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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
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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 1u<t-
gage. Our straw ticks were well scorched ;
the Signorina had four holes burned through
her waterproof. Several umbrellas were ven-
tilated in the same way. Mr. Shayback's hat
was scorched, and Futura received a burn on
the back of her hand.
Loss about five dollars. No insurance.
As Futura had already pledged her hand to
Captain Clavis, the damage done to that mem-
ber was felt by him as a personal loss, and
every one knew that Captain C. would rather
have scorched his native hand ten times over
than the one he had acquired by a judicious
expenditure of the affections.
During all this excitement the captain of
the steamer stood manfully at his wheel. His
usual deliberation did not desert him ; his in-
difference was heroic.
" Captain, did you know the steamer was
on fire ? "
" Yes," said the captain ; *^ it gets on fire
every day."
40 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
He might have added, " and nobody suf-
fers but the passengers."
Mr. Shayback reported on the origin and
cause of the fire. It originated, he said, in
the fire under the boiler, and was soon com-
municated to the smoke-stack, and thence fell
in a shower of sparks on the hurricane-deck ;
as the wind moved faster than the boat
the sparks were thus carried forward of the
wheel-house. The only way to prevent fu-
ture conflagration in that stage of the wind
was to run the boat stern foremost ; but a
more effectual remedy would be to pour a few
pails of water down the smoke-stack.
" Do you see that island about three miles
ahead of us?" asked the captain of the
Gracie. " Well, that 's Lord's Island."
All the latent Robinson Crusoeism of our
natures was kindled by this announcement.
Visions of the victory before us were painted
by an over-heated imagination. We touched
at Georgeville for a few minutes, a village
with which we were ultimately to become
much more familiar. None of the inhabit-
ants suspected our predatory intentions.
A RAID ON CANADA. 41
Twenty minutes later we hove to on the
west side of the island. Joseph, Captain
Clavis, and Mr. Shayback proceeded to re-
connoitre in the Hippogrif. They found the
island guarded by two thousand British squir-
rels, but not a mosquito or a black fly. It
was further garrisoned by a dense growth of
trees and underbrush. They stood together
like a solid phalanx of the Queen's Own.
Possession could only be gained by a vigorous
use of the axe. On the south side, however,
a small clearing was discovered, just large
enough, by cutting away brake and under-
brush, to admit three tents. We had come
to take the island, and take it we must be-
cause it was too late to take anything else.
We returned to the Gracie for our baggage.
Reinforced by the rest of the party, except-
ing Joe, who being a loyal Canadian went
back with the steamer, the capture was quickly
and bloodlessly made. Lord's Island was
ours, and we were lords of the isle.
We put up our tents, crowding them to-
gether in the inhospitable clearing, and ate
our supper.
42 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
We had taken the island without blood ;
but we were not to take it without water.
There was not a single vessel of the Queen's
navy on the lake to resent this invasion ; but
our sentinels reported that a vast fleet of
dark, and heavily armed clouds was gathering
overhead. Had the Queen of England, like
the Queen of Heaven, power over ^Eolus, who
rules with imperial sway the reluctant winds
and sounding tempests ?
" 'T is thine, O Queen, to ask
Whate'er thou wilt ; my part to do what bid."
Regina was massing her forces for a night
attack. The Shaybacks began to intrench
themselves. They feared not that the enemy
would succeed in storming the roof; their
tent-flies would repel a heavy bombardment of
rain and hail. They feared rather that, like
the boys who find the vulnerable point of a
circus, the enemy might crawl underneath.
An axe does not seem a formidable weapon
against a thunder-storm, but it is one of the
best defenses a camper has. In the absence
A RAID ON CANADA. 43
of a spade, it i;:)akes a good intrenching-tool.
With its aid the Shaybacks cut around their
tents such a ditch as rocks and roots would
permit. They spread their rubber blankets on
the ground within, and their woolen blankets
above them. Mother earth furnished the
only mattress. Pusskin was swung in her
hammock between the tent-poles, fearing
neither the waters above the earth nor the
waters under the earth.
Thus fortified the Shaybacks laid them
down to rest. They awoke a few hours later
to witness one of the grandest Canadian
thunder-storms that ever attacked an Ameri-
can invader. How the artillery pealed, and
the lijjhtninij flashed its fflitterinjj scimeter !
