0»ivig|i|(tarA '009VW3aHdlM3IAl jm -Syjiaaa k /■liiiivi.HiHnirm OOBV "I r«mina -a -a wi»M a *°i|:i THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP TEN SUMMERS UNDER CANVAS BY SAMUEL J. BARROWS AND ISABEL C. BARROWS Two voices are there. — Wordsworth Distinct as the billows, yet one as the sea. — Montgomery ^Mli!^^ Wmkmm^^^ ^>^^^^92PkVi^9MB8n ***i "rWS^^^f^^^^m^^x • •, • MIW^^^^^lK^HIcr /__ZJjk^tfll ^^K^S^^I^ • '. • - jlBMBk^MMaliit^ i ::!;.: I • r » ^ ♦ • • • ^' . « pfiiSij^^ 9 BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY (C6e IHitocrirfi&c jDrerf^, C«m6cft0e iSSS Copyright, 1887, Bt SAMUEL J. BABROWS. All rights reserved. 1^1 tut '»»»'••* I 1 •■ ^ • . I . • • • i » • . ■ « ■ £ •. ' ■ • » • J 1 ' ■ . t . I ' • • - " The Riverside Press, Cambridge .* Eleotrotyped aad Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Co. i f- To OUR LITTLE LASSIE, WHO IN THESE TEN SUMMERS HAS SWUNG IN THE HAMMOCK, FLOATED ON THE WAVE, AND LEARNED TO PADDLE HER OWN CANOE. '^ 67657 PREFACE. The custom of taking a summer rest is becoming a fixed habit in American business and professional life. What to do with this annual period is often a puzzle. Many people spend half their vacation in finding out how to enjoy the other half. For the last ten years the Shaybacks have found a practical solution to this question in camping out. The success of this form of recreation de- pends largely in knowing how to do it. The writers offer no formal treatise on this sub- ject, but the following transcripts from their own experience will illustrate its various methods and possibilities. One definite aim of this book has been to show that this is by vi PREFACE. no means a distinctly masculine recreation, but that the ideal camp is the family camp. Many of the Shayback sketches have ap- peared in the " Christian Register " and in " Outing." These have been revised or re- written. Other chapters are added which have not before been in print. Those who read the chapters on " Camp Cooking," " Massawippi," and the account of camping in India may naturally regret that Mrs. Barrows's name is not attached to a larger number of these sketches. The only consolation I can offer is that her own achieve- ments in camp life would not have received justice had they been left to the record of her modest pen. S. J. B. CONTENTS. ♦ CBAPTEB '^** I. GrpsYiNo IN Maine 1 II. A Gypsy Clam-Bake . ^ . . . 22 III. A Raid on Canada 30 IV. Memphremagoq 49 V. A Family Camp 66 "^VI. Getting Settled 82 VII. Camp Occupations 91 VIII. The Camp Kitchen, by Isabel C. Barrows 103 IX. The Piquancies and Perils or a Steam Yacht 116 X. Nymphic Navigation 144 XI. Spoon and Sinker: the Science of it . . 171 XII. Spoon and Sinker: the Poetry of it . . 204 XIII. To Brome Lake 220 XIV. Massawippi, by Isabel C. Barrows . . 235 XV. Our Log-Cabin 242 XVI. Mr. Shayback at Muster 258 XVII. Camp Life in Indl4, by Isabel C. Barrows . 281 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP, CHAPTER I. GYPSYING IN MAINE. If all the items had been put down in the way-bill, they would have run somewhat in this wise : — 1 gypsy minister. 1 gypsy minister's wife. 1 gypsy maiden, — Arline. 1 gypsy child, Pusskin, a four-yeaivoldster. 1 gypsy chum, Thomas. 1 trunk. 1 valise. 1 camp-stove. 1 tiny kerosene stove. 1 wall tent. 1 A tent. 125 feet lumber. 1 box canned fruit. 2 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP. 1 box crackers. 1 box utensils. 2 straw beds. 10 lbs. sugar, loose in a box. 2 loaves of bread on top of the sugar. 1 axe. 1 saw. 1 hammer. 1 gal. kerosene oil. 3 lbs. nails. 1 roll blankets and pillows. 1 lantern. 1 bundle waterproofs. Various odds and ends. At the time we contemplate it, the whole of the above-mentioned outfit is loaded on a hay-rack for the forward movement we are about to describe. The point of departure was a beautiful white birch grove on the banks oi the Penobscot, which our Methodist brethren had preempted for camp-meeting purposes. Here, at the kind suggestion of Tom, we had spent a pleasant week with this zealous, open- hearted tribe of Israel, worshiping under the same vine and birch-tree, and even singing the " Gospel Songs " in the Methodist choir. GYPSY ING IN MAINE. 3 The grove was thickly crowded with cottages and tents, the hitter consistinc: for the most part of wooden frames covered witli cotton cloth. The Shaybacks began by hiring one of the largest of these tents at the reasonable rate of two dollars a week. They had pre- ceded the regnlar camp-meeting by about a week, and had caught but the auroral flush of the dawninsr excitement. The tribe was ex- pected in great force after the formal opening. Mr. Shayback, being a minister, was de- lighted to be waked up at half-past four in the morning by the loud-voiced man in the next tent, who fervently poured out his spirit at that hour before going forth to fish. There was an unconditional frankness about it. This man had no secrets from the Lord ; none from the rest of the camp-meeting. Mrs. Shayback, Avith slumbering impiety, could not share the delight of her husband at beino; roused so early in the morning. Arline like- wise seemed to wish that the vociferous repre- sentative of early piety would pray, if pray he must, like ancient Hannah, who " spake in 4 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. her heart ; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard." There was a moving quality about this brother's prayers. It moved him early in the morning; it moved the Shay- backs also. It finally resulted in moving them out of the camp-ground altogether. They longed for more rest and solitude ; they longed to listen to some of those secrets of Nature which she will only disclose in a pri- vate interview. Thomas and Mr. Shayback went on an exploring expedition. They discovered a beautiful point some four miles down the river. It was promptly decided to migrate. The Shaybacks paid their bills, returned thanks to Mr. Calderwood, the kindly su- perintendent, hired a hay-rack, and loaded it with the afore-mentioned passengers and freight. A sorrel horse was invited to fur- nish the motive power, and Thomas under- took the responsible task of teamster. Of the religion of that horse there is great un- certainty. He either did not believe in the perseverance of the saints, or else modestly GYPSY I NG IN MAINE. 