IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I Ilia iM PM 1 2.2 " 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 •* 6" ► v] \\ C)'^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 %^ ' --•'n t<^. i/s *p. CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-desscus. □ Coloured covers/ Couverture de coiileur □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagee □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes □ Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul^e □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur^es et/ou pelliculdes □ Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque r~7f Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqu6es D Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur □ Pages detached/ Pages d^tach^es □ n Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur ~~^ Showthrough/ Transparence □ Quality of print varies/ Qualit^ inegale de I'impression D Bound with other material/ Relie avec d'autres documents n Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplementaire □ D Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors dune restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6te film6es. D D Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes d nouveau de facon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film^ au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. IPX 14X 18X 22X I I I I I I I |y| I I I 26X 30X 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: National Library of Canada L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grSce d la g6ndrosit6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de l'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper coders are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmds en commen9ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenqant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol ^^- (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour 6tre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 ■■■ : WRECKED ON UBRADOR. BY WINFRID A. STEARNS, AUTHOB OF ..xVbw En«LAND BlBD LlFE." '< LaBBADOB." ETC. NEW YORK: THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., 13 AsTOR Place. S17 Copyright, Bt Thomas Y. Crowfll & Co. 1888. Typoubapuy by J. ti. CusuiNo & Cu., Boston. J INTRODUCTION. rpHE adventures of the Benton Family in their two trips to Labrador are based upon personal expe- riences. The story is, in large measure, a transcript of the writer's own diary ; but the characters described woiild never be identified, since, in most cases, their individu- alities are taken and combined from many people whom he met in his numerous visits to that region, covering a period of thirteen years. The intention has been to present in a simple and natural way to young readers some knowledge of a com- parativel}'' unknown land, and yet the one first visited and peopled on the New Continent, the claim to its dis- covery having been disputed by the English, French, Welsh, Irish, Icelanders, and Norsemen. The customs and habits in " the Labrador " are de- cidedly archaic remnants of the life of nearly three cen- turies ago ; that is, the manners and customs of the people living in Labrador at the present time are quite similar to those which obtained in England and France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The majority of the early inhabitants were French fishermen. IV INTRODUCTION. Another thought has actuated the writer. It is that of interesting the young of both sexes in the s^udy of natural history. To them he would say : " Do not wait to discover a new region before collecting specimens for forming a museum of natural history. Begin at once ! Begin anywhere ! Your own door-yards will furnish you wonders which you had not previously even suspected. First learn hovo to collect and study, and your interest will soon awaken for further investigations in a field practically limitless in the enticing pleasures by which it allures you toward nature, and from nature to nature's God." W. A. S. Caubbidokfort, May 10, 1888. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Part I. CHAPTEH I. The Advertisement .... *"***" II. Off for Labrador III. Arrival at Halifax IV. How A Revolver caused Immense Commotion ." " ^l V. First Sight of Labrador ... VL First Day on Shore . VIL Collecting Specimens VIIL An Unexpected Specimen ... IX. How THE BOVS PRESERVED THEIR^ SPECIMENS [ [ ' 134 A. Sunday .... XL How THE Boys DREDGED ON THE Trip "Down Along »■ m XIL What Mr. M.rphv and the Boys learned about Codfish. -A Curlew Hunt . . ^^g XIIL What Mr. Furness and the Boys learned about •SEALS .... XIV. Homeward Bound 209 Part II. I. The Shipwreck IL An Unknown Country IIL Unloading the Wreck IV. A Big Haul . ^^^ 26G vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. CIIArTKB PA41K V. How THE BOVS MADE A FOGOY DaY A VKKY PLEAS- ANT One 280 VI. How THE FOCKSY WeATHKK CLEARfir* AT LAST, HOTH Indooks and Oi;t 292 VII. The Boys exploue the Countuy, and kind a Cave 300 VIII. Exploring the Cave, and What was found there 321 IX. Returning Home, Mr. Taylor gives the Boys Some Bits of Interesting Information . . . 336 X. Fishing for Cod 350 XI. Cast away upon an Island 365 XII. The Rescue, and a Big Dinner 381 XIII. A Picnic 396 XIV. A Trip "Down Along" 409 XV. Beating about the Bush 422 XVI. The Return, the Up Trip, and a New and Ter- ribly Exciting Scene 435 XVII. The Arrival 448 XVIII. The Conclusion 4G0 WRECKED ON LA]?RADOR. Part I. CHAPTER I. THE ADVERTISEMENT. "T-YTIFE!" VV "Well, John." " I wonder what this means ? " " I must certainly know to what you refer, in order to answer your question with any degree of intelligence." " H'm, yes ! " said Mr. Benton, as he looked up from the paper which he was busy reading — at the same time lifting his coffee-cup from the table, and taking a slow, steady, and apparently satisfactory drink at its contents. " H'm, yes ! Read it yourself, read it yourself, — aloud." And Mr. Benton passed the paper over to his wife, while he proceeded to the more solid enjoyment of the remain- ing contents of his coffee-cup and the small end of a brown roll, thickly spread with fresh, home-made butter. Mrs. Benton, thus apostrophized, carefully adjusted her spectacles and proceeded as follows : "OFF FOR LABRADOR. The fast-sailing schooner, North Star, will leave Rowe's Wharf, Boston, on Wednesday, July 19th, (three w -,?!k8 fyom date,) for a WRECKED ON LABRADOR. summer's cruise in this new and most fascinating region, for the purpose of sliooting, flsliing, exploring, and pleasuring. The trip will occupy eight weeks, and excursionists are expected to provide themselves with all things needful before leaving, so as to prevent delay at any of the vessel's stopping places. A special circular will be sent to all who apply, telling just what to get and where to get it. Come ! to the region of seals, ducks, gulls, trout, salmon, and icebergs. Write at once for particulars to, or call on, 11. U. Ready, 17 Noland Wharf, Boston, Mass." Mrs. Benton folded the paper carefully and laid it upon the table ; then she glanced over the rims of her specta- cles in the direction of Mr. Benton — just as that gentle- man, having finished his coffee and replaced the cup in its saucer, adjusted his eyeglasses;, and beamed towards his partner opposite. " H'm, yes, h'm-m-m ! " Just what IVIr. Benton's reflections were will appear later ; Mrs. Benton, however, understood them fully. The scene of the above conversation was a pleasant, old-fashioned house, a few miles out, " in the country," from Boston, and within an easy walk of the railroad station. It had a large lawn about it ; it was some dis- tance from the road ; and it was surrounded by hedges, and trees, and bushes of ever ^ort. The dining-room was enlivened by the view of a small pond from one window, and of the broad lawn from the other. The table was occupied at the time of which we are writing, by Mr. and Mrs. Benton alone. These two, however, were not the only members of the Benton family. There were, besides, John, Allie, and Freddie — May and Eva. Freddie, the. youngest boy, was a smart lad of eleven; Allie, thirteen, though rather lazy, was, nevertheless, the THE ADVERTISEMENT. 8 pet at home and the oracle among tlie boys of the neigh- lujrhooil ; John, the ohlest, twenty years of age, was a shrewd young feUow and, in some respects, tlie head of the honsehohl — to whom the father intrusted Uiany responsibilities. Jolm and Freddie, strange to say, were boon companions. Of the daughters, Eva was the youngest, being scarcely yet seven, while May was fifteen, and a great favorite among the young fellows of her acquaintance. Such were the names and ages of the Benton children. Let us look at some of their person r '\e»: John was a capital fellow — he Vi.s just entering col- lege, and had, so far, proved hi • -.^Xi JXnl in every study which he had undertaken; he was particularly partial Lo the sciences. Allie, though tie homo child, seemed characteristically lazy. He spent most of his time in his workshop, having fitted up a fine one in th*^ rear part of his father's large barn. Here he spent the greater part of the day, as John said, "foolin' away his time buildin' ' Jack-houses,' " or drawing imitations of what apparently seemed to John some "house that Jack built." Freddie and John were the best of friends and told each other all their secrets. When John was away Freddie occupied his time in taking long tramps, with his gun for his companion and a pocket full of fish hooks and lines ; the woods and fields were full of birds, the streams of fishes, — and there was abundance of bait under the boards and stones which lined the water's edge. Yet he was full of fun, too ; always around when there were any " good times " going on. So it came to be almost a saying, with the whole family, that where- ever you saw Freddie } ou " never knew where to find him next." " There never was a helter brother in this WRECKED ON LABRADOR. world ! " May said, and " May ought to know ! " so Eva thought. Now Eva, who stayed home most of the time, did nothing and ahnost thought nothing without first consulting her oracle, May. May was, naturally, chief head of the younger portion of the family. Her nature was warm, but impulsive, quick, and authoritative. She helped her mother considerably in the care of the house- hold, in spite of her age ; and this, of itself, gave her the conceit to be belle of the surrounding neighborhood. These were the children of Mr. and Mrs. Benton, and a "happier, merrier, better-natured and upright set o' youngsters there never was." This was the verdict of Mary, the cook, who had lived with the family some twenty odd years, and, therefore, felt herself capable of judging. Mary was a large, fat, and jolly servant-maid — nearly forty years of age, and " perfectly devoted to the family." We can better understand, now, why it was Mr. Ben- ton, after seeing the paragraph referred to in the pai)er, looked over to his wife and nodded his head so furiouslj', winked so violently, and, clearing his throat, h'm-m-m-ed and oh-oh-ed with such apparent satisfaction. Did he anticipate a surprise to anybody or any number of bodies ? We shall see later on. Mr. Benton himself was a stout, thick-set, middle-aged gentleman, with gray hair, and small, but pleasant look- ing, gray eyes. Though on occasions he betrayed a rather nervous temperament, yet, generally, he was of a very placid disposition and a characteristic, sagacious business manager. Mrs. Benton, his wife, was tall, and decidedly nervous, both in manner and disposition, es- pecially if in the least irritated ; though a very efficient housekeeper. (I THE ADVERTISEMENT. 5 7> On the present occasion, after Mrs. Benton had not frowned, when Mr. Benton's eyes met hers ; and when the latter h'm-m-ed at the table-cloth, to his own apparent satisfaction ; both arose and retired to the library, where they remained together for a few moments, in earnest conversation; at the end of that time they departed; the one, going to the closet, donned a travelling duster, and, taking his umbrella in his hand, started for the door, simply saying, " Well, my dear, then I may not be home to dinner," — he left the house and walked rapidly in the direction of the railroad station. Mrs. Benton returned immediately to her work of arranging the dishes, and, but for an occasional " humph," or a " well, I sup- pose so," no one could have imagined the weighty prob- lems which she was turning over in her mind. In a few minutes Mr. Benton had reached the railroad station and stood, with others on the platform, awaiting the train. This soon arrived, with a whiz and a crash that was enough to fairly make one deaf, and off jumped the conductor, shouting out, at the top of his voice : " Express for Boston ! This train does not stop again until it reaches Boston." Some of the passengers bustled out into the station to wait for the accommodation which would leave them at some way-station, but the most of them, among whom was Mr. Benton, were on their way to the great city ; so the seats were quickly all filled, and the train soon in motion again. !RIr. Benton was a little nervous, in spite of himself and his efforts to look and appear in his usual calm and collected manner. He had found a comfortable seat, near the window, and now took out his paper, which he had brought with him, and carefully adjusting his eye- 6 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. glasses, he began to turn the paper in every direction but the right one, — apparently Avith the desire to read it, and to read something special in it, for which he seeried to be eagerly searching. After a great deal of trouble the right place was at last found and Mr. Benton began to read : " Off for Labrador. The fast schooner North Star, etc., — " " Let me see, again ! " exclaimed Mr. Benton to himself : " will leave liowe's Wharf — , July 19th ; etc. Write for particulars to, or call on, E. U. Heady, 17 Noland Wharf, Boston, Mass." , After studying the paragraph for some fifteen minutes, Mr. Benton took a pencil from his pocket, made a memo- randum upon the margin of his paper, folded it so that the writing should appear upon the outside edge, and, replacing the pencil, tucked the paper into the upper left-hand pocket of his du'-ter, with a "h'm-m-m-m!" that caused his next neighbor fairly to jump, and every- body in the car, close enough to hear it, to look up in surprise. The train was quite full. The air was close and stifling. Most of the gentlemen sat, with their windows open, reading, eating oranges or bananas, or trying to nap away the time with their caps over their eyes, and their heads and bodies in every conceivable position. — Mr. Benton sat up very straight, and then turned and gazed for a moment down the car ; then he turned back and, settling himself into as comfortable an attitude as he could, tried to nap like the others. But it was no use ! Tonlay, for a wonder, he had really too much on his mind to sleep or do anything but wait for the coming and going of the tedious minutes — until he should get the irritating business over with, satisfactorily. THE ADVERTISEMENT. ing ret At last the car door opened and the conductor came in for the tickets ; live minutes afterwards it opened again, and the brakeman shouted out, with a voice that wakened everybody in the car : " Boston, Boston ! All out ! " Everybody started up with a grand rush for the door, and, in a minute more, the car had stopped at the depot, and all were on the move for their various destinations. Mr. Benton fairly steamed towards a horse car, which he saw in the distance and which had a long, green stripe upon it, and the sign " Atlantic Avenue " painted upon a white board above it. After considerable eifort he suc- ceeded in attracting the driver's attention, who stopped the car. Mr. Benton got on, and was soon seated — mopping his face with a huge bandana, while being carried swiftly towards " 17 Xoland Wharf." After a few moments the car stopped, before a long, low building, in which were a large crowd of men — all busily engaged in eating, either a late breakfast or an early dinner, — and Mr. Benton got off. Then he fol- lowed the sidewalk for a few rods until he came to a high, triangular-shaped brick building, which had a side entrance near the main street. Here he entered and ascended a flight of rickety, wooden steps, in a dark, narrow passage-way, to the second story. Then he turned into a very dirty, dingy entry, which he trav- ersed, and knocked at a door, half wood and half glass, at its farther end. In good keeping with all this dirt and dinginess was the apparition which responded to the knock, almost immediately, from a regular spider's nest of a little room which Was not a bit cleane-" than its surroundings. When he saw Mr. Benton he opened his eyes very 8 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. Ik wide, and stared at him for about a minute without speak- ing ; then he rubbed his eyes and stared again. — After much maneuvering he reached out a short arm, with a very full but flabby hand, at its extremity and said : " Oh ! how do you do ? " "Very well, thank you," said Mr. Benton. "Is this Mr. Keady ? " " Oh ! yes ! Walk right in ! " said the little man. " Take a cheer ! " " My name, sir, is Benton, and I came to see you about your advertisement in the Boston paper this morning." " Oh, certainly," said Mr. Ready, for it was indeed he, " walk right in and take a seat." Mr. Benton walked in, and while so doing he had a chance to look at Mr. Ready a little closer, and see what kind of a man he was. He was short, rather fat, and of a sort of leathery texture and appearance. He had frowsy, grayish hair, and scanty whiskers on his face. He appeared to be about forty years old, but he might have been sixty. He was dressed in black, but his clothes were so soiled that there was a decided gray appearance to the suit. " Oh ! " said Mr. Ready, after he had inspected the visitor from head to foot, much as one examines a tree. " Take a cheer, do ! Plenty of 'em here, if you can only find a whole one." As he said this, Mr. Ready beamed all over his coun- tenance and passed a rickety chair for Mr. Benton to sit upon. — The latter, seeing a wooden settee in the rear of the room, next to the wall, and thinking it looked safer than the chair presented, went to it and sat down. " Yes, very fine day," said Mr. Benton as he removed his hat. THE ADVERTISEMENT. 9 " Oh," said Mr. Keacly. " So you saw the paper, did you ? " " Yes," said Mr. Benton, " and that is what I came to inquire about. Now give me all the information about the place that you can, for I have three sons, two of whom, if not all, I am thinking of sending away for a good time this summer, if everything appears favorable. Mind, I say, only if everything appears favorable." And Mr. Benton trotted his knee most violently. " Oh, yes ! " said Mr. Ready, very eagerly, nodding his head much as if he were angling and had caught sight of a very big trout which he had determined should not escape him. " You never was there yourself ? " " Oh, no ! " said Mr. Benton ; " I know nothing about the place. Your circular this morning set me thinking that perhaps the boys might like to go ! ah — a — if every- thing appeared favorable, you know ; " and Mr. Benton nodded his head, and trotted his knee again, as if he also were angling, but with a very different sort of a tackle, however. "You've been there before, I sup- pose ? " During this conversation Mr. Ready had subsided into a large office chair, and was sitting in a pensive attitude, with his hands placed flat to each other resting on his closed knees; but upon being addressed, he suddenly brightened up, and exclaimed : " Oh, yes ! seven or eight times. I lived down there for three years ! " " Did you, indeed ? Well, you must know the place pretty well, then." " Oh, yes ! That was about 1870, and since that time I've been * down along,^ as they call it," — here Mr. Ready chuckled, and shut up his eyes to laugh — " nearly every 10 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. year, and two or three parties have been down with me almost every time. I take a little party with me most always, you know, — and they all enjoy it, and want to go again. You see it is a new region for them, and it is something that they have never seen before, and they enjoy it; they have a good time, and are always glad they went." As Mr. Ready said this he rubbed his hands, smiled with his eyes shut again, and, hitching his chair up until he was quite near Mr. Benton, he reached forward, and in a most mysterious manner tapped Mr. Benton's arm and said : " Now, see here, sir ! You send your boys along with me, and — and — " here Mr. Ready looked all about him, apparently to see if anybody else was listening, "and you go with 'um ! " As he said this he gave Mr. Ben- ton's arm a severe pinch, and retreated to an upright attitude with as much silent energy as if he had solved a most difficult problem and as if to say, " well, what do you think of that i " Mr. Benton did not resent the good-natured familiarity and laughed, as did Mr. Ready also. " Oh, I'm too busy, / can't go ! " "Why not?" "Wh? h'm — h'm! why, I'd like to, really! I'd like to ! What do you do there ? " " Do ? " said Mr. Ready, " do ? why everything, every- thing, nothing ! Fish for trout, and shoot birds. Plenty fish ! plenty birds. Do ? we eat, drink, and sleep ; smoke and enjoy life, as we sail, sail, sail ! Or lay to, and crowd around the galley stove in rain or fog and tell stories. Do ? why we do anything or nothing, — ac- cordin' ! " THE ADVERTISEMENT. 11 vith me le most want to ,nd it is nd they lys glad 3, smiled up until rard, and on's arm .ong with, bout him, ng, "and Mr. Ben- i upright ,d solved what do imiliarity I'd like [ig, every- Plenty ; smoke to, and and tell Ing, — ac- As Mr. Ready said this he looked all around him again, and gesticulated with his left hand (with the lingers spread somewhat apart) in the air, much like a sailor trying to see which way the wind blows by holding that member up against the breeze ; so that he really looked quite enthusiastic, in spite of the little dark stairway, the dingy passage and door, and the small, dirty room. The fish had dared to sniff at the bait ; he had turned to smell of it ; it had smelled nice, and he had nibbled, — more, had swallowed the bait, hook and all — and was now at the end of the line — dangling ! " When do you start ? " asked Mr. Benton. " On or about July 19th. The vessel will probably be ready to sail on that very day," replied Mr. Ready. " Where do you start from ? " " From Rowe's Wharf, at high tide, in the afternoon." " What are your terms ? " At the mention of the word terms, though outwardly Mr. Ready was calm enough, he felt much as a horse or mule who suddenly pricks up both ears while eyeing in- tently some object before him. Then he approached Mr. Benton very closely, and almost whispered, so low was his voice, as if he were really afraid to tell it out loud : " One hundred and fifty for one, two hundred and fifty for two, and fifty more for the small boy, and," — here he looked up, and all around hisn cautiously for a moment — then, giving .Mr. Benton a slight dig in the arm with his forefinger, aloud, " give me what you like for your- self!" At the mention of the latter portion of the terms Mr. Benton smiled, Mr. Ready fairly laughed, and both nod- ded good-humoredly at each other for several seconds, and Mr. Benton arose to go. II 12 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Oh, ah ! " said Mr. Ready. " This way, a moment. You might like to see how we go ! " At this both went to the farther end of the room, and Mr. Ready took down a long rolled up chart, which he opened, and said : " Ah, yes ! Here it is ! We start from Boston, so " (pointing with his finger to the place, and following along as he spoke) ; " touch at Halifax, then to Canso, and pass through the Out, as it is called, stopping at Port Mulgrave in the center of the Gut on the left, where letters can be received and sent, and so on to Magdalen Islands, where we will stop a day or two ; pass Bird Rock, when we will lay to, and shoot a few gannets ; then strike the Labrador coast, along which we will go, stopping here and there to shoot birds and to fish, till we get ready to start for home. We shall be gone for about six or eight weeks, altogether. — Are you going ? " " Yes," said Mr. Benton, " but write to me if you think of anything more ; here is my address. Good day." " Oh, certainly ! Good day ! I'll write." And the door closed. Mr. Benton to hurry to catch the train for home, and Mr. Ready to light his pipe and reflect. I OFF FOR LABRADOR. 13 oment. •m, and licli lie CHAPTER II. on, so" Uowing ISO, and at Port , where a^vlalen ,ss Bird faniiets ; will go, fish, till TOne for Toing ? " )u think md the rain for OFF FOR LABRADOR. " /^H, isn't this perfectly splendid ? " V_/ <-<■ It's just glorious ! " <' Doesn't she sail like a duck out of water ! " " Who, what, sails like a duck out of water ? " queried a tall, lank, but good-humored-looking individual, who, with his hands in his overcoat pockets, seemed trying to screw himself into the smallest possible compass, as if half-frozen, as he walked up to a group of three boys who had uttered the above exclamations. Before any of them could reply, a slightly fleshy gentleman, of middle age, called out, rather unnautically : " Oh, Allie, — my boy ! What did you tell me that bird was we just now passed on the lew of the vessel." " That was a petrel, father ! " replied Allie Benton, for it was he. " Allie is very fond of birds, Mr. Taylor. He knows the name of nearly every one that he sees." " Indeed ! " replied Mr. Taylor, the tall, lank individ- ual referred to, and who was, v/ith the rest, "Off for Labrador," in the double capacity of tutor and companion for Mr. Benton's boys. " Yes, sir ! he once shot seven kinds, of an afternoon, and could tell the names of all of them, sir; of all of them. Let me see, Allie, we have seen gulls, hawks, and — and — a blue-leg." "Yellow-leg, father." m 14 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Yellow-leg ? oh, yes ! Yellow-leg." " We are getting very scientific, Mr. Taylor, very scien- tific ; we mean to know something about these things, one of these days." Just at this point the conversation was interrupted by Freddie, who sang out, in a loud, clear voice : "Oh, father! father! look quick, there's a whale, — there she is ; there she blows ; see — see — quick ; do you see her ? " " Yes, yes ! where did you say ? " exclaimed Mr. Ben- ton, as he hastily returned and began scanning the water in every direction but the right one. " H'm, yes ! " " There she blows, again ; look, quick, on the other side of the bow, now," said Fred. "Certainly," said Mr. Benton, turning in the reverse direction, and of course again away from the object in question. At this moment the whale came so near the vessel that the noise of its spouting was distinctly audible to every one on deck, and, directed by the sound, Mr. Benton turned in the right direction in time to see the falling water as the huge animal's back disappeared be- neath the waves. — " There it is, in very truth, my boys, and I hope that it will not come any nearer to us." " Why not, father ! " exclaimed Freddie. " Surely it would do no hurt to such a large vessel as ours." " And, father," chimed in Allie, " I think it would be real fun, if he would come up right close to the ship and spout, then we could see him, and watch him." Here the voice of John broke in upon the party, who were gathered just in front of the foremast of the vessel. " I see five spouting at once ! Three on the port and two on the larboard side." "Why, John!" exclaimed Mr. Taylor; "taking the OFF FOR LABRADOR. 15 liberty of correcting you, the port and larboard side are the same. You mean the starboard and port." By this time the whales had either disappeared en- tirely or were so far away in the distance as to be scarcely perceptible. Freddie had disappeared too. Mr. Benton looked all around for him, and not seeing him anywhere called him loudly by name. A very faint sound proceeded, seemingly, from the skies, and all hands looking upward saw Freddie, already nearly half-way up the rigging. " Here I am ! who called me ? " replied the voice. " Come down here, at once ! " shouted Mr. Benton. " You are in a very dangerous position." Mr. Benton then gazed very anxiously at his son to see him descend ; while the other boys looked on in ad- miration and envy to see him so far above them, and in a position so peculiar, — so safe to a seaman. Freddie did not wish to disobey his father, so he looked with longing, impatient eyes at the foretop, to which position he aspired, and with an " oh, dear ! " began to descend. He reached the deck in safety, though severely rebuked both by his father and Mr. Taylor for attempt- ing so rash a feat so soon after leaving home. Strangely he seemed to care less for the rebuke, however, than the applauding eyes of his brothers, who, as yet, had either not dared or not cared to attempt the climb. All the boys now went to the bow of the schooner to watch the water as it dashed from the prow of the ves- sel; and the rainbows formed by the sun, as it shone through the sparkling foam, while Mr. Benton and Mr. Taylor retired to their easy steamer chairs just behind the vessel's mainmast and at the rear of the cabin. " By the way, sir ! how happened you to attempt this voyage ? " asked Mr. Taylor, when once comfortably seated. IH WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Well, sir ! " responded Mr. Benton, " I hardly know mysell. I saw Mr. Ready's advertisement, and made a special visit to his office, and came away so pleased with his representations, and with Mr. Readj himself, that I altered my plans, decided to go myself, got the boys ready, and here we are, sir ! " " You certainly displayed great energy in your prepa- rations." "Well, the thing seemed feasible, and I seldom do things by halves, sir ! Mr. Taylor, you will observe that I seldom do things by halves ! " As if to illustrate what he had said, the vessel gave a tremendous lurch at that very moment, and Mr. Benton, arm-chair and all, fell sideways with a crash, on deck, while a cloud of spray dashed over the vessel, as if to wash him overboard through the scuppers. Mr. Taylor was too much of a gentleman to laugh at anybody else's misfortune, but he inwardly smiled at the simile and its illustration as he helped Mr. Benton to his feet, and to shake the water from his clothes. A few moments served to set matters right, however. Mr. Benton changed his coat and hat, after which the chair was wiped with a towel, and things were soon in order again. Mr. Benton moved his chair nearer to the mainmast that he might lay hold of one of the bitts of the pin-rail, in case of another encounter with the rolling waves, and for a time both parties remained silent. At length Mr. Taylor broke the silence. " Let me see ! " he said, " I believe we have as yet hardly ascertained who one's companions are, on the trip ; supposing, sir, you lend me your pencil for a moment, and I will put their names down upon this envelope, so that we may see just who we have.'* OFF FOR LABRADOR. 17 y know made a led with , that I tie boys r prepa- dom do rve that . gave a Benton, m deck, as if to angh at liled at Benton es. owever. ich the soon in to the jitts of rolling nt. At as yet on the for a >u this " Certainly, most certainly, here it is ! " " Thank you, sir ! Now let me see. — Here are Mr. Benton and his three sons, John, Allie, and Freddie ; Mr. Ready, and his son, Jack ; Mr. Murphy, Mr. Josephs, who is also a professor in a college ; and my- self. Let me see, is this all ? Ah, no ; I have forgotten one other gentleman whose name I have not yet ascer- tained. Besides these there are the cook Max, the cap- tain and crew. This makes sixteen in all." "Ah, indeed!" said Mr. Benton; "I think it a very plear^nt party." " ir certainly seems so, thus far." " Yes ! I believe that we are all well pleased that our first day is drawing to so satisfactory a close." " Indeed, sir ! we may well congratulate ourselves upon the fact." " Let me see ! we have made some fifty miles since we started this morning, I suppose." " It cannot be far from that. The breeze has been steady, and we are now and have been going at about the rate of six knots an hour. We left the city at ten o'clock, and it is now six." " Is it, indeed ! I was not aware that it was really so late." "As it is now Wednesday, I suppose that we shall reach Halifax by Sunday at this rate." "How far is Halifax?" "Well, the captain tells us that it is about three hun- dred and fiftv miles." • .: " We can then pass a quiet Sunday on shore," said Mr. Benton. -..--- ^ ." ■ ' >:-'-^^..^--. w^^ ■:- " Yes indeed, sir, but are we not getting ahead rather fast?" •-■-'■ 18 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Very true ! but tell me, Mr. Taylor, what is that small hen-coop of a house, just behind the foremast there ? " " That is what we call the galley, sir." " The galley ? " " Yes, sir. It is the cook-house, and that is the cook, Max, just going into it with a bucket of water in his hand. — A very accommodating fellow he seems to be. Mr. Ready tells me that he has been with him, — this makes the third time." " We hope so, certainly ; and will soon have an oppor- tunity to test his good qualities, as it is nearly supper time." At this moment the conversation was interrupted by Mr. Ready himself, who was seen balancing himself, as the vessel rolled gently about from side to side, as he attempted to walk along the deck to where Mr. Benton and Mr. Taylor were stationed. He soon reached and addressed them : " Which would you gentlemen prefer : to have your supper in the cabin, on the table, or to have it served, sailor-fashion, here in the air on deck ? You can take your stools to the gang-way, and place your dislies on the roof of the cabin and eat there very comfortably and very pleasantly ; or you can have it served on the table inside the galley, — though you might find it rather close there, that is all." " Ah ; just what suits you will suit us, Mr, Ready," said Mr. Benton. " Your suggestion is an excellent one, sir ; and we will take our stools and eat from the deck ; I, for one, do not feel like going into the cabin while it is so pleasant out here, and much less like eating there." At that moment a clear, ringing voice was heard all over the deck : OFF FOR LABRADOR. 19 " Supper, gentlemens ! " The words were no more than uttered than a loud tramping and hustling were heard as the three boys and as many grown men, — little better than boys, in fact, — came hurrying towards the galley door : where the good- natured Max stood, smiling good-humoredly as he passed up the plates of a steaming hot liquid that quickly pene- trated the air with its fragrance, and announced itself as genuine hean soup. " Ready for your supper, gentlemens ? " There was no need of any reply. The cook stood at the galley door, with a smile on his round, good-natured face, and a liuge ladle in one hand while he passed out plates of steaming soup or piles of pilot biscuits with the other. " Will any of you gentlemens have anything more ? " he was continually asking. After the soup came plates of biscuits and butter, and canned corned beef cut into tempting slices : with each of which was a cup of most delicious coffee, just off the lire and smoking hot. M?i,x fairly outdid himself. And even Mr. Benton, who was used to the very best of food, had no cause to complain of either quantity or quality. After all had eaten, Max gathered the dishes together and began to wash them, while each wandered about deck as best suited him. Mr. Benton and Mr. Taylor were soon again seated in their chairs, the former with a huge lap robe thrown over his knees, and the latter, with his legs crossed, indulging in what he pleasantly termed: "the comfort- able folly of a paper cigar." Mr. Murphy was seated on the top of the forecastle, 20 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. industriously puffing away at a huge meerschaum pipe, and sending volumes of blue smoke into the face of the captain, whose head was just seen above the door with a short, dirty clay pipe in his mouth. The two seemed to be in very earnest conversation, and, as fre- quent looks from both were directed towards the sky and on all sides of the ship, one could very easily imagine that they were talking over the signs of the weather, as in fact they really were. " Fair wind to-night, captain ! " " Yes, I suppose ! " " Shall you keep her on this tack all night ? " " Yes, I suppose ! " '■ " Do you take your trick at the wheel ? " " Oh yes, I suppose ! " At this moment a merry, childish voice whispered : " Did you ever get drunk ? Yes, I suppose." It was Allie's voice, and was not intended for any- body's ears but his brothers ; but though uttered so low both the captain and Mr. Murphy heard it. The latter could not help smiling. The former turned his head, and his face scowled for a moment, but only for a mo- ment, for he saw who it was, and the uselessness of getting out of temper with the good-humored though mischief-loving boy, as he took his pipe from his mouth and said, as he disappeared from the steps : "I'll make you drunk, if I catch you, you young tommy cod." With darkness came a strong west wind, which made the North Star scud through the water. " How fast are we going now, captain ? " asked Mr. Taylor, of the former, as he appeared on deck on his way to speak to the man at the wheel. . * - " ". ■ .' OFF FOR LABRADOR. 21 "Oh, about seven knots," replied the captain. "If the wind holds out we'll be a good ways from Boston by morning." " That's good," answered Mr. Taylor, as he was disap- pearing down the companion-way, "the farther the better." When he reached the cabin he found Mr. Benton and the other gentlemen already hard at work arranging things for the night. The cabin of the Nortli Star was a compactly arranged little room, and very comfortable, withal. It was rather small for eight persons, though fully as large as the size of the vessel would allow — being about ten feet square. The bunks or berths were arranged on either side, while, on the right, the compartments were separated from the rest of the room and from each other by a partition and doors. There was a few feet of space, in these rooms, between the partitions and the berths, and, as they had sliding-doors, the parties could shut themselves in and feel as free and safe as if in a real ship's cabin. The berths were placed one above the other, and were simple, wide, low, box-like structures, like all ships' berths. There was a small closet, with washing arrangements and other necessities, just at the left of the companion- way, in an upper corner of which was a box containing the compass and a lamp for illuminating the face of the compass by night. Out of this closet led another small, dark cuddy, where the vessel's stores — not provisions — were kept. Just at the right of the companion-way, and between it and the first tier of bunks, was space for an- other storage closet, for the lighter and better articles of the men's luggage. ^ > . Mr. Taylor found, upon entering the cabin, that each in 22 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. { berth had a neat white card, with the name of the person on it who was to occupy it. The first berth left, upon entering, was marked for Mr. Ready and his son. That below was assigned to the gentleman whose name he had been unable, until now, to ascertain. The name on the card read, " Mr. R. T. A. Furness." On the same side, and adjoining, was placed Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Murphy. On the opposite side of the cabin, and in the further stateroom was Mr. Benton above, and two of his sons beneath ; and in the other stateroom Mr. Taylor above and Mr. Benton's other son below. Thus the whole'party were happily disposed for the trip. The cabin table and floor were both covered with bags and boxes, bundles and parcels of all descriptions. Guns and fishing tackle were piled in the corners of the cabin, and great-coats, blankets, and pillows lay about promis- cuously in every direction. In one corner, a long-handled fish-net reached nearly to the ceiling, while in the opposite one a big pile of boxes was nearly covered up with several rubber over- coats, and on the floor beside them several pair of rubber boots lay heaped together regardless of owners. Under the table was a big seaman's chest, which was the joint property of Mr. Ready and his son. Over the table, just above each end, was a brass lamp, such as sailors use, made so as to swing to the motion of the vessel, and always keep in an upright position. Between the lamps was a curious, old-fashioned round- faced clock, the wood-work of which was eight-sided, beneath which was an aneroid barometer. Between this and the lamp on the right-hand side was a thermometer, and in a similar position to the left a small almanac OFF FOR LABRADOR. 23 and pilot or guide book. Above all these was a neatly rolled chart, hung in a pair of tape loops ; and below this, in smaller loops, a pair of dividers, a pencil, and a black parallel ruler for measuring directions upon the chart. Just above the table, and below all these articles upon the wall, was a small, shallow closet or locker, running, with double doors, the whole width of the cabin. In these were shelves, loops, and braces for containing all sorts of small stores and articles necessary for the com- forts of the voyage, — such as medicines, pens and ink, various bottles and glasses, small jars of rare and deli- cate preserves and extracts for sickness, with a large assortment of useful little articles intended for emergen- cies, so frequent upon a trip of this kind. Mr. Ready kept the key to these lockers, as he did to the storage closet next to the companion-way ; but both were ready for use at a moment's notice. Besides the articles described there was a rocker and a number of small wooden stands. Thus the general arrangement of the interior of the cabin of the North Star was about as comfortable as it was possible to make it. It showed, evidently, that the captain was a thorough seaman, and had things about as well provided as he could make them ; while the additional touches of Mr. Heady were apparent at a glance ; and we could easily see that everything possible had been prepared for the comfort of the passengers ; but not only the comfort of the passengers seemed provided for, but their luxury also ; for, besides the half dozen of small stools was a rocking-chair, and also a sort of a ship's easy-chair. Most of the articles described were apparent at a 24 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. \: glance to one coming into the cabin door, and Mr. Taylor spoke his approval, after a moment's inspection, to Mr. Furness, who was busily engaged in preparing his bunk in the opposite corner of the cabin. " Things look quite snug here, Mr. Furness, don't you think so ? " said Mr. Taylor. As Mr. Furness's Lead was at that moment some three feet inside his bunk, and a small portion of his legs alone visible, his hearing apparatus was then not very acute. A moment later, the remainder of his body and his head appearing, the question was repeated. " Things look quite snug here, Mr. Furness, don't you think so ? " " Oh, were you calling my name ? " " Yes, and asking how you liked the appearance of our new quarters." "Ah, very well, indeed. I think we shall soon be quite shipshape. I was trying to arrange my bunk and see which end to put the pillow on." " I should imagine that there would be wind blowing on your head with your head nearest the door." " I am inclined to that opinion myself, and shall try it so, at least for to-night. By the way, it would be a good idea if somebody would wind up our clock, which I see has run down." " If I could find the key I would do so myself," said Mr. Taylor. A few minutes' hunt soon revealed the missing article, and when the clock had been wound and set it was found to want six minutes of eight o'clock. " There, that does look more shipshape ! " Just then the clatter and tramping of sundry pairs of feet were heard coming down the companion-way, with a OFF FOR LABRADOR. 2ff stamping well calculated to strike terror into the heart of all lovers of quiet and good order, and in a moment more the door opened and the three boys rushed into the cabin. " Oh, Mr. Taylor, where is bur bunk ? " Three voices crying out for the same thing at the same time, are often apt to produce a slight confusion, but in the present case the chief question soon resolved itself into the fact that, as there were only two bunks for three to sleep in, it was at once obvious that two must sleep in one bunk. John and Freddie at once settled this point of apparent controversy, as usual, by giving their brother the high bunk, and submitting themselves to be the pair who should double. In about an hour's time, all were in order, with the exception of that of Mr. Murphy. The boys declared that Mr. Murphy was still sitting on the top of the forecastle smoking his pipe. As Allie said this the door opened and in walked Mr. Murphy, with his pipe in his hand, and beamed genially on Allie, showing that he had heard at least part of the remark made. Mr. Murphy then put his pipe into his mouth and began to smoke vigorously. " All those who vote no smoking in the cabin, please raise their hands," shouted out a voice which all soon saw came from no other than the professor. Mr. Murphy turned and made an ugly scowl, but showed no signs of removing his pipe, — if anything, he smoked all the harder. As no one responded to Mr. Jacobs's vote, Mr. Murphy continued to exhale the fragrant^ with a great deal of 26 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. % satisfaction expressed in the quiet gleam of triumph that shone in his eye. He was too discreet, however, to say anything, and a moment later he took his pipe out of his mouth and quitted smoking for the time being. All things were now tight and trim, and ready for tlie night. Mr. Benton sat in his rocking-chair close to the table, with his eye-glasses on his nose, reading the morning's paper, which, until this time, he had found no opportunity of looking at. He would occasionally glance over the top of his glasses at the general proceedings about him, but would always end with a " h'm-m-m " as he resumed his reading. For a long time no one spoke. John, however, ventured the remark that they were at last all fairly at sea. No one seemed to care to dispute him, or argue a fact so apparent, and the remark passed unheeded. As it was by no means dark overhead, a suggestion from one of the boys to the effect, " let's go on deck," took like wild-fire, and the four children rushed together for the steps. A careless movement on the part of young Freddie, jostled Jack against Mr. Murphy, which knocked his pipe out of his mouth and to the floor. The boys disappeared up the companion-way so quickly that no one saw who did it. Mr. Murphy stooped to pick up his pipe, and as he did so he muttered something about unmannerly young dogs, that, for some reason or other, attracted the attention and strange to say the ire of Mr. Benton, who immediately spoke up quite sharply. . . -^ ... \\ OFF FOR LABRADOR. 27 "Unmannerly young dogs, sir, is it? Unmannerly young dogs ? It seems to me that if some grown per- sons," — here Mr. Benton laid great stress upon the word grown — "were more mannerly they would have less cause to complain of those younger than them- selves." Whether Mr. Benton referred to the fact that Mr. Murphy had resumed his smoking in the cabin, or that at that moment, in picking up his pipe, he had uncon- sciously stepped between Mr. Benton and the light, will remain a mystery, for the one was too much surprised to ask, as the other was, apparently, too angry for the moment to give an explanation. Mr. Murphy's pipe not being materially damaged, he picked it up, carefully wiped it with hie handkerchief, and consigned it to a small case which he replaced in his pocket. At this moment one of the boys on deck called down for all below to come up and see the phosphorescence in the water. Mr. Benton and Mr. Ready remained below, while the rest hastened to obey the summons. Once on deck they could see the large dashes and sparkles of fire as it shone in the spray thrown up by the vessel's prow. Large patches, often a foot in diameter, whirled round and round in the eddying currents, and dashed by on either side. The spray was alive with starry particles, and even the long, luminous wake of the vessel shone like an immense electric sea serpent. The professor immediately began a long explanation of the causes of various kinds of phosphorescence, and of this particular variety. He said that it was produced by the countless myriads of the young of the jelly fishes, 28 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. that swarmed in these waters, and were known to the scientists by the name of hydroids. It was known, lie said, that hydroids were young jelly fishes, and that both young and old were more or less luminous at times. That they were covered with rows of fine hair like feel- ers, called cilia, and that the body of the animal had the power of giving off under certain conditions, a certain gas, chemically known as carburetted hydrogen, that was luminous upon reaching the air. Some of these particles, he said, doubtless became luminous in the water to a cer- tain degree, owing to the air which the water itself al- ways contained. While the professor was explaining this to those on deck, one of the boys had lowered the bucket and brought it on deck literally full of living particles of fire. Taken to the galley, where the cook was still engaged in wiping the remains of his dirty dishes, the flare of the lamp revealed a host of tiny, gelatinous bodies, with one or two very good-sized jelly fishes. Upon placing these in the hand and taking them to a dark corner, and then suddenly replacing them into the water, sparks of fire were given off similar to those seen so abundantly over the side of the vessel. "Well, gentlemens," said Max, during a pause in the proceedings, " what do you want for your breakfasts ? " " Come, Max, give us some oatmeal," said Mr. Jacobs. " Beefsteak and baked potatoes ! " exclaimed Allie. "Well, gentlemens," laughed Max, "if you had fur- nished a register we could have done it." Max was a Frenchman, and though he spoke English very well, yet he often got words strangely mixed, as on this occasion. " Eef rigerator, Max," said Mr. Jacobs. OFF FOR LABRADOR. 29 n to the nown, lie ihat both it times, like feel- l had the a certain , that was particles, c to a cer- itself al- those on id brought e. [1 engaged lare of the with one them to a Q into the those seen use in the kfasts ? " ^r. Jacobs. Allie. u had fur- ke English ixed, as on " Yes, sir ; if we had a refrigerator on board we could take with us a great many things that we could not otherwise get." " You ought to have one," said Allie j " if only to take my beefsteak in." " We will give you something, in the morning, that is better than beefsteak," said Max. " Tell us what it is ! " chimed in Freddie. " You waits until the morning, young fellow, and finds out then," replied Max. Both of the boys tried in vain to discover what it was that they were to have that was better than beefsteak. One guessed one thing, and another another thing; but no one could tell that Max had four fine spring chickens nicely hidden away for them next day. Nor would any kind of inducements get it out of him, so the boys left off questioning. Max continued hard at work in the galley for a long time. He made a huge pan full of nice, white bread, and set it in the corner to rise ; then he made a kettle full of hasty pudding, so that it might be ready to fry in the morning. After that he put away all the dishes, washed up everywhere and everything, and, shutting the doors of the galley, with a " good nights, gentlemen ; my work is done for the nights, and I'll go to bed," descended into the forecastle. It was now quite still on deck, and, as there was no longer anything to keep them up, all returned again to the cabin, and soon after they too went to bed. Thus ended the first day on board the North Star, bound for Labrador. f ,1^ ! ^^VHII 80 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. CHAPTER III. ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. THE morning of the third day opened fair and pleas- ant, hut with little wind. At seven o'clock the cap- tain hove the log, and it was found that, altogether, the vessel had made a little over three hundred miles, thus leaving about fifty miles more to be traversed be- fore reaching Halifax. The morning of the fourth, Freddie Benton, as usual, was the first to arise and hurry on deck. The scene that presented itself to his eyes contained such a variety of objects, and differed so materially from what he had seen when he retired at night, or rather the noon before, that at first he gazed at it in the dazed state of one who is suddenly struck sun or snow blind. But Freddie was not one to remain in such a condition long, so he rubbed his eyes, blew his nose with his handkerchief, and, rub- bing his eyes again, put to the man at the wheel the very natural inquiry of : " Say ! where are we ? " The man at the wheel, who was all this time snugly sitting near the steru of the vessel, and not at the wheel at all, laughed heartily and did not reply. " Say," shouted Freddie, " where are we ? " " In Boston, again," said the man. " Boston," said Freddie, " hov/ did we get there ? " " Drifted there in the night," replied the man. ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 81 d pleas- the cap- ogether, i miles, rsed be- is usual, ;ene that kiiety of he had before, 3ne who die was rubbed md, rub- beel the snugly le wheel ?»» <' Why ! this ain't Boston ! " Freddie answered. " No ; this is Newfoundland," again said the man. " Oh 1 Allie ! Come up here quick, we are in New- foundland. Come, huriy up ! " A moment later and Allie, too, appeared at the head of the companion-way, and going through with the same process as his brother had, he gazed, at the scene in blaaik amazement. "Why, Freddie! this isn't Newfoundland, this is Halifax." "Halifax?" "Yes!" " Hooray — hoo-ray ! Hal-i-fax ! " shouted Freddie, in his loudest tones. " Get up, all hands ! Get up ! We are in Hal-i-fax ! " All was in commotion in a moment. At first no one would believe it. Everybody was up, and hastening to dress themselves that they might go on shore. Mr. Murphy alone remained in his bunk, apparently undis- turbed by the excitement around him. In ten minutes after Freddie had sounded the alarm, everybody else in the cabin had shown their heads above the hatch to have a glimpse at the scene. Each party, having taken a glimpse long enough to see that there were houses near, and that it must be the veritable Hali- fax itself, would immediately pop below again, to make room for somebody else, and begin a most frantic flurry, preparatory to dressing, that they might get breakfast ashore. One would really have imagined that it was Sunday, and that the party were preparing to go to church. Mr. Benton and the boys dressed tljemselves, — the former looked as if he were going to a very fashionable ball ; the 32 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ■^ latter, each with their sailor's blouses, caps, and large trowsers, were really quite appropriately and comfort- ably attired. Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Taylor put on their very best, and occupied the main cabin, in washing and dressing, for so long a time that Mr. Ready, and the others who were waiting for them so that all might go ashore to- gether, grew really quite impatient. Mr. Benton, alone, v^entured a slight remonstrance. " How long do those gentlemen in the cabin intend to delay us ? " said he to Mr. Ready. " I don't know, I'm sure," replied Mr. Ready. " There's always some delay at the last moment." " We are coming right away," shouted out Mr. Taylor from below, who had heard every word that had been said on deck. " All right," exclaimed Mr. Ready, we are going now as soon as we can." When the two gentlemen came on deck there was a tremendous sensation, especially among the boys. Mr. Jacobs was dressed in an elegant brown suit, and had collar and cuffs on, attached to a white shirt which shone conspicuously in front ; his shoes were polished in a way that would have astounded a city bootblack ; and with a large East India palm leaf hat crowning the summit of his head. Mr. Taylor was dressed in a somewhat similar manner. Somebody whispered, very audibly, something that sounded very much like either dude or dudes, but it was difficult to tell which. Mr. Ready and Jack, with Mr. Furness, brought up the rear, and, when all had stepped into the boat, the captain and the mate got in also and rowed them ashore. U ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 33 and large I comfort- /■ery best, dressing, hers who ishore to- on, alone, intend to "There's r. Taylor had been )ing now re was a ys. Mr. and had ch shone in a way nd with summit mewhat ng that it was ith Mr. stepped Iso and As it was now about seven o'clock there was an hour before breakfast, so each party dispersed to enjoy them- selves as they pleased until eight, when all were to meet again at the hotel, whither Mr. Keady had gone to order breakfast, and beefsteak breakfast at that, for nine, to be on the table promptly at eight. While waiting for the expected hour to arrive Mr. Benton and the boys, in fact all the others, Mr. Ready excepted, went to the office to obtain the mail. — This was an old-fashioned governmental-looking sort of a building, of dingy stone work, and built on the slope of a hill. — The interior much resembled the exterior, and the office part was in a dark corner at the left of the entrance. The windows were closed, when the party entered, and so they were obliged to wait a considerable time for their letters. The three boys ranged themselves on the top of a steam register and waited patiently their turn. The rest of the party, preferring to wait outside, went into the street again to stroll around and see the sights. After about half an hour the stamp window opened, and at the same time the mail opened also. The boys got their letters and, as it was nearly eight, started oif for the h('tel. When they arrived there breakfast was ready and waiting. As nearlj' all were there, they sat down aX once and began to eat. It was a fair meal, and it was surprising to see the way the beefsteak and baked potatoes, the hot rolls and coffee, and all the other good things disappeared. The waiters were kept flying around continually bringing new supplies, and all went on as merry as possible. The waiters were extremely polite, one of them even brought Mr. Benton liis coffee in a !-urnbler, and poured his per- p ' i ■I; 34 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ter into a cup. Then seeing his mistake he took them both away and even forgot to return them till Mr. Ben- ton asked for his coffee ; then it was so cold he had to get another cup and another bottle of porter, because the other by this time had lost all its foam. At last the breakfast was finished, and all hands, the men with their cigars, went out to view the town and see whatever there was of interest to be seen. Finding it much the cheaper way, a bus was hired, and the party went aroun ' to the citadel, and all over that ; down the street to the point ; back again and through the most important places until they were fairly tu'tl, and had seen all of interest that they cared about, \s this occupied nearly all of the morning, after lunch tiie party took the ferry and went across the bay to the other side. — About four in the afternoon they returned and wandered about the streets, visiting all the stores and places of importance, each enjoying himself hugely. Mr. Benton and the boys then separated from the others and might have been seen in a large store that was stocked full of guns, fishing-tackle, and every kind of game appur- tenance, eagerly employed in picking out fishing gear, and also powder and shot for the guns. Each of the boys got a fish pole and a reel, with a nice grass line of fifty yards, and several dozen fly hooks, besides an assortment of plain, and plain snelled hooks. Besides these Mr. Benton purchased several dozen common, cheap lines and a box of assorted hooks for all sorts of fishing. He did not get any cod lines, as the captain had informed him that there were already a number of them on board. In the shot department Mr. Benton purchased four bags of shot : one of number twelves, two of number eight, and one of a larger size of number BB for big gulls. A keg ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 85 of powder was added to the bill ; and a couple of rolls of caps, containing a thousand in each roll, of Ely's single waterproof make, were also purchased. — Then a large quantity of cut wads, a considerable number of small nicknacks and useful articles of one thing and another, among which was a patent gun cleaner, completed the list. As each of the boys had a gun, and as they were all muzzle loaders, the ammunition for one answered for all. At length the outfit here was complete. Then Mr. Benton paid for them all, and ordered them sent on board the vessel. By this time it was nearly dark, so all hands started for the hotel, where they were to have dinner. One by one the various members of the party straggled in until, by seven o'clock, all were present. Then came dinner. After dinner the gentlemen sat and smoked and rested, till they were aroused by Mr. Ready, who came to say that as there was a good breeze the captain thought they had better get under way and sail, unless the gentlemen wished to remain all night on shore at the hotel. A vote being taken, strange to say, all were in favor of staying but Mr. Benton and Mr. Ready ; these gentle- men argued that it was better to sail in the night, and as there was a good breeze, more would be accomplished by starting at once ; the vote having been taken, however, the gentlemen very willingly gave up their wishes in the matter, ;ind so it was agreed to remain that night in Hali- fax, and start early the next morning, if the wind was good. With this agreement, and the further provision that all hands be on board at eight o'clock the next morning, if the wind was fair Mr. Ready started for the vessel to let the captain know of the agreement. I I 36 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ! I * ' ii , i i ! : : As most of the stores were closed by this time, and as all hands were very tired, one by one each sought his room, and by nine o'clock nearly everybody was in bed and asleep. Prompt at the appointed time, the next morning, all hands were on board ; a few moments later the sails were set, the anchor hove, and the North Star, with her canvas filled with the genial breeze that came from the southAvest, gallantly bent herself to the pressure of wind and glided like a white winged gull, down the bay and out of J x harbor into the sea. "Well, ptain," said Mr. Taylor, coming up to the captain, who was pacing the deck just forward of the traveller ; " what is our next stopping place ? " " Oh, we'll stop at Canso, I guess." "I suppose you mean the place they call Port Mul- berry, or something of the kind." " Yes ! Port ISIulgrave is on one side, and Port Hawkes- bury on the other." "Is Port Mulgrave the place where we will get our letters ? " " Yes, if you told them to write to you there." "Ah, Mr. Murphy, I am very glad to see you about once more. I hope your efforts last evening, and yester- day, were not too much for you." (Mr. Murphy had suf- fered considerably from seasickness.) " Oh, no, thank you ! I am very well this morning, and considerably improved. I think that I shall be able to enjoy the day, now, as well as anybody ; but what are the Benton boys doing ? Let us go and watch them ! " The three boys were sitting down on the hatchway be- fore a very large box, from which they were industriously striving to remove the cover, with a screwdriver and a ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 37 hammer. The box was about four feet long and four wide, while it was about fourteen inches deep. It was made of very hard wood, and while there were hinges upon one side of it and a couple of staples and a padlock upon the other, the whole cover had been securely fastened down by means of screws. John, producing a key, unlocked and took off the pad- lock, then, when all the screws had been extracted, the cover was opened and the contents exposed. It was, in fact, a carefully arranged box, containing the apparatus for collecting specimens of Natural His- tory. It had been prepared for the boys by a scientific friend who had taken great interest in them, and who had given them much good advice and a great many val- uable hints upon Natural History in general, and espe- cially in collecting specimens in that branch. No one felt more the importance of this branch of science to the boys than John ; and no one was more interested in the work, for the mere pleasure of it in itself, than Allie and i'reddie, — though the latter knew very little about it. John had said, laughingly, that " no one knew less about bugs, shells, and that kind of truck, than Freddie," yet Freddie, when he told John that he " need not look for any more gun-wads from him," of which he had made a great many for his brother, and received much commen- dation — decidedly had the best of it. " Well, boys ! what are you up to now ? " said Mr. Taylor, as he and Mr. Murphy approached where the boys were at work. " Unpacking our box, sir ! " " What have you got there, and where did you get it ? " " It was put up for us by a friend at home. We do i ! 38 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, I i not yet know ourselves what is in it. Won't you stay and see us inspect it ? " " Why yes, we should like to do so very much ; shouldn't we, Mr. Murphy ? " Mr. Murphy nodded his head affirmatively, and con- tinued to smoke his pipe in silence. "Ah! here comes Mr. Jacobs. I suppose you know that he is a professor in this very branch. He will know all about these things. If you ask him perhaps he will come and help you. Help you with good advice, if in no other way." " Wait, AUie, and I will go and ask him," said John. In a moment more John returned with Mr. Jacobs, who was only too glad to help the boys all that was in his power — and who entered very heartily into their schemes. As it was a pleasant day, and not too hot, they all sat right down, where they were, and prepared to complete the work of investigating the box. " I suppose you know what the box contains, and something about the use of these various articles, John." " No, sir ! we know very little about them. We had a few written instructions from our friend who got them for us, and I have seen a few of them used before, but we know very little about collecting in the salt-water." " Never mind about written instructions. You'll learn more in half an hour's good solid work, than by all the instructions you can have on paper. Come! hurry off that cover, and let us see what there is in there ; you have excited my curiosity." Thus admonished, John and Allie took off the cover of the box, and began to examine the contents. ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 89 le cover " Now, if you will take them all out, and place them here, in order, on the hatchway, we can easily see what you have, and then we can put them back again after- wards. Ah ! there comes the dredge." The dredge was a narrow frame-work of iron, about two feet long and eight inches wide, each piece three inches deep and with the front edges lengthways, thin, sharp, and bent slightly outward so that when resting on the bottom, and drawn along by the rope, it scooped the ground like a knife, the material thus scooped going inside of the frame-work. From the middle of the side bars, were two iron arms that came together above the center of the dredge, and through a ring in each of which the dredge rope was fastened. Around the bottom of the iron frame-work were a large number of small holes, by which the netting and all the canvas of the dredge was fastened. The instrument, as John took it out, was already completed and ready for use. The net was of very fine meshes and very deep, and it was sewed to the inside of the frame-work to prevent the rough wear and tear of the handling process. On the outside of the dredge was a large, quadrangular piece of thick canvas, sewed into the same holes as was the net, on each of the longest sides of the iron, the canvas coming just beyond the bottom of the net. All of this was of course to be seen at a glance. Mr. Jacobs explained that the canvas was to prevent the net itself from being torn to pieces by being dragged on the bottom of the water over sharp stones and sharp, angular growths of nuUipore, so abun- dant everywhere in shallow water. In a corner of the partition from which the dredge had been taken were two large leaden weights of about ten pounds each, and in another corner were three nets, one of the same size [ i 40 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, as that whioh was in the dredge which they had before them, and two of a smaller size. " Ah ! " exclaimed Mr. Jacobs. *• You have two dredges here ; let us find the other one." The other one was readily found, — being the first article next in order in the box. It was of a pattern similar to that of the larger dredge, and made for use in shallow water. Its length was only fourteen inches. Beneath it were two small leads of five pounds each. This smaller dredge was also all ready for use. " Where are your ropes ? " asked Mr. Jacobs. " I say, Freddie, won't you go into the cubby, down in the galley, and bring those two coils of new rope ? " Freddie hastened off, and soon reappeared tugging away at two huge coils of rope, which he had got as far as the deck, and which he was trying to get the rest of the way. Allie, seeing him, hastened to his help, and soon the coils were brought. Mr. Jacobs then took the end of the larger coil, — which proved to be of fine manilla rope and about three- quarters of an inch in diameter, and fastened it to one of the rings of the dredge. He then took a piece of the smaller coil, and fastening one end of it to the other ring, tied the other end to the main rope. This, he explained, was so that should the iron be caught on a rock, the smaller rope would break before the dredge itself, thus saving the dredge in many cases where it might other- wise be lost. The weight was fastened to the rope six feet in front of the dredge, and Mr. Jacobs pronounced it all ready to be used. Both dredges having been " rigged," and set one side, the boys turned their attention to the next article in the box. This was no other than a board resting upon two ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 41 side pieces of wood. Upon seeing it the boys at first imagined that they had arrived at the bottom of the par- tition; but a second glanee showed that it came out (pite easily, being arranged so that tlie heavy dredge iron would not injure the more fragile articles beneath. These consisted of a large, oblong sieve of quite fine meshes, which the professor explained was for sifting the material brought up from the bottom, by the dredges ; and a fine large dip net, with a long, jointed handle. These latter articles were all packed in carefully with cloth, which, upon inspection, proved to be what is com- monly known as strainer cloth, and which, Mr. Jacobs said, was for doing specimens up in previously to placing them in alcohol. The middle partition of the box contained three large copper cans, with large inside mouths, fastened by screws, filled with alcohol for preserving fishes, crus- taceas, and other large marine animals. One of the cans was double the size of the other two, and had the mark eight upon it; the others were each marked four, and contained eight and four gallons of alcohol apiece. The third partition of the box was next examined. It contained about a dozen jars, four quart and eight two- quart jars, all filled with alcohol ready for use. They had the top or mouth of the jar of the same dimensions as the bottom, and were, so Mr. Jacobs told the boys, what were called butter jars. Then there were two large two-quart common preserving cans, and four small quarts of the same make. In the farther corner of the box were two boxes placed one above the other. — One of these contained a variety of two, four, six, and eight ounce bottles, with large i :| i \ 1 . '■ ;, ' ■j . 1 42 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. mouths and corks, for collecting smaller specimens. The other box had a small partition in it, dividing the boA into halves, one half containinj^ small homoeopathic vials of all sizes, and the other an assortment of pill boxes ; two of which, being marked upon the outside, were found to contain a quantity of tags, made of stout cardboard with strings on them, which might be used for labeling specimens with. A third box, much larger than the others, contained parchment labels, for a similar purpose. In one corner of the box was a ball of fine, stout, red twine for doing up bundles and tying around specimens done up in the cloth before being put into the cans or bottles. " Well ! " said the professor, when the inspection was completed, " your friend certainly understood how to fit you out for work on sea animals." " I should say so ! " exclaimed John and AUie in the same breath. " It is funny," said John, " he did not know about it until a few days before we sailed, and then the box did not arrive until a short time before we started." "Yes!" cried Freddie. "Don'c you remember, AUie, that the box came in the same wagon that Mr. Jacobs and the trunks came on." Just as Mr. Jacobs performed the very unprofessor- like act of turning to Mr. Taylor and winking very hard, Freddie's eye caught him in the act. "Oh, John!" cried Freddie, "Mr. Jacobs knows all about it ; see, he is winking to Mr. Taylor, and I believe he and Mr. Chalmers " (Mr. Chalmers being the scientific friend who had helped the boys in their work) " knew all about it, long ago ! " " Yes I I'm sure they must have," said AUie. " He ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 43 "He don't deny it ! See him wink at Mr. Taylor ! I don't care, I think you are awfully good," said Allie. " Thank you for your good opinion, my boy," Mr. Jacobs replied. " I'll do all I can to keep you busy this trip. I don't think you'll have much time to be idle; but let me see the net ! " Mr. Jacobs then took the net, screwed together the handle, which was of five joints, each piece with a nice brass ferule and screw, and then the brass ring of the net. " There ! that is as fine a net as you can get anywhere. We got that at Bradford & Anthony's," said Mr. Jacobs. " Ah-a- 1 mean it is as good a one as any that you could get at Bradford & Anthony's," Mr. Jacobs observed, cor- recting himself. None of the boys noticed the remark, but Mr. Taylor winked with the professor at the blunder, and Mr. Mur- phy began to laugh so hard that everybody looked up in surprise to see what was the matter ; while Mr. Murphy was obliged to cough very hard, and then to put his pipe into his mouth and smoke vigorously for some time be- fore he could regain his equanimity. " Now, Allie," said Mr. Jacobs, " go to Max and bor- row a pail ; a large wooden one, if you can get it. Tell him that you are only going to put sea water and sea- weeds and that like into it." Allie was off in a moment, and soon returned with the pail. "That's all right. Now fill it with water from the draw bucket." Allie did as he was told, and soon had the pail full of fresh, clean sea water. Meanwhile Mr. Jacobs had been leaning over the side of the vessel, intently watching the 44 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. II ■. M ; nil water and the several small particles of seaweed that w(>re continually passing;. Presently he made a lunge, and captured a large, tangled mass of weed that came passing by. This he quickly transferred to the pail, and, with the precaution to the boys of " don't touch it vet," proceeded to capture several more smaller piec( .nd finally another large mass of weeds which, with that al- ready taken, nearly filled the pail. " Now, boys," said the professor, " let's see what we have got." All hands crowded about the pail, while Freddie was dispatched for two tin basins from the cook, and the pi'ofessor began to pick over the seaweed in the pail. While they were thus occupied Jack Ready took the draw bucket and filling it with water, watched his chances, and soon had a second pailful of seaweed. "That's good," said the professor, "keep us su' ed with it." Just then Jack saw a great mass of weed approaching, so he ran and got a great tub, which was standing near the galley, and began filling that. Netful after netful came up, and soon Jack had this heaping to the top with weed. " Let us stop," said the professor, " and get all we can, assort it, and then see what we have got." To do this, the weeds in the water pail were emptied into the tub, as were those in the bucket also, and the pail filled with fresh water. Then the seaweed was taken, piece by piece, and shaken into the water, to free it from any small animals that might be on it, and after- wards looked over carefully for anything that might be adhering to it. In this way the water pail was soon fairly alive with all sorts of small crustaceans, water ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 45 fleas, small fishes that had become entangled in the masses, many species of very pretty shells, and not a few very delicate and pretty seaweeds. The professor, also, laid aside a number of immense clusters of barna- cles, and also several pieces of board with curiously shaped conical pieces of shell-like formation upon them, which the professor said were also barnacles, but of a different species. Still the fishing went oi. The tub was filled with weed and emptied a number of times. The boys were kept busy nearly all the morning, and by noon two large pails were filled with all sort and variety of animal life. A third pail contained several jelly fishes, and smaller animals of a similar kind that had been captured by the net; and thus, by dinner time, the boys had three pails full of material for a fine study of sea life, which the professor readily agreed to help them to look over and examine, as well a» to bottle, in the afternoon. It wa^j with some difficulty that the boys could be per- suaded to leave their work even long enough for dinner. Max vias obliged to shout to them several times that din- ner was ready, before they seemed to be aware that he was speaking to them or even that he was speaking at all. The cry of fresh roast mutton had no attractions, and the addition of plum pudding and molasses was en- tirely unheeded. At length the case became so desper- ate that Max was obliged to threaten them with the entire loss of their dinner if they did not come at once. " I will give you just five minutes more to get your dinner in, boys ; and if you are not here in that time, you gets no dinner to-day," said Max, somewhat vexed at the delay. The last words, " no dinner to-day," were too much to i X 1 ^ ■ ! :' ■ 1 ^^ i V ■I:i I' 46 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. be resisted, and soon the boys were as interested in dis- cussing the merits of roast mutton and plum pudding, as they had been a few moments before of sea animals and jelly fish. After dinner the boys and Mr. Jacobs gathered around the pails again, and began to work over their specimens. "'What are these great long-necked, funny looking white things ? " asked Allie, taking up a large bunch of seaweed, from which hung some thirty or forty objects of different sizes, with long stems of necks, and large triangular shaped heads. "Those are barnacles. They are animals that live in the salt water in the way you see them here, and are of the variety known as goosenecks, on account of their long stems and peculiar bird-like heads. They were known in Europe in very early times, and there is an old story," continued Mr. Jacobs, " that they grew on trees, and that the inside, where you see the animal and fringed feet, was the young of the goose. The people believed that the young goose was hatched from these plants, and that they then fell off into the water, where they lived and grew to be full-grown geese, wheii ' 'ley flew away in flocks. This story was believed by well-informed and even prominent men in different parts of the world for a long time." " Yes. but did you not call these barnacles ? " asked Fred- die, taking up one of the boards with the shell-like cones upon it. " They are not the same ! " " No, those that you have in your hand are a different species from the long-necked ones. They ure also of a different genus. The one has a hard shell-like covering of lime, while the other has nothing except what we call a naked covering. They both grow in large colonies of ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 47 single animals, however. The long-necked species grows as you see it, and is not nearly as often found as the other, which grows almost everywhere, on rocks, boards, (H' anywhere it can find a place to fasten itself upon. You will often, at the seashore, see the rocks along the beach covered with this shell-like variety for miles ; in fact, they are always more or less common on any sea beach, while the others are generally found attached to floating objects, a distance from land, at sea." "How many species of barnacles are there, Mr. Ja- cobs ? " asked Allie. " Oh ! there are a great many. Nearly every country has several varieties. There are about our New England coast and its adjacent waters some three or four species only, but a great many rare forms have been found, and some of them in a very curious way," continued Mr. Jacobs. " Do tell us about them, si ," urged John. " I am afraid you have not reached that point in your education," laughed Mr. Jacobs, " where you will appre- ciate, without the specimens, or fully understand the connection ; but," he added, " there are several other species that have been taken on the coast, that are com- mon in warmer climates. Some that came here on the bottom of ships from tropical seas, where they had fas- tened themselves to the vessels. Some have been found living in rivers, miles from the sea; others have been dredged from the bottom of the water, many fathoms in depth. One curious species has been found attached to the sides or bellies of whales. These, as the kinds found on ships' bottoms, may live here or may not. It cannot be told yet for a certainty. The objects to which they are attached being living or moving, and able to readily ilTll! 48 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. i ■11 ■t : :! in \ go from one sea to another, or one climate to another, it would be difficult to say whether they lived here in any other situations or not." "But are there no more than three or four kinds of these curious animals that are at all common on our coast ? " continued John. " That is about all of this half mollusk and half crab." " What are mollusks ? " asked Freddie. " Mollusks ? " said Mr. Jacobs. " W^ they are the animals of one of the great classes into which all ani- mals of the animal kingdom are divided. They are what you often call shell-fish, with a great many other kinds that you probably never either saw or heard of." " And are the crabs mollusks ? " said Allie. " No, they belong to the old group of what we used to call articulates." " Well, then," put in Freddie, " how can they be half mollusks and half articulates ? Do they connect the two groups, or are there others like them that make another group, as you call it ? " " Now you are getting into the fine points," laughed Mr. Jacobs. " You would have your hands full if you should attempt to follow the matter out : for the present it is enough to know that the barnacle belongs to the class of the cirripedia, which is a division of the articu- lates ; thus the animals come nearer to the crabs, of which they are really a relation, than to the inollusks." " Oh, dear ! " exclaimed John, " why can't we under- stand all about these things now ! "" " You are not the only person who has ever made a similar wish ; but let us put these two fine bunches into one of the jars." Mr. Jacobs then took a small piece of cloth, placed the ARRIl^AL AT HALIFAX. 49 3d the bunches carefully in it, wrote a label upon one of the pieces of parchment, which he inclosed in the package also, and carefully did the package up and tied it with a piece of the red string. Then he fastened a small tag to the outside of the parcel, and placing a number upon it, dropped it into one of the two-quart jars. Then he took a small note book, that one of the boys pro- cured from his trunk, and copied the number and label into it. Having shown the boys how to work, Mr. Jacobs now left them to attend to some work of his own. The boys then proceeded to arrange the specimens that they had caught into similar bundles, all of which were done up carefully, and labeled fully, before being thrown into the alcohol. Having found something to occupy their atten- tion, all the rest of the afternoon was occui)ied in a way similar to that of the morning. Tubful after tubful of seaweed was taken and examined. Several large schools of very small fishes, which Mr. Jacobs told them were of the genus called stickleback, were found, and quite a number of other interesting things were taken. One jar was devoted to the small and curious seaweeds which came into the net, many of which were exceedingly delicate, and of these there seemed to be a number of dis- tinct varieties. All were carefully preserved. By night the boys had three two-quart jars full to the very top of fishes, shells, and a large assortment of vari- ous sea animals. These they intended to take home and assort, and study at their leisure. John was especially interested in the large numbers of fleas and water lice, with a few worms that had been found. In fact, the whole find was in every respect satisfactory to all parties, and Ml'. Jacobs praised the boys highly for their indus- m 50 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, ! 'I try, and the boys were themselves no less pleased at the results of their work. " Oh, Mr. JacobR," said Allie, " I think it is really too bad that you cannot live with us all the time, and teach us about these things. Father is awful rich, you know, and we could go where we liked and do whatever you said, and have things fixed up to suit us, and, oh ! how pleasant it would be." Mr. Jacobs looked at the boy for a moment, and smiled sadly as he turned away, only to encounter Mr. Benton's eyes, who had been standing near him, unperceived, and had heard the Avhole of his son's remark. " Smart boys, Mr. Jacobs ! " said Mr. Benton. " Yes, sir ! They are young yet, sir ! " Mr. Benton appeared not to notice the remark, for he turned, a moment after, and retired to the cabin. As it was now getting dark, the boys put away their things, and shut and locked their box for the night. i; \ t the HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION, 51 y too teach enow, • you how miled itoii's I, and or he |away the CHAPTER IV. HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED IMMEXSE COMMOTIOX. TEN days out. The North Star lay almost motionless upon the bosom of a mirrored patch of water in the center of the mighty and usually tempestuous Gulf of St. Lawrence. But to our story. Among the crew of the North Star was a small cabin boy. He was a greenhorn, having been taken on board for the first time, on the beginning of this trip. He was familiar^3' called Tod, though his real name was no other than Thomas Thompson. How either tlu first or the last part of his name, or both together, in any way were converted into Tod, is a mystery. Possibly he was fond of the article for which Tod might be an abbreviation ; possibly it might have been a contraction of toad, — for he certainly was as ugly-looking as one of those animals. However it came about, this young, green, awkward, homely, uncertain, if not positively disagreeable and dis- honest individual, had been taken on board to assist the cook. Max had become disgusted with him the first day out, and he had been consigned to the forecastle to do sailor's duty as a green hand. It did not seem to make the slightest difference with Tod as to what people said to him or did with him. He was the same ugly, uncomfortable looking darky that he appeared the first hour he came aboard. Ho was always : Ml .1 ■ :• 'i ' ■.' ii t- i.'f 62 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. about and in everybody's way, or he sulked, and remained hidden in the forecastle among the boxes and barrels for days at a time. No one seemed to have any influence with him, and even the captain and crew let him as thor- oughly alone as it was in their power to do. Tod was, in fact, as thorough a young imp of darkness as it was possible to make one ; yet, strange to say, Tod could be as pleasant and agreeable — nay, affable — as he could be disagreeable and ugly. One morning, quite early, all hands were below asleep, and the captain himself had the wheel. While his back was turned for a moment, looking at the log, which he had just hauled in, he heard a step, then a sound of some one running or walking fast yet cautiously behind him. As he turned he caught sight of Tod just retreating be- hind the galley. " Here, you young black sculpin, what are you doing ? "Where have you been ? '' Tod was by this time so far away that he either had not heard the captain call to him, or, if he did, had, for motives of his own, deemed it best to get out of the way as quickly as possible. It was, however, true that a mo- ment after the captain had called him Tod had disap- peared, and in another moment both Tod and the circum- stance of his curious appearance and disappearance had passed from his mind. An hour later and Fred and Allie were leaning over the bow of the vessel watching the motionless w^ter, and the boundless glassy surface of the sea that spread in every direction. Suddenly, — " Good morning, boys." Both boys turned instantly, and encountered the I. ' I/OW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 53 round, good-humored face of Mr. Murphy, with his ever- present meerschaum in his mouth, intently watching them. " Good morning, sir ! " exclaimed Allie. " We were watching the water. I think it is perfectly grand. How I wish that Eva and May could be here and see it!" " And mamma, too," chimed in Freddie. " Yes, indeed, mamma and all ; how they would enjoy it, sir ! " said Allie. " Indeed they would, my boys. You must write them all about it, and send the letters at Halifax." " Oh, yes, sir, we mean to. John is writing a journal for mamma, Allie for May, and I am writing for Eva." " Yes ! and Mr. Murphy, the best of it all is that neither of us are going to tell the other what he is writ- ing about, so that they will all be different. Won't that be fine?" " A capital plan, boys ; whose idea was that ? " " Oh, that was Eva's," said Freddie. " She made us promise to do it before we came away. John and Allie have their journal all written up, but I haven't had time to touch mine yet; but I guess I'll make it up, some- how." Freddie gave a deep sigh, as he said this, as though the idea was almost too much for him. Mr. Murphy smiled as he turned and began to pace the deck, at the same moment Mr. Benton's head, then his shoulders, and finally his full form, appeared above the companion-way. Mr. Benton allowed his eyes to roam over the scene about him, and, meeting everywhere with boundless sea, fixed them upon Mr. Murphy. For a moment a scowl clouded Mr. Benton's brow, then, as I ll n i \ !! 64 WRECKED ON LA BR AD 01 if the situation gleamed upon his troubled senses, he exclaimed : "H'm-m-m, ah — a — a, good day, sir, good day, sir! fine morning, fine morning." "Ah! good morning, sir," said Mr. Marphy. "I hope you rested well last night, sir." "As well as could be expected, under the circum- stances, sir," replied Mr. Benton, "though I did not get to sleep for some time, sir, owing to the fact that the light in the cabin was kept burning until the most outrageous hour of several minutes after ten o'clock, sir.'- This was a home thrust at Mr. Murphy, who had sat up until nearly half-past ten o'clock, reading Coopei-'s " Red Rover," when Mr. Ready had said that the lights must be out at ten o'clock. Both gentlemen scowled at each other ominously, for a moment. What the result might have been no one could have told, had not Max's cherry voice ended all seeming hostility, for the present, at least, by its : " Breakfast, gentlemens ! all ready." After the others had all finished, Max himself sat down to a large plateful of beefsteak, which he finished in grand style. Then, while the crew were eating in the forecastle, he took out his pipe and prepared for a smoke. Jack Ready came along just then, and broke in : " Having a breathing spell, cook ? " "Yes! I must take a few minutes as well as you. You have your time all the time. I must have mine some of the time. I can't work always." " You do more work than any of the rest of us." " I guess I do as much as any of you ! " Just at that moment voices were heard in loud alter- HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 55 cation, and Allie Benton was seen to step forward and point at Jack Keady. « He's the one that took it. I saw him state- in your room, this morning, when there was no one in the cabin but me, and when he heard me make a noise in my room he hurried off and went on deck." Hearing the noise> both Jack and the cook came out of the galley to see what it was all about. As Jack ap- peared, Allie stepped up to him and said : " See here. Jack Ready, you give my brother Freddie back his revolver." Jack looked wicked for a minute, and was about to make an angry reply, but, seeing his father coming along, he simply said : "I haven't got Fred's revolver. I did not know he had one." " Yes you did, and you took it ; you just give it back," returned Allie, now flushed. " I tx3ll you I haven't got it. I didn't know he had one." "What were you doing in Fred's stateroom this morning ? " " I wasn't in Fred's stateroom this morning." " I thought you would deny it. I was in my room and there was no one else in the cabin, and you came down. Then you stood in this room for a moment and finally went into Fred's room, and I heard you in there turning things around and stepping around, as if you were look- ing at the things in there. Just then I coughed, and you put something you had in your hand down in a hurry and stepped out softly and then went up the stairs on deck. A few moments afterward, Freddie came down for his revolver, that he had left, right out in plain sight, on his shelf, and he couldn't find it. He looked every- r 66 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. li^ :. whore, but it was gone. Now, you must have taken it." " I say I didn't take it. I did go into the cabin this morning, but I didn't go into anybody's room. I was in the wash-room." "I don't believe it." "What's the trouble, boys? What's the trouble?" said Mr. Ready, who just then came up to the crowd. " He's accused me of stealing, father," said Jack, point- ing to AUie Benton. " Accused you of stealing, my boy ? Well, / never knew you to steal so much as a penny, for seventeen years ; I believe you are seventeen years old next Friday." "He says that I stole his brother Fred's revolver." " And you did, and you better give it back," said AUie. " There ! you hear him, father ? " " Hold on, now ; steady. We'll have this thing looked into. If he has, he shall give it back again and take the consequences. If he hain't he shan't be accused unjustly. I won't say that T have before known persons to take things and lay it off on other people, but," said Mr. Ready, " I will say," here Mr. Ready's face flushed, " I've known such things to occur." "Do you mean to imply that I'd steal my brother's revolver, and then lie about it, and lay it off on some- body else ? " " Who says you have been lying ? " said Mr. Benton, who just then came along, and heard only the last words. "Nobody has said so, but I want my pistol," chimed in Freddie, for the first time. " Here comes Mr. Jacobs," said John, who had hither- to stood by, but said nothing. " Oh, Mr. Jacobs, will you act as judge ? " HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. hi " Act as judge ? What for ? " '' Courtmartial, Mr. Jacobs ! " exclaimed Mr. Ready ; " we want a courtmartial, and we want you to act as judge. We are, all of us, thieves, robbers, liars, and villains ; and we mean to institute a courtmartial, and try all hands. You are to be the judge, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Furness the lawyers on either side. All the others are more or less interested parties and shall act as wit- nesses and spectators." Mr. Jacobs entered into the scheme with much interest, as did Mr. Murphy and Mr. Furness. Mr. Murphy was to act as lawyer for Mr. and Jack Ready, — as Mr. Benton would not let him act for his boys ; while Mr. Furness acted for the boys, AUie and Fred. John and Mr. Benton were spectators. The only witnesses, outside of the parties, were the captain and one of the sailors, who saw Jack go into the cabin and come out again. WTien everybody was ready, all hands went into the cabin to prepare for the trial. After talking the matter over, outside with Mr. Mur- phy and Mr. Furness, Mr. Jacobs sat and pondered for a long time. Finally he spoke : " I don't see, Mr. Furness, how this matter is coming out exactly." "It seems a curiously mixed up affair," replied the latter. " It does, indeed. I cannot r/ell doubt Mr. Ready's assertion about his son, and Jack says so positively, and with such an appearance of sincerity, that he not only did not take the revolver, but that he did not know that any of the boys had one, that it makes, virtually, a case of circumstantial evidence, alone, of the word of one n III I! llilji 68 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. against the word of the ether. I hardly see my way clear, as to how to proceed in the matter." " If you will allow me a word, Mr. Jacobs," said Mr. Murphy, who possibly spoke with a slight air of a pos- sible coming triumph over his adversary expressed in his eyes, " it seems to me to be a question of veracity between the two boys, as far as I can judge, if, as AUie says, he saw young Keady in the cabin. Now, I do not wish to seem too hasty in a matter of such re: i importance," he added by way of apology, as if he felt that he might possibly have appeared too eager in the matter, "but I must do the best for my client, that I can," he added in a half-subdued tone, as if talking to himself. "Well," said Mr. Jacobs, "I shall try to act strictly on the merits of the case at any rate." Upon this they descended into the cabin, and took seats with the rest. Mr. Jacobs then called all to order, and made a brief speech, in which he set forth the case as well as he was able, and ended by hoping that all would tell the whole truth the same as if they were in a regular court, so that the innocent might not suffer for the guilty, and that, if possible, the missing article might be found and restored to its owner. The witnesses were then called. The first was Freddie Benton. He testified to having taken the revolver out of the bag and, having cleaned it nicely, j)laced it on the shelf of his cabin, where 1 " k' »t his brush and comb, and a variety of usefu les, ready for use whenever they might be wantt This, he said, he had done the night before, when he totjk or.i his other articles and placed them upon the same she if. — He said that the revolver was one of the Smith and HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 59 Wesson make, a seven shooter, 22 calibre, and about four inch barrel. It had a rosewood handle, and was painted blue-black. Fred also said that when he got up in the morning he found the revolver gone. Mr. Furness then cross-questioned him very carefully, and for a long time, though very little new was brought out, it appeared that Mr. Furness had several ideas in his head that, by the twinkling of his small grayish eyes, he evidently intended to make use of later. AUie Benton was then called. He testified that he was in his stateroom about half- past six in the morning, and that no one else was there besides him. That soon after he had heard somebody come down into the cabin, and, looking through a crack in the door he had seen Jack Ready, standing in the middle of the cabin and apparently looking around him to see if anybody else was there. A few moments after- wards he heard him rummaging among things in the wash-room, and that he seemed to be taking up things and putting them down again. That he, Allie, had stifled a cough, and that immediately the rattling of things stopped, and through the same crack he saw Jack going up the companion-way. Soon after that Freddie had come down for his revolver and could not find it. Such was the substance of AUie's evidence. Next the captain and mate were called. The captain testified that he had seen Jack enter the cabin, and come out of it again with something in his hand that he has- tened to thrust into his pocket when he saw him, the cap- tain, looking at him. But the worst of the testimony was yet to come. The mate being called, said that that morning he had seen Jack open his trunk and take out and put in a revolver, »/ ,1 - ;!■: !■.,.; 00 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. I that, as much as he could see of it, resembled exactly the description of the one said to have been taken. Here was indeed some important testimony. Every one looked aghast. The more so, as no cross-question- ing could change a single statement of the mate's. Even Mr. Murphy's twinkling eyes grew solemn. Mr. Furness alone seemed indifferent, but, as a cool lawyer, seemed to say, " Very good, it only proves my case." The defense now came to the stand. — Jack Ready seemed to understand that the case was against him, and that very little that he could say woul I have any effect. He told his story, however, in a confident way, and maintained to the kist his innocence. He said that he went down into the cabin, and, as the vessel rolled somewhat, he stood there for a few moments to get his balance, and ha(i then gone to the wash-room for his father to see if he had left his hair-brush. He found the hair-brush, put it in his pocket, and returned it to his father. Mr. Ready testified to the fact of sending Jack for the brush, and of his returning with it. This was all that could be said for the defense. Had it not been for the testimony of the mate, the case would have stood in favor of Jack ; since the other side had presented nothing but the circumstantial evi- dence of the boys and the captain against the real evi- dence of Mr. Ready and his son. Now there was another side to the case that as yet had not appeared. I'he sharp eyes of Mr. Furness had detected what for a moment everybody else had forgot- ten, and a word from him caused everybody to start. " Mr. Judge," said Mr. Furness, " the statement of the mate, to my mind, leaves no room for hesitation in iusti- HO IV A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 01 rot- tiiting a seu'ch warrant for this revolver in Jack Ready's trunk. I will myself, in company with Mr. Murphy, ljro(!eed to perform this unpleasant duty, it your judge- ship shall grant the required permission." " Very good, sir ! " said Mr. Jacobs. — "I appoint Mr. Murphy and Mr. Furness a committee of two to search Mr. Ready's trunk ; and send Mr. Ready himself, with them to assist in the search. Please retire, gentlemen, and return as soon as vou can." K a sensation had been made by the statement of the mate, a still greater one was aroused by the return of the search party. Mr. Murphy was leading or rather hold- ing Jack by the arm, while IVIr. Furness, very sober in- deed, held in his hands a revolver whi(ih, upon seeing, Freddie instantly claimed to be his. To say that sur- pi'L^e and amazement was upon every face, would be putting it mild indeed. — Even Mr. Murphy and Mr. Ready were appalled. Jack alone maintained a per- fectlj!