The rain poured in torrents. Repulsed on
the roof, it fell dripping with defeat into the
trench below. It channeled a river throusch
Mr. Shayback's tent, but as the sleepers, with
the camper's instinct, had made their beds on
the high side of the ground, it compelled no
surrender. Suddenly the sky was flushed
with a bright light. The lightning had
44 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
struck a barn on the west sliore one or two
miles away. We sallied forth during' a lull
in the rain to view the sight. If that blow
were meant for us, iEolus is a bad marks-
man.
A more genuine sense of alarm was expe-
rienced by Mr. Shayback an hour later, when
it suddenly occurred to him that the tide
might have arisen and carried off the Hippo,
our only boat, and that communication with
the mainland would be difficult under such
circumstances. He rushed down the bank to
the lake shore. The Hippo was there, and
Mr. Shayback was relieved. He pulled it up
higher and saw that the fastening Avas secure.
As he returned it occurred to him that the
tide does not rise in fresh-water lakes. He
defended himself against the logical gibes of
the camp by saying that in such a storm even
illogical precautions were necessary, and that
a good strong dose of wind and wave might
be equal to a high tide.
The Shaybacks woke the next morning to
find that the clouds had retreated, having
A RAID ON CANADA. 45
used up all their ammunition in a vain effort
to dislodge the invaders. AVe were mon-
arehs of all we surveyed. By right of con-
quest the island was informally annexed to
the United States.
Within twenty-four hours what had we
accomplished? We had wrested an unin-
habited island from the dominion of its own
solitude ; we had established law and order ;
instituted republican government; introduced
the Christian religion; reorganized society on
a cooperative basis; effected a reform in
labor ; secured the rights of woman ; founded
a free public library of a dozen volumes, and
opened a school of practical philosophy.
" And now," said Mr. Shayback, '' all that
remains to be done with this island is to
abandon it as soon as possible."
It need hardly be said that the conquest
of the island thus recited was a n'reat vie-
tory. It sounds better to call it so. Mr.
Shayback has such an ear for music that he
cannot bear to hear it called anything else.
46 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
But when I asked the reverend gentleman
whether it Avas a victory for us or for the isl-
and he smiled compassionately. Yet it is a
strange fact that after we had conquered the
island none of us wanted to stay there. The
thirst for conquest had been excited. We
sighed for new worlds. That is the way Mr.
Shayback preferred to look at it. There
was another way of looking at it. It was
the Jonah way. When Jonah captured the
whale he undoubtedly felt that he had
achieved a great victory. He had secured a
whole whale, — a whale all to himself ! Yet
as he quietly reviewed his prophetic career,
and took an internal view of his prophetic
situation, he must have felt that his scope for
exultation was limited. The great majority
of the party felt very much the same as the
en whaled prophet. We had captured a whole
island ! We were its sole human occupants !
We had won a signal victory. But as we
took an internal view of our situation we
somehow felt that there was still opportunity
for humility. We found ourselves on an
A RAID ON CANADA. 47
island of about one hundred acres, covered
with a heavy growth of cedar and birch.
Exploration disclosed a small clearing in the
centre, but so thickly covered with brake
and bramble that pedestrianism was slow and
unprofitable. The ground was moist and
thickly strew^n with dead leaves. There was
a luxuriant growth of ferns. We had pitched
our tents on the desolate site of an old camp.
There was no view, no spring, no brook, no
field, no sandy beach.
Mr. Mallock has written the history of
" Positivism on an Island." The conditions
here, however, were essentially negative. The
only thing positive was the positive discom-
fort. It was a splendid island to give away
to somebody.
Accordingly, the next morning Captain
Clavis and Mr. Shayback manned the Ilippo-
grif and started on a voyage of discovery to
the mainland. They were successful in find-
ing an attractive spot some two miles nearer
the village, — a delightful combination of
grove, beach, brook, and point, which seemed
48 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
to have been made expressly for their purpose.
An extra boat and boatmen were hired, but
it was no little work to effect the removal from
the island to Merriman's Point, with a high
wind, a rough lake, and boats heavily laden ;
but when the transfer was made, and the
camp was fairly settled, the Shaybacks could
claim as their summer home one of the most
beautiful sites on one of the most beautiful
lakes of the northern chain.
