until it just began to let in
water; so that he was obliged to release his hold, and the boat drifted
away again. He then took his seat once more in the stern of the boat.
“Now, Royal,” said he, “stand up and take hold of the painter.”
“What is that?” said Royal.
“The chain,” replied his father--“the chain fastened to the bows.”
Royal did so.
“Now,” said his father, “stand up steadily upon the bows, and then step
down carefully into the water.”
Royal obeyed his father’s command with much firmness. The water was
about up to his knees. He staggered a little at first, as he carried
with him the motion of the boat; but he soon regained a firm footing.
“Now stand still,” said his father, “and hold on.”
Royal braced himself, by his position in the water, against the action
of the boat, which pulled hard upon the painter, and this immediately
brought the boat round, into a position parallel with the direction of
the current. By holding on firmly a moment longer, he stopped the boat,
and the current swept swiftly by it, dashing the rippling waves almost
over the bows. Lucy sat all this time very quietly on the middle seat,
without saying a word.
“Now, Royal,” said his father, “see if you can draw us in towards the
shore.”
Royal found, that although it had been so difficult for his father to
push the boat by the head, yet that he himself could draw it pretty
easily with the chain. So he walked along through the water towards the
shore, drawing the boat after him. In a few minutes, he had the bows
safely drawn up upon the sand.
His father then stepped out upon the beach, telling Lucy to sit still.
He took his stand back a little, where the gravel was dry, while Royal
remained just in the edge of the water.
“Now, Royal,” said his father, “you may see if you can draw Lucy up the
river. Keep just far enough from the shore to make the water half knee
deep.”
Royal was much pleased with this arrangement; and as for Lucy, she was
delighted. She sat upon the middle seat, balancing herself exactly, so
as not to upset the boat; while Royal waded along, drawing her through
the water, which curled and rippled on each side.
“O Lucy,” said Royal, stopping to look round, “we can play this is a
canal-boat, and that I am the horse.”
“So we can,” said Lucy; and she began immediately to chirup to him, to
make him go faster.
Royal dragged the boat along, while his father walked upon the shore.
Presently they came to a place where the water began to be deeper, and
the bottom more sandy; and Royal perceived that the current was not
nearly as rapid. He looked up to see how the water appeared before him,
and he found that it was smooth and glassy, instead of being rippled
and rough, as it had been below. His father noticed this difference in
the appearance of the water too; and he told Royal that it was a sign
that there was no current there. So he directed Royal to come in to the
shore, and they would all get in again.
Royal accordingly drew the boat up to the shore, and they all got
in. Now they found that they could paddle the boat very easily. It
glided over the smooth water with a very gentle and pleasant motion.
Lucy looked over the side, and watched the change in the sandy bottom
far below. Sometimes she saw a great log lying across the bed of the
stream, then a rock, half imbedded in the sand, and next a school of
little fishes. The land, too, looked beautiful on each side, as they
passed along. There were willows here lining the bank, and now and then
a great elm, with branches drooping over almost into the water.
After sailing about in this smooth water a little while, their father
said that it was time for them to go home; and so he brought the boat
round, turning her head down the stream. After going down in that
direction for a little while, Royal said,
“Why, father, you are going right upon the ripples again.”
“Yes,” said his father, “we are going over them.”
“O father,” said Lucy, “we shall upset.”
“No,” said her father, “there is no danger, going down.”
“Why not?” said Royal.
“Because,” said his father, “I shall keep her head down, and then, if
we strike a snag, it will do no harm.”
“What is a snag?” said Lucy.
“It is a log sunk in the water,” replied her father.
By this time they had begun to enter the rippling water, and the boat
shot swiftly along, bounding over the little billows very merrily. Lucy
was at first a little afraid, but she soon began to feel safe, and to
enjoy the rapid motion. They soon reached the place where they had
taken the boat, and, leaving it there, fastened securely as they had
found it, they all went back across the intervals towards home.
THE END.
Transcriber’s note:
Punctuation has been standardised; spelling and hyphenation have been
retained as in the original publication except as follows:
Pages 70 and 71
is’nt it any darker _changed to_
isn’t it any darker