- straight-forward countenance, though there was a red spot in the center of both of his cheeks. "Gentlemen!" said Mr. Furness, "this thing has got to be more serious than was even for a moment anticipated by any of us, I believe. Once more I call upon Mr. Jack Ready to explain what this all means. A free and frank confession now will save a great deal of trouble." " I can only say, sir, as I have said before, I did not take his revolver. I did not even know that he had one. The one you found in my trunk is mine. I brought it from home and have had it a long time. My brother could prove what I say if he was here, and it has his initial F. for Fred, marked with a pin point on the handle." Sure enough, turning the revolver over, the letter F. 62 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 11 appeared scratched on the nickled piece at the butt of the handle. " This is very strange," said Mr. Jacobs ; " the strang- est case that I ever knew. — I hope that some one of our lawyers will be able to clear up the mystery." " Your honor," said Mr. Murphy, rising, " I see that the mark on the butt of the revolver is an old one. I make a scratch like this," suiting the action to the word, "and it leaves a fresh, clean mark; the letter F. here traced is old, worn, and quite dingy. It would have been impossible to have made it this morning, as its freshness would be evidence. As you will all admit, this is a point in our favor. You will also see that the handle of this revolver is rubbed and worn, as is also the barrel, while the one lost was new. — We also find in this young man's trunk live boxes of cartridges. Here is one of them. I would ask my opponent to pro- duce a box of those used in the revolver belonging to young Benton, that we may compare them. There may be a difference in the labels." Mr. Furness then spoke to Freddie Benton, who left the circle, and, going to his stateroom, soon returned from it with a box of cartridges which he handed to Mr. Fur- ness who, in turn, passed it across the table to Mr. Mur- phy, who took it and for a few moments studied the labels on each box. He then turned to Mr. Jacobs and said : " Now, sir, I see by these labels, as you all can see for yourselves, that they are of two different kinds and made by two different firms. All of the boxes in Mr. Ready's trunk are of the same kind as the one I hold in my hand, and young Benton can tell us how many boxes of car- tridges he brought with him, and if they were all of the kind he handed us, and that I hold in my hand." J/OfV A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 63 " You can answer this question, Freddie, if you will," said Mr. Furness. " Oh, yes, sir ! " exclaimed Freddie. " They were all the same, and we brought down twenty boxes." A smile went around the group, at this burst of youth- ful enthusiasm, but it calmed down the next minute as Mr. Murphy continued : " You will then see, for my second point, that there may be two revolvers on board, as there are two kinds, and two separate packs, of cartridges. My client has a set of cartridges of his own, distinct from those of his accuser; and why may he not have a revolver of his own, also ? I think, for my first point, I have shown, without any doubt, that he has, and that this, as he says, and as I have shown, is, in reality, what he has said it was, his own private property. It is clear, then, that the lost revolver has not been found. What has my brother, Mr. Furness, to say on Ms side ? " " Gentlemen ! " said Mr. Furness, " though we have settled one point, is not our evidence, circumstantial though it be, still stronger against the prisoner? We may say that this is his own pioperty, but can we let him off from the whole charge simply upon this lack of evidence ? We cannot say that he took the revolver, nor can we tell the motive that might have induced him, even having one of his own, so very similar, to possess another one ; yet will the facts just presented justify us in clearing him entirely of such a charge, with such strong circumstantial evidence against him ? I think not, air; and shall ask for time for still further inquiry into this matter." After Mr. Furness had spoken, Mr. Jacol)s arose, and said : " Gentlemen, I thank the brothers for their care- 64 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. liiii'; ^ ful conduct of this, I confess, very trying and curious case. In all my connection with the courts, — which has been but very little, by the way " — here the judge smiled somewhat at the assembled people — "I have not met with such a strange assembly of facts and ap- parent, if not real, contradictions. I confess myself incompetent to rightly decide upon a question that has developed so many really personal points. It seems clear to my mind that as yet we are not upon the right scent, so to speak, and that we have not found the true solution to this most puzzling question yet. Since you have decided unanimously to leave the decision of this matter with me, and agreed to abide by my decision, I will decide this : Mr. Ready has been found to possess a revolver which Master Freddie Benton claimed to be his. The evidence proves conclusively that the weapon is the private and exclusive property of Mr. Jack Ready, and not the missing article of Master Freddie, whose youth- ful enthusiasm has, in this case, evidently, carried him too far. I will, therefore, declare Mr. Jack Ready as 'not guilty' in this particular direction." A loud sound of applause, from both sides, told that they were equally satisfied with the verdict rendered. After quiet was resumed, Mr. Jacobs continued : " It does not seem to me that Mr. Jack Ready has perfectly vindicated himself until the revolver has been found. I do not believe that, in reality, anybody, after this, is willing to believe him wilfully guilty of theft, with concealment. We will, therefore, let the whole affair drop, simply urging everybody, and especially Jack himself, to do all in their power to find and restore the missing article. Everybody, even Mr. Jack himself, will see that he must of necessity rest under a certain HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 65 cloud, even with this vindication of his character, until the lost revolver is returned. Thus deciding the case, I do herewith adjourn this court." " Three cheers for the judge," shouted Allie, stepping forward. They were given with a will. "Now, Jack," said Allie, stepping up to Jack, who had remained in the corner for the last hour in perfect silence, "forgive me, for saying what I did, for I now do not believe you took it ; do we, Freddie ? "No, Jack; we do not," responded Freddie, "and I move that we take a vote." Freddie then raised his voice and exclaimed loudly : " All those who really be- lieve Jack Ready guilty of taking my revolver please raise their hands ! " Silence ensued for a moment, dur- ing which time not a hand was raised. " All those who believe him not guilty please raise their hands." Every hand went up in a moment, and the boys themselves even raised both their hands. " Is there anybody opposed to an unanimous vote ? " said Mr. Ready. " No ! No ! " came from all hands. At this moment Jack stepped up, and said, " I thank you all very much for the good opinion of me. I did not take the revolver, and I will do all in my power to discover where the article is." Mr. Murphy, at this, went right up to Jack, and fairly hugged him, from mere joy. Jack needed all the sym- pathy he could get. The two red spots had spread them- selves all over his face, and one could see that he had been crying, during the time that he had been waiting in the corner for the result of the trial. At this moment a, clear, pleasant, youthful voice, that li 66 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ;< :p i' '! li ! It* 1 ■:ki everybody recognized at once as that of Freddie Ben- ton's, was heard on the deck, singing : " The sun will be shining to-morrow, Although it be cloudy to-day." It was an old song, but it came in so well, and seemed such a pleasant ending to the scenes of the day, that the sunshine seemed already to have penetrated everybody, and set all in harmony with the youthful singer. The smile went around. It broadened into a laugh, and be- fore anybody seemed to realize it, all were merry once more ; and the trial was, for the time at least, entirely forgotten. Troubles seldom come singly. We are no sooner out of one than we are into another. The monotony as well as the pleasures of life are constantly interrupted by events which cause us more or less trouble. The dwell- ers in the North Star, thus happily relieved from one trouble, had little time in which to congratulate them- selves, before a new and unexpected interruption threat- ened to disturb the harmony of the scene. In the midst of the quiet succeeding the events just recorded, those on deck were suddenly alarmed by a sound resembling that of a gun, apparently issuing from the hold of the vessel, and beneath the feet of those who were on deck. A moment later, and a small black form was seen issuing from tlie forecastle, shouting at the top of its voice, and wildly gesticulating as it reached the main deck of the vessel. It was no other than the form of Tod. When Tod reached the deck, he stood still for a moment, gazing about him vacantly ; but only for a moment. Then, as if gathering himself together, he ! HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 67 made one frantic plunge, and landed in a heap in the corner between the galley, the foremast, and the traveler of the fore staysail. At the same time he threw up both of his hands and began to scream in a most lusty man- ner. A black man or boy can, at any time, use his voice Avith the power of several ordinary white men of his own size. Tod proved, on this particular occasion, no exception to this rule. Scream followed scream in quick succession. Max, the cook, was the first upon the scene, and Mr. Keady — ever ready, as his name implied — was second to him. " What's the matter ? " cried Mr. Ready. "What's the matter now ? " chimed in Max. No response ; while a pair of black hands beat wildly the air ; while the darky himself made no attempt either to arise or to leave off his cries. The cook and Mr. Ready easily picked Tod up, and after some difficulty, got him to sit upon one of the stojls, of which a number were lying about the deck. It vas then, only, that they perceived that his left hand was covered with blood, and that the forefinger had been cut or shot off, near the palm of the hand, and was hanging by a mere thread to its socket, while blood was pouring down everywhere on his shirt and trowsers. Max rushed off immediately for a basin of water; Jack Ready was dispatched for a sponge, and some rags for bandages, from Mr. Ready's trunk; and Mr. Jacobs hastened for a box of salve with which to dress the wound. These were all brought, and the nimble fingers of Mr. Jacobs were soon at work washing the wound. 68 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. After all the blood had been removed from Tod's face and hands, and the finger itself attended to, Mr. Jacobs replaced the finger, which was not so badly cut into as it had at first appeared, and sewed it on again with a few stitches from a needle and tbread, that had been pre- pared and handed him by Mr. Ready, and the wound covered over with the salve. Then he wound a rag care- fully over the finger, taking care to place some lint over the salve, and secured the cloth by winding it over the hand and around the wrist. Tod had cried pitifully most of the time that the operation was being performed. He had howled at first ; but, finding himself — for the first time in his life per- haps — in the hands of men and gently instead of rudely handled, he had quieted down amazingly under the skillful treatment and soothing influence of his acting physician — Mr. Jacobs. After the howling had finished, the crying had in a measure ceased, and the hand bandaged to the satisfac- tion of both parties. Tod was brought forward and placed in one of the easy chairs belonging to some of the parties, when he was cautioned to stay still, and not to use or even stir his hand under any emergency what- ever. In order to make the charge still more effective, to the great surprise of Tod himself, as well as every- body else, Mr. Ready was soon seen making his way from the galley, with a huge piece of bread and butter, with a slight tinge of molasses upon it, straight for him. Tod's eyes widened perceptibly as he saw the feast approaching. At first he evidently doubted his senses, which told him that it was for him, and Mr. Ready had to repeat, rather testily it seemed, for the third time, "Come, take it, won't you? hurry up." m I/OW A REVOLVE ft CAUSED COMMOTION. 69 Whether it was the somewhat rough tone, which had in it the sort of a command that he had been in the habit of hearing used to him, that started Tod, or whether it was the tempting bait that was too much for him to longer withstand, is hard to tell; but with a grand, convulsive clutch, Tod seized the slice, and, pres- ently, all else was oblivion to him. The next thing to do, after seeing the finger attended to, was to find out the particulars of this strange occur- rence. Mr. Ready and Mr. Jacobs descended into the fore- castle and made a careful examination there of every part of the hold, but could find nothing there save smoke, but there was plenty of that. Through the confined nature of the hold, the smoke was retained a much longer time than it would other- wise have been. None of the crew had been in the fore- castle at the time of the explosion or firing, whichever it were best to call it, and therefoie no one could explain fully the affair, but Tod himself. Coming on deck again Mr. Ready and Jack took off the hatch, and immediately a dense volume of smoke issued from below. The thought that there must be fire in the hold again sent down Mr. Ready, who, with Jack, carefully exam- ined every nook and corner, but could find nothing but smoke, apparently from some pistol or gun. . Coming on deck again Mr. Ready approached Tod, and said, as gently as he could : " Well, my boy, what were you doing ? How did it all happen ? Tell me all about it ! " Tod, seeing Mr. Ready approach, had begun a most comical mixture of a howl and a cry. In moving he had 70 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. i ■ i given his hand a hit upon the arm of the chair, that had produced the latter ; while the sight of a huge billet of wood, that Mr. Ready held unconsciously in his hand, and which he had taken up with the intention of passing to the cook, had induced the former. Quiet having been restored, the question was again put. " Tell us now, my boy, how it all happened." The only answer was a blank silence, while the eyes of the boy were lowered, and his face seemed to express an ominous sulk : ominous in that it foreboded ill as to a satisfactory answer to the question, now of so much im- portance. " Come ! can't you tell me how you hurt yourself ? " Still no answer. " Mr. Ready," cried the cook, " where's my wood ? " " Oh, here it is ; " and Mr. Ready turned and started for the galley, to hand Max the wood. "I don't see how this thing happened," said Mr. Ready to Max. " I can't get a word out of the boy." "You leave him to me, now," said Max, laughing. " You leave him to me ; and when I tell him that he can have no supper till he tells me all about it, you will see what you will see ; " and Max fairly held himself as he laughed at the idea. " I always brings them around that way, if I can't any other," Max added. Mr. Ready laughed at this, and said : "Well, take your own way, I can't do anything with him." Thus Tod was left to himscjlf for several hours. Every one marveled why he kept his place for so long a time, but there he remained, no one taking apparently any notice of him, and he of no one. The cook, alone, I/OW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 71 laughed to himself. For once this small black boy, Master Tod, had met with his master. The cook had very quietly lashed him into his chair while he was asleep. " Ah," said tlie cook, " for once, my duck, I have you, this time, at least." About two hours afterwards, while all hands were in the cabin, a renewed series of cries were heard, and Mr. Ready, as usual, rushed on deck to see what was up. Tod had awakened to find himself fast, bound in a chair, with dark clouds above him, and su])perless. No wonder that he howled. That was just wliat Max wanted, and, hearing the alarm, he was soon on deck. " Ah, my line bird," said Max, " I have you at last. All belayed, taut and hearty. I have you where the squirrel had the nut — right in the teeth. I have you where the mouse had the cheese — right in the stomach. We will now see if the squirrel cracks the nut or the cheese makes the mouse sick." With this soliloquy Max approached Tod. "Well, my fine fellow, do you want your supper ? " On seeing Max approach, Tod had stopped the noise he had been making, but, on hearing the question, he began howling and struggling again. " You'll not get any that way, sir. Now see ! Keep quiet ! It is for your own good that we have done this. If you are not careful you will hit your finger, and then you will be obliged to have it, and maybe your whole hand, cut off. How would you like that ? Hey ? " No answer followed this plain talk. " Now I tell you," said Max, " you are old enough to know that you must keep still and not hurt your handj do you know that ? " i li 72 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 1 ^ 111 7' Tod, fully reduced to his senses by nature and an intense gnawinj? in his stomach, sulked out a faint yes. "Well, now," continued the cook, "liniten: I will let you go, aiid will give you a good hot supper, but you must give me answer. How did you hurt yourself ? " Still no reply. " Will you answer my question ? " No resi)onse. " Very good, you get no supper to-night, my lad." As Max turned to go, Tod began to struggle again, and to shout out, " I want my supper ! " " Ah ! my fine bird, you can sing, can you ? " " I want my supper ; let me go ! " " But you cannot fly, because your wings are clipped, my fine plover." " Ah, Max ! hadn't you better give him his supper ? and then perhaps he will tell you afterwards." " No, sir ! I have him now, and he understands it. "When he tells me what I have asked him, then he can have his supper hot," said Max. Max laid great emphasis on the word hot ; and Tod, hearing it, squirmed visibly, as it had been intended that he should. " I want my supper," squirmed out Tod. " You can have it when you tell me what I want to know," said Max, "as I told you." Tod watched Max as he neared the forecastle, and saw that a great struggle was going on within him. He did not wish to tell how he had got hurt, for some reason known apparently only to himself; and yet ha did not wish to lose his supper. Max's emphasis upon the word hot had evidently done the work, for, just as Max placed his foot on the forecastle step, Tod called out: NO IV A RF.VOLVER CAUSED COM MOT I OX- 78 *' I'll uov'or do ;s() ;i'jr;iin. I'll give it back. I want my supper.'' Max turned slowly, and seemed to consider for a mo- ment just how to act. lie had wu iire at the pre^iit 76 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. time," said Mr. Fiirnoss, who just then jninpd the group and the conversation, " From the very faint lint' of coast, visible in the distance west of us, I imat^ine that we are much farther down the coast than Mccatina." " Then yesterday we must have been off the eastern point of Anticosti," said Mr. Taylor, who at thx - moment also joined tht; grou]). " Yes ; so I should judge," laughed Mr. Heady, com- ing down the companion-way, at tlie same time scratching his head and winking his eyes at the group, all of whom liad turned at sound of h is voice. " We can't tell much where we are till we get there." All hands laughed heartily at this witty sally, and turned their eyes once more to the chart. "Here is Mccatina," said IVlr. Heady, jjointing to that place on the chart. "' You set» that there are two islands, and a headland on shore. The headland is seven hun- dred feet high, and the islands are called Big Mc(;atina and Little Mccatina. Every time I've been down here, before, we have struck either this headland or the high- est of the islands. You are sure to know it, because it's the highest land anywhere aiKJiit, save the Bradore hills, and these are mountains, down here." " How high are they?" asktnl Mr. Jienton. " Oh, they vary from eleven to twelve Inindred feet. There are tiirce of them." "The highest was laid down by the ('oast Survey as twelve hundred and sixty-four feet," said Mi. l''urness. "And the next highest, eleven hundred and thirty-tive feet," laughed Mr. Taylor, "sin(H> you are so j)articular as to height." "And the intervening stretch of land reachr's to the sea-level, Mr. Speaker," broke in Mr. Ready. i \ FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 77 I r ! Just at that momont Allie came into the cabin to toll the captain that he was wanted, and the chart was rolled up, and put away in the hangini,' braces, for th^^ time, while all i'ollowed the captain on deck. " What a pleasant day it is, papa," shouted Freddie, as he saw his father come on deck. " See, there is the loom of land over there, the mate says." " Yes, my boy ; and after our varied experiences, it is very satisfactory and pleasing intelligence," returned his father. " Will you tell me what is the time ? *' said Max, com- ing forward at that moment, of Allie, who was just com- ing up the companion-way. " It was just half-past seven o'clock when T was down in the cabin, a few moments ago." "Tliank yon, '^ir. Uenthnnen, ycmr breakfast will 1)e ready in about live mii tos," said Max, as he disappeared into the galley. At this pleasing inteli gence the gentlemen proceeded to wash and arrange thci \selves for that most important ceremony. '* How clear and beautil d the atmosjihere is ! T say, Mr. Jacobs, lleetiritj the sbmc AT Tiiose ani- iiiuls hr'iii|;lit up witu time d?el csill ikam. iiifvrte- bratifis," said Allie Bentfm; "our^ -1»WTHti«CT we eoukln't divide animals int > vttteiucsiscas and invertebrates, 82 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. » i I because there was an animal that was half one and half the othei', and would have to be put into a division of its own if you did. He called the thing a something that meant some Greek word, and something about some animal, but I don't remember what the name was." Mr. Jacobs smiled as he assisted Allie's memory with the name of amphioxus, and added : " You need not be afraid that the divisions you have mentioned will become old and unreliable for some years. We are a long ways from developing a man or boy an amoeba." " What is an amoeba ? " " I see that you will presently have me involved in a discussion as to ' first causes,' " laughed the professor. "The amoeba is an animal of the lowest or nearly the lowest class, and is simi)ly a mass of substance, like that of the white of an egg, and called protoplasm, containing a nucleus which the protoplasm surrounds. It is among the first forms of animal matter, and is a most curious animal to observe, in a small trough of water, under the microscope. Now you must let me oft' on further expla- nation, as you are getting along too fast." " Why too fast, sir ? " asked AUie. " We teach natural history differently from what we do the languages or philosophy ; we study the animals themselves, and tell of the specimens as we have them directly before us to illustrate with, as far as possible ; but see, we are approaching the land." The vessel was, indeed, by this time, fast approaching the island towards which she was headed, and was now about ten miles away. The land as yet appeared only as a high headland, sloping down upon either side, and with other high lands behind it and low islands in front \ s FIUST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 83 of it. On dashed the vessel through the waves, and there was not a passenger who did not seem heartily pleased to be so near land, no matter of how rocky an outline. " Harrington harbor, ahoy ! " shouted ^Ir. Heady, from the other side of the galley. "Is that Harrington harbor that we see, then, whore that gap in the hills is ? " asked Mr. Taylor, who was standing near. " Yes, sir," exclaimed Mr. Ready, in a most emphatic way, " that is Harrington outer harbor, and we shall be there in about an hour, if the wind holds." "We will hope, sincerely, that the wind will hold, then," said Mr. Taylor, laughing. "Yes, indeed," added Allie, " I want to get ashore and find some of those auks' and gulls' eggs that Jack has been telling us about." " You'll find i)lenty of them there, no fear, my boy," said Mr. Ready. " What other kinds can I find ? Tell me ; tell me all the kinds that will be there." "Well, let me see. There will be ducks' eggs, eider ducks, any amount of them ; tlien on the top of the island you will find two or three kinds of gulls' eggs." "What kinds?" " There is the common herring gull, then there is a species that they call here the fresh water gidl, but which your book calls, I believe, the ice gull ; and there is the great black-backed gull. The largest of all, and the fellow that has the large black back and legs, while all the rest is white — they call him the cottin-carrier." " Then what about che auks, you told us about day before yesterday?" Allie continued. 84 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. '{% i; " Oh, yes," said Mr. Ready. " The razor-billed auk is one spfudt's, .and the other is called the foolish guillemot. Another is called the black guilleuKjt or sea pigeon, the people call it sinii)ly the pigeon, and you might see a lew puffins." " Is that all ? " " Yes ; 1 don't think of any more that you are sure of getting. You will probably get all of those 1 have men- tioned, if you work hard for them. There are several islands, near where we are going ; and we ai'e just in sea- son to get some birds' eggs. We can lay in a stock to eat, too." "What! do these birds you have been speaking of, lay eggs that are tit to eat ? " asked Mr. Taylor. " Oh, yes," said ]\lr. Heady, " we eat all of them, and they are first rate, too." " Can you get enough of them, for all to have one ? " " Oh, mercy sakes, yes. Why, one year we stopped here and filled a barrel. We had them all the rest of the voyage, until we reached the Magdaline Islands, on our way home." Well, do you think we can get a mess this time ? " ' Oh, yes ; we will have enough to satisfy all of you, if there are any there," said Mr. Keady, as he disap- l)eared down the forecastle. The boys were delighted at the prospect of rambling, unlimited, over the islands, and coming home with bas- kets literally full of birds' eggs, and great was the re- joicing at the idea. All three of them started at once for their box of apparatus for blowing eggs, so as to have it in readiness, against the time when they should return laden with the expected spoils. John easily found it in one corner of his trunk, and soon returned with several u "I 1 m^ \. filUST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 85 lie a egg drills and small blow pipos, to the apparent delight of Freddie, who was daneing about the deck like a young savage. After awhile Ja(!k Keady joined tliem, and all four retired to one corner of the vessel to talk over their plans. " Now, Jack," said John, " you have been here before, haven't you ? " " Oh, yes ; wait until we get to the island, and then we will all go ashore, and you come with me, and we will see what we can get. Have you got any stout wire ? " " I can find a piece, I guess," said Freddie. In a moment Freddie returned with about a foot of stout iron wire he had found in the cabin, and gave it to Jack. " Now," said Jack, " we will make sometiiing that will get the eggs for you." Jack then got a long stick, which he whittled down to a roundish shape, then on one end he cut two channels or grooves, into which he inserted the two ends of the wire, bent double. These he tied down tightly with a piece of stout twine. Then he bent the end of the wire into the form of a hook. "There," said he, "now you can hook up the eggs, from the crevices, until you have as many as you want." "Why do birds lay in the crevices, instead of out iu the open grass or sand ? " asked Freddie. " I don't know that," said Jack, " but they do. They lay way under the rocks, and down in holes where you couldn't even reach them, if you did not have one of these instruments that I have just fixed. Eac^h bird lays one egg only, and yet you will sometimes find a nook, among the rocks, where the birds and the eggs are as thick as if each bird laid twenty. I have found forty to fifty eggs at a time in one place." IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 m 1 2.8 m "' m I.I 1.25 1.4 M 2.0 1.6 C PhotDgraphi* Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ fo -^^ 6^ 86 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, i " Why, are they as thick as that ? " put in John. " Yes, you will soon get your baskets full." " Do they all lay in among the rocks ? " " Oh, no : the ducks lay right out among the grass, and the gulls lay the same, but nearer to the top of the islands. Then all the auks lay under the rocks, and over the island anywhere, but mostly where the rocks are." " Don't they make any nest ? " asked Freddie. "No, the auks do not; they lay right out on the open earth or rock. The gulls and ducks make a nest. The gulls pile up a little heap of grass and grass stems about the edges of the nest, but put very little or noth- ing inside for the middle, so that the eggs that they lay often rest on the bare rock. They lay four eggs. The duck's nest is one mass of fluffy down. They pick the feathers from their own breast, to make the nest with, and then lay about four eggs and sit on them. The eggs fill up the hollow, on the breast, that has been made by pulling the feathers out." " But don't the auks set on their eggs ? " " Not that T know of. I never knew of their doing so. Generally they lay their eggs, and then let the sun hatch them out." " And do they never set on their own eggs ? That seems singular enough." " The people on the coast think that they don't. Some people say that they do. At any rate, you will see eggs lying around everywhere, and you can never find a bird on one of them. These auks are half fish, anyway." " Yes ; and there is a curious thing," said Mr. Keady, coming up at that moment, "the people who won't eat by FIRST SIGHT OF LA BH AD OK. 87 meat on Friday will eat these birds, because they say that they are irore water than land animals, and more fish than animal." " That is remarkable," said Mr. Benton, who had just walked up to where the boys were sitting, to see what they were about. "Yes," continued Mr. Keady, "and these same men will eat seal meat, for the same reason." '^ Will they, indeed ! " " Yes ; they call it all fish " "That is a good excuse for getting over the difficulty." " It is something like taking a nip of liquor every day for medicine, and then saying that they have not broken their temperance pledge," laughed Mr. Keady. " I should say so," remarked Mr. r)enton. " Well, boys," continued he, " what are you at now ? " " Oh, father ; Jack is telling us all about the birds that he says we will find on the island, and we are going to get our baskets full of birds' eggs," answered Freddie. " Baskets full of birds' eggs ! " said Mr. Benton. " I'll give you a penny apiece for all the eggs over a dozen that you find. You'll find more rocks than eggs." "Oh, Mr. Taylor," called Allie. "Come here quick, do." When Mr. Taylor had arrived, and heard what they were talking about, he laughed heartily. "The boys will get nearer five hundred than five," said he. Mr. Benton, as usual, was obstinate in favor of his own opinion; and, taking out his pocketbook, he care- fully extracted a crisp, new five dollar note, which he handed to Mr. Taylor. "There!" exclaimed Mr. Benton, "that is for the 88 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ' ; '. ! ! boys, in case they find the five hundred eggs you tell about." Then Mr. Benton laughed, the boys clapped their hands, and all joined in the merriment. L tell their FmST DA y ON SHORE. 89 CHAPTER VI. FIRST DAY OX SHORE. "TTERE we are at Labrador ! " called out Mr. Ready, -*— L as the vessel slowly approached a long point of low land, which ran down into the sea from a high hill- like island. " All hands on deck to go ashore ! " As he said this, all hands crowded forward to watch the scene, while the vessel continued to glide onward toward its destined port. "Steady!" shouted the captain, to the man at the wheel. " Sheer her off a little ! don't let her run on that breaker ahead ! " "Aye, aye ! " answered the man. " Keep her steady, now ! " "Which opexiing shall I head for?" shouted the man. " The smaller one right ahead, or the larger one at the left?" " Head her for the small one." "There is a breaker just inside the large one," said Mr. Ready. " We could not get in there if we did try to go that way." " All right ! steady she is," said the man. Just then the vessel came abreast of the point, and opened up a large, spacious harbor, enclosed on all sid. by land, either islands or headlands, one could not at first tell which. The captain then went aft and took the wheel hifaiself, while he sent the man forward to loose 90 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. i -m frii '"!■ ;:':l the anchor. This did not take long, and when it had been accomplished the captain called out again : " All hands stand by to tack ship!" The vessel was now so far beyond the point, that, by tacking, she could easily reach the middle of the harbor, or stand on till it had come close to shore, as the pilot said that there was plenty of water on the lee shore. The rattling of ropes, and the usual hurry and bustle of the men, as well as the flapping of the sails, accom- panied the captain's order. " Let go," shouted the captain, and the jib springing to the other side of the vessel was made fast. Then the foresail and the mainsail jumped around two or three times, and finally settled into their proper posi- tion, as they filled, and the vessel, under the fresh im- pulse, fairly cut the water as it steamed towards the further point of the harbor. "Stand by your anchor!" once more shouted the cap- tain, as the little schooner dashed the spray from its prow, in its straining to reach the point. "Haul down your jib!" A few seconds later: — " Down with your foresail ! " and a few seconds more : " Let go your anchor ! " and the chains tore through the horse-i)ipes, with a rattling and a clanking loud enough to deafen any one within gunshot of the vessel. " Hooray for Labrador ! " shouted Mr. Ready, waving his cap vigorously. " Lower away the boats ; let's go ashore." At that the sailors sprang to the boats, and soon had them lowered and alongside. The vessel, as it came along, had aroused from their nests and roosting places hosts of birds, of all kinds. I ii riKST .'^-ir ON SHORE. 91 leir ds. ? ti They flew in clouds 'A^mt the islands, near which the schooner had been aiirSmOiired. They were everywhere, filling the air, the eanliL anil the waters. Upon first entering the harbor brat few had been seen; but they were all there. — Thf-re were literally thousands of them. They flew through th-e air like arrows. — They crossed and re-crossed the vesseL flying above and below the rigging, and all about oa every side. The water, at a little distance from the sfrSiKOoner, was literally alive with birds, and the ground of tine island seemed planted with them. Every rock or poimt of land was covered with them, and they looked jfeBrhefi there on their little black legs, like so many sentimtels^ " Don't thev look lik^e Mimsters ? " cried Freddie. Allie laughed heartilv: tet Mr. Eeady, who happened to be standing near, sai«l : " They call these sam^" i>iir*i3 priests, so I am told, in the South arctic regions-"* "They are waiting for the gulls to come to confes- sional, I guess." "It will be a cold daj, when the gulls confess to them," said Allie. " I guess the gulls worald make them confess," chimed in Freddie. " See ! see ! tfciere is a great, big, immense fellow, with a great black ixiek, flying around up there in the sky with all thosie or so The boys looked a little disappointed, for the moment,, but soon brightened up, and put away their boxes and got into the boat without a word. A minute later, and both boats were pulling for the place indicated. Mr. Mclntyre had seen the masts of the North Star, as she rode cosily at anchor, with the stars and stripes at the main top, and was on the landing ready to receive his visitors. " Well, well ! " said Mr. Mclntyre. — " Who have we here ? " as the genial face of Mr. Ready, at the bow of the boat, approached the wharf. "An old hand," laughed Mr. Heady. "You have changed quarters, since we were here last ! " * i ■ 1 1 !i S "I ill ■J I 'i Mi' 94 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Oh yes ! Had 106 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. see, there he is again. Mason did not hit him the first time, and now he is going to try again." Before Jack had finished speaking, bang went the gun again, and this time Mason dropped his gun, and, picking up the oar, began to row furiously. " Lay in to it, Jack ; there she is ; we'll get her. I say, Allie ; you stand in the bow ready to pick her up." Away sped the boat in the new direction, and in a few moments Allie had picked up the dead bird, and laid it on the thwart of the boat, so the blood and water would drop from its plumage. This had hardly been accom- plished before Mason cried out: *' Say, Allie ; isn't your gun loaded ? There's another bird, just ahead. See it ? " " Where ? Yes ; here's the gun," answered Allie. " Try it yourself," said Mason. " Hurry up." Allie, only too eager to try his luck, reached for his gun, and stood waiting for a shot. " There he is ! Shoot as he dips his bill to feed," said Mason. Allie took a quick aim and fired. "There," said Jack, "kUled him first shot.'* A moment more and this second specimen was lying with the first, and the boat sped on. As no more birds appeared near by, Allie loaded his barrel again, and then loaded Mason's two barrels, that both guns might be in readiness for the next occasion. This soon arrived, for at that instant a huge gull soared directly over the boat, and Jack, catching up Mason's gun, fired at it. The huge bird, doubling up its wings, and turning over and over several times, shot downward like an arrow. The boys ducked their heads, by a natural impulse, as the gull landed, with a thwack, in the very center of the boat. COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 107 lying birds id then be in ^ed, for boat, The ter and The as the e boat. "Phew-ew!" whistled Freddie, "I thought he'd hit me, sure ! " It seemed rather strange, but everybody confessed to having the same feeling. Mason picked up the bird and said : " It's a fresh water gull." " That's what we call a glaucus or ice gull," said Allie. " And this," said Mason, seizing his gun and discharg- ing the remaining loaded barrel at a bird which was flying close to the water, just across the bow of the boat, " is an eider duck, and a male at that." It was, indeed, a beautiful bird, with a mixture of dark and white plumage ; but what excited the boys' admiration the most was the beautiful white putty cheeks, tinged with pea green ; but there was no time to examine it carefully, for its mate soon flew by, and Allie successfully brought her down with his left barrel, which still remained loaded. Thus the boys loaded and fired, again and again, until they reached the island with every available dry space in their boat crowded with dead birds, all laid out carefully, that the blood might drip from mouth and plumage, and that their feathers might dry, so that Allie — who was already quite an adept at taxidermy — might skin them, previous to tak- ing them home and stuffing them for his collection. After much excitement and a great many attempts the boat reached the island; Mason then drew her around into a small cove, formed by the curving of some large bowlders, where she would not rock, ana moored her. All hands jumped on shore, with their bag, cans, and pails, and deposited them on the beach, in a bunch of grass, just abov6 high water mark. As the island was not very large, and rather high and Wff8HPff*^^ffffiB3 ^P!^ ^^ff!Tff3 i: if '. :> I fr \ Ml < 108 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. rocky, making it difficult traveling with so many arti- cles, it was decided first to go egging, then ascend to the higher part of the island, collecting flowers and other specimens ; so off all hands started, with pails and egg hook, — while the birds flew about in countless thousands, above, and around them. Mason was already down on his hands and knees, dig- ging into a huge cleft of the rocks, from which he had just hauled out, by the legs, three birds, and was after the fourth, while two or three times as many eggs lay within reach close by. John had started to help him, but had fallen upon a large nest of most beautiful light down, full of eider duck eggs ; this he was trying to take home as it was, so he stowed it into the bottom of his pail and threw some grass over it, before putting in anything else ; but John did not stop here. A little distance far- ther was another nest, but of a far different character from that of the first, being small, of fine grass stems, and deeply set into a hollow in the center of a clump of grass, and containing five longish eggs, spotted or rather blotched with light brown spots, some of which were of a faint lilac tint. While John was examining the prize, Mason came by. " Well, now you have got a prize . That is one of our little white-headed sparrows," he said. At that instant a small bird, apparently the owner of the nest, flew by and lighted close to where the boys were. John could see that it was a small sparrow-like bird, with alternate white and black stripes down its head. "Why, that is what Allie calls the white-crowned sparrow," he said. "It lives here in Labrador, and is one of the most common of small birds." COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 109 J arti- to the other id egg sands, !S, dig- le had ter the within Lit had down, 3 home ail and lything Lce far- aracter steins, imp of rather irere of prize, of our Irner of boys low-like wn its rowned and is " You ought to hear it sing," said Mason. Just then AUie's gun was heard, and a moment later Allie himself came running to where Mason and John were, with a tremendously large bird in his hands, strug- gling fiercely the while. " I shot him all myself, boys," he shouted. "Well, you've got an old saddler now," said Mason. " Bring it here, let's kill him first." The wounded bird was soon put out of its misery, and then laid down and stretched out upon the grass. It was an immense bird of the gull tribe, and had an entirely white plumage, excepting that the back and wings above were pure bluish black. It measured some- what over four feet from tip to tip, and was the most beautiful specimen they had yet seen. " Oh, what a beauty ! " and Allie fairly danced with pleasure, as he viewed the magnificent bird. " I'll stuff him for Eva," said he. "Yes; and she can take the old house off from her paper-rack, and you can mount him on that," added John. " But what has Freddie got ? See, here he comes." On came Freddie, with a huge object dangling upon a stick over his shoulder. "See what I've got, boys," he shouted, at the same time displaying the object, by lifting the stick from his shoulder. " See him ; there's more here, too." " Why, it's a lobster ; as sure as I'm alive," and Jack, who spoke, whistled a little snatch of a most curious song, which he said meant " a dozen more at low tide." At this all hands laughed heartily, and then, taking up their burdens, hastened to deposit them in the boat. Jack emptied his bucket, which was full of eggs, in the 110 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. \i^^ -M bailing bucket of the boat ; John placed his nests in the cuddy, and Allie placed his bird on a thwart with the others ; then he carefully plugged their mouths and nos- trils with cotton, wiped the blood and water from them, and left them to dry. All hands now started off once more, for eggs, and soon the pails were filled with every variety that could be found upon the island. Several very perfect sets of eider ducks' eggs, with their beauti- ful downy nests, were kept separate from the others, as were also those of several gulls, of each of the three species found on the island : the herring gull ; the glau- cus, ice, or burgomaster gull; and the great black backed gull, or coffin-carrier. Several sets of pigeon or black guillemots' eggs were found ; and in the grass near a little pond were discovered the nest and eggs of a " shell bird," as Mason called it, or shell drake. Thus loaded, with their buckets full of all sorts of varieties of eggs, the boys once more started for the boat, where they left their burdens, and then, with botany can and collect- ing bottles, started to see what fresh specimens they could secure. " I declare," said John, sitting down on top of a large, fiat stone, " I'm tired already." " I guess we all are," added Allie. " I'm as tired as if I'd been tramping all day, or digging a railroad, and I don't believe it is anywhere near noon yet." John looked at his watch, and reported it as " only a quarter of eleven." " Let's have a lunch," said Mason. " What have we got to eat ? " asked Allie. " Oh, you boys make a fire, and I'll quickly get you enough to eat." The boys set to in a hurry, even Freddie helping to I ■ --J=iiia**^ Jiiij:3:McrJ«!JC]»s COU. E C TING SPE C/MENS. Ill in the th the id nos- theni, iff once I every Several beauti- hers, as e three le glau- b l)lack gcon or a,ss near gs of a . Thus ieties of re they collect- ns they a large, ed as if [1, and I "only a get you Iping to collect wood for the fire. For this purpose each followed the line of the shore for drift-wood — there being api)ar- ently no other on the island — and soon all were return- ing with enough to boil the can — the can being nothing else than the tin bailing bucket of the boat, full of salt water. "• Now where are the matches ? " asked ]\rason. Every- body looked at everybody else in perfect amazement. Of course; nobody had any. Mason went to the boat again, and, after fumbling for some time in the cuddy, produced a small match safe, wrapped in oil-cloth, to keep it waterproof, from which he extracted several, and then re-wrapi)ing the bu)idle, jmt it back in the cuddy. "All riglit, boys; here's for the fire !" shouted Mason. In a moment a good blazing fire was crackling and curling up towards the sky, or rather towards the bot- tom of the tin bailing bucket, which was filled with water, containing half a dozen auks' eggs, and tied to a stick, the two erds of which Allie and Freddie were holding. " Oh, my ; how hot it is ! " cried Allie. " John, come and take my end for a few minutes, do." " And Jack, come and take mine, will you ? " put in Freddie. A moment later, and both John and Jack were as e",gerly crying for Allie and Freddie to come and take the stick again. So it continued until the pot boiled, and the eggs were " hard enough to cut," as Mason said. The boys had no butter or salt for their eggs, but they tasted "just as good as if there were all the fixings on them that we ever have," said Freddie. " Yes, and a great deal better," added Mason. 112 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. .i I \\ I " What is it about fames bene condensum est ? " asked Allie. " Oh, dear," laughed John, " if you ever go to college, Allie, I guess you'll take the Latin prize. Condimentum est, you mean." " Oh, yes, that's it ; ' fames bene condimentum est,' or beans are a famous condiment," Allie replied. " Where are the beans ? " asked Freddie, very inno- cently, looking up from his egg. " You don't know beans, I guess," said Jack. " How do you like your eggs ? " asked Mason. "They're splendid; I wish we had some more, and that it was dinner time," said Allie. " You can have as many of them as you like ; they are all around you," and Mason laughed heartily at his own sally. It now became necessary for the boys to start, if they expected to do any further exploring before noon, or rather before afternoon, as, in these latitudes, it was observed that the greatest heat, during the day, was not directly at noon, but at some time between one and two o'clock. The reason for this, the boys had, as yet, failed to ascertain ; since the professor, whom they had asked, had put them off with a " hunt it out for yourselves in your physical geographies." Jack Ready, when the boys were talking the matter over between them, insisted that it must have been so arranged to give the Esquimaux the proper time between breakfast and dinner, since they got up so late mornings. Freddie said that he guessed that the reason was, that they were so far north that the sun didn't get time to get there by noon. While the boys were thus chatting on about the mys- terious reasons for the difference in temperature between COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 113 " asked college, aentum .est,' or y inno- >re, and ;hey are tiis own if they loon, or it was svas not md two t, failed . asked, jlves in he boys ;ed that aux the hey got ed that the sun 16 mys- jetween the different latitudes, they were gathering together their collecting implements, and they now started on with re- newed zeal. " What are all these little things on the rocks ? " asked Freddie. " See ; they are old and broken. Here is a fresh one, just broken ; but all the insides are gone." " The gulls leave them," said Jack. " Gulls ! " exclaimed Allie. " How do they do that ? " "Why, they eat them," said Mason. "They dive down, from a great height, and pick them up, then fly away up in the air with them, and then let them drop ; the distance is so great that the shell is broken ; then the gull alights and eats the contents." " How strange ! " exclaimed all the boys. At that moment a large gull arose from near where the boys were, and flew lazily off. " Come, let's see where he came from," cried Allie ; and off they were in a minute to the spot. " Here's one that that gull had just been eating," con- tinued Allie. Sure enough, there were the remnants of a large, fresh animal that the gull had evidently just been feed- ing upon. " What are they, anyway ? " said Allie. " They are called echini, or sea urchin," replied John, acting for once as a professor, " because the Latin echi- nus means a hedgehog. When rolled up, with all its spines bristling out, it looks like one of these animals." The specimen was of a green color, covered completely, save a small spot beneath, with long, sharp spines. The boys saved two or three fine large specimens, and then continued their search. Meanwhile, the botany can was fast being filled with 3 ■I i i 114 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. plants, and John had filled a small can with seaweeds of various kinds, which he intended mounting and arranging on cards, when he should reach home. Just then a sharp, shrill screech announced that Jack had fired his revolver at something. " Oh, come quick ! " he cried ; " I've hit him ! Where's the boat ? " " You've hit what ? " said Mason, who happened to be near by. " A seal ! " replied Jack. "I don't believe that you hurt him much," laughed Mason. " Yes, I did ; I sunk him." "No doubt about that," again laughed Mason. "See, there he is laughing at you." At that moment the seal raised his head from the water, this time somewhat nearer in towards shore, and showing a sleek black head, with eyes almost human, turned it slowly from side to side as he surveyed the prospect on either side of him. " Keep perfectly still, now," whispered Mason. ^ " There he dives. Follow me and do as I do." Mason ran along the shore to a ledge of rocks, quite near to the water, and then crouched behind it. Then, telling the boys to be cautious and only to show the tops of their heads, he got up and threw himself at full length upon the rock. A moment more and the seal reappeared. Then Mason began a queer sort of a noise, resembling a deep hollow sounding of the word wow-wow-wow, uttered several times, somewhat like the barking of a dog. The seal took a long look and ducked his head again ; in a minute he reappeared, this time several rods nearer the boys. In this way the animal was fairly tolled almost COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 115 "See, up to a large rock, just a little way from shore, in the water. " Now," whispered Mason, " if I had a good rifle I might kill him." Arriving here, the seal took a long look about him, and then dived again. " All up now," cried Mason, springing up. " Where's he gone to ? " said all the boys at once. " Way out to sea, with a long dive," replied Mason. True enough. About ten minutes after, and the seal's head could just be distinguished way out in the distance, half a mile at sea. Jack fired a parting shot at him, and afterwards was heartily laughed at for having " sunk a seal " with a small twenty-two bore revolver. As it was now noon in earnest, the boys returned to the boat, made a fire, drew out the luncheon, cooked more eggs, and sat down to a regular feast. The boys had hardly sat down, before Mason grasped AUie's shot-gun, and started off for a point of rocks near the water, a little distance off. A moment later a sharp crack was heard, and he came running back to the boat, and, calling to Allie to jump in, he hastily pushed off and then got in himself. Taking an oar, he sculled the boat around the point, and soon picked up two dead ducks, which he had shot from a small flock which he had seen about to pass that way when he ran away with Allie's gun. " Hurrah, boys ! " shouted Allie, from the point. " Put on more wood ; roast duck for dinner." He was answered by a cheer, and soon the fire was roaring and crackling in a great style. Before the boat had reached shore, Allie had thrown the ducks to Jack, and he and Freddie had them picked ' 1 : 1 Ui'f "j| !^ 116 WI^ECKED ON LABRADOR. and cleaned in a trice. Mason then spitted them, and hung them over the fire to roast, and soon they were sputtering away almost equal to the spruce fire beneath them. "This is what I call fun," said John, warming his hands over the genial blaze. " It beats Eobinson Crusoe all hollow." " Yes, we can get home if we want to, and he couldn't." put in Freddie. 1! il I them, and they were re beneath AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 117 Liming his son Crusoe couldn't." CHAPTER VIII. AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. THE island on which the boys were encamped was not large, though it was rather high. It stood some distance out to sea, from the main coast ; yet it was con- nected at low tide, by a sand bar, to a rocky point of lanf now, boys ? " said Jack. " I'm going lobsteriiii:^:. for one ! " exclaimed Mason. " Then we will all gCL** said John and Allie. The boys, then, following 3Iason's example and advice, began to roll up the k^ of their pantaloons, as far as 120 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. til H, 1 !