CHAPTER IV.
MEMPHREMAGOG.
" Memphremagog," said the principal of
a New York grammar school, "that is in
Maine, is n't it ? "
Mr. Shayback smiled a tender geographi-
cal rebuke. Glimpses of latitude and longi-
tude flashed in mild commiseration from his
eyes. Think not that all the " quoddies,"
"gogs," "wippis," and " bagoes," are in
Maine. Maine, to be sure, is one of the
most dropsical places in the United States,
judging from the amount of lake water it
holds in its geographical body, and it is pep-
pered all over with unpronounceable names ;
but it is not the only place where the Indian
tongue has wrought its ravages. If you con-
sult the Koran you will find that the Scrip-
tural Gog and Magog are north of the Cau-
50 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
casus ; and if you as religiously consult a
map of the United States you will find that
the unscriptural Memphreniagog- begins in
the northern part of Vermont ; that it is, in-
deed, a sheet of water hanging over the inter-
national boundary line, one third of it drip-
ping into the United States, and the other
two thirds into Canada. If you subject this
word to the tortures of philological inquisi-
tion, the meaning it confesses is " beautiful
water." Whether the etymology is truthful
I have no means of knowing ; but there are
so many Indian words meaning '' beautiful
water " that suspicion w^ould naturally be
aroused if this one meant anything else.
And if, in the vicissitudes of language,
" beautiful water *' should get detached from
any other scenery, whether in the Trosachs,
the Alps, or the Sierra Nevadas, and should
seek a new location, I do not know where
these words could more truthfully settle their
significance than on the name of Memphre-
magog.
It is nine years since the Shaybacks first
MEMPHREMAGOG. 51
made the raid described in the preceding
chapter upon an ishiiid in the Canathan por-
tion of that lake, violently wrested it from
the dominion of the Queen, and, after camp-
inir two nio'hts in dolorous discomfort in the
brakes and bushes of its solitude, finally dis-
covered and took possession of an ideal camp-
ing-place on the main shore. Many years
before that time the first settlers on the
eastern shore of Lake Memphremagog had
landed at this very point, and slept there the
first night of their sojourn, from which fact
it had received the prosaic name of " Bed-
room Point." But the landing of the Shay-
backs on this charming little peninsula had
all the zest of fresh discovery. History had
repeated itself, and has continued to repeat
itself ever since : for the Shaybacks migrate
to Memphremagog in the middle of August
as naturally as the birds of that lovely region
fly soutli at the approach of winter. So
subtle is the charm which this sheet of water
and its surroundiufj: mountains weave over
the lover of nature that it is difficult to
52 THE SU AY BACKS IN CAMP.
break it after he lias once come under its
spell. For two or three years past the Shay-
backs have vainly tried to <»'o somewhere else,
but have not been finally able to make up
their minds to drink their summer pleasure
wholly from another cup. Mr. Shayback ex-
plains it on scientific principles. The mag-
netic pole, he asserts, is not located at Boothia
Felix, but in the vicinity of Memphremagog.
And as the Shaybacks have a considerable
quantity of iron in their constitutions, they
invariably point tow^ards the north.
It is not easy to analyze all the currents of
influence which produce this state of attrac-
tion. The wild, natural beauty of the region
is a laro'e element in the total. The associa-
tions formed by repeated visits have much to
do with it. One cannot catalogue the beauty
of a landscape any more than he can cata-
logue the beauty of a poem by naming the
words it contains. Emerson's " Each and
All " is the true exposition of the fascination
of natural beauty. The scenery of Memphre-
magog is incisive, vigorous, robust. Its fea-
MEMPIIREMA GOG. 53
tures are distinct, salient, characteristic. Here
is a sheet o£ water thirty miles long, and
from one to four miles wide. It cannot claim,
like Winnipesaukee, a wealth of island jew-
elry, but the brooch and studs it wears are
enough to adorn without destroying the unity
of its shining bosom. Its shores are heavily
wooded, and for the most part bold and
rugged, but at times gently subsiding into
sloj^ing beaches.