5 refused to consider himself of their number. Keady-to-Halt is the name which most nearly corresponded with his character. His readi- ness in this direction was sometimes an incon- venience. Of the religion of Thomas I can speak with more certainty after having seen him drive this horse. Thomas has since maintained that the horse Avas maligned. He, however, did nothing to malign him. A mule, according to army notions, will not pull unless his character is blackened with opprobrious epithets. Thomas, however, drove his horse by reins, not curses. Will any of the martyrs of travel tell us what are the glories of riding on a rail com- pared with those of riding on a rack ? The *'liay" on this occasion was altogether a fic- tion; the '-rack" was a positive and jubilant fact. Thomas took his seat in the bow, Mrs. Shayback and the four-year-oldster amid- ships. Rev. Mr. Shayback and Arline sitting in the stern. Thomas gathered up the rudder lines and we rolled off. Up the slight incline the sorrel moved with much delibera- 6 THE SlI AY BACKS IN CAMP. tion until we struck ii level stretch of road, when our pilot called for nu)re steam and the sorrel swung into a brisk trot. What an unreportaule exhilaration, especially on the "hind end" of the rack! There is no place wdiere you can get so much motion out of the same amount of ride, especially if you .discard all enervating cushions and ride on the top of a box of loose habits. When you first start you are conscious of sitting on the box. But this consciousness gradually leaves you as the vibration rises from your feet and ascends in a continuous ac^ue throuo'h every bone in your body. You are no longer riding on a box, you are riding on a tremor. You are insulated from head to foot in an ecstatic thrill. Suddenly the hind wheels strike a rock or drop into a hole. You fly into the air. When you come down you feel perfectly certain that the box is under you, and that it succeeded in getting down first. If the ancient martyrs had only been put on a rack of this kind instead of those then in use, they might have ridden to heaven with- GYPSYING IN MAINE. 7 out jarring anybody's feelings but their own. "How invigorating this is," thought Mr. Shayback, as he bobbed up and down on the box wdth uncertain rhythm. " I don't be- heve, though, that I should make a very good battering ram. A man needs an iron consti- tution to make a good hammer. One ouirht to wear his winter clotlies and have his bones well sheathed in fat to do justice to the end of a hay-rack." A cry of distress from Arline sent a thrill through every nerve. " Stop ! stop ! The sugar ! the sugar ! '* Thomas brought old sorrel close up to the wind, threw out his anchor, seized a spoon, and sprang to the rescue. The box contain- ing ten pounds of sugar (at thirteen cents a pound) had tumbled through the rack. There was a beautiful white wake of suirar in the middle of the road, and close by lay the mangled remains of a loaf of bread, — not much mangled, either, for the wheel had gone through it lengthwise, and cut it in two as clean almost as if it had been done with a 8 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. knife. It was a melamcholy sight, but we gathered the fragments and spooned up the dust with care (not more than one spoonful of sand to two of sugar), and Thomas, who knows some of the secrets of the grocery business, declared we had made money by the operation. When we started again, Arline thought there was a little too much staccato at the extreme end of the wagon, and moved forward to seek a smoother legato, " Port your helm, Tom ; port, my boy ; " and Thomas pulled out just in time to avoid a three-foot precipice at the edge of the road. The old sorrel did not seem to mind the rud- der very well. He Avas too fond of tacking, even when he had a free wind. Presently we came to the foot of a high and exceedingly steep bluff. Its angle Avas absolutely painful, and its great height dis- couraging to all aspiration. Ready-to-Halt seemed to lose heart when he looked at it. Job, in his masterly description of the horse, speaks of his swallowing the ground. He did not refer to this horse, for Ready-to-Halt GYPSYING IN MAINE. 