>i I' ■I ! 1 ! ! they would permit, and then marched, in procession, to the base of the cliff and out into the shallow water among the rocks. It was slippery walking. The shore was everywhere lined with round and sharp- cornered rocks, large and small, strewn about the beach, and these were covered over with thick, matted seaweed, or slippery kelp. The tide had receded, leaving only pools of water here and there, deepest near the north side of the larger rocks, where the water had scooped or washed Otit the sand, leaving small, deep pools, which continued often under the rocks. Sometimes kelp or seaweeds grew abundantly in and about these places, as well as on the rocks around them. The boys waded right into the water, and were soon, knee-deep, hunting about as industriously as if they were in ohe business, for the lobsters that Mason had promised them would be found so abundantly. At first they met with no success, and even Mason, with his gaff, which he plied industriously beneath the rocks, failed to find anything. "Well! this begins to look kinder empty!" said Mason. "I see some larger rocks on a little farther, there; I am going to try them. You boys stay here and look again under some of these rocks, to be sure that there are none here, and if I find any I will let you know ! " Mason winked slyly to Jack, and presently both boys were seen, wending their way towards the rocks in ques- tion. Just at that moment, Freddie stepped on a large piece of slippery kelp, and, with d. sudden splash, which caused all the boys to look around, he went down on his AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 121 hands and knees into a great pool of water, in which he had been hunting for a small crab, which he had seen there a moment before. A sputter and a gagging noise apprised the boys that the bather had probably tasted salt water, and that he probably did not like it. A moment later, and a more forlorn looking object than that which approached the beach could hardly be possible. Freddie took off his clothes and hung them over a large rock, in the sun, to dry. " T tell you ! " he exclaimed. " Now that I have be- gun, I'm going to finish the whole job." Having undressed, Freddie ran a short distance along the beach, to where the water was somewhat deeper, just off a low shelf of rocks, which jutted into the sea, and jumped in. There was a grand plunge, this, time, and then a splashing of the water equal to that which w^ aid be caused by some immense searmonster, and the bather issued from the water, shivering from head to foot. " Ough-ugh-ugh ! " sputtered Fred. " Was it cold ? " exclaimed Allie, with evident interest, as he was standing near by with his coat and jacket off, already prepared, if everything was favorable, to follow suit. "Cold! ough-ugh-ugh ! "' shivered Freddie. " Try it ! " ''No! I've no desire to, wliatever, now," said Allie, putting on liis jacket again. " I'll never do it again, unless I have to," said Freddie. "Oh, dear! I thought I'd never get on shore again, and I did not swim a single stroke, either." A loud call from John here interrupted the conversa- tion. It was quickly followed by another. " I've got him ! come, quick ! " I] # 1I' ! ill i ii ! I III : 122 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. Allie hurried to his brother, while Fretklio hastened to dry himself, and put on the remaining dry clothes that he had, for fear of taking cold; he then hastened to where the other two boys were. John had really made a find. He had taken three large lobsters, out of one hole, beneath a very large rock, and was fishing away, with a small stick, for the fourth, which he declared was there, " because he has bitten the stick twice." If the lobster was there, he refused to come out, for no amount of poking would dislodge him, so John was obliged to be content with three. " Well ! that's a good beginning, boys," he exclaimed. •' I'm going to try it again. Here, Allie ! you take these on shore for me." Allie took the three up carefully, and carried them quite a distance up the beach and left them there, near a large rock, while he ran back again, to help John find some more. « What luck, John ? " he cried. " Nothing yet," answered John. " Here's one," called out Freddie. •' Come, quick, he's going under this big rock." Allie ran to the place indicated, and was just in time to secure a large fellow that was making fast time for beneath a good-sized rock near by. " That makes four, anyway," said Allie. " Let's go on the top of the cliff," said Freddie ; " I'm tired of this." " I should think you would be," replied Allie. " Ain't your clothes dry by this time ? " " I guess they are ! I'm going to put them on, any- way." A.V UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 123 t in time time for ie; "I'm "Ain't on, any- And suiting the action to the word, Freddie dressed himself again, and found his clothes, from lying in the hot sun, really quite dry. " There, that feels better ; now I'm ready to go ! Come along ! " And together the two boys ascended the hill, picking their way along, slowly, over the rough, rocky path- way. " There, if that don't pay for all the trouble of climb- ing, I don't know what does ! " exclaimed Allie, who was some steps in advance of his brother. " Oh, Allie ! isn't it perfectly beautiful ! " cried Fred, in a transport of delight. It was really a most lovely scene that spread itself before the eager eyes of the two boys. Several low islands near them, rocky or slightly covered with vegeta- tion, and the boundless horizon in the distance, every- where water. Far to the left, several faint white sails, like sea gulls on noiseless wing, glided along with full sail and fair wind. Farther still, the occasional gleam of other sails was to be seen. One large fishing vessel, off to the right, was making for the very harbor where, back of them, snugly reposed the North Star, whose topmast and flag could still be seen. On the distant right, a long line of low, dense smoke hung on the horizon, where some steamer, probably coming from or going to Quebec or Montreal, had recently passed. Above, the sun shone, from an almost unclouded sky, with attenuate shade of dark or lignt, as some fleecy vail of gossamer floated gently past, beneath its rays. " Let's draw it, Allie ! " " Oh, draw it ! Freddie, why, you couldn't ! " " But you couldj Allie, you draw ! " :• ap Vi I m if ■4 I V ^ !'l !l ! ii! 124 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " I wouldn't dare try. Keep still ! Freddie, see what is that big black thing down there ! Now it's gone ! There it is again. See, see ; it's a whale ! Look ! " Freddie followed the direction of Allie's linger, and exclaimed : " Oh, there it is ! I see it. And there's another ; see, quick ! " There were indeed two immense fellows, sporting in the water just a little way from the island, one some distance farther out to sea than the other. It was the second one of these two monsters of the deep that at- tracted the especial attention of the boys. "See him. There he is. See how near shore he is coming ! " cried Allie. The whale, or rather grampus, for it was one of the latter species, — called by the fishermen " herring hog," from the fact that their presence generally indicates a school of these fish, upon which the huge animal feeds, — was now close in shore, and approaching still nearer at each rise. The black monster would appear at the surface with a loud puff — as the air escaped through its blow holes — and lazily roll back into the water, displaying in its descent nearly or qu.'te the entire surface of his back ; after a few moments another loud puff — which the boys could distinctly tiear, even at their distance from him, and the animal would go through a similar movement as it progressed through the water. " How close he is to that small island, just outside the one that we are on," said Allie. " Now he has disappeared," cried Freddie. " No ! he is going back again." The grampus had evidently gone far enough in one AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 125 direction, and had now turned and was retracing his way toward the farther end of the island in question. "I wonder if the boys have seen him yet?" asked Freddie. " Oh, no ! they can't. Don't you see that he's behind the island ? " "If he goes beyond the point, can't they see him ? " " Of course they can, and there he goes. I wish we could make the boys look up." Freddie picked up a stone, and threw it with all his might in the direction of Mason and Jack. " I hope it won't hit them ! " "No fear of that," said Allie. Freddie looked amazed, as the stone that he had fired fell behind the cliff, and he could not even see it as it struck the water at the foot of the rocks. "The cliff must be a great deal higher than we im- agine," said Allie. " Now I'll try it." Allie met with no better success than his brother had, and the stone fell into the water entirely out of sight of the boys. " I guess we'd better give up trying to attract them ; but see, the whale has passed the island. The boys see him ! There he goes ! " and Freddie fairly danced with pleasure. By this time the grampus had passed from behind the island into full view of all in the cove. Suddenly he disappeared. " Where can he have gone, Allie ? " " I don't know, but I guess he has gone to sea." " What fun if he would run on to the rocks, near here, somewhere, where we could see him." " I wish he would. I never saw so big an animal, so near too, before, anyway." 126 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. i ii " Isn't he an immense fish, AUie ? " " Whales are not fishes, Freddie. I know enough about Natural History to know that, anyway." "Well, what are they then ? " " Why, they are animals ; they belong to a class by themselves, and are called Cetaceans." " Oh, my ! I wish I knew all about these things/' sighed Freddie. " I don't know much about them, but I know a little," said Allie. " There's the whale, again ; he's coming right in toward shore." As he re-appeared upon the surface, both boys saw, at once, that he was, in reality, headed directly toward tlie shore, or rather the rocky reefs, on the northeast of the island, and inside the small outer island. " Why, he's just inside the point, Allie ! how can he go on without running right on to the rocks ? He's going to turn. No ! there he goes right on." The whale had by this time neared the outer of the three reef points of rock, on this side of the island, and was fast approaching it. There was water enough over this reef, so that he could completely pass it, even at lower tide than it was then. A few moments more, and the whale was safely over this reef, and sporting and blowing m the water beyond. If he had remained in this position he could easily have turned and retraced his way back again. This the boys supposed that he would do ; but the whale had no such notion. The fish that he was pursuing, had, doubtless, gone on ahead of him, and, passing safely once the high and dangerous second reef, into the deep water beyond, lay tempting his senses to the desperate feat of following. AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 127 ;li about class by things/' , little," iglit in saw, at '^ard tlie b of tlie can he ? He's of the ,nd, and ^h over even at ly over )eyond. y have le boys 10 such ubtless, le high )nd, lay ving. The scene had now become intensely exciting. The boys, below the cliff, had left off their work of lobster catching, and now stood upon a high rock watching, with as much interest as the boys above. Presently there was a great splashing in the water. " There he is on the reef ! " cried Freddie, almost in a whisper. " No, no ! not yet," said AUie. " I guess he hit his nose on a rock ; and it must have hurt him, by the splashing that he makes." " Perhaps he slipped on the kelp ! " said Allie, laugh- ing. Freddie looked rather red for a moment ; but returned the sally with wonderful effect. " Or perhaps he went lobster hunting, and didn't find any," he returned. It was now Allie's turn to look rather foolish ; but the whale drew his attention again, so that it did not last long. "I wish the boys would come up here, Allie. I'm going to try firing at them." The word firing reminded Allie that he had his revol- ver 11 his pocket, and, taking it out, he fired a charge into the water over the heads of the boys below. The sound of the shot attracted their attention, and seei'ig Freddie and Allie on the top of the rocks, waving to them, they soon scrambled up the other side of the hill, and, in a moment more, all five boys stood together on the summit of the cliff. •' Where are your lobst^^vs •? " asked Freddie, the mo- ment the boys had gained the top. " Oh, we left them on tLe beach," said John. "Won't they walk .-if ?" T^ .'If h! i !1 ! i 128 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " I guess not ! we don't care if they do, we can get some more, and it isn't every day we can get a chance to see a whale run on the rocks." " Do you think that he will do that ? " asked AUie. " Mason says so ! " replied John. " He says that they frequently run on to the rocks here, while following the herring, and that he thinks this one will get caught on the reef. The tile is going out fast, and will soon catch him, if he does not get out of the basin there." Meanwhile the whale had pursued the herring to the very edge of the reef. The water was still deej, ein 'j-rh over the center of the reef to admit the passage of i ii.e animal. At this moment the whale approached the reef at the same time with an immense wave, that made che water several feet deeper over the rocks, and in a moment more it was safely over the barrier, and in deep water beyond. " There ! he's over safely," said Freddie. A shout from Mason was the only reply. " Over safely ! " exclaimed Jack. " I guess he is. He's safe for twenty barrels of oil, at sixteen dollars a barrel." Such, in fact, was the case. The whale was now inside the rocks which girt the shore line, and there was no way for him to get back, excepting by the way he had come. This way was now gradually closing, by the con- tinuous fall of the tide, so that the water in which the whale was, formed a sort of a pond, with a chain of rocks extending from the island to the main shore on one side, and the sand beach of the land and island on the other. A rippling of the water over the reef, and the herring passed out safely into the sea again, leaving the whale « prisoner in his own trap. " Hooray ! " shouted Mason. " Come on, hurry up ! " m. AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 129 can get hance to Ulie. iiat they ring the light on 3n catch g to the enou'rh :; of iiie Lhe reef lade che moment p water s. He's barrel." P" inside was no he had le cor- ich the f rocks le side, other, lerring vhale ^,. up t» " Where to ? " asked Allie. " Home, to get the men," said Mason, already half-way down the hill towards the boat. Jack rushed down to the beach on the opposite side, and was soon seen picking his way around the base of the cliff with a large string of lobsters, hanging from a stick, which he held balanced over his shoulders. Arriv- ing at the boat nearly as soon as the others were prepared to shove her off, he jumped in, and in a moment the boat was spinning towards home. It took but a comparatively short time to reach the landing, for which place Mason steered direct, and to tie the boat, while all hands jumped out at once. — Mason started after the men, while the boys unloaded their treasures and carried them up to the house. Mrs. Mcln- tyre at once put the big pot on the stove and filled it with water, then she put into it as many lobsters as it would hold, and weighted the cover down with heavy stones. " Now, Mary ! " said Mrs. Mclntyre, " if you will tend the pot, while you do your ironing, I'll go out and help the men trim the fish." " Twenty minutes after the water boils ! " called the little woman, as she bustled off out of the house, and down the liill to where the men were busy trimming the fish. " Mason says that there's a whale stranded over to Prestile ! " shouted Mr. Mclntyre, as his wife put in an appearance at the fish-flaker. " Where are the boys ! All hands lively now, and we're good for thirty barrels of oil before the end of the month." The sound was like electricity. The fish were trimmed m- ^|i 'I . li ■\ ii '1 130 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. in half an hour, when usually it took two hours with nearly the same force, and, leaving Mrs. Mclntyre to •• trim the last of the fat, all hands ran to the boats. Mr. Mclntyre soon came down from the shed, and joined them with a couple of old rusty harpoons, and a stout coil of rope ; these, with an axe, he threw into the boat, and was off again for some wood for stakes, and when all was ready the boat shoved off once more for the Inland. 1 I "1 had taken the sail-boat, so the boys took the row-bo I ind followed in it. It was now nearly three in the afternoon, and, as the nights were long, the men had plenty of time to secure their prize before the turn of the tide. On reaching the island, the boats were fastened, and the men jumped ashore and ran eagerly around the point. There, sure enough, lay the immense animal, fully aground on the rocks near the end of the sand beach and still struggling feebly to escape ; but it was impossible. The men set up a shout, and rushed at once for the beach upon which the whale had stranded. The tide was now so low that they could approach to within a few yards of the monster. The men did not mind the water, however, but rushed at once up to the animal and began to send their harpoons into him. One was put near his head and the other near his tail, and driven deep into the mass of fat that formed the external coat. When this had been accomplished, the ropes were fas- tened about the head of each harpoon and drawn in towards the shore. Here two stakes with notches in them, were driven firmly into the ground, opposite the head of the harpoons, and the ropes fastened tightly to them. Thus was the monster secured. it" :ii4 AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN 131 The harpoon near the head of the animal had evidently- struck some vital point, for the blood soon began to flow freely from its mouth and nostrils. The huge tail would occasionally beat feebly upon the rocks, but this soon ceased, and with a few convulsive shivers the animal lay motionless. "Well, boys, that's a good job done I" exclaimed Mr. Mclntyre, wiping the perspiration from his brow with an immense bandana handkerchief. "I — I — I should say so ! " exclaimed one of the men, an immense fellow with brawny arms and a crop of short, bright red hair, that stood up all over the top of his head much as if an electric battery had been let loose upon that particular spot. " And — and does we go shares, sir, for him, or does you pay us extra ? we didn't ship to go whaling." IVIr. Mclntyre laughed, for he readily comprehended the fellow's meaning. " Which shall it be, boys ! shares or extra pay ? " For a few moments there was a confusion of voices ; some were for shares and others for extra pay. Mr. Mclntyre was a shrewd manager, and he saw, at once, that the huge animal before him was likely to yield even more oil than had been at first anticipated, so he said to the men : " Well, boys ! I don't mind a shilling a day more on the wages while we cut up and try out the blubber. If you would rather have the oil, you can, but you must furnish your own barrels, try-pots, and those things ; I've got enough to do to find my own. Which shall it be ? " The men were quick enough to see the philosophy of " a bird in hand " being worth more than " two in the T^^m ' 132 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. m Hi If: ' I i. , ' bush," and, knowing the impossibility of their ever being able to furnish the necessary articles for their work, they readily assented to the extra shilling, so the bar- gain was completed. It was necessary, now, to post a watch, which in fact needed all hands, to haul upon the rope, as the tide came in, and draw the whale as much farther in toward the shore as it was possible to get him, as it would then be so much easier work cutting him to pieces. As it was impossible to draw such a huge mass ashore, the men could not work to advantage except at low tide. Mr. Mclntyre sent Mason back to the house for supper for himself and the men, and then began collecting wood for a lire, as they would be obliged to remain out a part of the night, and it was already beginning to be dark and the air chilly. Much as the boys wished to remain on the island, and watch the men, prudence forbade, and so all returned with Muson to the house. By the time they reached home, supper was ready. Mary had boiled the lobsters " to a T," and Mr. Ready had returned from the schooner with a can of peaches and another of pears, and also a large piece of bacon, which he presented to Mrs. Mclntyre, and she had cut and fried several " rashers " for the table. The hot bis- cuits were well browned, and done completely through ; so that, altogether, there was quite a display of good things for the hungry crowd that assembled, about half an hour later, to partake of the good cheer provided. " Well, boys ! " said Mr. Benton, " have you had a good time to-day ? " " Oh, yes, sir ! " cried they all together. " Bless their hearts," said Mrs. Mclntyre, " no need to \ ill! AN IWEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 133 ever being heir work, 50 the bar- lich in fact J tide came toward the Id then be As it was 3, the men tide. Mr. supper for g wood for ; a part of e dark and ask them such a question. Look at their faces, they are surely too sunburnt, and dirty, and tired to leave any doubt, — eh, dears ? " said tiie good lady. " Mary, don't fetch the milk when there's lobsters on the table," she continued. " Now, put tine pitcher down, put on a clean apron, and come and sit down at the table with the folks, for once-t." Mary did as she was \kA, and the meal passed off socially and very pleasaffldy. In the evening they had more playing and siiigmg, and the company chatted together until nearly nine o^-Iock, when once again it was bed-time, and all sou^t their rooms for the night. island, and 11 returned ; ready. Mr. Ready of peaches 5 of bacon, he had cut tie hot bis- y through; ly of good about half Dvided. you had a no need to r- lU WRECKED ON LABRADOR. I J .^■ CHAPTER IX. HOW THE BOYS PKESEKVED THEIR SPECIMENS. AS the following day was Saturday, Mr. Ready con- sented, at the desire of all the party, to remain where they were that day and the next, and then start, bright and early, if the wind were favorable, for the voyage down along the coast. The boys hailed this decision with pleasure, as it would thus give them a chance to skin their birds, and also to prepare the other specimens which they had taken the day before, and which lay about "cluttering up " Mrs. Mclntyre's house and doorway. " I'm going to spend all the day," said Freddie, " in blowing eggs. I'm going to blow all that we have got." " Don't blow awa}'," laughed AUie, who, nevertheless, fully approved of his brother's scheme, and who intended to accomplish fully as much though in a somewhat dif- ferent line. "Don't be afraid of that," returned Freddie; "but what are you going to do ? " " Oh, I've got about twenty birds to skin. Do you think I can do it ? " "Oh, dear, no ; not all alone." " I'm going to teach Jack to skin, and he's going to help me ; and then John, when he has pressed his flowers and finished his work, will help me ; so I guess we will get through with the work together, somehow." %■ THE BOYS PRESERVE THEIR SPECIMENS. 135 " If we do all we want to do, how busy we shall be," said Freddie. Here Mason came around to say that the men had already gone to begin work on the whale, and that the boys could go over with him, if they wislied, to the island. It was a great temptation, but there was too much at stake to run the risk, and so Mason started alone, an;l the boys began to prepare for their work. They had hardly begun, however, before breakfast was announced, and a good meal of broiled cod, boiled eggs, and hot coffee, was set forth for all. "I declare, Mrs. Mclntyre, it is worth coming way to Labrador for such a meal as this," said Mr. Taylor ; *• if we only had an old-fashioned Johnny-cake, such as my mother used to make, this would be the best break- fast I had tasted for twenty years." " jNIy sakes alive ! " exclaimed Mrs. Mclntyre. " Mary, Mary ! open the oven door, quick ! " Mary opened the oven door, and straightway there issued forth such a smell and smoke, as might have come from a small-sized charcoal pit. " Mercy me ! " put in the good woman, " if biling them eggs didn't put the oven entirely out of my head. It's perfectly scand'lous. If your mother'd made such a thing as this, she'd know enough not to tell on it, and that's more than I know." The smoke was now cleared off, so that Mary was able to draw from the oven a huge panful of something that was burned to a crisp. It proved to be a panful of corn- meal cakes, and it was indeed a sorry-looking affair. " "WTiy, mother ! " exclaimed Mary, " it's only burned on the top." '' Take a knife and scrape it then," said her mother. ■— w 136 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. \'':v A loud rasping noise was t" en heard, which continued for some minutes. "I guess that will do, and be none the worse for its scorching, after all," said Mary, as she placed on the table two large platefuls of corn bread, rather dark- colored on top and bottom, but evidently good within. " Now, Mr. Taylor, 'twould have been scand'lous if your mother hadn't done the thing in a little better shape than that ; but if it isn't good, you needn't eat it ; that's all." After delivering this piece of information, or rather this assertion, Mrs. Mclntyre proceeded to pour out a cup of hot coffee for Mr. Benton. " And how did you pass the day, yesterday ? " she asked. " You must give an account of yourselves." Each one then told how he had passed the day. Mr. Benton had remained home, or near the house, all day, resting after the rough voyage; Mr. Taylor and Mr. Furness had been out fishing for trout, and caught a fine string, in a brook that tumbled down from the neighbor- ing hills, with a single large fellow that turned the scales at four pounds and three ounces ; Mr. Jacobs had been botanizing, and had brought home a box full of rare plants, while Mr. Murphy had smoked his meer- schaum, and wandered aimlessly about among the men, as they were engaged in their fish work, prying here and there, into barrels and puncheons, and looking into everything that he came across. " He, don't seem to have done much," put in John, " but he's the cutest of the party, I think. I guess he's writing a book on the subject." Mr. Murphy turned rather red at this, on John's un- consciously telling of his real thoughts. THE BOYS PRESERVE THEIR SPECIMENS. 137 " When you catch me writing a book," said jVIr. Mur- phy, "just let me know it, will you? It will be because there's nothing else to do, I guess." " Oh ! you can help me blow eggs, if you really want something to do," said Freddie, who began to show signs of weakening already on the stint that he had given himself. " Thank you just the same," returned Mr. Murphy, " at present I prefer another cup of coffee, and more corn cake." These having been passed, no more was said by any one at the table for full five minutes. At length they were all finished, when they arose, each to go his way for the morning. Mrs. Mclntyre said that " the boys often blows their eggs, and we uses the inside just the same. Master Ben- ton. So, if you had just as soon, Mary will give you a bowl, and you can save the insides of your eggs." Ereddie readily agreed to this, and soon was seated comfortably on the door-step, with several huge buckets of eggs near him. " Which shall I begin on first, Allie ? " AUie was busy arranging him a table, just inside of the porch, upon which to do the work of skinning his birds, which he had all carefully arranged on the floor near by. " Oh, take the sets first ; I would." Freddie then procured another empty bucket, into which he put the loose top eggs, until he came to the sets which he took out carefully and arra^^ged in order, close by on the grass. He then procured from his bag a small blow-pipe, with a curved end and very small tip, and an egg-drill, — the latter, a small steel instrument TT 138 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. re 'I % \ ', M f "w ■■• ■ . !|. :i ! !il ! ■t!8 i >-. ' , , t, ; i i j i : r, ! IM mi L_i*iL much like some dentist's tool, with a eonical, file-like tip ; with these he first drilled a small, round hole in the side of the eg^, and then inserting the b^'>w-pipe, with the liolc in the egg downward over the 1, he blew through the end of the pipe. The hole in the egg being larger than the end of the blow-jjipe, the con- tents came out with a rush, as the breath forced it out, from around the sides of the pipe and fell into the bowl. In this way the egg was soon blown, and then a mouthful of water, blown in in the same way and shaken up Avell, thoroughly rinsed the inside. This was blown out on the ground, and the egg carefully laid, holes down, on some blotting-paper, bought for the purpose, to drain and dry. After a few trials, Freddie found that the drill and blow-pipe ' o too small to use well, so he returned to his valise . pro- cured some larger ones ; with these he was able to proceed much more rapidly, and could easily clean three in five minutes. " Oh, dear ! " sighed Freddie. " I'm busy for all day, I guess ; all the morning, anyway." Meanwhile Allie had arranged his table and brought out his skinning tools, and sat down to work. His in- struments were a large and a small knife, — or scal- pel, as they were called ; a large and a small pair of scissors ; a pair of pincers, and several small wires and pieces of wood. He also had a box of fine, white Indian meal, another of plaster of paris, and a third of arsenic with which to poison the skin when it had been made. ^ bundle of tow also lay beneath the table. These things were arranged on the table on a large newspaper, and then Allie was all ready to begin work. THE BOYS PRESERVE THEIR SPECIMENS. 139 The first bird that ho began with was the hirge Great Black-backed Gull. He handled it carefully, either by the bill or by the feet, so that the plumage would not get greasy or dirty from his touch, and laid it, having smoothed down the feathers, upon the table, feet toward him and with the heal turned so that the bill pointed to the left. Then he tiled the mouth and nostrils with small wads of tow, to prevent the blood and mucous from escaping upon the feathers. • With a little water he first wet, then carefully scraped off with his knife several patches of blood, which had found its way, al- ready, upon the feathers of the breast, and dried them by powdering plaster of par' s upon the place and dusting it off with a small paint brush. Several applications removed every trace of a stain, and the clear white featheis became as good as new. It was a beautiful skin; there was hardly a stain upon it. Allie meant to mount it for his mother. After all this had been done, Allie took the smaller of the two knives and, carefully parting the feathers of the lower part of the breast, he cut the skin still more carefully, from the bottom of the breast-bone down to and through the vent. He was particular to cut the outer skin only, and not to break into the body where the intestines lay, as this would hinder him in his work. He then loosened and pushed the skin away from the flesh until the joint of the leg appeared, all the time sprinkling plenty of white meal over the cut places, to soak up any traces of blood or moisture that might be there, and prevent it from getting on the feathers ; then he turned the skin of the leg to the second joint, and, cutting the tendons, scraped the bone bare to the first joint, where he cut a scissure, leaving the leg- rfr- I : & i ; I! 'fi ji! 140 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. bone on the skin. In a similar manner he treated the other leg ; then carefully pushing the skin on each side, until he had freed it beneath the tail-bone, he cut this off, and carefully removed the flesh, both above and below this bone. As the bird was a large one, it was now necessary to proceed somewhat differently from what he would have don;} with a smaller specimen. From his instrument casrt he procured a couple of fish hooks, of moderate size, from which the barbs had been filed off, and tied them tightly on either end of a stout piece of twine. One of these he hooked into the edge of the table, and the other into the bony part of the body of the bird, so that the latter hung downwards over the edge of the table. He iiow proceeded carefully to push back the skin, until he had reached the base of the wings ; these he separated from the body at the joints. Pushing the skin still far- ther he reached the neck. Taking the hooks off now, he replaced the bird upon the table, with the body hanging over the edge, and grasping firmly hold of the bill he pushed back the skin of the neck o the skull and then drew it over. A three-cornered cut — one below and one on each side above, to a point just over the entrance to the brain, and a slight pull separated the body, and left the skull alone clear. Enlarging the opening slightly with his knife, he scooped out the brains with a small paddle-like piece of wood. Turning the skin still farther back, he pulled the skin out of the ear passage, without tearing it, and then cut the thin film over the eye, which he then scooped out with a piece of bent wire. A little scraping removed most of the rest of the fleshy parts, from about the skull and bill: the wings now alone remained to be skinned. It was easy wor]"- to remove THE BOYS PRESERVE TFfEIR SPECIMENS. 141 the skin to the first joint, but Allie found that it was necessary to use the back of one of his knives, and fairly scrape the inner edge of the bone, to the sec- ond joint, before the feathers of the wing could be removed from the small grooved pits, into which they grew, on this part of the bone. He at length accom- plished it, however, and scraped t)' j meat carefully, on both wings, clear from the second joint to the top of the bone. Small strips of tow, wound around the bones, as also on the legs, made the parts as thick as they were before, and the whole skin was ready for the arsenic. The poison was dusted carefully all over the skin, an extra amount put on the tail, and into the hollows of the skin around both legs and wings. A large amount was dusted about the base of the skull, and the neck and skin were thoroughly covered. A round wad of tow filled out each eye hole, to its proper place ; and a small stick, whittled to fill the hole of the skull, was thus in- serted and also filled the neck, about which portion it was wound with tow, so as almost to fill the skin. The head was then turned, the wings tied together ; the whole shaken and dusted outside. The skin was now nearly complete, but not quite. After the dirty papers had been removed, it was laid upon the table again, the wads of tow taken from the mouth and nostrils, the tongue removed, and the whole body filled plump with scraps of paper and some tow. A thin piece of tough paper was then bound around the center of the body, to keep the wings at the side ; the bill was tied together at the nostrils ; and the legs crossed and tied together at the joint. The bird was then as plump, well filled, and well prepared a skin, p '- f-'^" ss ^ I i I I i ii:i! 142 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. as would please anybody. Getting a little card tag from his box, Allie then wrote as follows : GREAT ELACK-BACKED GULL. Larus marinus, Linn. Habbinoton Habbob, Labbadob. Collected by Allie Bento' Bill yellow ; red spot near tip of lower bill ; legs and feet straw color; eye white; adult. Shot June 30, 1883. No. 210. After all this had been done, and the tag fastened to one of the legs, Allie took his note-book, repeated all the remarks he had made, and added all that he could think of in regard to the habits of the bird, leaving space to add anything else that he might find worthy of note afterwards; then taking a newspaper, he laid the bird upon it, folded it carefully, doubled it over and pinned together the ends, with the bird's name upon the out- side, and laid the package away on a shelf in the porch. " There, our bird's done," said Allie, " at any rate, and I haven't been but a few minutes over an hour." " Good," exclaimed Freddie, from the doorstep ; " and I've got all the sets blown, and my bowl's so full I can hardly move it. Mary," he cried, ■* can't I have an- other bowl ? " " Why yes, dear ; half a dozen of them," said Mary, bringing another, and taking away the one already full. " I'm tired of blowing," said Freddie ; " I'm going down to fish for flounders, and catch a mess for din- ner," and the next minute he had disappeared down the slope. THE BOYS PRESERVE THEIR SPECIMENS. 143 ,g from feet 210. ened to L all the d tliink space to I of note lie bird pinned he out- porch, ate, and 1^, "and 1 I can lave an- 1 Mai*v, uly full. n going for din- id down " I guess I'll do all my gulls, first," soliloquized Allie. " Here comes Jack to help me." Jack and Allie were soon at work again, each with an immense gull. " I've got the ice gull," said Allie. " I wonder why they call it ' burgomaster ' ? " asked Jack. " I guess it's because he is the chief amongst the gulls, and makes all the others stand around," replied Allie. " Perhaps he's master of the iceberg," said Jack. " Ain't he a handsome fellow, anyway ! " " What do you call this one ? " said Jack. " Oh, that is the mate to the one I did first, I think." " ]^ut he is brown all over." " Then it must be a young bird." " Are the young birds always brown ? " "Yes, I believe they always have some brown on them." " Then what are those other large gulls ? " " Those are the common gulls. We call them simply herring gulls. The males and females are both nearly alike in all these birds ; the young alone are different. That almost black gull is the young of these almost pure wliite gulls." " Let us hurry up," said Jack, " and see if we can get all the gulls done before dinner. See ; there are eight of them, and it is now eight o'clock." The boys put in their best work, and by one o'clock, when Mrs. Mclntyre announced dinner, the gulls were all completed, and the nine birds carefully wrapped up, and laid out to dry. Freddie had, meanwhile, broken his fish line, and so returned to the egg-blowing again ; while John, having put into press all his plants, has- 1 ! il ■ ■1 ( 1 i ! ; i i' A p I »'ai > [ ' W Ml' V 144 WRECKED 0,V LABRADOR. teiied to join the group and express his readiness to take his hand at skinning birds after dinner. At length dinner was disposed of; then the after- noon's work soon began. "Now let us see, boys," exclaimed Allie, as he with Jack and John pursued their way to the porch, which they had constituted their workroom ; " here are the rest of the birds. We have here three razor-billed auks, four foolish guillemots — " " We used to call them foolish Williams," said Jack. " The name starts off like the French for William." " Well, here they are ; and two pigeons or pigeon guil- lemots, with one young of the same. Then here are two puffins — look at the bill they have on them. There's the male eider duck, and there the two females." " What's this bird ? " picking up a large, black duck with white patches on the wings. " Oh, that's a brass-winged diver," replied Jack. "Why, let me see," exclaimed Allie, "we have this bird at home, and call it coot. We shoot it in the fall off the rocks at the Brant-rock. Yes, we call it white- winged coot to distinguish it from the real sea coot." " We have the real sea coot here too," said Jack ; "but we call that the bottle-nosed diver. Then there is one all black, that is the black diver." " We call that the scoter duck," said Allie. " Well, anyway, I'm going to skin this," said Jack, as he picked it out and laid it one side. " Sixteen birds," counted Allie. " Oh, dear ! Well, I guess we can do them all. We've got all the afternoon and all night to do them in. We did nine this morning." The boys then went to work bravely at the task before them. THE BOYS PRESERVE THEIR SPECIMENS. 145 Freddie, meanwhile, continued to blow eggs. Mr. Benton lay down to take an afternoon nap. Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Murphy strolled off toward the wharf, and were soon seen in the boat rowing for the island, probably to take a look at the whale; and Mr. Furness and Mr. Taylor started off for more flowers, lichens, and mosses. " Well, Mary," exclaimed Mrs. Mclntyre, as she stood with her sleeves rolled up, washing the dishes, "what shall we get for supper ? " Now Mrs. Mclntyre was apt to ask this same question of Mary, about this same time quite regularly each day ; and Mary was just as apt to say nothing, as she knew too well that her mother had made up her own mind as to what it should be. "Did you say that the dried apples were all gone, Miir)' ? " continued her mother. " Oh, no, mother," replied Mary, st. 11 dutifully keep- ing up the apparent deception. " Well, don't you think that some apple sauce would go well with hot biscuits ? " " Just t:he thing, mother. How good you are at con- triving." Mrs. Mclntyre wiped her hands on the towel, smoothed her apron down, and then said : "Well; suppose now that you find the apples and pick them over and set them to soak, w^hile I finish the dishes." Mary hurried off for the apples. " What a comfort that child is," sighed Mrs. Mclntyre. " What could I do without her. What a fine woman she will make ! How well she planned that apple sauce for supper. I never could do nothing without her. She ! I ! 1*- ; ^ 4 ■ ]l i .: j 1 ' 'i' 1 i "^^ii' " 146 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. never shall marry that Ike Adams in this world. Drat him. He ain't worth his salt, much less his fish. He only caught a little over forty quintals last summer. Bill Jerkes caught over sixty himself, and he's clear gone on her, but she wouldn't stir her little finger to save him from drowning, and she sailed way down to Tub Island, all alone, herself, when that Adams sprained his ankle, just to carry him the arnica bottle. Laws sakes ! It does beat everything ! When / was a girl, your father and I had to marry, 'cause there wa'n't no other young fellers or young girls 'round within forty miles." " What did you say, mother ? " asked Mary, innocently enough, just then coming up the cellar stairs. " Mind your Avork, you idle hussy ! " said her mother. Mary stared in perfect amazement, at being thus rudely answered, and in her surprise dropped the pan of apples all over the floor. " There, you stupid thing," and Mrs. Mclntyre flung her apron over her face, and sat down in the chair, and cried. "What is it? What's the matter, mother?" ex- claimed Mary in her most pitying tones, as she rushed up to her mother and put her arms around her neck. " Do you see that boat over yonder ? " Mary's tone changed in an instant, as she turned and looked out of the window. "Why, that's Ike Adams' boat." " Well, you needn't tell me that ; I know it." " What's he coming to-day for ? " said Mary. " He's coming to ask your father — " " Sh-sh, mother. He's coming to ask father if he can help cut up the whale. I'll go and tell him that they're over to the island," and away Mary went on her unsel- fish errand. THE BOYS PRESERVE THEIR SPECIMENS. 147 " I shall have to pk-k over them apples myself," said Mrs. Mclntyre. ''Seems just as though I always had everything to do, and u*An»\Y to help me ; " and the busy woman started about her wt>rk, by this time in a quite happy frame of mind. At six o'clock came sepf^r. Everybody was ready for it. Freddie had tinishiexl Wowing one hundred and ninety- three eggs, and was, to mse his own expression, " entirely blown out." Under Aliir's guidance, only four of the birds remained to be skiumt?*!, — and these the four fool- ish Williams, as Ja-ek stiM persisted in calling them. Mr. Furness and Mr. Taylor had returned with their boxes full of flowers, aia4 off lichens, with a few mosses. Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Miirf^lsv had arrived from the island, and reported the work theire- on the whale as going on rapidly. Mr. Jacobs also brought back a large pailful of seaweeds, and some were most beautiful and delicate. " I shall spend my eveBing mounting them," said he. " I think that I have a goiod many varieties." Mr. Murphy had pickted up a quantity of star-fish, and several of a species of iiolothiman, like the sea-cucumber, only they were red, aad one of the fishermen, he said, called them sea-cherries. They were small, round, and red, and had a sort of Imd on one end of them, from which they extended their feielers or tentacles, when in the water and undisturl*eKL " Well, boys," said Mr. Benton, " I suppose you are all glad that to-morrow is Semuday ? " All heartily assented to this observation, as they sat down to supper. " I hope the gentlemen will have enough to eat," said Mrs. Mclntyre. " I can cook some eggs in a few minutes, if anybody would like them,'^ she said. ■ m i nn wBWBHi 148 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. As no one seemed to wish anything else, the supper proceeded in silence. When all were finished, the dishes cleared away, and all the work done, it was nearly eleven o'clock, while a more weary household, perhaps, never lay down to rest, — at least so it seemed to each one. I \ i SUNDA Y. 149 CHAPTER X. SUNDAY. SUNDAY, at last ! sweet, pleasant, Sunday. What a delight, and what a rest. The day opened with the sun shining clear and bright, — from almost unclouded sky, and a slight wind blowing from the southeast ; so slight was the breeze that it barely ruffled the bosom of the calm water of the harbor, yet as they looked out of the door, all felt it on their cheeks, cool, balmy, and ex- hilarating. " What a lovely day ! " exclaimed Allie ; " and it is Sunday, too — that's the best of it." " We can rest, and won't have any church to go to," put in Freddie. " What did you say about church ? " asked a voice from inside, that the boys recognized to be that of Mrs. Mclntyre. " No church to go to, hey ! does ye's think us to be all heathens, here ? W^ell, we's not then." "^Vhere does the family go to church?" asked Mr. Kenton. " Oh, down to the Lamb Cove, here, about eight mile, sir!" " And is there really a church there ? " inquired Mr. Benton. " Oh, certainly, sir ! There's a fine building there, it has been there now for a dozen years, odd, sir; and we goes every pleasant Sunday, when the wind is riglit." ') i ■ i 1 . II !