Owl's Head is the special mountain guar-
dian of the " beautiful water " that nestles at
its base. It rises abruptly from the lake for
nearly three thousand feet. It is a hairy
giant, a mountain Esau, covered with a heavy
growth of forest from base to peak. To
only one mountain in Lower Canada does it
yield preeminence, and that is Mount Orford,
Avhich rises grandly to the north about six
miles from the foot of the lake. Orford is
but three hundred feet higher ; but this is
enough to earn for it the title of the highest
mountain in Lower Canada. Its head is as
bald as that of Elisha, except when some soft,
54 THE SHAYDACKS IN CAMP.
fleecy cloud kindly settles like a nightcap on
its crown. Little Orford is rooted not far
away from the paternal mountain. And all
around them are grouped children of a
younger and less ambitious generation. Still
another bold and striking figure forms a part
of the montanic community which holds the
lake in its cup. Elephantis does not belie its
name. Viewed from the eastern shore of the
lake, where the Shaybacks camp, it is an
almost perfect outline of a sitting elephant,
its trunk stretched out on the ground before
it. We almost wonder that the Great Show-
man has not tried to capture it for his me-
nagerie. This is the only elephant, perhaps,
that his gold could not move.
Back of Elephantis the sky line is serrated,
curved, and broken by numerous hills and
mountains, which would be famous if dropped
out on a Western prairie, but which in Can-
ada, where mountains are cheap, have not
received the honor of a name. Far to the
south of Owl's Head, Jay Peak pierces the
Bky. Mount Her and Mount Willoughby
MEMPIIR EM A GOG. 55
stand like a pair of twins, li()lclin<^ a wator-
bueket — and a cliarminf»' bucket is Lake
Wiilougliby — between them. Once, on a
remarkably clear day, from the pilot-house of
the Lady of the Lake, I was able to see, if
Captain Fogg, who furnished tlie only mis-
tiness on the occasion, was not mistaken, the
top of Mount Washington blending with the
sk^'.
This is the setting of Memphremagog, —
a setting of which it may well be proud.
The head of the lake rests in Vermont, its
feet and its two broad arms lie in Canada.
Nestling peacefully in the lap of the moun-
tains, it is a sleeping beauty. Torn by winds
and storms, it is maniacal in its fury. It is a
lake of many moods : amiable, placid, serene,
rippling with breezy smiles, or frenzied by
tumultuous passion. Its scenery is pictur-
esque, its sunsets gorgeous, and among its
negative virtues we may mention the absence
of fogs, mosquitoes, and black flies.
One element in the charm of Memphre-
magog is the general aspect of wildness which
56 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
still reijifns on its shores. There are a few
tasteful villas on the eastern side and a hotel
at the hase of Owl's Head ; hut hetween
Newport and Magog, w^hich lie at the ex-
tremities of the lake, there is hut one little
village on the immediate shore. There is a
sense of solitude which civilization has not
yet exorcised. The Lady of the Lake, the
Memphremagog, the Mountain Maid, and oc-
casionally the Newport, plow the clear water
in front of the Shayhacks' camp, hut the
sound of the locomotive whistle is not heard.
The mournful, lonely cry of the loon, break-
ing into a hysterical laugh hardly less plain-
tive than its wail, is a familiar note. Nature,
not art, rules at Memphremagog, and Mr.
Shayback believes that the only way one can
fairly enter into sympathy with it here is
through the medium of a life without con-
ventionality, conforming to the simplicity of
nature, and partaking of its wild, luxurious
freedom ; in other words, through the medium
of camp-life. To worship at this shrine one
needs to take the shoes from off his feet.
MEMPHREMAGOG. 57
Mr. Sliayback accordingly goes barefooted
half the time.
But those who are more dependent upon
shoemakers, shingle roofs, spring beds, and
other appliances of civilization, arc not de-
prived of the privilege of a sojourn on Meni-
phremagog. It is one of the great advantages
of the lake that though preserving its orig-
inal simplicity and wildness of character it is
still easily accessible to lines of travel. There
are portions of it — such for instance as at
the head of Sargent's Bay — where the visitor
might seclude himself from all contact Avitli
the outer world, and live in a hermitical re-
tirement equal to that which he would find in
the wilds of Canada farther north ; but if he
wishes to feel the pulse-beat of civilization
through the telegraph and the daily mail, he
may enjoy these recognized privileges in any
of the three villaii'es which lie on the lake.