9 seemed to have no appetite for this hill what- ever ; anil though the load was far from heavy, it did seem a big hill for one horse to swallow. Just at the foot of the slope was a little house. A blind man here had gained local repute by his skill in telling fortunes. Arline, though metaphorically a gypsy her- self, was very desirous of testing his pro- phetic power, and, with Mrs. Shay back, pro- posed to do it as the load went up the hill. The fortune-teller would have had plenty of time to spin his fables had he waited for the accomplishment of this lofty intent. But Ready-to-Halt did not propose to go up there without all the help that he could get. He took a little bite of the slope and then stopped to digest it. Mr. Shayback shouted for the ladies. They came quickly to the rescue, and the fortune-teller w^as robbed of his gain. A man sitting listlessly in his doorway proph- esied that we could " never get up the hill." This was a cheerful assurance to begin with. What should v/e do? If just then we could have borrowed a half mile of 10 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. Hoosac Tunnel ! But the biggest tunnel we had was a three-inch stovepipe. It would cost us a million dollars to cut a road through that hill, and there was no time to spare. It would have taken us four miles out of our way to go round. So we chose the hill itself. No, toe did not choose it; the choice was Hobson's. Happily the ladies had on their neat, pretty gymnastic suits, with skirts drop- ping to the top of their boots. They did not have to bind their hands in holding up their dresses. " Now, Arline, take a stone and be ready to block the wheel when R. T. Halt comes to a stop ; and, Mrs. Shayback, take another, and meanwhile push all you can." Ready-to-Halt makes a start. We put all our strength into the wheel ; up we go, about thirty feet, when the horse suddenly halts, and the whole load comes upon our shoulders, and horse, too, for that matter, as he leans comfortably back upon the rack. The wagon begins to back. It is a precarious moment. If it once gets under way, no one knows GYPSY I NG IN MAINE. H what will become of the load. Just in the nick of time the women cleverly throw the stones under the wheels, and we breathe freer. The listless man at the foot of the hill shouts, " You can never get up that hill ! " We begin to think there is some truth in his statement. We also think he would be kinder if he were to come up and put his shoul- der to the wheel. We give Ready a good rest, and try it again. Ready is not balky, but he insists on having plenty of blowing stops, and we cannot tell just when he thinks one neces- sary till he halts, and that is generally at the Avrong place. We have no whip, but Mr. Shayback shouts at the top of his lungs in a manner to frighten the beast out of his wits, if he were a horse of any tenderness of hearing. How we toil and sweat ! How bravely the women work ! And the four- year-oldster bears it very patiently, too, trudg- ing along by the side of the road. If we could only hitch up some of that strong camp-meeting butter with the sorrel, how smartly they could draw that load ! 12 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP. We worked at it over an hour. It was truly a Hill of Dillieulty, and the orij^inal hill of that name never tried the patience of Christian more than this tried ours. When half-way up we came to the most critical point, a section so steep that ascent seemed impossihle. We took a good rest. Then summoning all the strength we could com- mand, tongue-power, hand-power, foot-power, we gained this strategic point. As we sat there panting by the roadside, the horse the least weary of the group, a man came up with a yoke of oxen and stopped a little distance behind our wagon. His atti- tude and bearing were mercenary rather than generous or helpful. " A fine day," said we. " Fine day," said he. " Pretty big hill to climb." " Yes ; are you stuck ? " *^ Stuck ! stuck ! " we exclaimed, with well- feigned surprise, " What made you think 60?" " Well, a man down there said you were GYPSYING IN MAINE. 13 stuck. He said you never could get up that hill.'* What a strange man ! What could have put such a notion in his head? The oxen-driver seemed very sorry that we were not stuck. We had a tough little piece of hill to climh yet, hut he did not oH'or to help us. lie was waiting for a hargain, the hest hargain he could get. His team could he hired for a dollar. Had he offered to give us a lift we should have been glad to pay him for his generosity ; hut when he insinuated that we could not get up without him, he raised all the pluck we had left. Arline was especially indignant. We started up old Iveady ; the ladies took hold ; Ave carried the hill in triumph. Oh, glorious vision of heauty ! We sat a moment on the hard-won summit to enjoy it. Below us the heautiful Penohscot, dotted with sails, cleft with wood-crowned isles, and in- dented with lovely coves. There is Isleshoro, parting the waters of the hroad hay, sprinkled here and there with cottages, and covered IJ: THE SIIAYBACKS IN CAMP. with ofroves. It lian^fs too-ether by ^ little thread of land in the middle, over which the tide niiti-ht ahnost wash. A dozen iioetic lit- tie islands, with prosaic names (Flat, High- land, Seventy-iive Acre, Hog Island, etc.), form the satellites in this beautiful archipel- ago. Five miles away Searsport nestles on the hillside, glistening in the sun. Below it we catch a view of Belfast Bay. Jus4; oppo- site, Castine is marked by that white light- house which in the distance looks like a little salt-cruet. Oif to the east lies Sedgwick, and farther to the south. Deer Island. The bold outlines of the Camden hills are capped with mists as they rise into tlie sky, which to the east bends down to kiss the slee})ing ocean. Hill and dale, isle, cove, and peninsula, the peaceful river, the ample bay, and the ocean- breadth beyond, all bathed in sunlight or toned with shade, formed one of the most lovely panoramic views we had ever seen. " A man must climb," said Mr. Shayback, " if he is c^oinij to have a broad vieAV of either moral or physical relations. It costs GYPSYING IN MAINE. 