■( ^ I ill 150 WRECKED O.V LABRADOR. " Is the wind right to-day ? " " Not just, sir ! " said Mrs. Mcliityre. " It's south- west, and we want to go in pretty near that direction.'' " Do you think that anybody will go ? " "I can't just tell, sir, but the boys and their father might; it's not far, and a long tack and a short tack would bring them there in time for the service." " What is the nature of the service ? " « Oh, 'tis Church of England, sir." " Indeed ? " " Yes, sir ! A regular minister is sent down every year, unless the same wishes to continue, as he often does, from ?»Iontreal or Quebec, — I can't just tell which, the boy will know — from the college there, sir ; and he takes charge of the work for the year." " Tell us more of this, good woman," said Mr. Benton. "Oh, I can't, sir: but the boy will know. You see the minister has his headquarters at Lamb Cove. There, there is a big settlement, as many as thirty houses, and nearly one hundred and fifty peoples. They has, helped by the Canadian government, built a church and a par- sonage there, and the minister, every so often, — once a month each way, sir, I believe — takes a trip, just to eastward, and then to westward, reads the service along at the houses where he comes, and baptizes the children." " And so the people go to hear him at Lamb Cove ? " asked Mr. Benton. " Yes, sir ! They often comes, of a good day, sir, from twenty miles each way. They all meets at Lamb Cove of a Sunday, and there we learn all the news." " Oh, that's what you always go to church for," laughed Mr. Murphy, " to learn the news ? '' " And we likes to know what our neighbors are doing, SUNDA Y. 151 sir, as well as you folks in the States ! " exclaimed Mrs. Mclntyre, with considerable spirit. " Oh, certainly," said Mr. Murphy, who felt that he was not quite understood. " I bit my own nose off that time," whispered he to Mr. Taylor, who was standing near. " That's a spirited animal," said Mr. Taylor. At this moment the billy goat, which, with all the ether animals, had been turned out to feed upon the sward, in front of the house — rushed frantically across the lawn, in front of the door, and, lowering his head, gave the bull, which was feeding quietly on the other side of the lawn, a sudden and violent buck in the ribs. " Do you refer to the lady or the goat ? " whispered back Mr. Taylor, winking his eye very hard meanwhile at Mr. Murphy. " Either you choose to make it ! " quietly responded Mr. Murphy, with a faint chuckle. " I'll take compassion on the one, and say the animal," said Mr. Taylor. " Very spirited ! yes, so I perceive. A little too much so for his own comfort and convenience," Mr. Murphy replied. " See for yourself ! " The attention of all was now turned to the bull, who had turned upon his assailant, and was literally driving him backwards, all over the ground. " Why doesn't he toss him ? " asked Freddie. " He's young yet, and don't know that he is really big enough to, I suppose," answered Allie. "Won't he hurt him?" " Oh, no ! " said Mason, who at that moment appeared in the doorway. " They often play together in that way for hours. I have stood and watched them, and laughed until I cried." on •i .: i„ ill i'' I! i E! ' 152 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. u u Which, Mason ? " asked Freddie. Both," said Mason, good-humoredly. It was, indeed, curious to watch the two animals ma- neuver. " They plays together like children ! " said Mrs. Mcln- tyre, looking over the boys' shoulders. " I often wonders that the billy don't get hurted, but he never seems to have yet." " Here comes father ! " said Mason. " Will ye go to the Cove to-day ? " screamed Mrs. Mc- Intyre, at the top of her voice ; so loud, indeed, that Freddie ducked his head, suddenly, much to the amuse- ment of the rest of the boys. In a moment Mr. Mclntyre had arrived within answer- ing distance, and responded sharply : " S'pose we might's well ! Would some or all of you gentl'm'n like to go ? Can all go ! plenty room ! " All thought that they would like to go, and so hurried into the house, the more eagerly as they heard Mrs. Mclntyre calling them to breakfast, to prepare for the sail, though there were several hours before them. The breakfast consisted of the usual hot rolls, coffee, and boiled eggs, with the unusual course of ham and baked beans. It took the guests a long time to finish their breakfast that morning. Certainly no one, know- ing the "bill of fare," would wonder for a momer*^ at that. After breakfast an hour's ramble ; che house, then a few touches upon the toilet, and, i lie announc- - ment that the boat was at the wharf and ^\v. ^iclntyre was ready for those who were going with him to church, all flocked to the landing. " Here we are ! " said Mr. Benton, " all ready to go any- SUNDA y. 153 where that you might please, — as long as this pleasant weather lasts." "Get right in," replied Mr. Mclntyre. The boat was a large one, and there was plenty of room. It was one of the kind that the fishermen called " Yankee barges," and was very wide and deep for its length, and with five apartments or compartments, so that there were six seats, besides the two end pieces. The center partition contained the mainmast and was filled with huge rocks for ballast. Her foremast stood in the rear part of the covering of the prow, and both ends of the boat were peaked to a point, though the stern was not as sharp as the bow. Such was the boat the boys now entered. " Plenty of room. Stow yourselves away wherever you want to, only leave me room at the tiller, and look out for your heads when the boom jibes," shouted Mr. Mcln- tyre. In they all tumbled, and soon had occupied the seats pretty completely. " Always room for one more ! " continued the good- natured fisherman, as a figure, much like that of a woman bundled up for a journey, was seen hurrying towards the boat, and calling lustily for them to wait. " Why, that's Mary ! " exclaimed Mason. " She ain't going, is she ? " " It looks some like it, to see the duds she's got on," said Mr. Mclntyre. "Of course she's going!" said Mary, by that time hav- ing reached the boat, " if she wants to." " Here's a seat," cried Jack, very gallantly, " and a good one, too ; you've got the mainmast for a back, and I'm on the other side." 15i WRECKED ON LABRADOR. M ,i( m i ,! " Humph, sir ! " said Mary, straightening herself and laughing. " And thinks ye the likes of me can't choose her company, sir? And as for back, I'm not so lazy and good-for-nothing as to be obliged to be a-hunting up something to lean on all the time." The laugh was loud on all sides, and Jack looked rather sheepish as he sat down again. " Come, hurry in ! Don't stand there talking all day ! " exclaimed Mr. Mclntyre. Mary hurried in, and, though several offered her a seat, took the very one next to Jack that she had just been scolding about. "I believe you're right, after all, Master Jack,"' whis- pered Mary. This confidence completely captured the young man who immediately began a very animated conversation, upon various unimportant topics, with his fair com- panion. The Benton boys amused themselves by watch- ing the birds, of which a large number — principally gulls and tern or sea-swallows — were in constant motion above and around the boat, while the elder gentlemen arranged themselves as comfortably as they could, on their seats, and prepared to enjoy the sail. At length all were satisfactorily settled, and the boat glided out of the harbor into the rougher waters of the sea itself. The little boat fairly spun along, as the wind filled her sails, with her side bent close to the foaming caps of water through which she passed. Her motion was somewhat different from that to which the party had recently been accustomed in the huge North Star — huge compared to the little craft that they now occupied ; and most of the party seemed thoroughly pleased. The Benton boys alone, in spite of AUie's SUNDA y. 155 assert j on, in the earlier part of the morning, that he was glad it was Sunday, appeared to long for their guns, as large white-winged gulls flew by them, within shot, and even seemed to mock them with their presence. Mason declared solemnly, that they " knew that it was Sunday and that there were no guns on board." Several times they passed close by a brood of young ducks, with the old mother serenely swimming in the waters near by. The sea-pigeons, too, seemed unusually abundant, and the boys — in fact all — admired the adroitness with which they dived and reappeared again, upon the surface of the water, in some totally unexpected place — often on the very opposite side of the boat. One clear white tern, with a black cap on his head, followed them for nearly a mile, performing the most skillful evolutions of the wings that they hud ever beheld, and chattering meanwhile like the rattling of an anchor chain. Mason threw out to him a small piece of fish that he found in the bottom of the boat, but he took no notice whatever of it. A moment later an immense gull, which had been hitherto unnoticed, swooped down from a great height and settled in the water just astern of the boat. "The gull took it, anyway, if the tern didn't," said Mason. "V/e often catch them in that way, with a baited fish-hook." The boat proceeded on, meanwhile, past several points of land on which houses, though never more than one or two, were situated, and past innumerable small islands, through intricate coves and channels, where often the boys could almost have touched the shore on either side with the oars, close by huge rocks, once over a shallow where two or three timea they thought they were about 166 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. J! li i! i I ■: If i li:' |;|i|i I' ? ■i to run aground; but the water was deeper than it looked, and soon they were sailing clear of all these again, and had come in full view of the Cove. " Here, that's Lamb Cove ! " remarked Mr. Mclntyre. « See all the houses ? " There was a deep indentation of the coast line, and they had just passed the line of the outer point ; gradually, house after house appeared, soon the bottom of the cove could be seen, and then, as they rounded the point, the houses of the opposite side came to view. There was a small hill with a flagstaff upon it, from which fluttered a small red flag with large white letters which they soon made out to read Bethel. "They always put up the flag half an hour before church, " said Mr. Mclntyre. " What is that for ? " asked Mr. Murphy. " It is an old custom, sir ; the flag is always taken down when church begins. People can come as long as the flag flies, but it is too late for them after it is taken down. We don't like folks late to church, sir ; and they seldom are. They can come in at any time, but it disturbs the meeting, sir, and they don't like to do that." The boat was soon at the wharf, and Mr. Mclntyre and his guests all ascended the slope and proceeded at once to the church, leaving Mason, with a number of other boys of his age, to fasten the boat and approach at his leisure. Lamb Cove was a charming little village. The harbor was shaped somewhat like the smaller end of an Q^'g^ having high hills, at the base of which nestled two or three white houses, on the left, with the main village, of perhaps twenty or thirty houses on the right, on which side the land was only about one-half as high as it was SUNDA V. 157 opposite. Near the mouth of the cove was a small hill, upon which was the flagstaff, and in the center of the group, between the houses and the hill, and a little way farther back of both, stood the church — an appropriate little building, with a very small steeple-like top, and painted white, like most of the other houses. By this time the party had reached the church, and entered. It was a small building, made entirely of wood, and not even finished inside ; the beams and rafters being in their primitive state. The pulpit was small, but neat, and occupied the center of the room opposite the door. The seats were simply a double row of set- tees, ranged along either side of the broad central aisle. Three or four hymn books and an occasional brown- covered Bible lay in each seat, while a small organ occu- pied the head of the right-hand tier of seats, just below the pulpit. The house was pretty full, when this unusually large number of visitors arrived, and the minister was just as- cending the pulpit. Mr. Mclntyre and his guests ranged themselves upon the two front seats of the left row, and quietly waited for the services to begin. After the seats were well filled, with a congregation of nearly one hundred people, including the children, the services began. They were plain, simple, and such as best suited the congregation. The audience scenied devout and sincere in their devotions, anlong the stay of their unex- pected but pleasant companions. The supper was as lelishable a meal as the dinner had been, though it was made up of mostly cold articles. A brace of cold roast ducks and a large dish of apple- sauce, occupied one end of the table, while a plate of cods' tongues was at the other end; these, with bread and butter, tea and milk^ and a large plate of ginger crackers, constituted the reijost. "It's a cold crust that we have to offer," said Mrs. Worcester. " A cold crust is much better, to my mind, than a hot one," replied Mr. Benton. " Were you here to-morrow you might have your ducks hot, at least," remarked Mr. Worcester. " On that point,, also,*" said 3Ir. Benton, determined to . B!: :i| I' ' ■ II ii 162 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. be gracious in the extreme, " cold meats are always pref- erable toward night." " Were you in the States," and Mrs. Worcester smiled comically, "you might have English breakfast tea in- stead of a mixture of whatever some trader might see fit to sell you." " Ah — hem — " said Mr. Benton, " my good lady, you mistake, a breakfast tea would never do for supper." It is uncertain how far Mr. Benton would have carried his gallantry, or to what extent it might have been put to the test, had not at that moment a loud knocking at the door attracted the attention of all at the tables. Upon Mr. Worcester's arising and opening the door, it was found that one of the j'oung gentlemen of the vil- lage, passing by his nets, set near an angle of the rocks, quite close to one of the points, had discovered a pair of fine trout entangled within its meshes ; knowing of the arrival at the house of his pastor, he had hastened to offer them for his guests' supper. Mr. Worcester thanked the young man heartily and hastened to display them to the guests. " Here ! " exclaimed Mrs. Worcester ; " Mr. Benton shall now have nothing further to say, now ! " and the good lady proceeded to roast the fish, which were already cleaned, and roll them in meal. Then, taking the cover from the stove, she put the gridiron on and placed the fish over the coals. " What ! roast fish in Indian meal ! " replied Mr. Murphy ; " I never heard of such a thing before." "It keeps them from burning, when the fire is hot," said the good lady, " and I am glad enough to give you all a taste of Labrador trout." " Do you catch many such fine fellows as these, here ? " asked Mr. Furness. , , « **»^ SUNDA Y. 103 :i " Oh, yes, in the nets. The boys catch a good many of them. Sometimes as njany as two or three barrels." " A barrel of trout ! " exclaimed Mr. Taylor. " Oh, yes," put in Mr. lieady, " one year I took home seven ; and do you think, that the officers at the custom house would not believe the manifest, and so came down to the wharf themselves, in a body, to look at them." " Did they collect any duty on them ? " laughed Mr. Murphy. " Oh, I gave them all a couple," said Mr. Eeady ; " and strange to say, the rest of the cargo didn't cost me any- thing. After carefully examining into the case, it was found that the rest of the articles we brought down were not dutiable," he added, laughing. At length the trout were cooked and served. All had a piece, and they were beautiful and tender, though no one ate any large amount after the supper already freely partaken of. " All pleasures have an end," said Mr. Mclntyre, as all arose from the table ; " and I suppose that we must be starting for home, as soon as we can." The gentlemen and even Mrs. Worcester saw the force of this remark, and so with many cordial hand-shakings and hearty good wishes, the little party bade adieu to the kind pastor and his wife, and hurried to the boat. Mr. Mclntyre and Mason were ready to receive them, and, as soon as all were embarked, sail was once more set, and the little boat fairly spun through the water with a fair wind all the way home. "What a pleasant visit!" exclaimed Mr. Benton, evi- dently from the bottom of his heart, judging from the enthusiasm with which he said it. Thus ended a Sunday in Labrador. j -r fe-!| 1G4 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 11 ■ 'l ■: ! i' ! ^1^' 1'* 1 CHAPTER XI. HOW THE BOYS DREDGED ON THE TRIP " DOWN ALONG." "A^ LL hands on deck ! " sounded the voice of Mr. Eeady, clear and loud, early Monday morning. " Lively, boys I all ready to sail." " Why, Mr. Ready ! " said Mrs. Mclntyre, " you're not going to leave us so soon, are you ? " " Why ! haven't we taken you by storm, and haven't we kept you so for nearly a week ? " said Mr. Ready, laughing. " Laws sakes, just hear the man talk ! " exclaimed Mrs. Mclntyre. " What's three days and a half ? " " Say, now, look a here ! " again replied Mr. Ready. " Three days and a half for ten persons is the same as keeping any one of us over a month, and I guess you'd git kinder tired of any one of us by that time ! " "I should get tired of you, if you was continually badgering around like this, — I wish somebody would take you off ; but good by to ye, if you really must go ! " And the two shook hands heartily, and then Mr. Ready started for the vessel, leaving word for all to come on board as soon as breakfast was eaten, as they would then be ready to sail. A little later, and the party gathered in Mrs. Mcln- tyre's cozy dining-room, around the great stove, which crackled and roared with a heaping fire of spruce-wood, diffusing its genial heat far into the room, and awaited breakfast. DREDGING ON THE TRIP ''DOWN ALONG^' 105 The boys had just finished packing up their specimens in a stout barrel, \\ith hay and dry grass sufficient to protect them from moisture and dampness. The best specimens had at last been packed and the barrel headed up, to be taken on board with the passengers. Mrs. Mclntyre bustled about with a huge coffee pot in one hand and an immense plate of steaming omelet in the other, these she deposited upon the table ; returning to the stove she drew from the oven a large covered dish, which, upon the removal of the cover, revealed a large, freshly baked cod. From the heater just above the oven, came dishes of corn-cakes and hot rolls. The very sight of the nice things that Mrs. Mclntyre had prepared, for this parting meal of her guests, was enough to invite the appetite of the most fastidious ; and it really seemed as if the good lady had outdone herself, when she an- nounced some "flapjacks and syru]s if any of the party would like them." Was there any of the party who would not like them ? " Where do you get your syrup from ? " asked Mr. Jacobs. "It comes in cakes from Quebec," said the good woman; "the traders bring it to us. It is real maple sugar melted down, and they gets the best of maple sugar in Canada," added she. After all had eaten their fill, came the leave-takings ; and the good woman was obliged to perform the very undignified act of wiping her eyes and nose with her apron several times, while bidding farewell to the guests, who, in so short a time, had become so intimate with her. Mary was even less able to control her feelings than her mother, and fairly blubbered right out when Jack Ready came to say good by to her. Even Freddie 5' ft ill a I IS 100 WRECKED ON LARRADOR, was affected visibly, though he afterwards said, very cruelly, that for a minute he didn't know which was Mary's head and which was Jack's — they were so near together; then something sounded as if somebody was slapping somebody else, but they pulled their heads apart so quick that he could not tell which it was that got slapped. At length, with promises to call again on the return trip, the last words were said, and the party were once more on the move toward the wharf where lay the boat that was to carry them to the vessel. Fifteen minutes later and the anchor chain of the North Star was rattling to the music of the sailors as they pumped the heavy windlass, and soon, with all sails set, the vessel herself was bending to the breeze that gradually filled her sails, as the wheelsman kept her off so as to give her the benefit of every available breath of wind. " Off once more ! " cried Mr. Eeady, in the loudest tone of voice that he could muster ; " now, hurra for ' down along ! ' " and he rubbed his hands smartly together, as if already in the jolly anticipation of another reception that he had in mind, farther down the coast. " Well ! Mr. Keady," said Mr. Benton, stopping him suddenly, in the middle of the deck, "what's our next place?" " Well ! Mr. Benton," returned Mr. Ready, laughing, " as we say up here — ' that's accordin ' ! ' If the wind will carry us to Rocky Bay, we'll go there ; if not, we'll go as far as we ken ! " •> * ,.. i^ " H'm-m ! " remarked Mr. Benton. " I suppose that's as far as we can go," and both men laughed at them- selves and each other immo(lej*ately. ,.. - . DREDGING ON THE TRIP *'DOVVN ALONG." 167 " If we couki have the use of one of the boats and a man to help us at the next stopping-jjlace," said Mr. Jacobs, who at that moment came up to where IMr. Ready was standing, " I think that the boys and I will do some dredging." " Why, certainly," replied Mr. Heady, " I'll fix that all right, when we ancihor." " Thank you ! " replied Mr. Jacobs, as he turned and dis- appeared around the galley on the other side of the boat. " It's all right, boys ! have the dredges ready ! " shouted Mr. Jacobs. "No fear of that, sir!" was the reply. "And thank you a hundred times," answered AUie. These important points now settled, the party vari- ously disposed of themselves to enjoy the sail, which was re; illy one of the most delightful ones that tlu^y en- joyed during the trip. The boys watched over the side of the vessel for seaweed and other specimens, and cap- tured a large number of interesting species; and the genial face of Mr. Murphy fairly shone, as he watched, with fatherly eye, their proceedings. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Benton, who had become almost inseparable, were seated in their easy chairs just behind the mainmast, engaged in a discussion concerning i\w. possibility of establishing a trading post on the Labrador coast. Mr. Jacobs was aiding the buy^s in their vork, while Mr. Furness was at the gallf y door talking with Max, who was busily en- gaged in preparing dinner, and trying to induce him to give them boiled codfish instead of fish chowder. " What if I give you both ! " asked Max, " That would be an unexpected treat," said Mr. Fur- ness, smiling. " Well, then, I think that I shall have to treat you lit 3* m 168 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. unexpectedly ! " laughed Max, " for I shall give you both this time." " What a deliglitful eook you are ! " exclaimed Mr. Furnoss, as he turned to seek tlui bow of the vessel, where he was soon comfortably settled watching the sights on shore, i)ast »vhich the vessel rai)idly sailiMl toward her next i)ort of destination. As the breeze continued good, the North Star sped onward all day long, till towards evening, when she lay just off ]locky Bay Point. " Shall we go in here, or keep on to Stick Point ? " asked the captain. " I guess wt!'ll go in ! " said Mr. Ready. " It isn't much farther, and we'll soon get there with this breeze." "I suppose you know the place thoroughly," asked the captain somewhat anxiously, apparently not much liking the idea of a night or evening run on a strange coast. " lUess your heart, yes ! I've been all over here, day and night." "All right, then," laughed the captain, "on we go!" About nine in the evening a bright, low light was seen just ahead on the ])ort bow of the North Star, "There's a light house I" cried the captain. " No, there isn't ! " sounded Mr. Ready's voice f j-om the cabin, jis he hastened up the comjiiinion-way on deck. '•That's a light in .lenny (JodanTs window. That's Stick Point. Steer straight for tlie light." The captain gave the orders to the man at tlie wheel, who soon changed the ccmrse of the vessel as the captain had ordereri. Soon a large number of snuill islands and shoal places appeared on tlw i)(»rt sid(% then a larger island with a luigt; whitt^ trellis-work wooden tower. "That's the beacon," said Mr. Ready, "steer right i { |i DREDGING ON THE TRIP "DOIPW ALONG." 1G9 ahead and turn to the right a little, and you'll soon see the houses." The sky was clear, and objects could be seen almost as plainly as if there had been daylight. As the vessel rounded the point, as many as a dozen lights burst in sight. " Now steer right for the lights," said ^Ir. Keady. Her captain did as j* was bid, and gradually the dis- tance became less and less, until soon the vessel entered a cozy, sheltered harbor, with houses lining the shores on either side. At the extreme left hand, a large house ()ccu])ied the jjoint, though it was somewhat sluit out from the others by a jutting of several huge ])ieces of ledge. " That's the light we saw ! " said Mr. Keady. " That's Jenny Godard's." " Let go the anchor ! " shouted the captain. A great rattling of chains followed ; and as tlie vessel rounded the point, at a word from Mr. Keady, the cap- tain gave the order, and the huge chain fairly deafened tliose near by, as it clattered against th«' iron pipes on its way to the bottom; a monuMit nion' and the North Star vas anchored for the night. T]i(> boys were up early the next morning, with Mr. Jacobs, j)reparinj' their (h-edging a[»paratus. The dredges were brought out, as also the boxes of cans, jars, and Itottles (»f alcohol, and the long ropes and weights at- tiW'hed. The stern l»oat was lovvere*! by the men, and the dredge, witii the buckets and sieve, were j)ut into it, while th«' dip-net also wa« not forgotten. After a hasty breakfast of coffee and h ep the boat if wmm^ % 170 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 1 1 S I steady. I imagine that the water is deep enough here to give us a fair show for getting something." Then stejjping into the stern of the boat, he hekl the dredge, almost to the water, by the end of the bag, while he thrc^w overboard the sinking wtnght and j'laced the r()j)e in th(» hollow made for tin; sculler's oar, and then let go. The boat was nearly stationary, and, as the rope was marked otf by small bits of string tied around it into fathoms, he began to count, as the heavy weight sank deeper and deeper in the water. " Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen " — counted jMr. Jacobs. "There, she slackens! she has reached bottom in fifteen fathoms of water. Now row ahead, slowly ; ive must let out nearly as much more rope, so as to get the right cant on the line ; the dredge must lie on her side and scoop well, instead of jumping about from side to side. Th«»re, that's about right I '' exclaimed Mr. flacobs. "Mow make the end fast about the center of the tlnvart. Now I'll sit down a moment.'' Meanwhile the boat was rowed forward slowly, but steadily. "Now, John!" said Mr. Jacobs, "stand \\\\ firmly, in the stern, and tak«' the line up carefully iu ytmr hand." John did as he was bid, but could hardly hold it, it pulled so strongly. "Heavy, is it?'' laughed Mr. Jacobs. "It will be heavier than that before we haul it no. What's the X bottom ? " "The bottom I " exchiimed John. " Why, how can I tell, when it's nin(!ty feet below me; I can't see it, and I surely can't go down thei-e to tind out ! " " Did you ever draw a stick tlirough a lot of mud or clay, and set; what an even furrow it nuule and how DREDGING ON THE TRIP "DOWN ALONG r 171 smooth it felt ? " avsked Mr. Jacobs. " Or did you ever do the same tl\rough sand and tind how even it drew, yet how rough it felt ? Or did you ever draw the same stick over a mass of pebbles, and do you rememb^-r how the sti(!k jerked and trembled in your hands? or over a bed of ro(;ks, and how it junij)ed and often caught as you pulled it along ? Well, that's the way the dredge goes ! Now, what's the bottom ? " John took up the rope again, which he had let drop, and held it carefully in his hands for a few moments. "It seems quite smooth, but rather rough," said John, "yet sometimes it seems to pull terribly ! " Mr. Jacobs laughed. " Well ! what do you say ? " "Why, it must be cla}'." " But veil say ' s'uooth, but rough I ' " said Mr. Jacobs. " Yes, it is ; and ti at would be sandy ; when it pulls, I suppose it catches i the edges of rocks." " Y(m are right ! " sa"d Mr. Jacobs. " Sandy and rocky bottom. Fifteen fatho us. Stick Point harbor, center of the channel. Put that lown in your note-book ! " Allie produced a smal. pocket note-book and carefully wrote down, as directed. "Well!" said Mr. Jacoi >!, arranging him.self in a com- fortable ])osition on the seat, with his arms thrown around his head, which wa leaning on one side of the gunwale of the boat, and is feet, in a very unprofes- sional-like attitude, on the o )posite side ; " is she on the bottom ? " " Is she ! Why, I suppose , o, of course," said John. "Yes! but don't you see th it we are going faster than we were at first, and that the ine is at more of a a angle with the water '.' No\v j>ull on the rope, and see \\ it don't pull easier than before." * f 172 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, % T^ " Oh yes, sir, much easier ! " replied John, as he heU the rope. "Now, what would happen if you should stop row- ing ? " asked Mr. Jacobs. " No, no ! don't do it ! " he said as the man lay to on his oars for a moment. The man began rowing again, as before. " Now what have we done ? " said Mr. Jacobs. " I'm sure I don't know ! " replied John, perfectly aghast at so much that was new to him. " Well, I'll tell you ! Now listen carefully. The man rowed so fast, that both the dredge and its weight were not heavy enough to keep their place on the bottom, but were lifted riglit up and drawn through the water above the bottom. Then instead of rowing more slowly, to let them sink gradually in the same position to their phices figain, the ma:i stopped rowing ; the strain was thus taken off the rope, the .sinker being six feet in front of the dredge and heavier than the dredge, sank first, this turned the dredges bottom up — and the sand and nuite- rial in the bag being too heavy to float, fell out and emptied the bag. So there is now nothing in the net, and you have lost all you gained." This was indeed a new way of W{)rking and reasoning to the boys, but tliey und'jrstood it at once. "Well, we'll try it again!" exclaimed AUie. The dredge was allowed to sink to the bottom, and the man began rowing a;^Min, but this time not so fast as before. .John hrld the linr, and found the weight growing grad- ually heavit'i and heavier, until at length he i'xclaiini'd : " It nuist be getting full now, it's getting awfnl heavy ; I guoss it's cnn;^dit on a rock ; I can't start it." The man at the oars, also, was sweating, and bending ttt his oars, unable to move the boat a foot. If- DREDGING ON THE TRIP " DO IVN ALONG." 173 m Mr. Jacobs, still retaining his position, looked on and laughed heartily. "Pull away," he shouted encourag- ingly to the man ; " haul in the line, John." But neither the man or John could make any impres- sion. " Stop rowing, pull in the line," said Mr. Jacobs ; and the man dropped his oars and began to pull at the line, drawing the boat backwards, as he pulled, until finally the rope became perpendicular with the stern of the boat. " Two or three hard pulls, now ! " said Mr. Jacobs. These were given, and suddenly the dredge became de- tached from the rock, on wliich it had stni<-k, and oegan to come up slowly, as the man exerted all his strength pulling in the line. " It's pretty full, sir ! " exclaimed the man. " Here it is ! What shall I do with it ? " The man thou first hauled in the sinker, then, drawing up the dredge, rested its edge on the edge of the boat. It was full to the mouth. And so many curious things lay, even in sight, on the v«'ry top, that none of the boys could restrain an exclamation of surj)rise. There were star-fish, five, six, and many fingered, of brown, red, and dun color; sea-urchins, with their long, green spines cov- ering them everywhere except at the mouth ; immense sea-cucumbers or holothurians ; and shrimps and crabs hy the Inindreds. liesides tins tlie shells and worms, as well as many other curious sea-anim.ils, oecasionally showed from beneath the mass of sand and rock — "live rock," as the man called it, while this same "live rock " or "red rock," a species of Xullipore, found growing on the rocks and ev»ni enciusting int<< delicate ferns and branches by its'^df, was everywhere imbedded in the net. i! T" 174 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Empty the net into the pails ! " said Mr. Jacobs. This was done, and the boys at once set to work to wash the material thus procured in the sieve, and sort it ; putting the larger and heavier specimens in one pail by themselves, the lighter and more delicate ones in an- other. "Now try it again," said Mr. Jacobs, and a second time the dredge was lowered, an(i' raised with much the same results. The boys, meantime, sifting and sorting the specimens, while the man from the crew did the heavy work, and Mr. Jactobs watched ovor all, with the eye of a man accustomed to such work from long prac- tice. Again and again was the dredge hauled and let down, and all took part in the general work, until every pail, bucket, and dish, was tilled with specimens ; and, with a }uige dredge full of material in tow, the boat, at length, headed for the vessel. As they neared the North Star, Max's watchful eye saw them, even before any of the others, and his cheer- ful voi(?e sounded to them even before they could distin- guish his words. A few liastv strokes of the oar, however, soon brought them near enough to recognize the familiar greeting of : " J )inner, gentleniens ! " The boys responded, at once, witli a hearty eheer, and soon the whole i)arty were alongside of tlu; vessel,, eagerly clambering up the side into tlie slii]». "Well, my boys ! " shouted Mr. l>kettSe. The soup being finished, and the plates piled away, the next thing in order came in the shape of boiled salmon, with egg sauce ; this was soon disposed of in a similar manner, and a dessert of plum-pudding and mollaAs*s wa.s added. "Wliy didn't you tell us before I" sighed Freddie, as he gazed fondly at the big pudtling, "that that was com- ing?" "Because 1 wanted to »r.q>rise you I " replied Max, laugliing. "You can't Lave but one plateful, sir; be- cause it will niukt' you ssif-k.'' " I'm afraid tliat I «in't eat but one plateful, any- way," said Freddie, in siu-h a doleful tone that everybody was obliged to stop ealin;^, for a moment, to laugh. " Why I would ycwi want tu eat more than one i)late- ful, after all that you have made way with already ? " ask«Hl Mr. Jacobs, gooii-humor»nll^ * Yes ! I would- ** ]iout«:«i Mitstvr Fred. " I'^ like to «HI it all.'' ^ What ! and not 1 a,Te ainr for aaMwdj cior ? "^ "■^ I tkumk you w^" ^ BOB.!^ aid Fmiiiat. "to teas« nw S(k 4'an^t I hirr wmr — r. Mar '*'^ i» wAIni - ^ir M spaUr- ot whe taikia^ »1>iA «■ !■! nAripiA m» kr lt:ul auuHlped to clesa \m fittr m. & jeaaikMpr Amk spai^e of Irime. ** (>nlv just so mu'^'h!*' badMcMsx. :ih kf iMapei the plate full the secxjuti tuae. -* Jmmp duu't yuu daue to look as the ^u4du)|{ a^ain, *ir \ "* i mr 1*11 !'!• 9 i 1; 176 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. As the second plate seemed suflRcient to meet the wants of the young gentleman, and as by this time all the others had finished, Max now poured out a large pan full of scalding water and began to \v;ish U]), while the boys turned to their specimens and began sorting them. The box containing the gigs and jars of alcohol was now re-opened, and the work of sorting and preparing begun in earnest. The specimens were sifted and sorted, and then laid aside in groups to be tied in parcels of muslin and labeled before being put finally into the alcohol. There were all sorts of curious objects. Crabs and otlier Crustacea, large and small, soft and hard bodied, and of most peculiar forms ; barnacles ; whale lice and minute parasitical ferns ; and a miscellaneous assortment of shrimps, some long and slender, others short and full of eggs, clinging to their fiipper-like legs in such quan- tities tliiit it seemed almost impossible that such innum- erable little animals could exist at all. Then there were worms : large, flat, but short worms, with huge scales over the body, like the plates of some old-fashioned armor; long, thin-bodied worms, with rows of thread-like tentacles (•lustere«l all around their heads ; common fiat worms, hair worms, red worms, and worms in little cases ; long, white animals that looked like worms. Small gilly-fish, star-fish, sea-urchins, sand dol- lars, serpent-stars, polyps, hydriads, sertula, cereal ani- mals, holothurians, sea-<'ucunibers — of all varieties of shape. The boys were half wild merely looking at the assortnu'ut, while everybody in the ship was gathered around them admiring the beauties of the sea-bottom. " I declare ! " said Allie, as he drew out from the sieve a huge expanded sea-anemone, " if I should ever drown, [ii DREDGING ON THE TRIP ''DOWN ALONG." 177 I think 1 should be perfectly happy if I knew that I were lying on a bed of these beautiful sea creatures." " A sentiment which others share with you," responded Mr. Jacobs ; " but see these beautiful shells ! " As he spoke Mr, Jacobs took up several small shells, of a pearly luster, which were beautifully covered with minute lines or striae, and held them up, so that the light, falling upon them, caused them to show most beautiful rainbow colors all ovca* their surface; and tht^re were others of a similar kind but diiferently marked, showing tliat there is more than one species. " Here are some pretty ones ! " said AUie, pi(*king up some small, reddish shells with a little white on them. The boys tluui sorted their specimens, as well as they could, and then counted twenty-four distinct species ; they were all then carefully ti(*d in little bags, labeled inside and out — so that if one of the labels should be destroyed the other would remain, and thrown together into alcohol. The worms and soft animals were put into separate parcels and treated in like manner, but in no case were hard and soft bodied specimens placed to- gether, or even in the same vial or jar. The minute specimens, of which there were a great many, were j)ut into the small boxes and bottles. Everything was care- fully numbered and labeled, and the numbers copied into the note-book, with whatever was on the label next to its number, and as much more as could be ascertained bcsiih's. Thus the lM)ys workcni hard all the day and dis^josed of all of their specimens ])y night. The next day it rained slightly ; but rain was no hin- drance to tlie boys, v.'ho were eager to continue their work of the day before, and get new specimens, — i-o 178 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, this (lay, also, was devoted to dredging, and a harvest was tht! result. Thus the days passed, and with the usual results, — always fine lots of specimens ; and every new harbor fur- nished a new field for work, until, before the end of the voyage, the boys had their bottles and cans filled full with the sea life of Labiudor. / 11 ' \\\ \ WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT CODFISH. 179 CHAPTER XII. WHAT MR. MURPHY AND THE HOYS LKARNED ABOUT CODFISH — A CURLKW HUNT. " rrillEY say, boys," exclaimed Mr. Murphy, one morn- -L ing, " that Stick Point is the largest Hshing estab- lishment on the coast. What do you say to going on shori^ with me, and , giving a good look at the place and the process of curing tish ? " " Good ! we'll go ! " shouted Allie, who was now gen- eral spokesman for the boys, including also Jack Keaily. " All right. Can we have the boat, captain ? " asked Mr. Murphy of the captain, who was standing near, "or will somebody put us Jishore ? " "I'll put you ashore myself," said the captain, good- naturedly, stretching himself as he spoke. " I want to go ashore and see something, myself. I'll go with you." In a few moments the boat was alongside the vessel, and the cai)tain, holding on to the ladder, was waitin;^ for the others to jump in. " There ! " he exclaimed ; " now we're off for the day." " Good riddance to you ! " called out Max from the galley. "You needn't come back till night; you must get your dinner on shore, for you'll got none here ! " The cook laughed heartily as he said this, but instantly ducked his head and tried to shut the galley door, as a dipperful of cold water came over the side of the vessel and wet him thoroughly. m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / O {./ V. -^ ///, :0 *.y u. % I 1.0 I.I S IIIIM III 22 litt ^ 12.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" _ ► V] . ""^ c^ %^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 n\(-) 872-4503 % 6^ \ 180 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. '1!: "There's some dinner for you!" said the captain, as he hurried to the oars, to get away from the vessel be- fore Max should have time to retaliate. Every one laughed heartily at Max, who brushed the water off with one hand while he shook his fist at the captain with the other, calling out at the same time : " Wait till I get you back here ! " " I'll not do it ! " replied the captain, as he made for the shore with his passengers. As the wharf was not far off, the boat soon reached it, ami the boys and Mr. Murphy climbed quickly to the landing. Although it was yet early in the morning, the men were already hard at work at their labor, and were cur- ing several boat loads of fish that had just arrived from the fishing grounds. " Good morning, Mr. Murphy,'' said Mr. Godard, as he came forward and shook Mr. Murphy and all the boys by the hand. " Good morning, boys ; glad to see you around so early this morning." « We're glad to see you, sir," exclaimed Freddie. " And we've come to see all there is to see about your fishery," said John, "if you'll let us." " Let you ! why, of course I will ; and I'll go around with you, and show you a great many things that you would not see at all, otherwise," said Mr. Godard. "That's good," and the boys fairly danced with joy at this piece of good news, while Mr. Godard and Mr. Mur- phy walked about to the end of the wharf to see the men throwing up the codfish, from a boat below, into a curiously shaped partition in one corner of the wharf. " So you use a pitchfork for more purposes than one," laughed Mr. Murphy, as he watched the men heave the IV I/AT THEY LEARNED ABOUT CODFISH. 181 fish from the boat on the tines of huge handled pitch- forks. "Oh, yes; we couldn't get along very well without these," replied Mr. Godard. " What a queer-looking boat ! " continued Mr. Murphy. " Yes ; that's a ' novie.' We have two kinds of boats in our fishing : the ' novies ' and the ' American barges ; ' this one is a novie ; it is painted red, inside and out : the large ones you see, anchored out there in the wat^r, are the barges. The fishermen prefer tliem, however, because they are so much larger than the otliers, and carry a great deal more ; but they have heavy stones for ballast in them, and would sink at once if the water should fill them." " And would not the others ? " asked Mr. Murphy. " Oh, no ; the others are smaller, but they are as light as cork, and would float on the water if you turned them over )) " Then I should think that all the men would use the novies." " One would think so ; but, on the contrary, every one prefers the barge, as it is so much larger and brings in more fish from the ground, when fish are plenty, and everything is risked for a '■ good catch.' " " What a little rope ! " exclaimed Freddie, as he picked up something from one side of the wharf. " That's not a little rope," said Mr. Godard, " but it is a big fish-line." " Fish-line ! " cried Allie, " I don't want to catch fish with that line ! " " Yes ; a big fish-line ! " continued Mr. Godard. " The men use that with a big sinker on the end, for catching big fish in deep water. Sometimes they fish § !l * if ' i 4 182 WRECJCED ON LABRADOR. with it in sixty to seventy fathoms of water — that is, in nearly four hundred feet of water — and bring up fish weighing sixty to seventy pounds." " Dear me ; I shouldn't like that fishing," said Allie. " The smaller line," continued Mr. Godard, " is used in shallow water, and is the ordinary cod line ; but come with me, and see the men at work." The party all followed as Mr. Godard led the way to another part of the same wharf, where about a dozen men were hard at work, cleaning and salting down the fish that had been brought in by a previous boat. The boys watched the process eagerly. One of the men went by the very bloody and terrible name of the " throat-cutter." This man would seize the fish with his thumb and forefinger, placing the thumb in the hollow just below the chin, and the forefinger in the eye, and, throwing the fish upon the bench, so that the head just hung over the edge, would j^ress upon it so as to open the gills and throw the muscles of the throat upward. A stout knife in the other hand, cut through this muscle, and then cut open the belly clear to the lower fin. Two quick motions of the knife accomplished all this, and the fish was thrown to the next man. The boys could see that the man used a very curious knife for this work. It had a heavy round handle, and its blade was not over six inches long, and tapered to a rounded point, while it was as sharp as a razor on both edges. The man worked so fast that, at first, the boys had some diificulty in following him, but they soon caught the movements, and Mr. Godard stopped him and let each boy, in turn, try it ; and soon all were pro- nounced first-class throat-cutters, and ready to hire out for the fishery. Even Mr. Murphy carefully laid down IVHAT THEY LEA If NED ABOUT CODFISH. 183 his meerschaum and took a hand at the sport, but cutting too far down, a drop of blood fell upon the invaluable pipe, and everything else was left to attend to its wants. When the fish had left the hands of the throat-cutter, it was immediately passed over to the next man, who went by the no less terrible name of the " header." The boys watched this man as he seized the fish firmly by the head and body, and, bending it over a piece of sharp iron on the edge of the table, forced them apart. The head, with all the insides attached, was thrown through a trough into the sea below, the liver was picked out, and pushed through a hole in the bench, into a barrel beneath, and the body passed to the third man. This man was called the "splitter." His duty was to cut out the backbone of the fish, and throw the body into a barrow, which, when it was full, was carried into the shed that the fish might be salted down. Three men, then, always worked at a bench together, and there was usually a small boy to pick the fish up and lay them on the bench for the throat-cutter, or first man. " Now come into the shed," said Mr. Godard, " and see them salt the fish down." Mr. Murphy and the boys followed. The shed was a large building, opened at both ends by wide doors, and with a plank walk from one end to the other. On both sides of the entrance near the stage were huge bins of salt, and above, a large loft where were kept nets and other fishing gear. The boys watched the salting down process with great interest. The fish were first laid head to tail, in double layers, in small piles, with abundance of salt between each layer, until each pile was several feet in height. Another pile i i t 184 WRECKED OaW LABRADOR. :V\''k\ ilr ■ » of similar layers would then be built up, outside the first, until all the fish were salted and stored, or until the room was full to the walk. At the farther end of the shed, men were washing several piles of fish, that had been saiced already a month or more, previous to spreading them. They had a large trough-like tub full of water, .'nto which the fish were thrown, and a man at each end kept them in constant motion in the water with a long pole, on the end of which was a small cross-board. When the fish were sufficiently washed, and the salt taken off of them, they were carried out of doors and spread, either upon the clean surface of the rocks or upon the fish flakes, to dry in the sun. The fish flakes were small tables of lattice-work, through which the air could easily penetrate, and were ranged in rows wherever the nature of the ground would afford them a standing place. As the boys emerged from the front end of the shed, they saw the rocks and the fish flakes covered every- where with fish drying in the warm sunshine, while a number of men were taking off some pieces of fir-bark from a large pile near by. " That is the way we pile our fish over night and when we have bad weather," said Mr. Godard. The fish were arranged in layers built up, one above the other, and out, from a common center of fish-tails, until the pile was about as deep as it was high. Those the boys saw were about six feet in diameter and three feet high. They were packed very solidly, and AUie noticed that they were placed on small pebbles that had evidently been set into the earth as a sort of bed for their reception. WHAT THEY. LEARNED ABOUT CODFISH. 185 "Quite a display here, Mr. Godard," said Mr. Murphy. " How many have you ? " " Ah ! I reckon some eleven hundred quintals and the men's share," replied Mr. Godard. " You see the season is not half over yet ; I guess we'll get a load." " How much is a quintal ? " asked Allie. "Oh, a quintal is different, according," laughed Mr. Godard. "It's 212 pounds of wet fish, just out of the water, and, as fish shrink one-half in drying, it's 112 pounds of dry fish. We measure all our fish, dry or wet, by quintals, because that's the way we sell it. Our boats hold so many quintals ; the men returning from the fish- ing ground have caught so many quintals ; not so many pounds or so many fish, — and at the end of the season each man's share is so many quintals." " You must use a great deal of salt in preserving so many fish," said Mr. Murphy. "Yes, we do; the salt gets used up very fast. We generally reckon not far from a barrel of salt for every ten quintals of fish, and five barrels to a hogshead." " Where do you get your salt ?" continued Mr. Murphy. " Oh, the vessels that take our fish generally bring it to us either in the early spring or the fall before. Some- times a vessel comes out from Quebec called the 'salt vessel,' and goes all the way * down along,' supplying all the stations." Mr. Godard then took them down toward the wharf again and showed them how cod-liver oil was made. The boys would not at first believe that all those huge- barrels or puncheons that they saw were full of anything but slime and gurry, but Mr. Godard took a stick and, pushing away the top, showed them that beneath the gurry was clear, brown oil. ■.■ -1 k. i ]''H r I 1 3 I':; i r 'l ,' f . tir v , 186 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. Illil Then he took them to another barrel full of fresh cod- livers and showed them that; then to another where they had only begun to decay, and so gradually from one to another, until they had seen the huge tubfuls rotting in the sun, and had then watched the men draw off the oil into kegs. Mr. Godard explained that a great deal of water often got into the tubs, and, as that always remained at the bottom, each tub had a small hole bored in it near the lower side, into which a wooden plu'; was fastened. As he spoke, Mr. Godard pulled out the plug from one of the casks, and a large stream of water gushed out • as soon as all the water was out the hole was plugged up again, and the mass in the tub was found to be about six inches deeper or lower down than before and now nearly all, save the top, clear oil. In one corner of the platform was a big iron kettle where the men were hastening the process of oil making by boiling, and forming a different kind of oil, — the two kinds being known as the " brown oil " and the " straw or pale oil." All the oil was strained carefully through cloth placed in the funnel, before going into the barrels ; and the old pieces of liver or gurry thrown into old hogsheads, and kept for a most peculiar use. Mr. Godard said that the men mixed it with tar, and used it as an oil paint to put on their huts and sheds in the summer to make them water tight. " There, boys," exclaimed Mr. Murphy, " that ought to teach you to make the most of your opportunities when- ever you can, and not to waste anything, as all things have their use," said he. Freddie laughed, and very innocently, and perhaps a little mischievously, pointing to the cod heads that the l! lyi/AT TIIEY LEARNED ABOUT CODFISH. 187 men were throwing into the water beneath, where there had already accumulated a great quantity, asked : "And what use do they make of these things, that they are throwing away so fast ? " Mr. Godard and Mr. Murphy both winked verj hard at each other ; but the latter replied quite unabashed : " See all those small boys over the wharf there, fishing for tomcod and flounders ? " " Yes ! " cried Freddie. " Well ! if you should ask their mothers, of what use the old cod heads that the men now throw away were, they would soon find an answer ; " laughed Mr. Murphy. After wandering around among the men, and on the wharf until dinner-time, all were invited to come up to the house, as dinner was ready. At last all were seated, and the dishes uncovered. There was an immense dish of roasted curlew with dumplings, with a quantity of rich gravy ; a boiled sal- mon, with egg sauce ; and a leg of cold ham, warmed over in the oven, with potatoes and turnips for vegeta- bles, and plenty of bread and butter and tea or coffee. A dessert of brown plum-pudding and molasses finished the meal. Then Mr. Murphy went into the sitting-room to take a nap, while the boys were off with Mr. Godard's boys on a tour of the island. The boys had no more than left the house, before they all came running back in the greatest confusion. They had seen a large flock of curlews alight on one of the crests of the island, and were after their guns. All the available fowling-pieces were quickly sought, and powder and shot, caps, and tow for wads, for the old-fashioned muskets that were quickly brought from their hiding- places. 188 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. iii K l>j , ?iii t i At length, all were prepared, and soon they started off, in good humor, for a curlew hunt. There were six boys, and four of them had guns. They were " muzzle loaders ; " but they had done good work, and were good shooters at a long distance, which was the main point. They went along, at first, in quite a lively manner, and much elated with the prospect of a grand hunt. The curlews did not appear to have moved much from their original position, and even at that distance could be seen running along on the ground near the top of the distant knoll where they were now feeding. " I'll tell, you what ! " exclaimed Jimmy Godard, the eldest of Mrs. Godard's boys. " Me and Charley Turner will go around on the east side of the hill, and you and Tom stay here for a minute till you see us go over the point there, and then creep up on this side ; then if the birds fly, we'll drive them down towards the end of the island, — while if they try to cross over to either of the other islands, we'll get a shot at them ! " This was such good logic that it was put into imme- diate operation, and soon both parties were cautiously approaching, each from his respective position. The guns were divided so that both parties had two, but the larger party of boys, contrary to the rule of equal division, had both single-barrelled guns, while the smaller party had both double-barrelled guns. " Never mind ! " said Freddie, " if they have got more shots than we have, we are nearer the birds." As Freddie spoke the party of four crept close up to a ledge of rocks, near by, and then, following them along for a few rods, were able to get within a short distance of the birds, which were still feeding, unconscious of A CURLEW HUNT. 189 more their presence, near the top of the knoll. When the boys reached this point, they halted, and getting their guns ready they prepared to shoot. " Now, wait till Jimmy fires ! " said Charley, " and then let 'um have it, just as they rise." A moment more and two sharp reports and puffs of blue smoke were heard and seen, — then the boys fired as the birds gathered themselves for flight, and while the boys behind the hill gave them the contents of their second barrels, the flock, like a great cloud, passed slowly to the north and settled once more on the island. " We'll have two more shots at them ! " exclaimed Jimmy Godard, as he appeared over the top of the hill ; " over where they are, and another one nearer the house ; they don't fly very far at a time." " Now, let's pick up the birds ! " said Freddie, who was already chasing a wounded one down the hill full tilt. " All right ! " cried John, as he disappeared over the crest of the hill, on the full run, after another one. " Here's one fallen into the water ! " cried Charlie, — " that's too bad, but we'll get him yet, if we hurry." " I'll go after him," said the boy who had accompanied them. " Eleven ! " cried Jimmy, " and three out." " Thirteen, and two out," said Freddie, who just then appeared with his birds in his hands, — the second being one that he had found lying dead down the hill aways. " Fourteen, and one out ! " echoed John from the top of the crest. "I'm afraid the out is pretty far out, too!" cried Jimmy. "See! he's running and nearly half over to the other island.'