Of these three villages Newport is the
largest. It is situated about two miles from
the head of the lake, and about five miles
south of the boundary line. As it is on the
58 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
direct line from Montreal to Boston, it fur-
nishes a tempting" place for the traveler to
break his journey betAveen these points. The
Memphrcmagog House is well known as one
of the larsfest and most comfortable of sum-
mer hotels. Many business men from both
Boston and Montreal wdio do not mind the
proximity of a locomotive take rooms here
during the summer. The view of the lake
from the shore itself does not do justice to
its beauty ; but from Prospect Hill, above
the town, a nuich better idea of its extent
and picturesqueness may be formed. New-
port has all the characteristics of a thriving
Vermont town. From this point the steamer
Lady of the Lake makes excursions through
the lake twice a day, usually running to
Georgeville, twenty miles, in the morning, and
in the afternoon to Magog, at the foot of the
lake. The latter village now has direct com-
munication by railroad with Montreal. It is
smaller than Newq)ort, and its hotel accommo-
dations are divided up between two or three
houses. Within the last two years, however,
MEMPHREMA GOG. 59
a cotton factory has been established in this
village, which has drawn a large number of
hands :"nd accelerated the growth of the
place.
The third villas^e we have named, Georjje-
ville, is of more special interest to the campers,
because it is their base of supplies. It is
about twenty miles from the head of the lake
and ten miles from Magog. It is a small
Canadian hamlet, containing, when its summer
boarders are subtracted, about one hundred
inhabitants, two churches, a school, a post-
office, two blacksmith shops, and a new and
larji^e hotel. Georfjeville is one of the most
self-possessed towns in Canada ; a single wire
and a daily mail-bag keep it in communication
with the outside world. The two daily events
in the life of the hamlet are the arrival of the
steamboat twice a day with the latest intelli-
gence from the United States, and the en-
trance of the mail-bag, w liicli comes by v*'agon
a distance of about ten miles. Being within
two hours' sail : '^ the United States, it has an
international interest in the great events which
60 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP,
occur on both sides of the line. But no
breezes of intelligence from any direction ever
disturb the perfect serenity of its peace. In
the course of several years' acquaintance I
have never known Georgeville to exhibit a
state of excitement save on two occasions.
Once when Lord Dufferin, in 1878, stopped
for a few minutes at the village ; the other,
when it was rumored that a certain small
steam-yacht, described in a subsequent chap-
ter, was sinking. Georgeville enjoys the dis-
tinction of possessing a little world of its own.
The simplicity of the town has not been
perverted. The supreme deliberation of its
inhabitants is sometimes exasperating to a
nervous American, but it is exac^'y the sed-
ative he needs. He soon catches the influence
of its soporific spirit, and takes an hour to do
a job or an errand which he could do com-
fortably in thirty minutes.
The old Camperdown Hotel, with the sen-
tinel evergreens which stood like grenadiers
in front of its portals, was one of the pic-
turesque features of the place, and harmonized
MEMPHREMAGOG. 61
with the prhnitive fashion and comfortable
inactivity of the little town. It was con-
stantly crowded with more boarders than it
could hold, and under an impulse of enter-
prise a company was formed, which has built
a large and not very picturescpie hotel capa-
ble of accommodating one hundred and lifty
guests. The presence of such a large hotel
in these primitive surroundings seems like a
new and conspicuous patch upon an old gown.
It is evidence, however, that a number of peo-
ple have found out that this village is about
the most beautiful point on the lake for a
summer sojourn. I cannot speak of George-
ville without bearing testimony to the uniform
kindiiess, generosity, and courtesy of its in-
habitants. In their monthly sojourn, which
has covered a period of eight years, the Shay-
backs have never sulfered from any intrusion
whatever, and have had constant occasion to
be grateful for services received.
Another resort which has many attractions
for the summer visitor is the Mountain House,
at the foot of Owl's Head. To those espe-
62 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
cially who enjoy mountain clnnl)iniv the situ-
ation of the hotel at the base of the mountain
is very convenient. The Mountain House
was for a Avhile suffered to lapse into decay,
but it has since been refitted and furnished,
and affords a beautiful Jind secluded retreat.
Opposite the Mountain House, across the lake,
is Bay View, a grove wdiicli serves as an at-
tractive goal for various excursions from New-
port and Magog.