15 work to C'liml) ; but it pays." I suspect that Mr. Sliaybaek \vill be carting' this hill iuto one of liis sermons, or selliuf^ it to the reli- gious press at so much a ton. We Avere on the hill ; how were Ave to get down ? No lock-cluiln, no break. AYe tried to extemporize one. Mr. Shayback undertook to hold the wheels with a tent-pole. His min- istry was not yery successful. It would liaye been a sin to break a tent-pok'. If he sinned at all he determined, in the words of the Prophet, to sin ^' with a cart-rope." We found the cart-rope in the wagon, and tied it to the back axle. IMr. Shayback and the ladies took hold and held back with all their strength. Ready was a splendid horse on the bre ?li- inof. There is a difference in horses as in men. You find horses that arc good on the breeching that are not much on the tug, and horses that are jjood on the tui»' that are not much on the breeching ; just as you find men that haye go-ahead power but not much stay- power, or men that haye stay-power who have no forAvard vim. Ready av .s a stay-back 16 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. horse. As Tom said, "He went backward pretty well, going forwards." We descended the hill as slowly as a resiDcctable funeral, presenting, I dare say, a very comical appear- ance, and remhiding one of the appendage to Captain Crosstree in Robson's '^ Black-eyed Susan." Stretclf'jd out like the tail of a kite, grasping the knotted line till hands were il- most blistered, Mr. Shayback, Mrs. Shayback, and Arline lay back on the rope till they al- most touched the ground, and dis])uted every foot of the way. Completely begrimed with dust, the coatless Mr. Shayback looked more like a deacon than a minister, if we cling to the old derivation of ^^ deacon " {hia, xovig, ^^ one icho is dusty with riaunng"). The little four-year-old trudging after, the fat hands filled with asters and golden-rod, was the one bright spot in the picture. When Thomas let the sorrel out, as we reached the bottom, we were jerked around in a very lively manner, like a fish on the end of a line. It was very well for him to shout, " Let her run now." It was quite another thing, under the GYPSYING IN MAINE. 17 downward imj^ulse, to stoj) running our- selves. We threw up our hats Avhen we reached Captain Wright's gate. The sun had set. It was too hite to pitch the tents. We had heen three hours and a quarter in coming the four miles ! At this rate, Thomas will never be elected to a membership in the Society for the Promotion of Cruelty to Animals. We thanked him for his care, were sorry he had to go back, and besought him not to drive so fast on his way home. Captain Wright, an old seaman, and his wdfe gave us a cordial welcome. We never found a more hospitable roof, though it is doubtful if they had ever read the story of Baucis and Phile- mon, or expected reward for their trouble. The next morning the two tents were pitched side by side on a beautiful spot, which was christened " Fern Point." As Thomas Avas obliged to remain at Northport with his family, the gypsy camp was reduced to Mr. and Mrs. Shayback, Pusskin, and Arline. Mr. Shayback had camped before for months 18 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. on the Western plains ; Mrs. Shayback had camped in India ; but this was the first at- tempt of the Shayback family to camp to- gether. As we recall that first family camp on the banks of the Penobscot the party seems small, the outfit meagre, the appliances rude. But the situation was lovely, the companion- ship delightful, and the rest and quietude grateful. When the camp historian wrote his letter to the " Christian Register " he gave a pen-and-ink sketch of the situation which we like to preserve in the vividness of the present tense : — " And now our tents are pitched on a beau- tiful, grassy peninsula, whose rocky feet are washed by the waters of the bay. The little cove which it shelters is frincred with woods of spruce and cedar. In this cove we find a delightful bathing-place. Rejiosing beneath its bed are thousands of delicious clams wait- ing for the revealing spade. In this cove, Charles, the fisherman, anchors his wherry and his lobster-car. Charles is a kind, oblig- ing fellow, who has a trawl out in mid-rivei GYPSYING IN MAINE. 19 with a line half a mile long* and some five hun- dred hooks. Ho hauls it twice a day, and brings \\\) varying quantities of cod, haddock, hake, etc., sometimes a dozen, sometimes one hundred and fifty at a haul. He gets plenty of muckerel with his jig. We are sure of a good supply of fish. Indeed, we can take our poles, and from the rocks before our tent- door can catch a mess of cunner at almost any time. Milk and eggs grow on our neigh- bor's farm. Children bring us blueberries, whortleberries, and raspberries. Our little kerosene stove is a treasure, especially on a stormy day. It is suprising how much that stove can achieve under the tuition of Mrs. Shayback and Arline, though so small it could go under a silk hat. AYe have plenty of drift-wood on the shore when we need the larger camp stove. Our furniture is simple. Arline saw^ed the boards, Mrs. Shayback measured and fitted them, and Mr. Shayback nailed them down to the joists to make a good floor for the wall-tent. An inclosure of boards in the corner was filled with spruce 20 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP. boughs. On this was placed the fresh straw mattress, and the combination makes a springy, fragrant bed. Mr. Shayback occupies the A tent, where he sleeps on a rude bedstead of his own manufacture. Fresh moss dotted with violet leaves forms a beautiful carpet. The little one sleeps in a hammock suspended from stakes. Thomas made us a rough pine table, and Mr. Shayback has made a knock-kneed bench. In addition we have several very original camp-stools, contrived from driftwood by Mrs. Shayback. Bits of boards laid across fruit-cans, two or three stories high, make an excellent cupboard for the shining array of tin-ware. In good weather we cook and eat out-of-doors, and then we would not change dining-rooms with any hotel in the country. We are half a mile from the road ; we see no teams, we have no dust, no inter- ruptions. The river in front is our roadway. The steamboats salute us as they pass. In the fogs voices from bewildered schooners sometimes shout to us to know their way. Storm or shine, we never lack for amuse- GYPSYING IN MAINE. 