* h II' :|M li-i\ Hi I :: 190 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Yes ! and somebody else is gunning, too ! " laughed Charley, as he pointed out the big dog Trimmer, already close upon the unfortunate bird, which was doing its best to escape its pursuer; but without success, for a moment later Trimmer caught its wing in his mouth and turned again for the shore. " Good dog ! " shouted Allie. " Here, Trimmer ! Good Trimmer ! " cried Jimmy. " Bring it here, good doggie ! " But the good doggie, however, had not the slightest intention of bringing it there ; but lay down, after shak- ing himself, and began to play with the bird between his forepaws. Whenever one of the boys came near him, ho would seize the bird in his mouth, bound off a few rods, and then continue to play with the unfortunate thing, which was still alive, but which no amount of sticks or stones would make him drop, so the boys, finally, went off to get another shot at the flock, before they flew away entirely. After a good deal of tramping, some climbing, and considerable crawling on the hands and knees, the boys came up to the flock again. This time they were not so successful as before and shot only seven birds. The flock, as Jimmy had said, lighted again np"'*er the house, and this third time, as the birds were now quite wild, they got only three birds, so that in all the afternoon's sport amounted to twenty-four, and the one that Trimmer still had playing with, which was eventually recovered but in so mangled a condition that no use was made of it. Greatly elated with their success the boys returned to the house, and laid their spoils before Mr. Murphy and Mr. Godard. As those who had remained in the North Star had had so fev/ curlews to eat during their short ./ CURLEW inwr. 1<>1 stay on the ooast, it was voted unanimously to send them all to ^lax for dinner next dav, whicdi was done at once by the same boat that took Mr. j\Iur[)hy on board, while the boys remained on shore, with their new found friends, to see what further sport they could iind before it became dark. "Well, boys," said Mr. Godard, coming down the walk to the wharf, where they were all assembled, " what are you going to do, now ? " " We don't know, sir ! " replied Allio. "Well! suppose you help me, here, casi /ff this boat, and then you all come with me ! Jump in, Ji/aniy, and you, Cluirlcy, take the oars, and we'll row t -, the salmon nets.'" The boys did as they were told, and soon all were in, and the boat making for the point just opposite a low, long point of the opposite isli lul, and in the very center of the narrow passage between the two islands. "This is really the mouth of the river," said Mr. Godard, " and we have set out our nets here on trial, to see if we can get anything. There are plenty here, if we can only strike the right spot for them." After a short pull, for the distance was not very far, they reached the point and found the nets. " There's something there, anyway ! " said Mr. God- ard, " there are seven buoys under the water, and I told the men to haul the line extra taut this time." The net was made of stout twine, and was nearly three hundred feet long and about twenty deep, of meshes six inches wide. The bottom was kept down by heavy stone sinkers at both ends and in the middle, while the top was fastened to a long rope, which stretched from point to poinv, across the pass, and was buoyed up with large pieces of cork. rris^^ !SB ;M m i V; J'^ if 192 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " I see something glittering down there ! " exclaimed Freddie. " Yes, two or three of them ! " said Allie. The boat approached alongside, and Mr. Godard pulled up the line with his hands, while he extricated a salmon from the meshes, which had caught it around the neck just back of the gills. " Well, that's not bad ! " exclaimed Mr. Godard, as he turned the last fish in the boat. " Six fine fellows. I guess we'll have to send this one," said he, picking up a fine, large one, " on board of the North Star, to Mr. Ben- ton. Allie, you can give that to your father with the ' compliments of the season ! ' " The boys all laughed, as Allie took the fish and laid it near him in the boat. " Twenty-four curlew and a salmon ought to make a mess for you all to-morrow," said Mr. Godard. The boat now pulled for the North Star, where it landed the boys, who bade good night, with reluctance, to their companions and Mr. Godard, as they clambered up the side of the vessel, utterly tired out with their day's sport. " Oh, you good-for-nothing rascals ! " exclaimed Max, from the galley; "back again, to torment me for supper, are you ? " he added with a pleasant laugh. " Well, I got something nice for you this time; guess what it is." " I'm too hungry to guess ! " said Freddie, with some- thing of a whine, — " yes ! I guess 'tis fish." Max laughed loud at this, but added : " No, sir ! wrong this time ; try again ! " " Bread and butter," suddenly shouted Allie. "Well, now, you are good at guessing," said Max. " You must be hungry, to guess such things as that ! " A CURLEW HUNT, 193 " I'll tell you what it is ! " said Johu. " I smell the duck and I see the apple-sauce ! " "Ah, you bad boy," laughed Max. "If you guess what it is you can't have any ; " and with that he proceeded to fill the plates and pass them around. For a time nothing was heard but the cracking of bones, and the suppressed cry for some more, which echoed so often that the supply of duck seemed about to be entirely exhausted, when Max, with a great flourish, opened the oven door and disclosed another one, lying in a huge pan half full of gravy. " I thought that one would not be enough," ciried he, ex- ultantly. " Oh, oh, oh ! " cried each of the boys, in succession. " There, now ! " said Max ; " take it and finish it." About half an hour later there might have been seen three boys, looking like tipsy fellows, struggling down the companion-way to the cabin below, whence they soon sought their berths, and, by nine o'clock, the lights were out for the night, and all was quiet on board the ISortli Star. Mi 194 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ^1/ CHAPTER XIII. WHAT MR. FURNESS AND THE BOYS LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. " TTTELL, boys ! hurry and get up, if you are going VV ashore with us to-day," cried Mr. Ready, down the companion-way, the next morning, about half-past eight o'clock. " All right ! " answered John, as he sprang out of his bunk, and putting on his clothes, hastened on deck. "Hello ! where are we ! I say, boys ! come on deck, quick! I guess she's dragged her anchor." "I guess she's dragged it a pretty long ways," laughed the captain, who was standing near the stern rail. " Why, man! we're nearly twenty miles away from where we were last night; we're down to — to — what you call it?" turning to one of the men, who was close by, — "I never can remember these names." " I think he called it Bradawl, sir," said the man. " Bradore, Bradore ! " exclaimed Mr. Ready, just then coming along the deck, and rubbing his hands smartly together, as if very much elated over some unusual oc- currence. It didn't take long for the boys to appear on deck, and soon the three stood gazing toward the shore close by, and rubbing their eyes very hard. "When did you hoist the anchor?" cried AUie; "I didn't hear you." WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 195 " Oh ! about five this morning, while you were asleep," replied the captain. " I declare ! this is perfectly beautiful ! " continued AUie. As he spoke, a light cloud, for a moment, passed across the sun's path and threw a dark shadow upon the green slopes of the high, rocky shore. "How I wish mother and Eva could be here and see this ! " " We'll come up here, sometime, and bring them, per- haps," said Freddie. "Yes ! we shall have to, Freddie." " And then we will — " "Get into the boat and sit down," said Mr. Ready, rubbing his hands and bowing very low, chuckling audi- bly, as he said it. "We'll go with you after we've had our breakfast," put in John, " and you must go without us, if you can't wait." "Ah!" replied Mr. Ready, very courteously and con- descendingly ; " and think, how much you could have eaten while you have been talking." The boys took the hint at once, and started for the galley. A hasty breakfast, and all were ready to go ashore. "So this is the famous Bradawl?" said the captain, who persisted in his curious pronunciation of the place. "This place," said Mr. Taylor, "is where the first colony of any importance, of which we have any record, was established. It was then called 'Brest,' and is said to have been founded somewhere about 1508, and soon had about two hundred houses and nearly a thousand inhabitants, with more than twice as many in the sum- mer time, and during the fishing season ; but the colony did not live over a century and a half." -* I t I 196 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. • I '5 " Do not the fish frequent this part of the coast now, as they did when such a large colony was founded ? " asked Mr. Murphy. "Without doubt," said Mr. Taylor, "the fish then migrated all along this coast, and this was simply the starting point from which parties went out to wherever the fish were most abundant, just as they do now, from some of these large places." "Are there no remains of any of these houses to be found now-a-days ? " " The last time I was here," continued Mr. Taylor, " I searched everywhere, and could neither find a remnant of any of them nor of anybody who ever did ! " " It is now, then, nearly two hundred and fifty years since the settlement was abandoned ? " " Yes, fully that, and without doubt all traces of it are now finally destroyed ! " " What a field for romance and romantic search lost," sighed Mr. Murphy. "Come, now," said Freddie, "do tell us something about the discovery of Labrador, Mr. Taylor." " There is very little to tell," replied the latter. " It was undoubtedly discovered during the very earliest part of our history. The Welsh, Irish, Norwegians, and Swedes, as well as the English and French, all set up claims to its discovery, especially the two latter pow- ers, who have had much contention among themselves with regard to the matter. The old Norsemei; undoubt- edly visited it about the year 1000. Sebastian Cabot, Cortereal (a Spaniard), Basque fishermen, Jacques Car- tier, all visited here very early. We will hope some day to know more of this unknown region so near our home," said Mr. Taylor ; " but here we are on shore." WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 19T The shore was a small, low island, with several smaller islands near by, and of a totally different character and appearance from the bold, high, rocky coast line directly in front of them, or the sandy stretch of level country at their right. The island possessed two houses, the one being a small red, hut-like house, and the other somewhat similar, though, as they landed, its chimneys alone were visible over the neighboring mounds of earth and rock. "Who lives here?" asked Allie, as they jumped to the wharf, where all was solitary and still. " Sam Jones ! " said Mr. Ready, " and he catches seal for a living ! " " Oh, how nice ! " cried Freddie ; " now we can find out something about the seal hshery, and perhaps take mother and Eva home a sealskin cloak apiece." " H'm-m-m ! Yes — apiece ! " returned Mr. Benton, in such a dubious tone that everybody laughed loudly. This noise set several dogs barking very savagely, but, though they eyed the strangers fiercely, and kept up a continual howling, they remained near the house and did not ven- ture to molest any one. The dogs, in turn, started up the inmates or inmate of the red house, who soon appeared at the door, looked out cautiously, and then came out upon the steps, and, in a very shrill voice, invited the party in, while he continually thrashed around him with a long pole at the dogs ; they soon slunk beneath the house and disappeared, showing only the tips of their noses, from which issued a combination of growls, snarls, and barks, all the while the group were approaching. The visitors now entered the house, and seated them- selves. The interior of the hut or cabin consisted of a large and a small room. In the center of the back wall 198 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. li s \*. rt ;lh^ of the former a huge iron stove sent forth heat enough to fairly roast them all. The room was poorly furnished, yet contained all that the occupants seemed to need, of the most useful and only the most positively essential articles ; yet there was a sort of comfortable, homelike feeling as the party, after leaving the vessel, sat in the chairs and on the wooden benches, and listened to the tales of their host. Old Sam Jones was a bachelor, and lived all alone by himself, in this beautiful, but remote spot. He was a sort of mixture of a Robinson Crusoe and a hermit, yet his bachelor eccentricities shone out strongly above every- thing else, and one could readily see that chairs, benches, tables, and even many other smaller articles, were home- made. " Well ! " exclaimed Mr. Jones, when all were seated as comfortably as the accommodations would allow ; " glad to see you all, gentlemen. Strangers is rare 'round here now-a-days, and we's allers glad to see 'um ! " Freddie thought, at that moment, that the solemn cir- cle was spread out in a manner well calculated to show each one to his best advantage, and could not suppress a smoohered giggle. " Hush ! " whispered Allie, nudging his brother. " I don't know any on ye, but hope ye're all well ; won't any on ye have somefin feat, — ken bile the kittle in a minute ? " Mr. Ready, who had been holding back, could now stand it no longer, so he walked on tip-toe up to the old man's back and gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder. " Well, Sam Jones, how are you ! " Sam started, doubled up his lips as if to blow vigor- WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 199 ously at something, and stared in amazement at the speaker. " Why, I'm Ready ! Ready ! don't you remember me ! Don't you recollect hov/ you and I dodged the cutter, three years ago, down to Wolf Bay ? " "Well, I declare, now ! " said the old man, "he's been shaved sence I saw him, last, and per'aps the cutter did it," he added, with a loud chuckle, as he shook hands with Mr. Ready. " Glad to see ye, but ain't yer looking thin ? I guess yer were shaved pretty clean, want yer ? " he said, as he touched Mr. Ready's cheek with his finger. "The cutter did his business well," he added, winking very hard at the crowd, while Mr. Ready turned a little red. " I was shaved onct," said old Sam, " but not since I got them things," and he pointed with his long bony finger all around the room ; " but as long as ye won't eat anything, come out and see the place." To this proposition all hands agreed, with eagerness, none more so than Mr. Ready himself, who was perhaps now quite as anxious to get away from Sam Jones as he was before to go and see him. " How many seals did you get this spring ? " asked Mr. Ready. " Oh, about three hundred — all told, bellamers and old, mostly Harps ! " " How many kinds of seals do you have here ? " asked Mr. Fumess ; " I believe I used to know, once, but I have forgotten now ! " " Oh ! we have six or seven kinds ; let me see : there is the Harp seal, the male has the figure of a harp on its back ; the Hooded seal, with a sort of a hood on his head, and some other little differences ; the Gray seal ; the Squar Flipper; the Gray or Jar seal; and the Harbor W: irTMSSSSS 200 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. J !■; seal," said old Sam. "And some say," he added, "that there's another kind, but I don't believe 'um ! I've fished nigh on to forty years and never caught a Gray seal, but I've hearn tell on 'um, and perhaps they're here, — but I don't believe that, nuther." " What ones do you catch ? " asked Mr. Furness. " I ketch Harbors, Harps, Hoods, and onct in awhile a Squar Flipper. The Squar Flippers is big fellows, and we don't get 'um very often, sometimes we shoot 'um on the ice ; I shot one last year, and biled thirty- nine gallons of ile out'er 'im. He weighed nigh on to nine hundred pounds, altogether." " Do you catch many Haroor seals ? " again queried Mr. Furness. " Oh, no ! We get a few, now and then, but they mostly goes up the river in herds, and so the folks who lives near tho mouths gets the most of them. They is small seal, and mighty purty sometimes. They is spot- ted all over like a leopard and some call 'um Sea leopards, so I've hearn tell," said Sam. " We can't get only about two gallons of ile out of 'um, and they're small little things, and no 'count anyway," he added. " So that reduces your catch to two kinds, the Harp and the Hooded seals," said Mr. Furness. " You see it's so long since I was down here I'm kind of rusty on the seal question, and want to get brightened up a little." " Hump, yes ! Suppose you know more than me about it, now," drawled out old Sam. "You Yankees is awful smart, you'll learn more in half an hour than we folks, who do the work, do in fifty years," said Sam, with a sort of half laugh and half sneer ; " and then ye won't know as much about it as you did before." " Well, tell us what you know about them." WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 201 " Well, then ! " said old Sam, " it takes three years for 'um to grow." Here Freddie, as usual, emitted one of his suppressed giggles, but the old man caught him up instantly. " What yer giggling fer ? Yer make a noise just like a young bedlamer calling for its mother ! " " What's a bellamer or bedlamer, as you called them both ? " said Freddie. " Why, it's the young 'un in the second and third year, before it gets to be a 'sadler.* " " And what's a < sadler ' ? " " It's an old 'un, you youngster," snarled Sam, " ye don't know nothing, and I told ye so." After this expression of opinion. Master Freddie thought it wise to be still, and let the others do the talk- ing. All this time they had been walking towards the shed, which they now reached. The interior of the shed was not unlike that of Mr. Godard's fish-house. There were a large number of nets strewn about the floor, or laying in piles in the corners ; a huge cauldron resting upon a framework of stone, which showed evidence of a recent fire under it ; and, near by, a large number of hogsheads and puncheons, — of the latter, some were full and some empty. Mr. Furness took up one of the nets and examined it. It was made of very stout cord, similar to that of a small fish-line. Its general make up was much like the salmon nets that they had so recently seen, only twice as large. " Are these the nets you catch your seals in ? " asked Mr. Furness. " Yes ; the seal come along in herds, at certain times of the year, both in spring and fall, and at certain times in the day, more often than others. We keep watch all m 202 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ViA ,! i1 the time, and when we see a herd comin', we begin to shoot, fire our guns, and make all the noise we can, so that the seals will be skeered and keep under the water. Then they don't see the nets, and get tangled in the meshes. The meshes are about eight inches wide, and jest large enough to let the head of the seal in ; the seal never thinks of backing out, but always goes straight ahead, so that if he once gits his head in the mesh he is caught. After a time we go out in the boat and kill all them we have caught, by blows on the nose with a big club. A seal ginerally stays under water for only five or ten minutes at a time, but if forced, they will swim long distances without coming to the surface to breathe. " This," said old Sam, taking a skin from a large roll, and showing prettily spotted and silver white lines, " is the skin of a Harbor seal, one of the kind that live on the coast the year around. This one," taking another, and much larger one, " is of a young Harp, and we call the Harp and Hood seal, 'passing seal,' as they only come in the spring and fall, and pass down and up the coast, according to the season. We git five or six gallons of ile from the passing seal, and they weigh four to five hundred pounds apiece. They feed on young cod, and when we have a good year for seal, it is a poor year for cod, and if the cod are plenty, seals is scarce. The two kinds ginerally come along together, the males don't ginerally come till the females have jest passed." " Why, you are giving us quite a history of seals, Mr. Jones," said Mr. Furness. " Well ! yer welcome to all I know about it," replied old Sam, " and that ain't much, and 'twont do you no good nuther, 'cause yer won't know it no better when WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 203 I've told yer, and nobody '11 believe half I say, — but I don't keer fer that, if yer satisfied." " Go on, Mr. Jones ; we enjoy hearing you talk very much, anyway," said Mr. Furness, " if we don't have any- thing but your word for it ; that's good enough with us." Old Sam was evidently pleased with the flattery, and proceeded : " Now when we kill a seal, we haul 'um on shore and skin 'um first ; the carcass is salted down for dog meat in the winter. Then the skin, with its layer of fat, is taken and skulped, that is, the fat took off, and the skin put into a barrel of brine or pickle, as we call it, to keep till we want to use it. After that we take the fat, cut it into small pieces about an inch square, throw them into the iron kittle here, and try out the oil. The fat of young seal produces pale seal oil, and that of the old seal dark or straw-colored seal oil, and each kind, by strainin' and other ways, is reduced to two or three grades. Seal skins are used for a variety of purposes, and a good many are used here on the coast for various kinds of clothing, and also for many fancy things." Old Sam, while he told off all this, stood leaning with one hand on a big hogshead full of brine and skins, some of which latter he then took out and stretched upon the floor for his visitors to see. They were dark, dirty look- ing, leathery-like objects, without any apparent form or color, and totally unlike the bright, handsome-colored skins previously seen. While telling off this story, old Sam had added many a quaint old drawl and queer expression, which showed that the main part of it was drawn from actual experi- ence, while a great deal might well have been learned from others, and that the whole was a sort of an oration I 204 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 4 : 111 ! i I I !r I ii \ Ml which he had repeated so many times that it had become a sort of machine work with him to repeat it. When he reached the end, however, old Sam hit the puncheon, upon which he had been leaning, a tremendous thwack upon the side with the toe of his boot, and jerked out the sen- tence : " And when we git through we sell the stuff, and get the money ! " Then he clanked a few coppers together that were in his pocket, and proceeded to twist off a remarkably large " chaw of terbaccer ; " then, saying that " that was all ther was to it," he put his hands into his pockets, marched out, and ordered the rest to "come out no*w quick," because he wanted to lock up. Mr. Ready now reached carefully around in his coat- tail pocket and drew out a large piece of " navy plug " and slyly placed it in old Sam's pocket. " Here, what yer doing ? " demanded old Sam, as he swung his arm around with the strength of a giant — for he was a very stout and strong man, if he was tall — un- til his fingers came in contact with the "terbaccer," which he clutched and examined with the eagerness of an old miser. " How much more yer got like that, and what's it worth a pound ? " he whispered. " Never mind now," whispered back Mr. Ready, " I'll see yer again. I'm letting my beard grow a bit," he added. Old Sam looked at him, and Mr. Ready winked very hard, while old Sam winked back and chuckled heartily. The party now strolled about the place, some collecting specimens ; some taking a boat and rowing over to the mainland, where they amused themselves in climbing the WHAT TI/FY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 205 cliffs and high hills that were on every side; while Mr. Taylor and Mr. Jacobs rowed over to another portion of the shore to try their luck trout fishing in a stream which ran from a large pond, both near by. Mr. Benton returned on board with Jack Ready, while Mr. Ready and Mr. Jones disappeared together, closely linked in each other's arms, and thus the lay wore on until even- ing, when all met together again on board the North Star. " Hallo ! " exclaimed John, the group of boys being first to arrive on board, " there come Mr. Taylor and Mr. Jacobs. I wonder if they have got any fish ? " " I'll bet they didn't get a thing ! " cried Allie. " No ? there is some big thing laying on the thwart of the boat ; I guess 'tis a salmon by its size," added John. " More like 'tis a codfish," put in Freddie. " Humph ! " said Allie, " where would they get a cod- fish, — on shore in the bushes ? " Freddie was silent at this correction, and waited for the boat to approach, which it soon did. " Yes ; 'tis a salmon ! " shout».'d John. * " No ; it's a big trout," cried Mr. Taylor in exultation, as he handed him carefully to Max ; " and it took me over half an hour to land him, and here are the rest," at the same time he handed up a string of about a dozen good-sized speckled beauties. " I caught the big one and two others, and Mr. Jacobs caught the rest, but I would rather have taken the big one than all the oth- ers. )) " I say, Max," shouted Mr. Taylor, as Max disappeared in the galley ; " can we have the little ones for supper ? They are so much better fresh, you know." " Yes, I'll cook them for you," replied Max. ill 1 -.,| 1 ■ t '■■1 Br -: * K ■■: r B ^1 W 41 M (iii K j| ,. \ I i' 206 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. The noise brought Mr. Benton on deck, who examined the big fish very carefully, and applauded the "fine catch." Then Mr. Furness, Mr. Ready, and Mr. Murphy ap- peared, and shortly afterward supper was announced. After supper old Sam came on board to see the vessel, and do a little trading with Mr. Ready. He brought with him two very prettily spotted sealskins, which he gave, one to Mr. Ready and the other to Mr. Benton. Freddie was quite disappointed when he found that they were the hair and not the fur seal, and that he could not take home a cloak to Eva and his mother. " Never mind," he said, " Eva shall have a great black- backed gull stuffed, and mother shall have a duck." An hour afterwards and the boys were fishing for tom- cod over the side of the vessel, and hauling them in so lively, and such big ones, that the captain let one of the men clean the largest of the fish, and salt them down in a barrel; before darkness stopped their sport, the boys had taken over thirty large fish, besides an endless number of smaller ones, that had been all thrown back again. Mr. Murphy and Allie had great sport to see which would catch the most. They came out even on fourteen, and then Allie had a streak of luck that took him up to twenty-three, when he could catch no more, and Mr. Mur- phy closed his record at fourteen, with a sculpin to end off with. Thus the evening wore away, and the sun sank lower and lower until it had disappeared behind the distant hills, and left only a faint glimmering of gold near the horizon. "What makes us see the sun for so long a time up here ? " asked Freddie. WHAT THEY LEARNED ABOUT SEALS. 207 " Why, don't you know that the difference in latitude makes the difference ? " said Mr. Taylor, who happened to be standing near. " But why is it ? " persisted the boy. "Don't you remember that the days are longer and longer the farther north you go, until you get far enough to see the sun all day, * the midnight sun,' that one of our writers tells us about, as visible in the extreme north of Norway ? And in the very far north or south, at the poles, in fact, the days and nights are about equal, of six months' duration each," replied Mr. Taylor. " We are so far north that we have very long days in summer with long twilights, and very short days in winter. I have seen to read in books at ten o'clock by the twilight alone, and it is quite light about three o'clock in the morning. You will study about these things, and the reasons for them, some day." While Mr. Taylor was speaking, a faint light was gath- ering in the sky overhead, which had now assumed the form of a broad, undulating band or belt, extending nearly across the heavens from northeast to southwest, and a little less than half way to the zenith. " Look at the Northern Lights ! " cried Allie. All bent their eyes in that direction, while the strange light, disturbed by the activity of its own peculiar phe- nomena, began to vibrate, to coil and uncoil, fold and unfold, wax and wane, to move and shift about in all possible curves and gyrations, as gracefufly as if it were a banner or streamer waving in the breeze. At that moment the attention of the group was called to the unu- sual phosphorescence of the water about them, as stirred by the dipp'ngs of the oars of a boat which was just leav- ing the vessel's side. !!»'• 208 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " How perfect ! " sighed AUie, " and mother and Eva cannot even see a picture of it." " Nor anybody else, now," added Mr. Ready, who was standing near. The boys hastily gazed upward. The band had en- tirely disappeared, leaving in its place only a multitude of short, straight lines, shooting upward towards the zenith of the heavens ; soon, too, these disappeared almost wholly, leaving the night dark nearly to blackness, and the display was over. "Come, let's go to bed," said Allie. i i m HOMEWARD BOUND. 209 CHAPTER XIV. HOMEWARD BOUND. ALL things must have their end at last ; and the delightful stay in "Labrador," of four weeks of sunshine, rain, and fog, also had an end ; and one bright, pleasant morning, about five o'clock, of a day toward the latter part of August, the captain's order came, clear and loud : " All hands up anchor for home ! " And what a lively time of it they all made. It seemed as if the men never worked harder or sung more cheerily, as the anchor chain rattled and clanked twice as lively as ever before. Then one after another the sails were set, until, with full canvas, the North Star shot from its harbor into the uncertain waters of the Gulf of St. Law- rence, and the homeward voyage had begun. " Well, boys ! " said Mr. Benton, " pack up your things, and let the mate store them away in the hold ; we may see rough weather before we get to land ! " " Aye, aye, sir ! " came the sailor-like response, and im- mediately boxes, barrels, and trunks were paraded on deck, and packing became the order of the day. " I say, Allie ! " exclaimed Freddie, " have you locked the alcohol box ? " " Yes, long ago ! and it's stowed away down in the hold before now." " Have you labeled it ? " I I J i I strong ebb tide, into Boston, occupiv'^.d nearly all the next morning, and it was noon before the v made fast to the wharf. " Just in time for dinner," exclaimed Mr. Ready, who had been on the pier talking to one of the custom house officers, and a band of very respectable looking gentle- men and boys issued from the cabin, where an hour before had been a crowd of dirty and torn-clothed sailor tramps, and hurrying on solid ground once more, started off on the dead run — at least the boys did — for Parker's. An hour for dinner, an hour more for getting baggage ready to go home, and ordering the express, and hearty hand-shakings and good-byes, and each took his way. Five o'clock, at a station not twenty miles from Bos- ton, a large carriage and span of horses were awaiting outside the depot, for the approaching train. An elderly woman and a bright-faced young girl were on the front seat back of the driver. The horses pawed the ground as the train approached with its dull roar, shrill whistle, and cloud of st'iam and smoke issuing from the engine ; while one of the car windows was open and filled so full of four faces that there was hardly room for anything else to be seen in it. " There's mother and Eva," sang out a clear voice in one direction, at the same time a ringing shout; and HOMEWARD BOUND. 223 "there's papa and the boys," sounded from another, and in a moment they were clasped in each other's arms. "There," as all crowded into the carriage, and the horses sprang forward under the crack of the driver's whip, "now tell us all about it," said Eva. And so they did. '■^ m-'^' i .iff' h ! Ill I 4 t 224 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, Part II. CHAPTER I. THE SHIPWRECK. " /CONFOUND thi> ^ ! One can't see the length of Vy one's hand away, ' exclaimed a short, thick-set, round, btirly fellow, all bundled up in thick clothing, with a low, wide-brimmed felt hat on his head, a heavy pair of boots on his feet, and a pair of mittens on his hands, to a tall, lank man, with sandy side whiskers, a liglit overcoat with the collar turned up about his neck, a sailor's old rubber hat on his head, and a similar pair of boots and mittens on, only the mittens were so badly filled with holes that he was obliged to keep continually pulling them, first with one hand then with the other, to cover the exposed fingers. " Confound this fog, I say ! We'll run aground in this beastly hole before we know it, if we don't look out, and then there'll be the mischief to pay ; if we get off with our lives we'll do well." And the little man held up first one foot then another, as he shifted his body from one side to the other, and clapped his hands together to keep up the circulation in them. The tall, lank man with sandy side whiskers sidled up to the short, round, fat man, and leered over at him till his hat almost put his eyes out, and rolling his tongua in the side of his cheek, replied : .< THE SHIPWRECK. 225 : 'i "Oh, yes! Fog — ugh — cold!" each word being re- peated with a short pause after it and before the next word. The little, round, fat man, and the tall, slim man then teetered up and down, first on one foot, then on the other, much like a pair of hens when surveying some tine gar- den patch, and rubbed their hands and slapped them against their sides, as they swayed to and fro with the pitchings and turnings of the little vessel upon the angry waters. At that moment a head and face bobbed up the com- panion-way, and almost instantly bobbed down again, while a small boy's voice was heard to exclaim : " Oh, my ! it's all fog so you can't see hardly any- thing!" There must have been quite a number of people in the cabin, to judge from the sounds of laughter which fol- lowed the above announcement. "Well, go and look for yourselves, then," said the voice again, " if you don't believe me. You go to see." " We are at sea already," exclaimed a voice from one corner of the cabin ; " we don't care for any more of it. The question now is how to get out of it and not * go to sea.'" " Well, you know what I mean," again exclaimed the first voice. "Yes, you mean all right," said the voice from the corner. " Now sit down and let somebody else have the fioor." At that moment the vessel gave a big lurch, and all hands went down in a heap into one corner of the cabin. • " There's plenty of floor now for all who want it," ex- claimed another voice from the middle of the heap. ■ij s ■ 226 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " And all seem to want it," said a fourth voice, as the vessel righted itself and as quickly pitched over on the other side, leaving the company spi-awling over each other into the opposite corner at the other end of the cabin. A hearty laugh followed as each one picked himself up, and proceeded to regain his seat. At this moment a trumpet-like voice sounded down the companion-way, causing everybody to start. " Look out, down there I We are liable to be wrecked at any moment ! " A grand rush on deck followed this announcement, and the party, consisting of three men, three boys, and two ladies, hurried ont of the cabin and on deck in a tre- mendous flurry of excitement, and began crowding at once up to the captain. " Now keep calm, all," said the captain, patting the air gently with his hand. " All keep calm." " Humph ! " exclaimed the eldest of the boys, " it don't look much like the wr'^cks we read about, at any rate. Why, the sea is as smooth as a wash-basin, except for a few waves now and then," continued the speaker. The sea was indeed remarkably smooth, only tossing with an occasional long swell which pitched the vessel sideways or end for end, as she happened to be pitched toward or away from the approaching wave. Nothing was in sight, and everything enveloped in a dense fog which surrounded the vessel on all sides. " The vessel looks more like a big giant pulling the sheet over him in bed just before going to sleep, than like a shipwreck," said the smallest of the three boys. " I guess it will be pulling a sheet of water over the vessel in the bed of the ocean," laughed his companion at his side, " if she should happen to strike a rock." L # a he an he on THE SHIPWRECK. 227 \ "You see," continued the captain, "that we have drifted about in this fog so long, that nobody knows just where we are. We might as well speak the truth. These long swells prove that we must be somewhere near land, yet we can't tell anything about it. If we strike land or a rock we go to pieces as sure as fate. So, as we are liable to do it at any moment, though we may not do so at all, we better be prepared for the worst at once." " Very true," said a large, elderly gentleman, close by. " What shall we do, mother ? " exclaimed the younger of the two women, who had drawn closely to each other while the men were talking. " Trust in God, my child," replied the elder. " Always trust Him: " * Fear not, but trust in Providence, Wherever tliou may'st be ! '" " You all better go below and pack up your bags," said the captain. " Take only the most necessary articles, for if we go to pieces we can't save half we would like, probably. I'll attend to the boats." The company hastened below to carry out the captain's instructions, while the captain himself hurried aft and soon had all the crew on deck at work clearing away the boats and storing them with i)rovisions and a barrel of water for each, together with sundry coils of rope, cook- ing utensils, and two large pieces of sail-cloth, which they had drawn from the hold. While these operations were going on, the captain and the tall, lank individual with the red whiskers, who jjrovcd to be the mate, were impatiently walking the deck, and intently watching the water or gazing into the impenetrable fog, talking to each other occasionally. L ■►...'Xi.Si- ■,' ia.i»emi 228 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. though for the most part silently watching the men fill the boats as they had been instructed. " I say, Captain," said the youngest of the three boys, coming up behind the mate and the captain as they walked the deck ; " I say, Captain ; what makes you think we are in danger of running on the rocks ? " " It is always well to provide for the worst," replied the captain, " and it is the worst which I strongly fear," said he. " And why ? " persisted the young boy. " Well," said the captain, " see that long, low wave ? " pointing to the crest as it advanced toward them on the left of the ship. "Yes." "Well, that kind of a wave shows that we are very near land. It comes from off the shore, and a rocky shore, as it is not in one long line, but several broken parts of the same line. Then see the same kind of a wave on the other side of the vessel ? Well, we must keep on as we are going, heading right on, between the two, and then either come out all right or bring up sud- denly on the rocks at the head of the bay. We can't very well anchor here, as it is too deep and the tide is running too strong. So there we are ! " As the captain said this the vessel gave a heavy thud as if it had touched bottom. " There we are, indeed," yelled one of the sailors, who had overheard the captain's remark. All hands jumped in an instant, and were at the ves- sel's side looking over and around them on all sides, as well as into the water, striving to penetrate the fog, — but the vessel kept on as steady as before. " How's that ? " roared the captain. " Peters, didn't m i THE SHIPWRECK. 229 V " le IS ves- 5, as you sound a few minutes ago and report *no bottom' at forty fathoms ? " " Aye, aye, sir ! " exclaimed Peters. " Well, sound again, then," said the captain. Peters sounded again, and reported, as before : " No bottom at forty fathoms, sir." Forty fathoms was the end of the sounding line, and the captain looked over to the mate as he said : " Extraordinary, I declare ! " Then he turned, after ordering a sharp lookout, and, making his way to the companion-way, hurriedly de- scended the steps to the cabin. Then he went to his own state-room, drew out a small hand-bag, stuffed a few clothes and other necessities into it, and, grasping a chart in the other hand, rushed out again into the main cabin. Taking off his watch, he laid it on the table, as he put on a suit of oil clothes, when a voice shouted down the hatch-way : " All hands on deck, instantly ! The boats ! the boats ! " Leaving his watch on the table, with the bag in one hand and the chart in the other, the captain sprung on deck. Even in that short five minutes what a change of scene ! Before the captain had reached the deck the vessel came to a standstill with a thud that threw everybody off their feet, while the prow was suddenly raised high into the air between two low, black rocks with sharp ragged edges, which seemed to close on it like the claw ol some immense sea monster ; at the same time the stern fell so low as to be partially submerged in the water. By this time the men had launched the boats into the comparatively calm water, and were tumbling the bags, etc., which each one had brought on deck, into them. i a 230 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. A few moments more and all had crowded iii ) the three boats and were pulling fast into the fog, leaving the now helpless ship in the claws of the monster rocks on each sitie of its prow, and the waves to wash into the fast filling cabin, a wreck, on an unknown shore. It was but a moment more before the crv of land ahead was made, and almost immediately the boats were dashed through the surf, with their own velocity and the strength of the waves, to a beach covered every- where with rocks and huge bowlders, and at the foot of an embankment about three feet high, on the top of which was a grassy slope. With great difficulty, while the waves dashed, and the boats threatened every moment to upset, all were finally landed, bag and baggage, on the plat aljove, and the boats drawn closely up to the bank, beyond reach of the waves, and their painters fastened to the rocks, while the men clambered up the bank, and proceeded to wring the water from their wet sleeves and legs. " Thank God 'tis no worse," exclaimed the captain, a t^entiment in which all seemed to concur. "I guess it didn't take over ten minutes," said the mate, who was standing near. The captain seemed fumbling away at his coat for a minute, then exclaimed : " By gracious ! my gold watch and chain and pencil have gone, anyway." " What ? " ' breathlessly asked one of the party. " Yes," repeated the captain, " I took it off while I put on my oil clothes, intending to wind it and put it back and fasten it more safely, and then came off and left it on the cabin table." At this moment a huge wave struck the beach heavily, THE SHIPWRECK. 231 and shot its spray completely over the little group, re- minding them that they might just as well move a few rods farther away from the edge of the beach. This they quickly did, and then began to look about them to see what was next to be done to render their situation more comfortable, and to see, also, what sort of a place they had landed upon. The fog still enveloped everything, so that it was next to impossible to do anything, so all hands turned to, cut a number of upright poles, and pro- ceeded to drive them, at given distances apa?-t, into the ground. When they were made fast and firm in their places, cross poles were placed from one to the other and tied down firmly with coarse twine, found in one of the boat's lockers ; then one of the large pieces of canvas was drawn over and found to pretty efFectu[dly cover all but the back and front of the extemporized tent. The men then carefully drew the boxes into this tem- porary abode, and ranging them on one side, covered them over with the other piece of canvas, thus making a capital seat for the ladies, who were glad to avail them- selves of this opportunity to escape from the wet and sit down in comparatively dry and comfortable quarters. The rest of the goods were also brought in and safely stowed away, until all were under cover. After some repeated attempts and failures the boys succeeded in building a large fire, just outsid ; ii the tent, in spite of the rain or rather mipt from the fog, which showered down upon them, and soon its grateful warmth was appreciated by those within the tent, while having none of the ill effects of the smoke and smell of the burning wet wood. " There, mother, if that don't warm you up well, I'll have to set the tent on fire," laughed one of the boys, as WRECKED ON LABRADOR. I' 'HP I '•■ he rubbed his hands and danced around the fire with great glee ; " I guess you'll get dried now." " 1 think I shall," replied his mother, from out of the tent. " It is really very comfortable here now, I assure you. I wish one of you boys would bring me some water ; I think your sister would like some, too." One of the boys ran straightway to the boat and soon came back with a small tin cup filled to the brim, and handed it to his mother. His mother took the cup and drank a few swallows, then handed it to the young girl by her side, who also drank a small quantity and returned the cup. " Now Where's your father, Eva ? " " Here he comes with the captain," said Eva. At that moment they entered the tent, and sat down on some boxes, just opposite the ladies. "How comfortable you are, madam," said the little, round, fat man, alternately rubbing his hands and hold- ing them out toward the fire. " How fortunate we are to secure so good a shelter. Boys ! boys ! don't let the fire go out." " No, sir," they replied, from the outside. " We'll col- lect a i)ile of wood just outside the door so as to keep the fire going." And suiting the action to the word, they all began to bring armfuls of pieces which were abundantly strewed about the beach, just below the bank on which they sat. They had soon raised a pile, on the, back of the tent, which reached nearly to the top, and extended several feet away from the bottom. " There ! there's enough to last till to-morrow, any- way," cried one of the boys ; " now we are off to investi- gate the country," and away they started. THE SHIPWRECK. 233 " Don't go far away or be gone long," cried out their mother, as they disappeared around the corner of the tent. " I don't believe they heard what you said," exclaimed the young girl whom we have called Eva. " Risk them for being back by the time there is any- thing ready to eat; though, as for that matter, I do hope that the men will find out something about where we are, before long. It would be interesting to know it, even if we were on an island. Yet, somehow, I think we must be on the mainland. At any rate, if some one does not come and report soon, I shall go off on an investigating tour myself," said the captain, rubbing his hands and smiling in spite of his rather long and serious looking face. " And, pray, shall we not both go out, a short distance only, for the fog is too thick to allow us to go far, and see for ourselves what there is to be seen ? " asked the other gentleman. "Well, yes, we might," replied the captain, "but as six stout men have been out and around for over half an hour, and three boys have just gone, and it would be very ungallant to leave the ladies without any protection in case of, say a black bear or a robber suddenly appearing," and here he nodded and smiled at the ladies ; " I think we ought to remain here yet for a time at least, and attend to their wants," he continued. " Very good ; I yield to your opinion," replied the other gentleman, " and doubtless the ladies will also be glad of our company." " Do stay here and rest yourself, papa," cried Eva, " I am sure that it will do you good to keep still for a few minutes." All were obliged to laugh at this urgent request, im- 234 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. plying as it did, though, of course, unintentionally, the rather restless nature of her father's spirits. " There, Mistress Eva," exclaimed the apparently irri- tated parent, "I am greatly inclined to go out now in very spite." " Then I do not think I shall accompany you," said the captain, laughing. " I am sure that madam's company is much preferable to that of this damp fog, at present." " I see I must remain, then," replied the parent. " I cannot allow you the privilege of remaining snugly behind with the ladies while I investigate the fog. It would never do in the world ! So I remain in spite of myself." This caused a hearty laugh all around, almost immedi- ately interrupted by the entrance of the boys, followed by two of the men, who came to report that a small hut, evidently recently inhabited, had been discovered not half a mile distant, and though poor, and rough, was evidently far better than the open tent which they then occupied ; that two of the men had remained behind to wash and clean it up, and that they were prepared to ti ;,asport the goods there, if such was the good pleasure of the company. Of course such voas the good pleasure of the company , and while the men were hunting up two long poles and nailing two small cross pieces to them, to make them serve as a hand truck to carry the baggage on, the boys were busy loading themselves with small goods ; and as soon as the truck was loaded, the men led the way, while all followed. The path led through an open grass patch for some rods, then began to ascend among rocks and huge bowl- ders, till they had climbed quite a hill. The path itself r the of I some )OWl- itself I THE SHIPWRECK. 