The number of private residences on Lake
Memphremagog is snuxll compared with those
that adorn Lake George. On the west side
of the lake; in its whole length from Newport
to Magog, there is scarcely a purely summer
residence that I know of. On the east shore
the most conspicuous summer home is that of
the late Sir Hugh A Han. It is situated about
four miles south of Georgeville, on a penin-
sula which commands a beautiful view of- the
lake. The suiTounding grounds are Avell
cultivated and tastefully laid out. Sir Hugh
Allan was the owner of a large and beautiful
steam yacht, made after the model of the
MEMPHR EM A GOG. 63
ocean steamers of the " Allan Line." Since
his death tho steamer has heen removed from
the lake. Mr. Alexander Molson, of Mon-
treal, has a farm and residence on the east
shore, ahove that of Sir Hugh Allan and near
Molson Island. The bay formed on the in-
side of this island, protected as it is from the
severest storms of the lake, is one of the most
delightful and retired spots of Memphrema-
ffoo*- Another Montreal o^entleman has re-
cently erected a fine house on a bluff near
Georgeville, commanding a noble view of the
lake and surrounding country. There are
some other places on the east shore Avhicli
might deserve an enumeration if vre were
writing a guide-book, but the visitor is on the
whole surprised that this lovely lake should
have remained so long in the possession of
the farming community by which it is sur-
rounded.
The principal islands in the lake are Prov-
ince Island, Whetstone Island, Long Island,
Molson Island, and Lord's Island, to which
the reader has been introduced in a previous
64 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
cliapter. There are various other smaller
islands, mostly lying in the southern part of
the lake.
Beyond its natural and perennial beauty
Lake Memphremagog has little to offer to
those who seek natural scenery as they go to
a museum to find unique and curious things.
Skinner's Cave, which figures in the guide-
books, is simply an insignificant cleft in a rock
on an island which takes its name from a
traditional smuggler. Balance Rock is a
huge bowlder upon the end of an island. It
is said to be so nicely balanced upon its
centre that it can be moved by a slight touch.
Memphremagog must rather depend ujion the
general charm of mountain, forest, island, and
water, than upon any eccentric curiosities. It
is an excellent point from which excursions
may be made into the interesting country
about it. Montreal is about sixty miles away,
and may be reached by rail from Newport at
the southern end of the lake, or from Magog
at the northern end. There is also connection
at Magog with Sherbrooke, and thence to
MEMPHREMA GOG. ()5
Quebec. Stanstead, one of tlie most enter-
prising towns in Canada, is but fourteen miles
away, and the road leads over some of the
steepest of Canadian hills. There are a dozen
lakes of smaller proportion inviting visits from
the tourist and fisherman.
The most direct way of reaching Memphre-
magog from New York is by way of Spring-
field, Massachusetts, thence north to Well's
River and by the Passumpsic road to New-
port. From Boston, by the Boston, Concord,
and Montreal line. By this route the day
traveler has the advantage of a good view of
Lake Winnipesaukee. The Shaybacks feel
that their summer trip has not been quite
complete unless they return through the White
Mountains, to enjoy the magnificent scenery
of the Notch.
CHAPTER V.
A FAMILY CAMP.
There are two or three methods of camp-
ing-out. One of them is known as " rough-
ing it." It represents the minimum of com-
fort and the maximum of privation. The
writer has fully tested its novelties, exhila-
rations, and discomforts. To bivouac under
the cotton-w^ood trees — on a rapid cavalry
march, with a McClellan saddle for a pillow,
a rubber blanket for a mattress, an overcoat
for a bed cover — is a luxurious state of pri-
vation, which becomes commonplace only
when it becomes monotonous. To go twenty-
four hours without water, to camp where
there is no wood to cook your meals, to fill a
blank in one's existence for several days with
hardtack and bacon, to sleep on the deck of
an upper Missouri steamer in a snow-storm.
A FAMILY CAMP. G7
to endure peltlni^ rain and liowlino^ winds,
have become familiar experiences. A sini;-ii-
lar ambition exists among amateur campers
to emulate these distresses of the professional.