21 ment. We have a compact little library in the valise. There is a o-reat book all about us, which, for a reverent reader, hath ' a voice of gladness, and a smile and eloquence of beauty.' Now let the rain descend and the floods come and the winds blow ; we shall only lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes. Here in this verdant, breezy solitude, far from the noise and the bustle of the world, Ave bid dull care away." CHAPTER II. A GYrSY CLAM-BAKE. The Rev. Mr. Shayback was standing shoe- less on the roeks — lest, like the wicked, his feet should slide — inviting, with his fishing- pole, a few dinners to dine with him at one o'clock. The ladies had gone out to sail with George William, the young skipper. A thin veil of foo; hung' over the river and the hills. The landscape here is of the ut- most modesty, and veils of this material are deemed indispensable at this season of the year. The sound of oars up the river at- tracted the reverend angler's attention. Tom had not visited them at Fern Point since the eventful journey with the sorrel some days before. He had promised to come by water the next time. His presence was daily hoj^ed for. There was a rent in the curtain of fog, A GYPSY CLAM-BAKE. 23 and the lon^-expected boat, still wrapped in a haze of filmy blue, hove in si<»ht. A ^\'^- coming' war-whoop rang over the rocks, and was answered from the boat and by the tire- less echoes in the neighboring^ hills, always on the watch to mimic our voices, yet doing- it in such a natural and lovable way that we could not find fault with their mockery. The boat soon landed, with Tom, his wife, little Carl, and a friend. The camp was inspected, and pronounced a success ; the scenery was viewed, and extolled beyond measure ; but it was noticed that Tom's eyes seemed to rest with fondest admiration upon the shores of our cove. "Clams?" " Yes, a splendid clam-yard." " Mr. Shayback," said Tom, with the ten- derest emotion, " there is a void within which longs to be filled ; the fact is, I am in a half-starved condition, and nothing Avill sat- isfy the unusual demands of my appetite but about half a bushel of those clams." " Thomas," said Mr. Shayback, with com- 24: THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. forting assurance, " you can draw on that clam-bank to any amount you wish. Your draft shall be honored. I will indorse your check immediately with a good spade." " A clam-bake, then it is ! " We borrowed a spade and a hoe from Captain Wright. It is easy to borrow when you are camping, — much easier to borrow than it is to return. This clam-bank pos- sessed an unusual amount of deposits, and, as the tide was low, we were just in banking hours, and found a ready payment. Mrs. Tom picked up and washed the bivalvular coin as it issued from the mint. " Poor creatures buried alive here under the soil, liOAV thankful they must be to be exhumed from their living graves and com- mended to a more honorable desthiy ! " And Mr. Shayback worked with that excess of zeal which many people exercise when they mistake their own pleasure for an act of charity to others. " This is the true symbol of missionary work," thought Mr. Shayback ; " it is the A GYPSY CLAM-BAKE. 25 minister's work to raise people from the mud ; " iuid he dug with still greater enthu- siasm. But when he thought of the roast which was to follow he found it more diffi- cult to reconcile it with his notions of salva- tion. However, he knew that the roast was but a finite evil, and that the bivalvular mar- tyrs simply suffered translation to a higher form of existence. What better use can be made of a clam or a fish than to make it minister, through the great law of sacrifice, to human development? Mr. Shayback has no sympathy with the wanton sportsman who destroys merely for the sake of the destruc- tion he wreaks ; who kills harmless creatures which neither he nor any one else can appro- priate. It seems to him only a lower form of murder when he hears of men shooting right and left into a herd of buffalo simply to see who can make the largest score. The same is true of superfluous fishing simply to get the largest catch. But when, at the suggestion of a hungry stomach, the bullet speeds to its mark, the hook establishes a 26 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP. welcome communiciition, — welcome, alas ! at but one end, — or the inquisitive spade pro- saically turns over a few fat clams, the moral conditions are altered. Think of the dignity to which this clam is elected. He leaves the low, earthy, brainless life which he has led, and by a process of rational, human selec- tion leaps at one bound clear over centuries of differentiation and myriads of intermedi- ate forms, and incorporates his life with that of humanity. His bland juices mingle with the ascending chyle, pulse through the gate- ways of the heart, bound on the crimson tide which bears fuel to bone and nerve, or burns with intellectual flame in