235 was smooth, though its surroundings were so rocky and irregular. Then they came to another opening, which led directly to the house. It was a rude, low cabin of about one story and a half in height, and with two rooms each above and below. " Well, this is comfortable," exclaimed Eva, as she ran into the now clean and nearly dry room, which had evi- dently been scrubbed with care, and the door and win- dow left open to air it out. "This is comfortable. I greatly like being shipwrecked, if we are to find such comfortable quarters as these. I say, mother, sit down. This stove looks old, and somewhat rusty, but I will warrant that it will make a cheerful fire for all that." Suiting the action to the word. Miss Eva proceeded at once to open the stove door, and prepare to make a fire„ Her brother helped her by going out and gathering an armful of small pieces of wood, and then putting them in the stove they soon had a fine blaze roaring and crack- ling as it ascended the chimney. The captain stood by, laughing to see the enthusiasm of " the young castaways," as he called them, and then began to prepare a seat for the ladies. Meanwhile the men came and returned, bringing bun- dles and articles from the tent, and finally even the tent itself, and the woodpile which the boys had col- lected a short time before. *' There we are," said the mate, who just then stepped up to the door. " All right and tight, my hearties ! ready to begin over again ! " " The fog won't let us see anything yet," said the mate, "but I have just come from the shore, and judging from the sound of things there won't be much left of the good old /Sea Foam by to-morrow morning ! " mPh WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " I fear not," said the captain. " It don't look reason- able, at any rate." " She seems to be pounding away as if she were on the ways, and twenty ship carpenters at her,'' added the mate. " Yes, and how much of her do you think we can sav<^ ? " asked the captain. " None, if the sea rises and the fog continues," replied the mate. " Well, we will hope then that the sea will not rise, and the fog will not continue," returned the captain. "Amen," said a voice from the corner of the room, where the ladies were assembled. At that moment the cook appeared and proceeded to arrange the cooking utensils on a shelf, just above the stove, and to make a pot of coffee. The coffee being started Max drew out the low, long wooden table from the further corner of the room, and soon had rubbed and washed it clean. Then he brought out a large tin panful of ships' biscuit or hardtack, and put it on the centre of the table ; the plates were laid, and the cups produced, and in less than fifteen minutes all was ready for eight hungry, shipwrecked persons, who were not slow in doing full justice to the repast. While they are eating, a few words of explanation are due to the reader. AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 237 ?" CHAPTER II. AX UNKNOWN COUNTRY. \\\ are M THOSE who have read the first part of this story will not fail to recognize their old acquaintances Mr. Benton, and the three boys — John, Freddie, and Allie. The two gentlemen are no other than Mr. Taylor, who accompanied the boys and their father, and now acted in the capacity of tutor and instructor ; and a friend of his, Mr. Bemis. The captain is Mr. Ready, the cook Max, and the three other seamen, called Peters, Stebbins, and Barney, Avith Mr. Cooper, the mate ; these comprised the whole of the party. It is just a year since Mr. Benton and his three boys, accompanied by Mr. Taylor, then a stranger, taking the trip for his health, had joined an excursion, under the guidance of Mr. Ready, to the coast of Labrador, then an almost unknown region, but one which was fast becoming known to the public, both as a fishing-station and as a good place for pleasure parties to spend the summer in fishing, hunting, and having a good time generally. Mr. Benton had been so delighted with the trip, and with the prospects which, as a shrewd business man, he had foreseen for a traffic-trade with the people, that he had this year chartered a vessel, at his own expense, fit- ted it out with provisions, dry goods, and other articles useful to the inhabitants and their business, the "fish- ery," taken his wife and daughter Eva, Mr. Taylor, for 238 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. whom he had contracted a strong friendship, as tutor and companion for the boys, Mr. Bemis, who had assisted him in fitting out his vessel, as supercargo ; and then in- duced Mr, Ready to serve as captain and pilot. Max had been hired again as cook, and the remainder of the crew belonged to the vessel itself. Though we have said that Mr. Ready was captain, the mate, Mr. Cooper, was the real captain of the vessel, though he allowed Mr. Ready, whom he well knew, to act in that place while he acted as his mate, and Mr. Barney, the real mate, acted as a common seaman with the others. This plan had been agreed upon and was now in force. The Sea Foam, a staunch schooner of about two hun- dred tons, was a Canadian vessel, carrying the English flag. Having fitted out in Boston, the party had started for Labrador in fine weather, high spirits, and with good prospects for a fine trade with the fishermen along the coast. Mr. Benton intended to return again in the fall ; some time during the last of October or first of Novem- ber, if possible. The party had been out eleven days when they became enveioped in the fog ; after beating about for two days, the vessel had suddenly been wrecked, as described, on a treacherous bed of rocks, with deep water all around them, only a few rods from the shore. It was " lucky it had been in the day time," as the captain had well said. It was now fast growing dark, and as yet there were no accommodations prepared for the ladies for the night. There had been nothing saved from the ship, in the shape either of beds or bedding ; and the probability was that, AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 239 were light. |shape that, M by this time, everything had become drenched if not actually flooded in the cabin, though it will be remem- bered that the prow projected far above the rocks, and consequently out of reach of the water. It was thus probable that, if she had not already gone to pieces, the men could rescue the bedding of the forecastle bunks. As the vessel had been entirely refitted before leaving port, and a plentiful amount of insect powder scattered everywhere, besides the abundant scrubbing which every part of the vessel had undergone, the chances were that this bedding would serve as a bottom, with some extra covering, for the ladies' bed, provided it could be ob- tained. To secure it, then, the mate and two of the sea- men, taking one of the boats, started for the vessel. The good ^Vl Sea Foam could be just seen, in the dis- tance, as a mere dark object in the bank of su. rounding fog. " The fog seems to enclose it," Freddie said, " just as a jelly-fish does a smaller fish," and the resemblance was very strong. The boys stood on the bank and watched the men launch the boat and get into her, while the mate began to bail her out. Two strong men at the oars soon carried both boat and men into the fog, in the direction of the "food for the jelly-fishes," as the boys called the dark form of the schooner, and in a few minutes they were entirely lost to view. After trying in vain, for some minutes, to pierce the darkness, the boys turned and began building a fire out of the brands of the old one made in the morning, to serve as a beacon for the men when they should return, and thus doing, and gathering sticks for the same, they 240 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. [t * \t occupied themselves until the boat arrived, from the wreck The men, after leaving the shore, pulled swiftly and steadily for the vessel. It took but a few minutes to reach her, and then, in a moment more, all had clambered up over the side of the abandoned schooner. She was situated much the same as she had lain, after striking the rocks, except that the prow had become lifted somewhat farther on the rock, thus lowering the stem, which was already several feet under water. The men found no difficulty in entering the forecastle, and though everything was pitched forward against the partition which separated the forecastle from the hold, they quickly secured all the bedding. It had not been touched by the water, nor greatly injured by the damp- ness of the fog, as the hatches had been closed. They soon had it tied into bundles and packed into the boat. A partially empty barrel of flour, and a small barrel of corned-beef, and another of pork were lowereu in also, and a hasty survey soon showed that nearly or quite all of the ship's provisions could be saved the next day, provided the vessel did not go to pieces in the night, and the water still continued calm. The men rowed carefully back to the shore, where the fire, which the boys had built, served to excellent ad- vantage. After thoroughly warming themselves, the men pro- ceeded to carry the provisions, by means of a hand truck, up to the house, while the boys followed, loaded down with the bedding. The latter was soon spread out around the room near the stove, that it might thoroughly dry, and a large fire was kept up for several hours, at the AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY, 241 in a end of which time all traces of moisture had seemed to have disappeared. There was no time to improvise a bedstead, even of the roughest kind, and as the wood itself was wet, the rain having begun to fall, Eva and AUie moved two of the beds into the smaller room and soon made them up, one for her father and one for her mother. She was obliged to make all the beds single, as the mattresses had been obtained from the sailors' bunks, and were of a small size, suitable only for one person. Then she made up a bed in the opposite corner of the room for herself. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Bemis, with the captain and the boys, made up their beds out of the four remaining mat- tresses, laying two together for the three men to use crossways, and two for the boys. The sailors climbed the stairway to the loft, where they had soon spread the large sail-cloth tent, now quite dry, and proceeded to make themselves comfortable for the night. Luckily the weather was not cold, so but little clothing was really needed. Before retiring, however, Mr. Benton summoned all hands into the dining-room, and, when all were seated, he opened a Bible which he had brought with him, and read an appropriate passage, after which he uttered a fervent prayer of thanks for the safe deliv- erance from the great danger that had threatened them, and for aid to guide them in the future, which no one knew or could foresee. Then all retired for the night. The ladies and the men fell asleep almost at once, Vnit with the boys it was far different. The novelty of the situation, the excitement of the day, and the reality of the catastrophe that had occurred, kept them awake for a long while after the others had gone to sleep. Oc- casionally they would converse with each other in the 242 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 'ii lowest whispers, and all consented that it was " perfectly splendid." Freddie even went so far as to hope that they would be obliged to stay there " till winter," and AUie didn't care if they stayed all winter. At length John declared that he was going to sleep, and a minute later he was fast in the land of dreams, and, alas, really snor- ing. After several unsuccessful punches in the ribs, John stopped his snoring, probably for a few moments only, and the other boys in their turn fell asleep. It was quite late the next morning, and the sun was streaming in at the windows, when Allie, the first to awake, raised himself on his elbow, rubbed his eyes hard with his fists, and then, after opening and shutting them several times, to be sure that he was awake, sprang up, waked the other boys, and hurried out of the door. The noise aroused the rest of the down-stairs sleepers, and a quick call from the captain started the men in the loft, and the noise thus becoming general, soon aroused the ladies and Mr. Benton ; so that in five minutes everybody was awake. Just at that moment a loud exclamation from Allie brought every one to their feet, and to the door. What a sight lay before them ! No wonder that Allie gave an exclamation ! Neither pen nor pencil could do justice to the scene that lay spread before the astonished beholders. The fog had entirely disappeared, leaving the land- scape perfectly clear and well-defined against an almost cloudless sky; the vegetation, alternating everywhere with sand, rocks, craggy cliffs, and a few dwarfed trees, had been turned by the rain into a heavy, dark green, and was loaded with morning mists ; while the sea ex- tended everywhere in front, with islets dotting the water 1(1 ill' AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 243 here and there. A deep bay, surrounded by cliffs and rocks, reached far inland just below them ; and irregular patches of green foliage, scattered here and there among rocky hills, extended far upward back of them. The air was still, and the water unruffled. Thousands of gulls flew above and around in all directions, or poising upon the water itself, buoyed up by their downy feathers, swam about, dived for food, or remained stationary. Birds of many kinds appeared on the water a little way from the shore, and large flocks of plover on the beach itself. Here and there a huge seal would rear its head for a moment only. But what interested the men the most, was, just below them, at the left, two huge, pointed rocks, rearing aloft their terrible peaks, between which, fast as if in a vise, was the prow of the once gallant, now disabled Sea Foam. No other rocks wer3 near them, dark water all around them, and just off shore. The vessel would have been safe had it veered a rod either to the right or left of where it struck.* " Well, boys," exclaimed Mr. Benton, interrupting the silence; "a beautiful situation indeed! Garden of the Gods ! And not a house in sight." Mr. Taylor shrugged his shoulders slightly, and laughed, saying in an undertone, apparently to himself : " Yes ! ' a beautiful situation, and not a house in sight ! ' Are you not slightly sarcastic, Mr. Benton ? " "Not at all, sir," replied that gentleman. "All the summer and plenty of food before us, and a good emi- nence over yonder," pointing as he spoke to the height above, " from which to hang our signal. Surely we are * In this exact situation a vessel wag recently wrecked on the Labrador coast, to the writer's knowledge, from personal observa* tion. 244 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. ff li ! ill hi w not out of the path of all vessels for the next six months. I therefore repeat it, sir ! A beautiful situation, and not a house in sight. How could we better choose a summer at the seashore, and rough it for a few months ? " The reply seemed so unanswerable, that Mr. Taylor could not help replying : " Well, sir ; I am sure I do not care, if you do not ! " This sentiment was freely echoed by all the men and boys, and even Mrs. Benton and Eva joined in the gen- eral expression of willingness to abide here for the pres- ent. "Well," exclaimed Mr. Benton, "as we came with an eye to business, who knows but that Providence has guided us here expressly for that purpose? We will spend a few days in investigating the country, and, every- thing permitting, we will set up our own fishery, do our own fishing, trade with ourselves, and trust in Providence to get home again. If no vessel comes for us we will build another^ out of the remains of the Sea Foam, and go home in her. Let me see," he continued, " the Sea Foam was of two hundred tons, and my friend, Mr. Constance, came to this same coast in a seventeen ton vessel, so I guess we can get back safely before winter." Though in many things Mr. Benton was very eccentric, he was, nevertheless, a shrewd business man ; calm and cool on all occasions, always ready to make the most of his opportunities, and generally successful. When he laid down the law, everybody took the cue at once, and never attempted to question or to dispute him. On the present occasion Mr. Benton laid down the law, and everybody, even Mr. Ready, the captain, at first stood aghast, then nodded assent ; then followed Allie, enthu- siastically and instantaneously, as he swung his hand AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 245 around his head and shouted out a rousing, " Three clieers for ourselves ! Hip, hip, hurray ! " And loud it rang over the hills and dales of old Labrador, rebounding in faint echo from the distant cliffs to go in lesser and lesser waves over the ocean far out to sea. Mr. Benton gazed affectionately at Allie, for a moment only, then turned, gave a few words of instruction to the men, and saying cheerfully, " Come, let's get something to eat," turned into the house and was hardly known to speak three words for the next as many weeks. Max was quickly at work making the coffee boil, and soon coffee and hardtack, with some fresh biscuits, from, a small package of self-raising flour, found in the flour- barrel, where Max had himself put it only a few hours before the shipwreck, presented a very appetizing repast to the almost famished company. " I declare," exclaimed Freddie, " 'tis too bad that we haven't got some butter." At that moment Max entered with a plateful of the very article, which he had just taken from a tub of the same which had been brought over in the boat the day before. " You wait," said Max to Master Fred ; " give me time to try this stove, and we will see what shipwrecked mar- iners can do." " Up to your old tricks of threatcnings again. Max ? " laughed Allie. " Yes, sir," exclaimed Max. " I'll threaten some dough with a pan of hot lard ; that's the kind of threatenings that I'll do." "Oh, Max," screamed Eva, '^ dough nut do it ! " " Oh, my ! " groaned Allie ; " Oh, oh, Eva ! help ! mur- der ! fire ! Max ! " ' 9 < ! 1 I 240 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. "What is it?" " Can't I have another biscuit ? " " Why, yes ; two if you wants it." The biscuit were produced, Eva taking one of them, and harmony was soon restored. " Now, Eva," said Fred, " don't do that again or I shall never get through eating." Eva promised, and soon, all having finished, the room was resigned to Max till dinner time. The men having eaten their breakfast from a wooden bench, just outside the door, had already gone off to look after the wreck, and so the family were left alone and together to form plans and see what was next to be done. The hut occupied by the family was in tolerably good repair, and had probably been recently occupied by some fisherman and his family. It was situated on a small patch of grass land, about fifty feet from the surrounding water of the bay. The same slope continued to the crest of the ridge some hundreds of feet above. At the bottom of the slope, toward the bay, a small, broken down stage extended several yards into the water, and a small shed gave probable evidence that fish were to be caught not far from the vicinity, out in the sea beyond. John was soon to be seen, far upon the ridge above the house, waving his hat impatiently, apparently to there; t of the boys, to come and join him. Fred and Allie, with Mr. Taylor, Mr. Ready, and r. Bemis, were soon clambering the height, in desperation, to see who would reach the summit first. Strange to say, the short, fat, jolly Mr. Ready was the first to reach the height, though he did it some distance away from the rest by an oblique path which reached a spur of the hill AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 247 y somewhat lower than the rest ; yet all were soon stand- ing tof^other and admiring the seenery before them. " W(!ll, boys," exclaimed Mr. Taylor, rather sareasti- cally, "' a beautiful situation, and not a house in sight.' " " All points and islands and bay," cried Freddie, in en- thusiasm. "Yes," said Mr. Ready, "'all points and islands and bay,' on three sides of us. What is inland, I wonder ? " " Bears, I suppose," exclaimed AUie. " Rocks, I guess," said Freddie. " Trees and thick bushes," put in John. " A goodly mixture of all, / guess," said Mr. Taylor, as they turned to descend. The path leading to the top of the hill was small and narrow, winding through low shrubs and stunted spruce and fir trees, and over thick, gray moss which allowed one to sink, at nearly every step, from eight inches to a foot deep; sometimes it led over rocks or along the foot of some huge bowlder, and in one place through a large patch of dark mud, evidently once a pool of water, but which had since dried up. Freddie soon found that the shrubs and stunted spruce and fir, though hardly waist high, were so twined and interlaced that it was almost im- possible to walk among them, as he had been trying, so he gave it up and returned to the path again. Then he tried the moss, with not much better result. It looked safe enough, but a single step upon it and he sank down nearly to his knees in it, yet it was so elastic that it re- turned to its natural position once more, and looked the same untreacherous carpet of gray moss as before. Then the black mud of the dried up pool seemed hard and dry, that surely was safe to walk upon ; but into that, at the first step, he sank nearly six inches, and had it not been i 248 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. for a large clump of grass he would have been unable to cross at all. " I don't like this kind of walking one single bit," ex- claimed Freddie. " Nor nobody else," replied Mr. Ready, " though I guess we will have to take it as it comes. It's like all the rest of the walking about here." This was dismal intelligence to the boys, who had looked forward to long tramps and grand inland excur- sions. "I don't care if it is all like this," exclaimed Allie, " provided there is a path like this." " There isn't always a path like this, unfortunately," said Mr. Ready. "I'm not going to borrow trouble," replied Freddie, " there'll be enough of it come without our hunting it up or calling it." " Oh, oh ! " cried Allie, "look ! " And he immediately plunged into the midst of the bushes, and proceeded to wade rather than walk in the tangled mass to a cleared space, a few yards beyond, where he gathered a large handful of curious looking weeds. " Well, what are they ? " asked John. " I'itcher plants," replied Allie. " Look at the pitcher- like leaves ! " and he held up a tubed leaf, about six inches long, hollowed and curved gracefully. " I did not know that they grew so far north," said Mr. Bemis, stopping to look at the strange leaf and curious flower. "Oh, yes," answered Mr. Taylor, who was standing near, " I have seen patches of them large as a quarter of an acre, almost." AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 249 » "But I didn't know that they grew up here," continued Allie. " I'll take these home to Eva and mother." Continuing the descent, Freddie frighl^ened a small sparrow from its nest, but he did not tou(3h the eggs, of which there were four. Allie also came across another curious flower, which he found on a side bank of a little pool of water. It was very small, and the leaves, grow- ing in a cluster about a small upright stalk, looked like little paddles, clothed with a reddish sticky substance, and each leaf was fringed with a row of small bristle- like points growing from its outer edge ; altogether the plant was hardly three inches high, and the leaves an inch in length. " Don't you know what that is, boys ? " said Mr. Tay- lor, taking one up and looking at it carefully. "It looks like that queer Southern fly-catching plant that Uncle George brought to mother last winter," said Allie. " This is the sun dew ; there are two species, and doubt- less both are to be found here," said Mr. Taylor; "look out for another kind, and see if you can distinguish the difference." With these treasures the boys soon reached the house. Eva was delighted with her presents, and immediately began to clear a small patch of damp ground, back of the house, for a " flower-garden," as she called it. A fine stream of water flowed through the patch, and there was a little dryer bank, though of the same dark earth, somewhat grassed over, above it. Here Eva planted her sun devr on one side the stream, and the pitcher plant on the other. Allie had saved the roots of both plants, so that in a few days they were growing as well as if they had never been plucked and transplanted from their native beds. '^; 250 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. "There," exclaimed Eva, when she had finished her task. " Now you may bring me as many dilrereiit kinds of flowers as you like, and I'll plant them all here, and have a garden." Just then Eva heard her mother calling her, so she ran to see what was wanted, while the men and boys pro- ceeded down to the beach. UNLOADING THE WRECK. 251 CHAPTER III. UNLOADING THE WRECK. "T30YS, boys," called out Mrs. Benton from the door- -L/ way; "T wish you would tell Mr. Eeady that I should like to see him." " Present ! " cried Mr. Ready, who, being near enough to hear what had been said, turned and went towards the house. " Well, madan, what can I do for you ? " " I was merely going to ask you," said Mrs. Benton, " if one of the men might not try to put us up a rough bedstead before night. I think I should sleep much more comfortably if I could be raised a short distance from the floor." " Certainly," said Mr. Read}' ; " I will ask the mate to attend to the matter at once." Then he hurried to the beach, where a boat had at that moment landed from the wreck, and found that the mate and one of the seamen had been after a load of supplies for the house. Among other things Mr. Cooper had brought his tool chest, and, tliough too busy himself to attend to the miitter, he readily consented to let Mr. Ready use the tools ; so the latter, having nothing else to do, got one of the men to help him carry the chest to the house, took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and went to work like a born carpenter. By evening, with diligent use of saw and plane, hammer and nails, he had erected a very fair bedstead, and corded it with 252 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, a small cord brought from the wreck. He had also arranged a cot-bed for Eva. And great was the delight of the family when they surveyed the very comfortable bedsteads which Mr. Ready had turned out. Of course they were rude affairs, but they were very comfortable nevertheless. This was Mr. Ready's work for the day. Let us see what the others had been doing. The shed on the end of the wharf, by the water's edge, was a low building about fifty feet long, twelve feet wide, and twelve feet high, with a loft half way between the floor and the roof. Mr. Cooper's first work was thor- oughly to repair this shed, and shingle the roof, several thousand fine shingles having been in the cargo of the /Sea Foam. The wharf was also straightened, and made more secure in various ways, while several large plank that lay near by were added to it to make it more solid and durable. While these operations were going on, the great work of the day, and of many days, was also in progress, — namely, the removing of the goods from the wrecked schooner. The water was perfectly calm, so that the boat loads could be brought at once directly to the wharf or stage head, and, being landed, quickly removed to the shed. After breakfast, all three of the boys and Mr. Bemis volunteered their services in aid of the mate and sailors. The three boats were soon in active service, and the party hard at work laboring to remove the stores. The stern of the Sea Foam was so far submerged that the cabin was entirely flooded and under water; but so stout was the partition between the cabin and the hold, that, as yet, hardly a drop of water had touched the cargo. When the hatches were opened, therefore, UNLOADING THE WRECK. 253 great was the delight of all to find everything safe and dry, and thus the work of transportation could at once begin. "Five men and three boys, with three boats," cried Allie, " ought to do some work to-day." " Yes," added Freddie, " I guess we can soon lighten the old Sea Foam, and perhaps get her off the rocks too." "If we can get out all of the cargo, excepting the timbers and house frame and boards at the bottom, then she can go to pieces if she wants to, or rather if she has to," said the mate. " I say, Mr. Cooper," said Allie, " don't you suppose we really can get her off ? " " Well, now. Master Allie, I should not like to say *yes,' and I should feel it unwise to say 'no.' It is safe to say there is about one chance in a hundred of such an event occurring." "If she hasn't pounded a hole through her bottom before this, she has done well," said Mr. Bemis. " Yes, I think so, too," replied the mate ; " a hole in a vessel is repaired comparatively easily in almost any other place than on the forAvard part of the bottom." At first it was thought best to strip the vessel of her sails and cordage ; but, strangely enough, the mate was influenced by Allie, who pleaded so earnestly, that it was at length decided to empty the hold first, and give the boy the benefit of the one chance of again floating the schooner. The mate himself was rather in favor of this one chance, for he looked with mournful eyes upon the almost certain prospect of losing the Sea Foam, that gallant vessel which had borne him to so many ports, to be finally cast away on an unknown and uninhabited shore. The order was then givei*. to rig the tackle, and ' 254 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 1 I ! I soon the men began to hoist the articles, which were on top of the cargo, into the boats. Great was the delight of the boys when the Avork of removing the articles in the hold commenced. None of them, of course, wished for any serious danger or deprivation, but, as boys, making the most of everything, even of disaster, now that disaster had really occurred, each showed the spirit of a young Crusoe upon his desert island, and all worked, as the mate said, "like young beavers," the rest of the day. By noon the boats had been from the vessel to the wharf twice each. As there were three boats, this made six loads. Much of this material consisted of empty barrels, wood and coal, a small coal cooking-stove, taken from the galley ; sundry coils of rope, large and small, pieces of sail-cloth, and an endless variety of odds and ends of rigging and articles of necessary use on ship- board that were valuable and necessary to be preserved with great care. These had all been stowed away in the shed, when the workmen were called to dinner. Max had provided an excellent bean soup for the occa- sion, and the men did full justice to it, their unusual exertions making them hungry. For the family's dinner, Mr. Taylor had profited by the morning's fine weather, and succeeded in capturing a nice mess of trout, from a small pond, from which trick- led a little brook, which finally found its way into the sea, back of the house about half a mile. Having estab- lished the fact that there were trout near by, Mr. Taylor seemed to come at once into a state of extraordinary good nature, and, tlirowing away his usual sarcastic manner, was quite communicative and even pleasant for the remainder of the day. UNLOADING THE WRECK. 255 aSj After dinner the work on the wrock continued. Allie was now so thoroughly possessed with the hope of saving liis beloved Sea Foam, that he could think of nothing else. The mate, indeed, laughed at the idea. " But, Mr. Cooper," said Allie, " even you must confess that the few loads of the morning have made enough of a difference in lightening the schooner to raise the cabin roof clear above water." Mr. Cooper started for a moment, as he seemed to realize that what Allie had said was really true ; and even the sailors themselves seemed now, for the first time, to note that the cabin roof was no longer beneath the water. " We can tell better by and by," was all that Mr. Cooper ventured to remark, however, and so the work went on, slowly but surely, of removing the cargo of the Sea Foam, and storing it away in the ample shed at the rear of the wharf. Meanwhile the boys chatted with each other like young ] arrots. " I say, Allie," said Freddie, " this doesn't seem much like a shipwreck, does it ? " " Not at all," replied Allie ; " in all the books I ever read, either the vessel went to the bottom, leaving the creAv and passengers on a small raft, with nothing to eat, and sharks all around them, and wind and rain, to drift a thousand miles or so to land ; or the vessel went to pieces on the rocks, half of her goods were spoiled and the other half went to the bottom, and they had to live in a tent until they had discovered a cave to stay in." "Yes, and not always as good as that," exclaimed Freddie. " I think this is just fun, for if we don't get the Sea Foam off somebody will be sure to find us here and 256 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. take us off. I only hope that they won't come too )> soon. " That's the bother," said John, " they will be taking us off before we've begun to stay here half long enough, and that will spoil all our sport." " No," said Allie, " I'll tell you what : yesterday everybody abandoned the schooner and called her a wreck ; to-day they are taking out all the cargo and car- rying it on shore ; just before we commenced work this morning the mate said that the vessel couldn't be saved. Now if she gets off, and we can get her into the water again, I'm going to claim her, and we'll all take her and cruise about and turn pirates. Mr. Stebbins and Mr. Barney say that I can, and that they'll go with us. That will make five, and I guess we can manage the schooner alone." The boys all laughed, and did not seem to notice that Mr. Barney and Mr. Stebbins looked rather red and con- fused, and hung their heads, or that Mr. Cooper looked unusually stern and displeased at something ; nobody said anything, however, and soon all were talking and laughing as if nothing had happened. " I-e ! i-e ! i-e ! " sung the men as they hoisted upon the tackle in drawing a huge hogshead of molasses out of the hold. " Steady there ! " shouted the mate ; " don't let her slip, or you'll break the cask and spill the whole." " I-e ! i-e ! i-e ! " continued the men ; " up she comes ! " At that moment, just as the final hoist was necessary to bring the hogshead clear of the hold, somebody's hands slipped. The weight before had been almost too much for the men at work at the tackle ; this catastrophe made it altogether beyond their control, and with an UNLOADING THE WRECK. 257 ominous whir-r-r-r the rope slipped, and before it could be belayed down went the big hogshead with a crash on a barrel of pickles and a barrel of flour that happened to be directly beneath it. By great good fortune the molasses cask remained unhurt, while the barrel of pickles was smashed, and the flour barrel was crushed to atoms. The flour flew in all directions, and the pickle brine trickled slowly into the bottom of the vessel. " Oh, ho ! ■ ' cried Freddie, " boys, come quick ! did you ever see the cucumber flower ? " All laughed heartily at the joke, and as soon as an extra hand had been put on the tackle fall, the molasses hogshead was safely landed in the boat, and the spoiled portions of the flour and cucumbers, the most of the latter being unharmed, were gathered up and cast overboard. Slowly the barrels of flour, biscuits, pork, beef, meal, and other goods were raised and lowered into the boats. The men took turns at loading them and rowing them to shore, so that those who rowed the last boat, on re- turning would work at the tackle, while those who had been to work at the tackle would row the boat to shore. As the weather was fine, everything was left just where it was landed, to be put into the shed, after supper. Everybody felt the necessity of working day and night, while the fine weather lasted, in collecting all the stores possible ; for if a rough sea should set in, the good ship would go to pieces in a few hours. At length a long, loud blast of the fog horn, which Max had appropriated for a dinner horn, was heard sounding over the waters by those at work at the vessel, and all were glad when the mate gave the word, "all hands quit work for supper ! " i 258 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. \t The last boat load was rowed to the wharf, the barrels taken out, and all hastened to supper. " I declare !" exclaimed FrcHl, as the boys entered" the dining-room together, " I feel as if I had worked a week, and was hungry enough to eat twenty-one meals." John declared that one good one would be enough for him, and that for his part he guessed that the dough Max had talked about in the morning, had been in the kettle of hot lard, and that doughnuts were the result. Max had, indeed, prepared a good supper for the hungiy boys. The hot coffee filled the room with its rich aroma, and the usual dish of hardtack, which graced the center of the table, remained almost un- touched, there were so many other good things. As John had predicted, there was a large i)an of fresh doughnuts and a nice plate of cheese; huge slices of cold corned beef, and even mustard for a relish for it ; and new fresh biscuits and nice butter. " I'd rather be cast away, than stay at home," said Freddie, in a perfect ecstasy of delight at the prospect of such a bountiful repast. "So had I!" exclaimed Eva. "And Freddie," she continued, "you don't know what quantities of new, pretty flowers Mr. Taylor brought me and helped me plant in my flower-bed ! " " I don't see the connection between supper and your flower-garden, Eva," remarked John, dryly. "I prefer the supper, just now." " Humph ! " said Freddie. " Come, Eva dear, you shall show me the flower-garden jirsi^ then I'll eat my supper." John and Allie looked rather foolish, but sat down UNLOADING THE WRECK. 259 and began eating ; Eva lookotl gratified, and taking Fred- die's arm, the two went out to view the new phmts. There were, inde«'d, several kinds. Two a^jparently different speeies of small white, delicate flowers, resem- bling pinks, a very small, but most beautiful pink flower, with a delicious odor, and several otlier pretty plants, all of which seemed to be doing well, and had not wilted, though they had been planted early in the afternoon. "I tell you, Eva, what I will do, bye and bye," said Freddie. " What is it ? Do tell me ! " cried Eva. " I'll get a lot of shingles, cut them in two, point them, and lay you out a pretty garden." " Oh, oh ! " cried Eva, clapping her hands. " How nice that will be ! What a good brother you are ! I'll kiss you, Freddie," and she reached up her head nnd arms and gave her brother an affectionate, sisterly smack, then clapped her hands in great glee. "Ah, ha! what's this! Heighty, tighty !" cried Mr. Benton, just then coming around the house ; " making love, hey ? " " No, no, papa ! Only Freddie is awfully good to me," replied Eva. " Well ! he'd better be if he knows what's good for him," faintly murmured Mr. Benton, as if to himself, as he disappeared around the other corner of the house. And now, all having arrived, they sat down to the sup- per which Max had provided for them, and partook of it with the greatest relish. " Well, boys ! " exclaimed Mr. Benton, " have you un- loaded the poor Sea Foam ? " " Oh my, no ! " exclaimed Allie, with such an emphasis that all laughed, " not nearly, nor hardly half ! " ; 260 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. "That's good grammar," put in Freddie ; " 'not nearly, nor h irdly hall? " " Well ! " exclaimed AUie, " they all know what I mean." " Not always ! " exclaimed Mr. Taylor, slightly smiling. " Your impetuosity of speech often carries you into the unknowable ; you ought really to be more precise in your methods of enunciation." Allie said nothing, but the doughnuts disappeared with such surprising celerity as to call forth another correction from a still different quarter. " Oh, dear ! " cried Eva, " I do believe Allie is going to build himself a pen ! " "What!" said John. " A pen ! " Eva repeated. "What's that for?" said Ireddie. " So that he can turn into a little pig," laughed she ; " he has eaten four doughnuts, while I have been doing my best to eat one, and I only wonder we don't hear him grunt." " Ugh, ugh, ugh ! " said Allie. " Just one more dough- nut. Max, if you please." "Two more if you want them," said Max, good-na- turedly. " No, one will do, thank you ! " " Well, madam ! " exclaimed Mr. Ready ; " I congratu- late you on your pretty curtains." Mrs. Benton had, with a small roll of figured calico, made ruffled lambrequins to her windows, and hung, from each side, long curtains, which were fastened back by narrow folded bands of the same material about one- third of the distance to the floor, so that the lower third hung gracefully down and lay trailing for several inches on the floor. ! ^j UNLOADING THE WRECK. 261 "I think we /tawe progressed well, to-day, in our house-keeping arrangeni 'uts," remirked Mrs. Benton. "We have done our best, at all events. And you, Mr. Ready, have greatly added to our comfort, I do assure you ! " " Ah ! " said Mr. Ready, pleasantly, pursuing his con- versation, "let me see! four windows here and two in the bedrooms, it must have kept you quite busy, madam ! " " Yes ! " smilingly nodded Mrs. Benton. " Two bed- steads and numberless little necessary improvements." Mr. Ready nodded his head, smiling pleasantly, and Mrs. Benton did the same, each acknowledging the deli- cate compliment. After supper all arose and proceeded out of doors, while Max sat down to his supper with the mate, who had just come in. For a few moments, the two ate in silence, then the mate said : " Max, a few words in confidence, I know you are to be trusted. What's the matter with Stebbins and Bar- ney ? Have they hinted to you, at any time, or have you ever heard, that they were dissatisfied with any one or anything ? " Hef e he told him the conversation of Allie on the boat, and of the confused looks of the men. "Why, no!" exclaimed Max, "I think it is nothing, but I will have my eyes oni- for sparks, I will find out if anybody." "Yes, I know your power among all the men," re- plied the mate, "and that is why I thought I would mention the subject. I do not myself suppose that it amounts to anything, but you can tell probably in a day or two." Having eaten supper, the mate returned to the whaxf wmmm 2G2 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. iKif to help the men in Rtoring away, in the shed, the goods they had just taken from the wreck. There were barrels of flour, graham and Indian meal, and several of oatmeal ; eorned beef and pork ; dried beef, ba(;on, and ham ; boxes of canned goods, meats, veg- etables, and preserves ; several hogsheads of molasses ; one or two barrels of fresh fruit ; barrels of both white and brown sugar ; and several crates of cheap crockery. !Mr. I^enton liad loiuled his vessel with abundant supplies, at the suggestion of Mr. Ready, who had formerly con- ducted, quite successfully, several trading expeditions of his own, to the northeast coast of Labrador, and he was therefore in an ext^ellent condition to be cast away, and even to live luxuriously and enjoy the situation, provided his stores couhl be saved. This was now highly probable. A few more days of good weather, and all would yet be saved ; the supplies in the schooner's hold would Ik^ safely stored in the shed on shore ; and everything put in a con- dition to begin the real work of the season, which Mr. lienton had decichnl to jnirsue. In fact, short and com- l)rehensive had been Mr. Jienton's orders to the men, on the afternoon of the wreck, and a single sentence com- prised the whole. Mr. Benton had said : " Get all the goods out of the wreck and store them in the shed, and then go to fishing." ''Then go to fishing!" repeated the mate to himself, fully understanding the words and all they imi)lied. "Well! if the word is fishing, fishing it is," solilo- quized Mr. Coo[)er, as he walked slowly toward the wharf, to see to carrying out Mr. IJenton's orders. "Well, my hearties," said Mr. Cooper, as he reached the open door of the shed, ''let's see where we can put all these things, now that we have landed them." UNLOADING THE WRECK. 263 As all the barrels and boxes wore labeled on both ends with the names of their contents, it reqiiiryd very little time to pack them away, no attention being paid even to getting those of a kind together, as there Avas mnch inore yet to be bronght over, besides a large (piantity of salt in bags for the preservation of fish. This latter, should the fish prove iihundant out in the bay, could all be put to practical use. With the i '.. u at hand the three boats would easily be manned for the fishing, and the boys could also help in the work of cleaning and prei)aring them after they had been brought on sliore. IMr. Cooper had not yet said a word to anybody about the nature of Mr. Benton's communication, so, really, there Avere only two jxM'sons wlio knew what his futun^ plans (!ould be. In a few hours all tlie barrels and boxes were stowed away safely, the slied door secundy fastened with pad- lock and key, and the latter taken up to the house and given in charge of Max, and again tlu^ shades of night began to fall upon the poor, unfortunate, shipwrecked beings. Poor, unfortunate, shipwrecked beings indeed I Wherein were the fii.;t; 'wo adjectives exem})lified '.' Here was a family, slii:)\N recked on a strange coast, in danger of los- ing fcrythiug and ]>(M-liaps their lives; and behold the same, abnost as well established ;is if they had lived there all their lives, in the midst of jdenty, and do\d>tless the means near them of icturniiig lioine iigaiii in the fall laden with the i)ro(luets of the country in addition to tlu? very stores they had taken out f<»r stock in trade. Not such a very bad showing, after all. '* W(dl, nuMi," cried the mate, *' 1 guess yoii'll all sleep well to-niglit. It is eight o'clock ; the time is yours now for twelve hours." ■•l!-;(!' f> '^T!^ '1 :i. ii ' I ' i h i iV 264 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " Mr. Cooper," said one of the men, Peters by name, sidling up to tlie mate with a most serious fa(!e, "Mr. Cooper, sir, couhl you give us a leetlo tobacecr and one or two })ipes to replace our old ones, sir ? " asked Peters, in a loud wliisper. "Why, certainly," replied Mr. Cooper, conetAling a smile, and a few moments later Peters returned from the house with his hands and poekets full, (ireat was the delight of the crew at this, to them, magnificent })resent. It is proverbial, that sailors care more for tobacco than for any other article of luxury that could be named. These were no exceptions to the general rule. A moment latter, and each was engaged in filling his pipe, first cutting a few chij)S from off liis hunk, then rolling it about in the palm of his hand, with a motion pecu- liar to all users of clay pipes and "plug" tobacco; then with several pulls they lighted them and sauntered off with hands in their pockets, apparently the most hap[)y of nuMi. Mr. Coo[)er and Mr. liemis started off towards the crest of the hill above, where the forms of Mr. Ueady and A[r. Benton could still be seen viewing the surround- ing country. Eva and Freddie were hard at work laying out Eva's garden, Freddie having siMuired' })art of a bundle of shin- gles for this purpose, which the men had left from cov- ering the top of the .shed on the wharf. VVitli a small liatchet, which he had borrowed from the tool chest, he was cutting thes«5 in two i)ieces and itointing th(^ etlges. When he had secured a sufHt'ient number he easily pressed one end into the ground several inches, placing each piece close to the next, until he had thus fenced in a piece of ground nearly a rod square, through the cen- UNLOADING THE WRECK. 265 'H ter of wlii(;li tricklod tho little brook, and then with a jump he WHS off to iiiul the rest of the boys who wnre tishing for tomcods off thf (Mid of the wharf. The tom- cods were to Im; seen in a perfect scliool, several feet bt^- low the water, and tlie boys were haulini,' them in as fast as they could bait and tlirow in tludr lines. They baited with small bits of fat ])ork, and had already caught between forty and iifty cod and three ilounders. il ! ' f 1 j _.: mu 1 ■( : w , 1 mm \' 1^^ 1 ; 266 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. CHAPTER IV. A BIG HAUL. IT was late in the evening when the boys stopped fish- ing, and Max, who had come down to the wharf, after doing the work in the kitchen, had cleaned the largest of the fish for breakfast in the morning ; then all returned to the house together. It was late, but the air was still cool and fresh, and the twilight still lingered. " How late it is, and yet how plainly we can see every- thing," remarked Jolm, as they pursued their way to the house. " I believe that I could see to read, if I only had a book with me." "Mr. Taylor says that it is a peculiarity of this cli- mate," put in Allie. " He says that in the summer time you can sometimes see to read at eleven o'clock at night by the twilight alone, and that it is light again at three in the morning." " I don't see wljy that should be," said Max. "It must b»'. Max," said Freddie, " beciausc of the con- vex surface of ilu^ earth, ;i!id because we are, so near the North ])()le. The (nirtli is not so many miles around here as it is at the eenU'r or largest ])art, don't you see ? So, of couMe, the twilight must last louger over a given amount of surfai^e." *'()li. that's it, is it!" laughed Max; "well, I am glad to know that; T iu»ver could understand it before. Now, boys, good night." .V ' A BIG HAUL. 267 Max had hardly spoken the words before innumerable threads of white light lit up the northern sky and shot far upwards into the heavens towards the zenith. This increased rai)idly, until the boys stood watching a trem- bling, gauzy veil which gradually lit up the whole sky, in that direction, which disappeared and appeared again with rapid, successive flashes, until it finally condensed into a huge band or ribbon, spanning the sky from the northeast to the northwest. For over half an hour the boys stood watching this beautiful electrical display ; then they too retired to rest. The next morning work was continued on the vessel. " It is remarkable," said Mr. Keady to Mr. Benton, "that, in this region of the globe, we have but thre* kinds of weather — pleasant, foggy, and rainy — thai is, at this season of the year. Now each oi these usually lasts several days at a time, and as our fog lasted us three or four days, so our i)leasant weather may last us an equal amount of time. 1 l)elieve, sir," Mr. Rciuly continued, "we shall be able to entirely unload the Sea Foam while the pleasant weather la.sts." " 1 sincerely hope so," replied !Mr. Benton ; " it is much to b(^ desired, at any rate." At that moment Eva and her mother aj)peared from their room, and greeted the company. "Good morning, madam," said Mr. Ready, with good- natured suavity ; " I hope you rested well last night '.' " '• Most excellently, Mr. Ready," said Mrs. Henton, " thanks to your most successful endeavors in my be- half." "And Eva, my dear," continued Mr. Ready, "how did your new cot suit you ? " " Oh, splendidly, Mr. Ready," said Eva, enthusiasti- 41 i { 1. B^H 1 ^^, 'Mi I 1 1 _^j 1 'M'tfl i f'vi ■ ] l'-\:\m\ '1 1 '* 268 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. cally; "I am ever, and ever so mucrh obliged for the trouble you have taken for uie." " We must all do things for ea(^h other now, my dear," said the former, laughing ; " but come out into the lieauti- ful morning air, and agree with me that our climate, at its best, at this season of the year, is perfect." " A beautiful morning," exclaimed Mrs. Benton, as she gazed, in undisguised admiration, at the clear, well-de- fined view before her. " This view, of itself, is enough to make one wish to remain here ; I declare, it is most perfect ! " " We have views of this description all up and down the coast," remarked Mr. Ready. " I think none of us will be sorry for a few months of this weather in such a beautiful location," remarked Mr. Benton ; " it is beginning to do me good already, and I am sure that Mrs. Benton is looking much improved, also." While they were standing at the door and viewing the scenery, the three boats were seen to glide from the har- bor, and slowly approach the vessel. " There go the men," shouted Allie. " See ! they are going to the poor old Spm Foam.'''' "Another day's work will do considerable towards emptying her hold, at any rate," exclaimed Mr. Benton, r.ither to himself than to anybody else. " I hope we can clear everything before a storm or rough sea sets in." " I think we can do it, sir," said Mr. Ready, with con- siderable emphasis. '• Mr. Bemis and I will eat our breakfast, and go on Inward and assist, sir." and Caj)tain Re.ady entered the l)reakfast room, and bustled about and stirred up Max the cook. Then he and Mr. Bemis sat down and began tc eat. A S/G HAUL 269 They were soon followed by the rest of the party, and all found that Max's oatmeal, and broiled fresh tomeod, and crisp pork chips, and fried potatoes, and fresh bis- cuits an'i batter, went off at a surprising rate. "This is the grub that makes the butterfly," whis- pered AUie, as he nudged Freddie in the side. " H-sh-sh-sh ! " replied Freddie, nudging back, and eating as fast as ever he could ; " that's old." Just then Eva was eating a nice piece of buttered bis- cuit, and, as Freddie's remark was somewhat louder than he had intended it should be, Eva overheard it, very naturally, and thought that it applied to what she was eating. "No, it isn't old," exclaimed that young Indy, some- what impetuously ; " it isn't old a bit, and l think y(m are real mean to si)()il my mouthful ; there now," and Eva tossed the piei^e of biscuit back into her plate, and looked fire for a moment at Freddie. After Allie had explained that it w;is meant for him, and told the joke. Eva laughed, begged Freddie's })ardoii. and was soon eating as if nothing had ha]>pene(L By this time Mr. Ready and Mr. Hemiw had finished brt*akfasti»fcc and gone to the wharf to lie there wh- i li first boat >;hould come .ashore, to go on Ijoard of tiw v '^ The boys, trt^v hurried tVeir me.