The proud heroism of the boy-camper exhib-
its itself in an utter disdain for the comforts
which are within his reach. The fewer con-
veniences he has the more sublime seems his
self-denial. Only when his abstinence has
risen to its full height — which is usually
the heio'ht of the ridiculous — can he descend
ag'ain to the level of ordinary nu)rtals. The
Shaybacks have long since passed by the
heroic stau'e of cami) life. Tliev liave disco v-
ered the happy medium between the enervat-
ing luxuries of a highly-wrought civilization
and the rude asperities of savage life. The
sybaritic camper is an offense to them on the
one hand, and the barbaric camper on the
other. To borrow an expression in use
among Western campers, which indicates the
ideal of thorough preparation, the Shaybacks
always go '' Avell-heeled." Their object is to
get the most comfort consistent with the most
68 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAm\
freedom ; to get the most healthful enjoy-
ment lit the cheapest rates.
Adam was the first eam2)er-out. He found,
as many a modern camper has done, that it is
not good to live alone, even in Eden. The
mere du[)lication of nude society would not
remove the sense of want. Eve was essential
to the completeness of the Edenic camp. It
was the serpent which was superfluous. The
Shayhacks have long since accepted the ideal
of Genesis. They have chosen an Eden for
their camp-ground, and have always main-
tained that every Adamic member should be
neutralized by an Eve. Little Cain and Abel
are taken along too, on condition that they
will not club each other, and their sisters
accomj)any them. But the sinuous serpent
is not considered an element of felicity, and
when, one sunnner, a young daughter of Eve
in our camp suddenly found a serpent in her
tent, far from being charmed by its guileful
persuasions, she seized her little brother in
her arms, and, though barely able to carry
him, heroically removed him from the scene
A FAMILY CAMP. GO
of temptation, and summoned the destroying
angel.
It was written in the hook of Bea-nininirs to
start with, and the Shaybaeks write; it yearly
in the book of Continuations, that the best
camp is the family camp. A purely mascu-
line camp is generally like its camp -biscuit,
an over-done or half-baked affair. And the
purely feminine camp is a concentration of
sweetmeats, like a mince pie without any
crust. A judicious proportion of children is
another necessary element. A camp baby is
a delightful luxury, but it should be past the
gristly stage, able to waddle like a duck, to
talk broken English, to find its mouth with a
spoon, to laugh when it bruises the stones
with its head, to serve as ballast in a row-
boat, to sport like a little nymph at its daily
bath, and to sleep twelve hours out of the
twenty-four. Such a little joker is the best
camp trump. Little Mattie, but eighteen
months old, was one year the j oiliest member
of Camp Merriman, and completely realized
the ideal of a camp baby.
70 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
The little four-year-old of Fern Point is
now fourteen. She has spent a month of the
summer in this way for the last ten years. I
am sure there would be a miniature salt water
lake in each eye if told that she must spend
the next summer at some fashionable hotel
instead of in her tent on the wooded shores
of Memphremagog.
There are inany families in moderate cir-
cumstances Avho are puzzled every year to
know how to spend the summer vacation to
the best advantage. Let two or three such
families join together and camp on the co(>p-
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<re ! " said a
or? o
Canadian woman, as she saw the Shaybacks'
effects piled up on the landing. It was, in-
deed, a motley array of bedding, boxes, bags,
and bundles ; such as one may see at Castle
A FAMILY CAMP. 75
Garden with a party o£ newly arrived emi-
g-rants, and were we not emigrants on Cana-
dian soil ? It is not a well-ordered barrel, or
a symmetrical box, wliicli awakens susj)icions
of vagrancy. It is the roll of bedding tied
up in a piece of old carpet, and heavily
corded, the oat-bag filled with tent-pins, or
some plethoric, shapeless bundle, a little (Hit
at the elbows, which creates the suspicion
that the owner has just graduated from the
poor-house, and has embarked for some new
domain of pauperism. In later years the
Shaybacks, to save transportation, have
adopted the plan suggested of storing most
of their tents, cooking utensils, and camp-fix-
tures in the little villaoe of Georo'eville, about
a mile and a half from their ca' up-ground.
Notwithstanding this the amount of personal
material to be transported each year for the
party of twelve is considerable, and JNIr.