the thought fires of the brain. Sudden and exalted ascen- sion! Instead of mounting the slow ladder of evolution, he is Elijah-like swiftly trans- lated into a higher realm of being. How much better than dying of stupidity in a mud flat ! Dame Shayback, Arline, and little Pusskin soon returned from their sail and assisted in excavating our seashore dinner. Meanwhile, A GYPSY CLAM-BAKE. 27 Tom had gathered some stones and piled them up into a round, Hat pile on a conven- ient I'oek near the shore, and huilt a good fire upon them. In thirty minutes the stones were thoroughly heated. The fire was then put out, the embers removed, the stones brushed perfectly clean with boughs, and a bushel of clams was dumj)ed on the hot stones and completely covered with sea-weed. How they sizzled and steamed, and, opening their clammy mouths, prophesied of good things to come ! Bread and butter, crackers and condiments, were brought down from the tents. After ten minutes the sea-weed was removed, and our dinner was before us, spread upon its rocky table. The man who sits down at a clam-bake must have a digestion void of offense. He must ask no question for conscience' sake, but abandon himself with reckless temerity to the inviting opportunity. Thomas seemed to be exactly such a man. There was a hero- ism in his appetite which reminded one of 28 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. the Charge of the Six Hundred, only it was the clams that entered the jaws o£ death. Some blueberries, a patent " surprise pud- ding " of Mrs. Shayback's invention, and a variety of incidentals, which if named would only excite envy, furnished the aftermath. So far as the dinner was concerned the motto of the company seemed to be, " Let justice be done though the heavens fall." But the heavens did not fall ; there was no rain and scarcely a cloud to mar the beauty of the day. The subsequent events of that day I will not describe ; but when we retired to our lux- urious couches that evening, Mrs. Shayback and Arline wrote in their journals as fol- lows : — "Rose in the morning. [Time omitted, but fact undoubted.] Breakfast on mackerel, cunner, silver hake, rock cod, with oatmeal, milk, crackers, eggs, and blueberries. Sail with George William. Delightful clam-bake at noon with Mr. and Mrs. Tom. A GYPSY CLAM-BAKE. 29 Bath in the cove at four o'clock. Fish chowder at five at Ca^'t. AVright's. Game of croquet till G.30 ; wore beaten. [This part of the entry was written very indistinctly.] Sing at Mrs. H 's till 7.30. Swinging the hammock, drying dew-damp slvocs over the kerosene stove, driving in tent-pins till 8.30. Good- night. #ab a£, M, ^ M. ^ yF "TV* Tf "Jf* Three weeks o£ delightful campmg on the Penohscot, and then the stars of heaven — not these faint imitations of the printer — and Mars with his red lantern and retinue of moons, looking down on Fern Point, failed to see the gypsies' home. And the good-natured pilot of the Camhridge, who so faithfully whistled a salute every time he passed the camp, missed one morning the gypsies' welcome. We had folded our tents like the Arahs and silently stolen away. CHAPTER III. A RAID ON CANADA. Mr. and Mrs. Shavback had tried a salt water camp ; they concluded that the next year they would try one on fresh water. The reverend gentleman, as summer approached, began to play " hickory dickory dock " on the maps of a much-neglected geography. But somehow his pencil nearly always landed too near some one of those little rinos which on most maps are appropriately used to des- ignate cities. He was considering the expe- diency of consulting some map with fewer places on it, when suddenly his pencil dropped plump into the centre of "Lake Memphrema- " Eureka," he said, as he recalled a rapid trip which he had made with IMrs. Shayback through that lake some years before. "Let A RAID ON CANADA. 31 US leave our native land and enjoy the de- lights of expatriation in the wilds of Canada." " There are some beautiful islands in the lake," said Mrs. Shaybaek. " I have always wanted to camp on an island. It would be delightful to have one all to ourselves." Mr. Shaybaek recalled the populous piety and the early morning fervor of the North- port camp-meeting and said, " It would." It was just about this time that the eyes of all England w^ere concentrated upon an island in the Mediterranean. Russia, Austria, and England had quarreled over tlie choicest morsels in the Eastern platter. Bismarck was carving to the best of his ability in the diplomatic conclave. But when the dinner was over, it was discovered that Beaconsfield had helped himself to a whole pie. The Queen presented him with a new garter and raised the flag of her dominion over the island of Cyprus. " What a delightful reprisal it would be," thought Mr. Shaybaek, "while the Empress Victoria is exulting over the acquisition of 32 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. Cyprus, to steal softly up into Canada and capture one of her majesty's islands." Little did the Empress of India think, as she sat throned in her own imperiality, of the plot which was being concocted in the United States against one of the fairest portions of her Dominion. It took hut a short time to organize the expedition. It was concluded that the lar- ger the party, the less likely it would be to succeed either in capturing the island or in enjoying its coveted solitude. It would save bloodshed, powder, and noise to seize the isl- and without letting her majesty know any- thing about it. The raiding party therefore simply consisted of six : namely. Rev. Mr. Shayback (in this enumeration I proceed from base to climax), Mrs. Shayback, Captain Cla- vis, Miss Futura Clavis, and Signorina Mezzo- fanti, who has one tongue by nature and a half-dozen by acquirement, and who consid- ers the conf usion-worse-conf oundedness of the tower of Babel a merciful device without which the science of philology would have A RAID ON CANADA. 