&I, as of tin? bottts ap5>art/«i'hinj^'. th; tli*»y T»)o ti»e ladies wen- left quite by theittsel^wt, Mr. Taylin «»«-ai& ott for another try at tiv Xr. fV:at.)n, str,range to say, luni ^l««m aiutmd t» "Tbere a(»w. Max," said Mrs. Bfrxt*>iiu iaJf an hour ifterwanis, when the table had been ch-rirHcL thougli rlie diskes ha^ \ N # #> ^! o^ /'* % 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 : ;-6) 872-4503 '%^ n? >ip MP Ui ' ^> 274 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. "Sh-sh-sh," put in Allie; "don't t^ll him how many it is until we get a boat load. I believe we can fish as well as the men can, though my fingers are terribly cut up, and smart like everything with the salt water." " How deep is the water, boys ? " asked Mr. Cooper. " Oh, about ten fathoms," replied Freddie. " I thought as much," Mr. Cooper remarked. " You'll only catch small fish, then, though you may get a good many of them. I'm glad the fish are so near shore," he added, aside, to Mr. Bemis. "Yes, indeed," replied the latter. "We seem to be pretty fortunate all 'round. Perhaps our venture will turn out better than we expected." " I hope so," was all that Mr. Cooper remarked. Still the boys continued their fishing, in spite of their sore and swollen hands and fingers. The sport was too novel to be easily given up, and it was even difficult to get them to come home at dinner time, so absorbed had they become in their work, " Come to dinner, boys," cried Mr. Bemis ; " you must have caught your quintal and earned your dinner by this time. We've got all the goods out down to the salt bags and wood, and we're going. Come on ; hurry up." The boys reluctantly pulled up their lines and were soon rowing towards the schooner. "Ship ahoy," cried one of the sailors, laughing; "give us a line, and we'll tow yer." The boys, at that moment, appeared around the angle of the rocks. " Whew ! " cried the mate, and began to whistle ; while Mr. Bemis and all the sailors crowded around the boys. " This looks like old times," cried Peters, rubbing his hands together. " If them youngsters can do that, we \ A BIG HAUL. 275 ':i| can double it, if not more/' he continued. " When I was on the banks — " " Never mind the banks now," said Mr. Cooper ; " let's take these loads ashore and go to dinner." When they reached the wharf, Mr. Ready was there to meet them. " Heighty-teighty ; hoighty-toighty ! " remarked that gentleman, when he saw the dory over half full of fish. " You've earned your dinners for a week, boys," shouted he, swinging his cap over his head, and running up to the house in search of Mr. Benton, to \mpart the good news of " plenty fish in the bay." Directly after dinner the boys, assisted by Mr. Ready, constructed a rough wooden bench on the end of the wharf, to serve as a cleaning board for their fish, and then rowed to the schooner for a bag of salt. By the time they had returned, Mr. Ready had cleared a space in the shed next the door at the wharf end, to lay the fish after they were cleaned, and also boarded up the end of the wharf, next the water, and just back of the cleaning board, for a trough to throw the fish into. At high tide the boats were within a few feet of the top of the wharf, but at low tide they were fully eight feet below. The men would be obliged to toss the fish from the boat to the wharf by means of pitchforks. The bench or cleaning board had a small square hole in it, made near the middle, beneath which was placed a barrel to receive the livers of the cod, which were pushed into it. At one side, nearly below where the " header," as lie was called, stood, a hole about a foot square was cut in the wharf, through which the rejected portions fell into the water. At the edge of the table where this man stood, a piece of flat iron had been nailed down, over m 4'*'i / 1 i ! ■' i i 276 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. wLich to press the fish, in severing the head from the body. The mate had procured two knives from the vessel, which he gave to the boys when they had gone after the salt, and now, toward the middle of the after- noon, they were all equipped for work. ''Come now, boys," shouted Mr. Ready, throwing his coat into one corner, " do as I do." ISIr. Keady then took a meal sack, and, after having cut it into four pieces, each tied a piece about his waist. "Now we will learn the codfish business." By Mr. Heady's orders, Freddie then got into the boat and began, with a narrow-tined, long-handled pitchfork, tossing the fish into the trough on the wharf. As the fish came up, Allie, directed by Mr. Ready, would grasp each by the head, putting the thumb and middle finger in each eye, and, laying the fish on the corner of the table, press the head downward so that the thick muscle of the throat bulged out and upwards, and then, with a stroke of his knife, which was short, tapering to a point, and sharp on both edges, sever this muscle ; and with another single or double stroke slit down the belly to the vent, and pass the fish over to the next man. As the fishes were all small, John took this place, and, directed as the other boys had been, by Mr. Ready, he first sepa- rated the liver from the fish, giving it a push toward the hole in the table, from whence it fell into the barrel, and then gathering the insides together he held them with the fish's head over the iron on the side of the table, and shoved with both hands until he had separated the head from the body; then he passed the latter on to Mr. Ready, while the head and entrails fell through the hole in the wharf to the water below. Mr. Ready then cut out the backbone with another sharp knife, and threw 1 A BIG HAUL. 277 m m the fish into a box provided with two long pieces of nar- row board, fastened securely to each side, which served for a hand-barrow. " Here we go, boys ! keep track of the number. How many are there now ? " "One," laughed AUie, as Mr. Ready threw the first fish into the box. " Oh, yes," laughed Mr. Ready, " one. There now, Mr. Header, you can begin to keep count." " Who are you calling * header ' ? " laughed John, tug- ging away manfully at the head of the big fish that he had caught in the morning. "Well, anybody can keep count; just give a little mark on the board and cross every four for the fifth; then leave a little space between every five. There you are ! " Thus the work progressed, until the last fish, the one hundred and eighty-sixth, was dressed. The boxes, as they had become full, were taken into the shed and emptied. Now that all the fish were fin- ished, Mr. Ready began to pile thtm. He laid them in two double rows along the side of the shed for a distance of about ten feet. Each row was laid, the head of one fish to the tail of the other, with the fleshy parts upper- most. When the first layer was completed, plenty of salt was sprinkled over it and another pile begun. The fishes made a little over two layers. These, well salted, were covered over with clean boards, and the party hurried to the water's edge to wash the dirt and slime from their hands. " Now we must rig a pump on the wharf so that we can wash it down, and we shall be all right for an- other mess. When we get into the business, as we shall ■J I 't! i [if 278 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. by and by, we must rig one of our small nets for bait, and then go bait hunting every night for the next day's fishing. But we are getting ahead too fast, boys; too fast altogether for * shipwrecked mariners ; ' " said Mr. Ready. All the while the boys had been at work the crew were landing the rest of the stores, and the goods from the forward part of the schooner. The cabin was still full of water, and everything there was soaked; but, even as Allie had prophesied, the stern of the vessel had at last risen above the water, and still continued to rise as the weight was removed from the hold. One hundred bags of salt, each of them a little larger than an ordinary meal bag, had been carried on shore ; two real " American barges " and one " Novy " or Nova Scotia barge, launched in good shape, and rigged, with several grappling irons, and a host of other material ; to say nothing of several boxes of dry goods and small groceries, successfully stored on the wharf. A big box of books, which Mr. Benton had bought at Mr. Ready's suggestion, was loaded into one of the boats ; and still another, of lines, hooks, sinkers, twine for netting, and even two or three small nets, carefully secured. In fact, everything had been cleared from the hold of the vessel, save the ma- terials for a small, neat frame house, which had been made on shore, by an experienced carpenter, and care- fully shipped under his directions. The next day was to be devoted to removing these, also ; and then trying to remove the contents of the cabin. The mate, now that the stern of the vessel was above water, rigged a pump and began to pump out the water from the cabin. It was slow work, but great was the A BIG HAUL. 279 joy of the boys when, a little later they visited the vessel and noted the changes. " There," exclaimed Allie, eyeing the schooner with the air of a seaman ; " I think I can eat my supper to-night with a very good grace indeed. I've earned it." " So have I," shouted each in turn. Half an hour later six very tired men and three boys were climbing up the path from the wharf to the house. Eva was jumping and clapping her hands, and calling to Freddie to come and see her flower-garden ; Mr. and Mrs. Benton stood in the doorway to greet the party, and the former spoke a few words of commendation to the men. In the house, too, considerable had been done. The walls had been neatly papered with some rolls of cheap, clean wall paper ; the floor had been half carpeted with a piece of rough straw matting ; and plain wooden chairs, enough to seat all hands, if necessary, together with a cheap rocker, all of which had been bought at the sug- gestion of Mr. Heady, who assured Mr. Benton that every one of them would "trade," were arranged about the room for the use of anybody who might need them. Mr. Read}- had completed the bunks " up aloft " before dinner, and Max had also done a job of carpentering for himself, by placing shelves in the corner of the room, upon which to put the dishes. " A very orderly household," laughed Mr. Ready, rub- bing his hands. " I am afraid that we are pretty nearly ready for a storm." " Storm ! " echoed Allie ; " see how light it is in the sky." "Yes," continued Mr. Ready, "and that light means fog, if it means anything." "Well," said Mr. Benton, "let it come, if it must." ■^'^ wi r^sf 280 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, CHAPTER V. HOV/ THE BOYS MADE A FOGGY DAY A VERY PLEASANT ONE. ' THE next morning, as Mr. Ready had predicted, every- thing was enveloped in a thick fog. It was so dense as entirely to shut out the sight of the shed on the wharf from those at the house. The air seemed close and sticky, and everything damp to the touch. Work could not be thought of under such circumstances, so the men lay idle all day, and amused themselves as best they could. Some followed the stream to the pond, and tried their luck at catching trout. The mate and Mr. Ready spent most of their time in the shed sorting and ar- ranging the Sea Foam's cargo. While the latter were thus engaged, the boys, with their hooks and lines, took possession of the wharf, and began to try their luck with tomcods, flounders, and sculpins, which were lying close by in scores. " I declare ! " exclaimed one of the boys, " this is dull work ! I wish we could get up a sensation." " Set the house on fire ! " laughed Freddie. " I say, boys ! " said John. " It seems too bad to let our things lie in that wet old cabin all this time. I move we start off and rescue them, or at least attempt to." " Yes ; but we can't get out there in all this fog " re- plied AUie. " That's true ; but it does seem wicked to let my gun A FOGGY DAY MADE PLEASANT. 281 lie there, six feet under water, for so many days, and not attempt a rescue," said John ; '' what cun we do, boys ? " " Form a society for the prevention of cruelty to cod- fish ! " remarked Freddie, facetiously, as AUie drew in his line with two small tomcods, one hooked directly in the belly ; and the other having swallowed the bait and hook both, necessitated cutting him open to extract the hook. Allie caught up the fish that h^id been hooked by the belly, and threw it at Freddie with such good aim that it hit him squarely on the head and knocked his hat off into the water. Fortunately there was a boat hook lying near, and the hat, which was a light felt one, was soon recovered, dripping wet, and replaced on the head of the owner again, though somewhat out of shape. " I'll pay you for that, one of these days, Allie Ben- ton," said Fred, with a good-natured jerk of the head; " you see if I don't." Mr. Ready now came out of the shed and proposed to the boys to go lobstering, a proposition which was heartily accepted. Under the direction of Mr. Ready each procured a short, round, rather thick alder cane, and fastened a large cod hook to the end of it, so that the hook reached about an inch beyond the end of the stick. Mr. Ready then whittled, from a piece of shingle, a number of small pegs, some thirty or more, and proceeding to fill his pockets with them and a long piece of stout twine, he called out : " All ready, boys, come on ! " The boys had taken off their shoes and stockings and rolled up their trowsers, and were soon following Mr. Ready along the beach of sand toward the rocks at the head of the bay. ■ I li '1 \ If % / / 1 y 282 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. \,-.. '■ ; I'M The tide was quite low, and the party could easily walk around the base of several high cliits, which otherwise they would have been obliged to climb. The water was very cold, and the rocks hurt their feet, but they perse- vered and tramped on. At one time they frightened a flock of large birds, which were wading some distance out in the water, just around a point of land ahead of them. They flew off with a loud whistle " qu, qu, qu ! " " What are those birds," cried Freddie. " They are what we call ' Quebec Curlew,' " replied Mr. Ready. " Don't we call them Golden Plovers ? " asked Allie. "I think they are the same." "Very likely!" laughed Mr. Ready; "I never knew why they called them ' Quebec Curlew.' " " I'd call them almost anything if I had my gun," said John. The birds could occasionally be heard, and were in sight across the bay. " I tell you," said Allie. " One of us ought to go home and get the mate's old smooth bore musket, and perhaps we might get a shot at them." " Never mind the gun, now, boys, we are going after something better than Quebec Curlew," said Mr. Ready. After about half an hour's hard tramping they reached a cove near the head of the bay. Here a small stream entered the salt water, trickling along a bed of rocks, covered with mosses and ferns of most delicate varieties and forms. A little way out, in the water, quantities of huge stones and small pebbles, overgrown with kelp, were thickly scattered. Mr. Ready made a run for a big rock, II; A FOGGY DAY MADE PLEASANT. 283 near by, and began vigorously plunging liis gaff l)oneath the water and under tiie rock. " liothui- on you, conio luu-e ! " excdainied Mr. Ready, in a half vexed tone of voice. The boys immediately ran up to where he was and asked what he wanted. " I'm not talking to you ! " exclaimed Mr. Ready, " I'm talking" — here he began another vigorous punching and poking with his gaff beneath the rock — " lo this lobster." From leaning down so far, and poking so much, Mr. Ready began to grow red in the face, but presently he drew in triumph an immense lobster from beneath the rock. "Here," he shouted, "punch all around these rocks and in the water, and you'll soon find plenty." The boys followed Mr. Ready's advice. Every nook and corner was searched and probed with the four gaffs, and several good-sized lobsters were the result. Each of them had their claws plugged — that is, the little pegs that Mr. Ready had taken with him were inserted at the soft spot at the base of each claw, in front, so that those formidable weapons were rendered useless. The lobsters were not very plentiful ; but soon there was a pile of between thirty and forty, all plugged and strung, and divided into four parts, and at length, when Mr. Ready gave the word for home, each shouldered his share and off they started. Eva was in a perfect ecstasy of delight at the sight of the spoils taken. Max, too, was glad, and soon the big boiler was filled with fresh salt water and thirty-seven large fellows were packed into it to be boiled. , "Twenty minutes after the water boils!" sang out Mr. Ready. " Oh ! you can't tell me anything about lobsters ! " 1 5 Wi / M 284 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. .•!i W shouted Max, in reply, as Mr. Heady hurried toward the shed. "I tliink it's too bad, to put them in that hot water alive ! " said Eva to Max. "You go away, and come bai^k in five minutes!" laughed Max, "and if they are alive then we will take them out." " Then it'll be too late, they'll all be dead ! " "I know it I" said Max, laughing again, "that's the way I want them to be ! " Just then Eva ran to the door to see Fred, who was calling her, and Max went on with his work of boiling the lobsters. "Well, Fred! What do you want?" said Eva, com- ing to the door, near which he stood, barefooted, with his trowsers rolled up, wet and muddy, the perfect picture of a tired, dirty, hungry boy. " I want a piece of pie and some doughnuts and cheese, or something good to eat," said Freddie. " Look here ! " exclaimed Eva, catching hold of Fred's button hole and whis})ering in his ear ; '• you go and lie right down, and take a nap ; you're all tired out." " I've a great mind to," said Fred. " Do ! " cried Eva. " You go, and I'll bring you some- thing." Freddie pulled down his trowsers' legs, brushed the mud off, and going into the house threw himself down upon the couch : a few minutes later, Eva brought him a couple of doughnuts and a large piece of cheese, and even while he was eating them he fell fast asleep. Half an hour later he woke up greatly refreshed, laughed at the idea of his falling asleep in the daytime, finished eating his doughnuts and cheese, and ran out to see what the other boys were doing. .4 FOGGY DAY MADE PLEASANT. 285 He found the boys in the shod, with Mr. Ready and the mate, engaged very earnestly in netting a trout net. That is, the boys were netting by turns \\\nm it; whik; the mate himself was eompleting a small hand net for eateh- ing bait with. It was a (!onimon, small meshed dip net, and Mr. Cooper was fastening it upon a long wooden handle, jointed in the )niddle, that had been brought with them for this jairpose from lioston. Tlie trout net was progressing slowly. It was to be fifteen fathoms, or ninety feet long, and a fathom wide, the meshes being three inches wide. .!')hn was working away at it steadily, and had already eoinpleted nearly a fathom. "We shall put you all at work, ll)y aiid Ly," said Mr. Cooper; as Fred walked into the shed. •' You've always wanted to earn your own living; now you'll have to do it. Castaway boys have to work as well as the men, don't they, Captain ? " " Yes, indeed ! " cried Mr. Ready. " We have all got to work now ! " The novelty of the situation was such as to render the boys quite unmindful of the fact that they were really in a position where work was not needed, or ex- pected from them. They did not realize but what they were on a desert island, a thousand miles away from the main land, and supposed their services were required as much now as if the latter event had really happened. Mr. Ready was business man enough to see this, and thought it best to impose ui)on their good nature. Mr. Benton saw the same aspect of the case and, for the good of the boys, allowed the matter to pass, knowing well that it would " do 'en» good to rough it a little," as he had said. I i I iimi 286 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, \ !i "We will do our share, then," said Fred, answering the mate's assertion, " you need have no fear for us ! " "I will set you to work soon enough, my boy, never fear ! " replied Mr. Cooper. "Give me another net to make, then," said Fred, always jealous of his ability to do, when placed in rivalry with others, and especially with his brothers. " Give me another net to make, and I will finish it before they do theirs, at any rate ! " The mate chuckled to himself as he saw at once means to an end placed before him, so he replied : " All right, we need all we can get. I will set you each to work, at once, and the one that finishes first shall go fishing with me in my boat ; eh ! Mr. Ready ? " "Very good idea," replied Mr. Eeady, nodding his head and twinkling his eyes. The boys caught the spirit at once, and soon all three of them were at work, each as if his life depended upon it ; though John was considerably ahead, it remained to be seen how long he wou.ld keep ahead, as he was the slowest worker among them. " The system of reward and punishment works well," laughed Mr. Ready, as he finished stacking all the bags of salt in one corner of the shed together. "Only keep it working," was Mr. Cooper's reply. The manner in which the boys proceeded with their work was somewhat as follows : They first drove a large nail into the wall, at a proper distance from the floor, some three feet or more, then while one of the boys held a wooden stick about a foot from the nail the other fastened an end of a ball of stout trout twine to the nail, and passed the twine succes- sively around the nail and the stick until about thirty 1 n u A FOGGY DAY MADE PLEASANT. 287 loops were made. The working instruments were a needle and a card. The needle was flat, eight inches long, conical at the top, and the bottom concave for about an inch; the inside of the upper third was also hollow, saving a small needle shaped piece, running up in the center to within half an inch of the top. The card was a simple flat piece of wood, as wide as the meshes were to be long, and long enough to ovetlap the last mesh by about half an inch. Each needle, and there were several for each person, was wound full of twine, the turns running around the inner point of the needle, and over the concave end. In netting, the needle was thrust through the loop above, the twine brought over the card, to which it was tightly drawn, and a knot made by drawing the needle between the threads and through a loop in its own thread, and the whole drawn tightly — "but," as the mate had said, after showing the boys how it was done, " now do it yourselves, boys ! Do it yourselves ! 'tis the best way to find out. And netting is very pretty, easy work when you once know how." So the boys did it themselves, and it was really mar- velous how fast the trout net grew. " I say, boys ! " said Allie. " Let's make us each a hammock, when we have finished our nets ; anything will be more comfortable than those close bunks way up in the loft." " Will there be time enough ? " asked Freddie. "We can easily find out," replied Allie. "I say, Mr. Cooper, can't we have time enough to make us each a hammock after we have finished our ne^'s." " Oh, yes ! plenty of time, and to spare ; trade's dull just at present," he added, rather dryly. The boys stared, and Mr. Ready laughed, at which the m it if ■ill ■ b:' I -i !:1 :1 f> |i|3 rf, ICT I ii 1 i i i 1 1 • i i ; 1 1 t i 1 M 1 '' ' 1 Wg .'j ''^' 1 1 i l\ 288 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. boys stared all the more, and wondered what trade he referred to. Then they hoorayed for Mr. Cooper, at least John and Allie did, while Fred worked all the faster. " That boy's cute ! " remarked Mr. Cooper to Mr. Ready; "see how he takes advantage of every little thing in his favor ? He'll have his net done first, I will wager ten quintals of codfish." "They are all as good boys as ever lived," said Mr. Ready, "and this castaway business will be the making of them ; it will teach them to think and act for them- selves." Mr. Cooper turned, but muttered something to himself about Fred's being the " boy for a' that." The fog still hung on. There were no signs of rain or a change of wind, and so the shadows deepened and evening approached. Soon the horn summoned all to supper, and Eva appeared at the door to greet the boys, and especially Fred, who was undisguisedly her favorite. " Hasn't this been a disagreeable day ? " was the re- mark of that young lady, as they all appeared at the door of the house. " It's been as dull and wearisome as if we were really on a barren island." " Yes, indeed ! " remarked Mr. Bentun, just coming in, "and as profitless." " Always looking for profit, Mr. Benton ! do come and sit down for five minutes," remarked Mrs. Benton, com- ing out of her room toward the group approaching the door. " Certainly, madam ! " graciously remarked Mr. Benton, bowing and waving his hand in a South African or In- dian salaam. " Certainly, madam ! And for twenty-Jive A FOGGY DAY MADE PLEASANT. 289 minutes, as soon as Max has fiiiislied rcplenisliing the table." For supper Max had stewed a huge dish of dried apples and baked an extra amount of new bread. " If we only had some milk/' sail Allie. "I can get you some milk," said Fred, who seemed especially inclined to be facetious just then. " How ! where from ? " spoke up Allie. " From the milk-weed, how's that ? " laughed Fred, much to Allie's disgust. " I say, Fred," said Allie, " have you been eating any pickles, lately ? " " No ! " said Fred, so earnestly that everybody smiled. " Are there any here ? " " Xot here, that I know of," replied Allie, " but didn't you eat four big ones the day the molasses barrel fell on the pickle and flour barrel ? " " Yes ! but what of it ? " returned Freddie, still so earnestly that everybody laughed again. "That accounts for your sharp points, to-night, I guess." " I owe you two, now, Allie Benton ! and you'd better look out or I'll pay them both off together." At length Max announced that supper was ready, and all sat down to enjoy it. A large dish of delicious fish and lobster was at each end of the table, and great was the astonishment and delight of those not already in the secret, at such a surprise. "Well, wife!" said Mr. Benton. "This is vastly superior to the searshore at home, I assure you. I won- der why more people never think of coming out to some unfrequented coast, like this, and spending the sum- mer ? " i in iii ^ ' 1 % "■ 290 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. " I suppose they have not tried it, as we are now doing, and really are not aware of how delightful it is," replied Mrs. Benton. " I shall strongly recommend this sort of summer pleas- uring, when I return," said Mr. Benton, taking an un- commonly large mouthful of lobster. Fred nudged Allie, who was also helping himself boun- tifully, and at the same time signified his assent also in a quite audible whisper. In the midst of their repast the door opened and Mr. Taylor stepped in with a big string of trout which he had caught in the pond. " Here, Max ! here's something for breakfast to-mor- row. Now for some supper, as quick as ever I can have it." Mr. Taylor went off to wash, and left the trout with Max, who hung them upon a nail, just inside of the door, and then returned. Mr. Taylor also returned, in .a moment, and was soon attackmg the lobster. " How fresh and most excellent this tastes, Max," said Mr. Taylor. " Who got them ? " " ]\Ir. E-eady and the boys, sir ! " replied Max. " I think we have all improved our time since our ter- rible shipwreck," laughed Mr. Taylor. " / really find our life for the past few days quite endurable. I don't much object to the prospect for the summer, I assure you ! " After suppei." Freddie got up and left the table with the rest of the boys, and all hastened down to the wharf, where they amused themselves fishing, until quite late, several large tomcods and a few fair-sized flounders re- warding their effcft'ts. A FOGG Y DA Y MADE PLEASANT. 291 " There ! " exclaimed Freddie, " I'm tired enough for to-day ; I'm going to ' bunk in/ as Mr. Keady calls it, and I think all hands had better do the same.'' As all seemed to agree in this opinion, they wound up their fish lines, took the bait off the hooks and threw it into the water, and stored them all away in the shed. Then they gathered up their fish, put them in a bucket of water, washed their hands and started towards the house. " Here, Max ! here is something for you," said Allie, as he handed Max the pail. " My eye ! " exclaimed Max. " What shall we do with so many things? Lobster, trout, tomcods, and flounder for breakfast ; which shall we have ? or shall we have them all ? " " All," cried John. "Yes," said Max. "All it is! We'll have them all, and see which tastes the best." As this suited the boys, exactly, they gave a hooray for Max, and were soon off to bed. A very little later, and the rest of the household had followed them. \il fi;l l*fl,3 m I 292 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. CHAPTER VI. HOW THE FOGGY WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST BOTH INDOORS AND OUT. rriHUS the days passed in quiet succession. Some- -»- times it was pleasant and sometimes it was stormy weather ; sometimes the fog set in for a week at a time, rendering it impossible for the men to work, filling the hearts of the little party with gloom, and giving rise to gloomy thoughts and forebodings. The sunny weather would then come again to gladden all and restore nature and heavy spirits to freedom and joyfulness. " When the weather is fine it is very, very fine ; And wlien it is bad it is horrid," — SO Eva sang once on a most beautiful morning. Meanwhile the men had pumped the vessel dry, and had been able to rescue, though in a more or less damaged condition, all the articles in the cabin, and bring them on shore. The clothes were soaked out in fresh water, and hung out on a line to dry, while a large flat stone, just in front of the house, was covered with damaged though reclaim- able articles, that air, sun, and time might help to put them in a fit state to be used once more. Eva, who was fond of poetry, came out to the door with her arms full of clothes to hang on the line, sing- ing: " It chanced to be our washing-day, And all the clothes were drying." now THE WE AT HER CLEARED AT LAST. 203 i ! Then the boys were busy cleaning up their guns, and fishing poles and lines, and all their " various append- ages," as Mr. Taylor termed them ; while even Mr. Taylor himself deigned to turn to and help to the best of his abil- ity, — though he confined his operations chiefly to his own trunk, and to the especial care of drying a large tin box of seidlitz powders and a huge sponge ; he paid Max a dollar to wash his clothes for him. It was fully a week before everything was restored to a condition of useful- ness, and then only about two-thirds of the articles were really of any value. The boys' powder suffered consid- erably, yet as it had been in two tight five-pound tin cans, but little water had penetrated to the powder, and it was soon dried by exposure on papers to the sun for a short time. The shot was all right, the caps all good, but the wads were very nearly ruined. At length, after a good deal of care and painstaking, order was brought out of confusion, and Captain Keady laughed, as he exclaimed: " There, there, only a little excitement and something to occupy the time. Order out of chaos ; order out of chaos at last." " Certainly," added Mr, Benton ; " order out of chaos at last. Mrs. Benton, it is very annoying that the little tobacco that I ever do use should have been ruined ; yes, positively ruined by the water." At last one night the wind began to blow, and the waves to dash upon the beach. At first only as a gentle breeze, and a continual lap, lap, upon the stones and rocks ; then it increased in force and violence, and soon the wind was howling in a perfect hurricam;, while louder and angrier grew the dashing of the water upon the rocks. Then the rain descended in sudden ^1; ;iffi 294 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. gusts and flurries, almost with the force of small hail- stones. The men had gone to tlieir bunks Avhen the storm began to arise, early in the evening, but as it progressed, most of them remained awake listening to the fury of the tempest. " The last of the Sea Foam, I guess," said Mr. Ready to Mr. Cooper, who had his bunk just below that of Mr. Ready, on the same side. " She won't stand much of this weather," replied Mr. Cooper ; " if she hasn't gone already, she soon will go." "It's too bad to lose so good a vessel," Mr. Ready added ; " I was really beginning to get quite attached to her." " You'd be more so if you'd been in her and over her, and sailed nigh on to ten years in her, in storm and calm, summer and winter, to Newfoundland and the West Indies." " No doubt I should ; but have you been to all these places ? " " Oh, yes ; I've been all over the West Indies, across the water twice, around the Horn once, and to Iceland once." "Not all in the Sea Foam?" "Oh, no; but I've been all over the West Indies in the Sea Foam, and around Newfoundland in her once." "You must tell us some of your adventures, some time," said Mr. Ready. " I am sure we should all like to hear them." "Humph," growled Mr. Cooper, "people are always more ready to listen than to talk ; go to sleep, I'm going to talk no more," and the mate rolled over in his bunk, and, in spite of the storm, v/as soon snoring vigorously. m HOW THE WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST. 295 The wind howled and roared, and the rain came down in torrents ; the storm continued all night, and when the sleepers awoke it was still raging furiously. Dark (douds everywhere, with rain and wind, showed that the tempest was far from abating. The huge waves beat against the rocks and shore with relentless fury. There were several large rocks standing near the turn of the bay and a little out in the water ; over and around these the waves dashed in grand sublimity ; sometimes they would cluster about them, eddying in and around and between them, washing their bases and sides ; sometimes they would rush with a swish over the tops of the lowest, and then retreat to let the water drip back again; and sometimes a huge wave or line of waves would come with tremendous force, and dashing against them throw a column of frothy, white spray high over their tops and far up into the air, to fall back in spatters on both rock and water. The rocks were clearly in sight of the windows, and Eva sat and watched the water, as in mad fury or in a moment of comparative calm, it played over these rocky sentinels. "I declare," exclaimed Eva, after a pause of some moments, during which she intently watched the water, " how grandly it dashes over those rocks ; what a perfect billow of spray it throws into the air." "Yes," said Mr. Taylor, from a window on the other side of the room. " I think it is the most graceful and beautiful sight that I have ever seen, and it is as grand as it is beautiful." "But, Mr. Taylor," exclaimed Eva, "where is the Sea Foam f I don't see her anywhere." " That's so, Eva," replied Mr. Taylor, in some surprise and not a little consternation. " I wonder I never thought of her before. She is indeed gone. I see no trace of her ''U \ ' U' !i^''' i ; 296 WRECKED ON LABRADOR, anywhere. There are the rocks where she was, but either the vessel itself has sunk or l)roken up — in whieh ease we shall find the jneees strewing the beac^li ; or she has been lilted oft' the rocks by the waves and drifted to sea. In either case I fear ice shall never see her again." " Oh, papa," cried Eva, as Mr. IJenton entered the room ; " I don't see the /S'ea Foam anywhere, and Mr. Taylor thinks that she has either drowned, or smashed to pieces, or floated off to sea." Mr. Benton went immediately to the window and took a long look in the direction of the place where so lately the Sea Foam remained wedged within its rocky clutches. " I am not surprised, sir," to Mr. Taylor, " and Ave are now left to our own resources. I have been expecting this, sir. I have been expecting this for some time, and now that it has come, I am not surprised, and we are pre- pared for it. I repeat it, sir — we are prepared for it." While they were all looking out of the window, the form of a man was seen coming around the corner and climbing the hill towards the house. He wore a long, exceedingly ample pair of light oil-cloth trowsers, a still more ample jacket, buttoned in front, and a regular sea- man's " sou'wester " ; as he approached, the features of Mr. Cooper were plainly visible. Mr. Benton hurried to the door to meet him and let him in. Mr. Cooper went up into the loft, and taking off his dripping garments, hung them up and soon returned. "Well," exclaimed Mr. Benton, rather anxiously, per- haps, " Avhat news ? " " Nothing, sir," replied Mr. Cooper, " by sign or sight. I ca,nnot imagine how she could have got off those rocks ; but she must have done so, and drifted out into the Gulf. Had she broken to pieces, there would have been some HOW THE WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST. 297 remnant of lier here, a.s the distance is so small between us, tliough both tide and wind bear directly out into the Gulf." "Might she not have been driven off the rocks and then sunk ? " remarked Mr. Benton. " Possibly, sir ; though I think not, from the fact that the water would hardly be deep enough to cover her completely, and the glass reveals not a single sjjar above its surface." " One thing is plain, then, — we must get off in our boats, or build another vessel, or wait for somebody to come and take us off. I think we will do the latter ; we have provisions for several years, in case of necessity. We will begin fishing, then, as soon as the weather will permit." Having thus oracularly delivered himself, Mr. Benton turned and re-entered his room, and was pvobably soon communicating to Mrs. Benton the news of the loss of their vessel. Eva was now heard calling to the boys at the top of her voice, to " hurry up and come down and find the Saa Foam !" This brought the boys to their senses at once, and they were soon up and dressed, and eagerly learning the news that the vessel was gone — where, no one knew. " I don't care if she has," exclaimed Freddie. " It's all the more fun to have a little uncertainty in the midst of all our certainty." " We've a house, comfortable quarters, plenty of pro- visions, plenty of time, plenty to do," remarked John, philosophically; "and if we had our vessel and every- thing secured for getting back again we would not enjoy it half so much as we do now. I'm glad of it. Let hei go. fi '' lilif ■t I'l '.; 'U I I I \ rr 208 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. 1 '.■ I !i 1 I'll warrant the captain will got full insurance just the same even for the ^jrovisions we eat." "You are a hopeful business man/' quietly remarked Mr. Taylor, not sarcastically this time. " I hate 6*(.v/»e.ss," added John, in a peevish manner. "Breakfast is ready! all hands," shouted Max, as .he hurried dishes of lobster and fried trout and cod and flounder, all crisp with pork fat and scraps, and Indian meal, into platters, and upon the table. " (/ome and get your breakfast while it is hot." As he said this he brought out a big plateful of l)aked potatoes, and another of biscuits, while the coffee steamed invitingly. " I sup- pose you won't want any crackers or hardtack with all that you have here," said Max, as he added a large plate of that article, " but you needn't eat it if you don't want to." All hands did full justice to the bountiful repast. The trout were tine, the cod and flounder excellent, while the boys even seemed to prefer the latter to the trout. Freddie paid little attention to the lobster, but Eva seemed to prefer it to all the rest, and made her break- fast almost wholly of it with hardtack and coffee. She said that she was " going to turn sailor, and eat sailors' food," now that she was really a '•'■ castaway." Of course everybody smiled at this remark, at which Eva pretended to be greatly offended. After all the family had finished and arisen, the men came in and sat down to their meal. Then they arose, and Max helped himself ; after that, all the things were cleaned up and the dishes washed and replaced in the pantry, and the table was free for anybody to sit around it and write or read as they chose. Eva immediately brought out a pair of shears, a pile of old paper, and her scrap book, and began to cut pieces I/OW THE ]VEATH:ZR CLEARED AT LAST, 209 which she wished to prosorvo for its paj^os. Max had made her a small pot of paste, and there she sat, ('(m- tented and happy, poring over the pape-s, and cutting and pasting to her heart's content all the morning. Freddie occupied his time with an old paper novel enti- tled "The Lost Cat," — describing the adventures of a wonderful specimen of the feline race in trying to dis- cover the whereabouts of her o vners, who had moved to another part of the village in the town wherein they lived, while the cat had been absent on a mousing expe- dition into a neighbor's barn. It was a wonderful series of adventures, so Freddie ])ronounced it, and the others fully ai;reed with him that it must l)e, from the interest ho displayed in it, though they had not read it. Allie busied himself in loading shells for his gun, while John was deeply buried in a geometry, with Mr. Taylor endeavoring to prove to him ichy he could not square the circle. Still the storm continued. Its fury had somewhat abated, but the wind whistled around the corners of the hous(, and over the top of the chimney and roof, and the rain poured down in torrents. " I am pleased as well as surprised that this house is so waterproof," exclaimed Mr. Benton. "I feared we were to be drowned out by our first hard rain-storm." "I guess that the owners had seen such weather as this before, and knew it was coming again when they built it," said Allie. "That is very apparent," replied Mr. Benton, answer- ing back, as he very seldom did. " I think sve are safe for one season at least." " I say, boys ; let's go down and work at our trout nets," cried Freddie, finishing the cat story, and giving the book a fling at Allie's head. , I. pi m *l!h lit 1 1 H w li; H: 800 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. - 1 I i f I H Hi "Look out there, now," exclaimed Allie; "you've tipped over three of my shells, and spilt the powder all over the floor. How shall I ever pick it up again ? " " Get a broom and sweep it out of the door, and you shall have enough of mine to make up for it," said Fred- die, chivalrously. "I have a great mind to," replied Allie in a vexed tone of voice. " I'll throw your old cat book into the fire if I get hold of it ; " and the two boys grappled for the book, while down went the board on which Allie had been loading his shells, tipping the powder all over the carpet, followed by caps, wads, shot, and even the shells themselves, which went in every direction. Eva, in despair, got up and stood upon the table, but as even the table was threatened, she very judiciously removed to the door. After a final struggle, during which time John had captured the cause of contention and quietly and unnoticed stuffed it beneath the cushion of the rock- ing-chair, the boys, very good-naturedly, decided to stop their quarreling and help each other pick up. This was more of a job than had been anticipated ; the wads were all over the carpet, the shot and caps in every joint, corner, and seam of the floor and carpet, and had to be picked out singly. As for the powder, the broom picked most of that up, and a good part of the shot and caps, — the best being picked out from the dustpan ; the re- mainder was thrown out of the door. After a long and unsuccessful search for the book, the three boys started, during a lull in the storm, for the shed, leaving Eva, much to her delight, in peaceful possession. The boys took up their work with great enthusiasm and energy ; they found the process of netting very easy and pleasant. It really progressed so fast as to surprise in HOW THE WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST. 301 them. Sometimes the stint would be as to which wouhl complete a given distance on his row first ; then, how long it would take to complete a given number of rows or even a single row ; and the trout nets grew, slowly, foot by foot, fathom by fa,thom. In the midst of their work Mr. Cooper came in; he complimented the boys on their progress, but especially cautioned them to draw the knots tight, or their nets would soon need mending. He also showed them how to make the knot in a single stitch, which they now made in two stitches, but advised them not to try it on the nets which they were making, as, he said, it was a bad plan to mix stitches in the same piece of work. While tTohn and Allie were learning the new method, Freddie kept rapidly on with his net and had soon gained two full rows on John, who was still somewhat ahead. " I mean to get my net done first, anyhow," he mut- tered to himself ; " then I can fish with the mate in his boat." Meanwhile the storm had somewhat abated, so Mr. Taylor, whose chief ambition seemed to be to catch trout, had rigged for the occasion, with rubber coat and hat, and tall boots, and, taking his hooks, lines, and pole, started for the pond regardless of what the weather might be. " T shall surprise you all with a fine salmon, some day, ' Mr. Taylor had once said, and now Allie called out to him, as he was disappearing over the knoll : " Be sure to bring us back that salmon you promised, Mr. Taylor." "You doubtless think that it will be as difficult for me to get that salmon as for you to get your algebra m ■m I If ii;t i-ri V'il 5 '^ w ■1 If ■ A il ^ r ■ 1 '■ IS h ■: iil i'f. 302 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. lesson," replied Mr. Taylor, good-humoredly, as he dis- appeared coward the pond. " You don't get ahead of Mr. Taylor much," laughed John ; " but let's shut this back door." " No," said Freddie, who was working in one corner quite away from the light ; " I can't see if you do." About eleven o'clock the rain stopped, the wind died down, and the blue sky was beginning to appear. In a copse of low spruce and blueberry bushes near by a few sparrows were dashing merrily to and fro, shaking the raindrops from the leaves, and filling the air with their cheerful songs. The white-crowned and the white- throated sparrows, with their well-known notes, each the reverse of the other, were chattering as if perfectly de- lighted at the prospect of a fine day; and once a tit- lark, fluttering about some distance up in the air, like a wounded bird about to fall, uttered a few sweet notes which, like the others, seemed to breathe of gladness and joy that the blue sky had at last appeared. Over the bay numberless large white gulls circled about, far out of gun-shot, uttering their hoarse, chuckling laughter, or they dived for small fish, or pieces of food floating upon the surface of the water beneath them. Sometimes a flock of ducks would fly by, far out to sea; then an occasional flock of plover or beach-birds would come and light now on this and now on that side of the bay, upon the sand, in plain sight from the shed where the boys were at work. Once a large black raven came by, and just as he flew over the house he doubled up his long, black wings, took a sudden curving dip in the air, and uttered a deep, guttural croak, that caused Freddie, who heard it, to laugh immoderately. "I declare, how gloriously it is clearing off; isn't it, upon boys and long, , and who HOW THE WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST. 303 boys ? " exclaimed Freddie. " Let's go out. Let's go up to the top of the hill and see the view. I'll go and get Eva, too ; she hasn't seen the sight from up there yet." The boys readily agreed, and Freddie ran off to the house to tell his sister to prepare to go with them to the hill-top to see the view. Eva was delighted, and soon had her hat and shawl and rubbers on, ready for the ascent, and came out of the door, singing : " ' The dew is on the grass, Mary, The flowers are on the lea — The birds, they voice their sweetest songs ; Then come, oh, love, with me ! ' There, boys ; I'm ready. Lead on and I'll follow ; " and the merry party started off through the wet grass for the hill. " I declare, what mean walking for so lovely a day," exclaimed Eva. " I should think that the path would be dry such a fine day, if only because we want to use it. I think that it ought to be accommodating enough for that." " It wants to show us that all pleasures have their alloy," laughed John, as, in dodging the dripping, over- hanging branch of a small spruce he hit it squarely and brought down a shower of water upon his liead, some of which ran down his neck and back. As John finished shaking himself, he suddenly lost his balance and would have fallen had he not stepped quickly to one side, just off of the path, to the mossy ground be- yond. As he did this, a little bird started up from beneath a low bush growing by the side of a huge stone. Allie was the first to see the bird fly, and immediately jifi 1 ! ! }l ' I I.! r\ " F-" ■ lU 1 j: i 1 4 i!''' 1 i n 1 % 1 1 1 1 1 1 I i w J 1 1 ; 304 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. rushed to the place. A little pushing aside of the hranehes caused a deep hollow to be seen, at the bot- tom of which, neatly made and cosily nestled, lay a small nest with four grayish-white eggs, marked all over with brownish spots and blotches. " Oh, Eva ; come and see what I have found,'' cried Allie. " Never mind the wet." Eva didn't mind it at all, but came tumbling througli the bushes to where Allie wfus. " Oh, isn't it beautiful ! " cried Eva, excitedly ; " let's take it home. No," she Sfdd, immediately, " chat would ])e unkind to the poor mother bird ; let them remain and watch for the little young birds." " So I say," exclaimed Allie. " I know what it is, it is the little sparrow so common everywhere about here — the Savanna sparrow ; we've got all the nests and eggs we want at home ; we'll leave this for the old bird." " I think it's awful mean to take the whole nest and eggs of any bird," said Eva. "I wouldn't be so mean — unless it was an old crow or a cat-bird," added she. Eva cordially detested a cat-bird. '' I hate it," said Eva ; " it's nothing but a regular old maid scold; it can't sing, and it staj^s in the dark — inside of the pines about the door at home, and it won't do anything but fuss from morning to night." " But the cat-bird loves its young just as much as the little sparrow," laughed Freddie. " I don't care," retorted Eva, with considerable force ; " I don't believe it ; it couldn't." As this argument was conclusive, and nobody seemed disposed to dispute it, the party proceeded up the hill, leaving the sparrow's nest, first having marked the place so that they would know it again, and were soon on the HO IV THE WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST. 305 top viewing tlio sights on either hand. The view was cloar and sliarply defined everywhere, although the shad- ows from an occasional dark cloud overhead cast dark reflections on the land and water below them. AV^hile they were watching these shadows on the water, Freddie, looking up, saw an apparently long black line approaching them from over the hill and inland. " Get down, quick," cried he in a whisper ; '' there's a big flock of bii'ds coming." The party all squatted down, and the long black line came on, nearer and nearer. Soon a low qu-qu-qu-like whistle reached them, and suddenly, with a grand swish a whole flock of curlews passed by them to the left, and disappeared over the slope. " Oh, dear ! where's my gun ? " cried Allie in a most despondent tone, as the last bird was gone. " I say, Allie," cried Fred, " let's go off on a grand cur- lew hunt this afternoon." "Humph," muttered Allie; "we'll have to load our shells first." " Well, let's go back and do it." And the boys, ever restless and eager for something new to occupy their time, started off on a run down the hill, leaving John and Eva to come home alone at their own time and convenience. In about an hour the boys had each loaded a dozen large shells for curlew and other big birds ; half a dozen very large ones with heavy shot for gulls ; and half a dozen for small birds, charged with very fine shot. Armed with these the boys started off down the bay in the direc- tion whither they had seen the curlews fly, for a grand hunt, bound to shoot some birds if they "had to stay out all day and all night to do it," so Allie said. u :'!| i '?y el - 'I'l ' •n 1 306 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. iliii li ' \ CHAPTER VII. THE BOYS EXPLORE THE COUNTRY AND FIND A CAVE. THEY first took the path toward the head of the bay, and were soon struggling along among rocks and over big logs of driftwood, for a better position nearer the beach or water's edge ; the}' felt surer of finding signs of birds there than in the open meadow-land, at the right of them. In thus doing they were wise, for no sooner had they struck the beach than they stumbled directly upon a large flock of " Quebec curlews," as the boys still contin- ued to call them, that were wading in the water and feeding close by. The flock started up Avith a shrill whistle, and made for the other side of the bay, but not until Allie had given them the contents of the left barrel of his gun, and killed two and wounded a third, which was soon splashing about in the water, just out of reach. The firing of the gun awoke the echoes of the old rocks, and its roar reverberated for some seconds along the shore, waking up and starting flock after flock of small beach birds, and sanderlings, and one or two small companies of larger birds. " There ! " exclaimed Allie ; " shall we spend the day in following up these small birds, or shall we go after the curlews ? " " I speak for the curlew ! " cried Fred. "So do I!" replied Allie. Following along the shore, then, until they had reached THE BOYS EXPLORE AND FIND A CAVE. 307 the head of the bay, starting up innumerable small flocks of plovers and beach birds, on the way, the boys turned toward the hills and began to clamber up them, knowing that here, if anywhere, they would be likely to And the curlews, feeding on the slopes and table-lands, on a small low blackberry, much resembling the huckleberry, but which in the north is known, generally, by the name of the " curlew berry " ; the curlew eats them so greedily as sometimes to color their flesh almost black. Here the boys climbed and hunted, and hunted and climbed; crossing and recrossing the meadow lands of deep moss, sometimes dry, sometimes wet, from the over- flow of small streams or marshy ponds, and where they would often sink to their knees. Then they would have to descend deep hollows and rocky ravines, to the depth, often, of a hundred feet or more, before they could ascend to the opposite side and continue their tramp. Now a dense patch of alders or low and gnarly fir and spruce, mingled with beech trees, would bar the way, and quite exhaust the patience of the young hunters. " I declare ! " exclaimed Freddie, after ascending a long, steep slope, " if we could only shoot something, or even see something, it wouldn't seem so bad ; but here we are, still in sight of the bay, and have gone miles to get over one, and not a curlew in sight, even." " Never mind ! " said AUie, " we've nothing better to do, and we might as Avell make an exploring expedition of it, — for that's all it has been, so far." "I think it's too rocky, here, for curlews. Allie, I say ! let's climb up to the top of that big hill, and see the view J) The hill, in question, was an immense one, and towered up, at the left, some three or four hundred feet above :|1 1 i Ki- n i«"^'' i si t I W} I! i:l •■i' }■; I II 308 WRECKED ON LABRADOR. where they then were, which must have been between one and two hundred feet above the bay ; it wjis very rug