33 been impossible. Last, but not least, I must mention Miss Pusskin Sliayback, aged five years, and her doll Anna, who early lost one foot in this piratical expedition, but shared the vicissitudes of camp life with an unfailing patience. About five o'clock on a certain afternoon in August, this hexagonal party of Americans quietly left the Passumpsic Railroad at New- port, Vermont. The rain which fell in tor- rents could not wholly dampen the ardor of their purpose. A few of them took refuge for the nioflit under the shelterino^ eaves of the Memphremagog House, and a few plunged into the simple but abundant hospitality of a Canadian farmhouse. Thirty-six hours later the scattered forces of the expedition were reunited under a propitious sky, and a plan of operations agreed upon. Lord's Island, some twenty miles away, was selected as the objec- tive point. To be sure none of the party had visited it. They only knew that it possessed the first and most important attribute of an island, that of being entirely surrounded by 34: THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. water. But it was described by the captain of the Gracie as " a magnificent place to camp, half a mile each side from the main- land ; fine spring, splendid fishing, beautiful prospect." One of the most important instruments for the capture of an island is a suitable navy. As the Shaybacks had neither time to build nor means to purchase, they were obliged to hire. The Gracie is a small propeller, about forty feet long, with an eight-horse en- gine, a cozy cabin, and lines of beauty which make her in every way worthy of her name. Her services, including that of captain and engineer, were available for the reasonable sum of six dollars a day. " The very boat we need," said Mr. Shay- back ; and the Gracie was forthwith hired, and through the acquisition of Captain Cla- vis's double-barrel breech-loader, was placed upon a war footing. Mr. and Mrs. Shay- back and Pusskin embarked at the wharf with their luggage without exciting suspicions of hostile intent. A mile from Newport the A RAID ON CANADA. 35 frigate, or, more literally, the gun-boat, was stopped to take aboard Captain Clavis, Miss Futura Clavis, and the Signorina, who with commendable enterprise had left the hotel and formed a temporary camp on a point of land. Thus armed and equipped the Graeie moved off into the broad and beautiful waters of the lake. Bearings were taken for a point on the east shore, about five miles away. As we en- tered the cove a little boat was seen moving from the shore. It was Cousin Joseph, proudly paddling in the Hippogrif, and bring- ing from home a pail of maple sugar, a tub of butternuts, and various other weapons to add to our arsenal. The Hippogrif, a flat- bottomed skiff, kindly loaned to us as a tender, was to enter upon a new and glorious destiny. " Tender " not only describes the function of the little craft, but also the feeling which Joseph held towards it, and which in time we all came to share. The *• Hippo," as we called it for short, was not modeled for speed or for beauty. She looks more like a coffin than 36 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP. anything else ; but her looks belie her func- tion, for she has proved to be as stanch as a whaler, and as dry as a prohibitionist. For waltzing on the water no boat can surpass her. With a single oarsman she will spin around on her flat bottom like a top, unless the box in her stern is filled with stones ; but you could hardly tip her over if you tried. She is as sound and trusty as Joseph her owner. With the Hippo tied behind, the Gracie moved on her way. We soon came to Prov- ince Island, part of which is in the United States and jiart in Canada. We look in vain in the lake for any evidence of the boundary line. The waters seem to have no more ten- dency to divide at that point than they do at any other, and the fish beneath, I presume, are profoundly unconscious that at one time they are swimming under the American flag and at another time under the British. The consciousness silently steals over us, however, that WG are " ahroady We are bevond the protection and beyond the vengeance of A RAID ON CANADA. 37 American laws. AVe are in the country Tvliich once held its cegis over the fugitive slave, and which now holds it over escaped bank presi- dents and truant cashiers. We ran into a little cove on the east shore to wood up. The discovery that our gun- boat was aground threatened to wreck the hopes of the expedition, which depended largely for its success upon our making a landing before sundown. The captain, how- ever, with his usual deliberation and compos- ure, seized the flag-staff, drew it from its socket, and rammed it into the ground. The boat slowly responded to his effort, and once more felt " the thrill of life alons" her keel." Again we abandon ourselves to the scenery, and to a careful digestion of the details of our plot. But Mrs. Shayback, who is sitting just forward of the pilot-house, begins to turn up her nose contemptuously at everything we say. " What is the matter, Mrs. Shayback ? " " Don't you smell anything ? " We snuff the air with our nostrils. We do 38 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP. smell something'. We see, too, a little smoke curling from the hurricane - deck. llie steamer is on fire, and two hundred and fortij miles from Boston ! Joseph and Captain Clavis rush to the hur- ricane-deck to combat the devouring flames, while Mr. Shayback runs to the other end of the boat to alarm the fire department. We see imaginatively the tongue of fire curling to the mast-head. We see the whole steamer wrapped in flames ! We see the boy standing on the burning deck till all but him have fled, and Avonder how he could be so foolish, when he might have gone off in a small boat. Captain Clavis was a walking arsenal, belted and loaded down with cartridges. Futura pleaded with him not to go too near the flames. Had he become ignited he would have gone off like a gatling gun. " Do be careful," she said. " I will," was the response, and he rushed into the flames with such renewed zeal that the devouring element was homoeopathically quenched by his inextinguishable ardor. A RAID ON CANADA. 39 The danj^er over, a list of losses was taken. The fire, it appeared, was confined to the 1up- erative plan, and, if properly organized, they will be loath to turn again to the tame insi- pidity of hotel or boarding-house life. All that is necessary to make such a venture suc- cessful is the faculty of knowing how. The Shaybacks have no copyright on their method, and freely offer the benefit of their experi- ence. The size of the party will usually vary in inverse proportion to the square of the dis- tance. The Shaybacks have found that a A FAMILY CAMP. 71 party of a dozen is larg-e oiiougli, tliougli they have never entertained a superstition aj^ainst sittinii' down to a table of thirteen. At their hist year's camp the dominant num- ber was sixteen. Of these ei^ht were adults and eiji'lit children, tlie latter ranoino- in acre from six to fifteen, and symmetrically divided into four bovs and four o-ii-ls. In the next place the Shaybacks always have a definite plan to begin with. An in- dividual camper may start off without know- ing where he is going- to bring up, but, for a family camp, especially when children are along, it is important to have the destination fixed with as much definiteness as possible. Another essential for a good family camp is that it slioul'^ be a permanent one for the season. With i party of tourists there is a certain novelty in adopting the nomadic habit of camping in a new place every night, but this generally involves too much labor, and is too precarious for a family party. If a good site can be found it is better to stick to it, to make it as comfortable as possible, and to use 72 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. it as the point from wliicli radiating excur- sions can be made. The ShaybaclvS once thought it desirable to have a new camp every summer, and many campers prefer this plan. But, having found an ideal camping- ground on Memphremagog, they discovered that a certain home feeling Avas developed the first year, that it grew into an affectionate attachment the second year, and that each succeeding experience enhances the pleasure of the association. If there is an exhilarating sense of novelty in going to a new place every sunnner, there is a kindly, hoLielike feeling growing from as- sociations which are tenderly familiar. There is only one thing pleasanter than striking new chords of emotion, and that is striking those that are old. There are many places that might av»'aken a sense of novelty and whet the edge of curiosity, but there is no place for a summer outiuGf which awakens sunnier emo- tions in the Shaybacks than the sleepy little handet near which they camp. Not so much for the little village itself, as for the inviting A FAMILY CAMP. 73 and boundless contiguity of shade that Ues around it, and the mysterious fascination of the waters that spread out before it. And with the touch of nature there is a pleasing touch of humanity. The old stagers are on the wharf ; for they knew that we were coming. Brawny hands are extended, and wrinkled faces smile with kindly welcome. It is a great advantage to know before you set out on your trip just what you are going to have when you reach your destination. When a new camping-ground is to be found, unless 'he locality is familiar, a scout or ex- plorer should be sent in advance of the party, that the site may be selected and transporta- tion secured. Another advantage of camp- ing two or three years in or near the same place is that the heaviest and bulkiest of the camp kit may be stored somewhere near the grounds, and yearly transportation avoided. Those who adopt the nomadic plan of camp- ing are obliged to go as light armed as pos- sible. The writer once camped for four months on the Plains, making a new camp 74: THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP. almost every night, and nearly all his worldly goods, except the clothes he had on, and a few little conveniences in a valise, Vv'ere packed in an oat-bag or rolled up in his blankets. Only that which is absolutely essential should be taken on such an expedition. The writer remembers, however, that although officers and men were limited to twenty-five pounds of baggage each, yet one zealous lieutenant manajTfed to smuo-cvle alono; a Webster's Una- bridged Dictionary. Why this volume was taken out on a campaign against the Indians I have never been able to discover. It is not a convenient missile ; the Indians are opposed to the spelling reform on principle ; logoma- chy had not then become a social game. In a permanent camp, although one may not in- dulge in such '^ unabridged " luxuries, a v/ider range of comforts is permitted. " Good heavens ! what luo^o'a