Shayback found, last sumnun-, when the train
moved oil' from the Lowell depot, that he
had nineteen brass checks in his ])ocket. At
this number the supply of checks gave out,
7G THE SII AY BACKS IN CAMP.
and a piece of chalk was used for the rest of
the bagi^age. Other important articles for
the camp commissary are shipped by freig-lit
a few days in advance of the departure. Ar-
rivinj^ at Newport, Vermont, these various
articles are collected on board of the Lady
of the Lake, and, after a night's rest at the
Memphremagog House, the Shaybacks steam
for Georgeville, eighteen miles away. Here
the articles stored are o-athered tooether on the
wharf — and a formidable pile they present.
A great barge or scow, like a Mississippi flat-
boat, propelled by long sweeps, is procured,
and all the things are piled in with tumultu-
ous disorder. The campers gleefully tumble
in also to fill up the chinks. The roAv-boats
are taken in tow behind, and the great barge
moves off with as much gravity as Noah's
Ark, which it greatly resembles, except that
it has not a house on top. When it show-
ers, therefore, as it occasionally does just
after the barge is pushed off, the Noachians
cover themselves with waterproofs and tar-
paulins and hide their diminished heads under
A FAMILY CAMP. 77
the protection of the tents whicli are spread
over the chattels.
Althongh the Shaybacks come from a for-
ei<^n conntry there are no commissioners of
emigration to set a i)rice on their heads, and
the only formality Avliich marks this transit
from the great Republic to the great Domin-
ion is the inspection of the customs, Avliich Is
more a matter of eticpiette than of personal
or official curiosity. Noah's ark moves slowly
into the little bay, and finally grounds its
broad prow upon the sand. A census taken
on the spot would show that there were four
families and a baker's dozen of souls added
to the population of Canada. An inventory
of the cargo in the barge, as declared on Mr.
Sliayback's manifesto, reads surprisingly like
one of Mr. Walt Whitman's poems. Six
tents : one 9i-xG^ feet ; one 8^x9^- ; one
12x18; one 10x12. These serve as camp
dormitories ; a capacious tent, 12 X 14, is used
as a parlor and general rendezvous, a small
one, 7x7, is dedicated to the kitchen, and a
large fly set out in the grove serves as a din-
78 THE SHAYBACKS LV CAAfP.
incr-i'oom tent. Four fair-sizcMl trunks and
six valises contain articles of wearing' aj)-
parel. For the ladies there are short llannel
dresses with warm jackets, heavy shav/ls,
hroad-brinimed hats, rubber circulars, coats
and shoes, bathing-dresses, shoe-bags, hoods,
flannel wrappers to sleep in, and the usual as-
sortment of curling-sticks, hair-pins, mirrors,
and ribbons which make up essential features
of a lady's outfit. For the gentlemen there
are overcoats, both woolen and rubber, a ju-
dicious supply of underwear, and enough old
clothiu": to stock a Chatham Street dealer.
Nothing contributes more to the freedom of
camp life thari to be clad in raiment which is
beyond redemption, and therefore beyond the
possibility of spoiling. At the close of the
season there are always fishermen who can
utilize the disreputable vestiges which are
left. Furthermore, there are huge bundles
of blankets, half a dozen hammocks ; an axe,
three hatchets, two saws, a spade, a hammer,
nails, spikes, screws, gimlets, a brace and bits,
a full set of tin plates, cups and saucers,
A FAMILY CAMP. 79
plated knives, forks, and spoons ; empty ticks
for l)eddln[»' to l)o filled with straw at the
barn ; two barrels of pots and kettles, three
cots, two lanterns, a sup})ly of rope of vari-
ous sizes, kerosene stoves, oven, double-boiler,
and tea-kettle, a barrel of kerosene oil, and,
among the instruments of torture, a violin,
flute, and cornet. Many of these elfects rep-
resent the accumulation of several years, and
illustrate one advantage of camping in the
same place.
The Shaybacks always make liberal provi-
sion for the camp cuisine. The fear of famine
does not liaiuit them. The packages of mer-
chandise sent by freight contain a supply of
provisions, the bill of which lies before me,
and which may be suggestive to other excur-
sionists. It contains such items as tea, coffee,
canned tongue, dried apples, canned pears,
apricots, cherries, berries, tomatoes, peaches,
raspberries, pineapples, sardines ; sugar, oat-
meal, rye, graham meal, raisins, prunes, cur-
rants, dates, walnuts, soap, sai)olio, barley,
cracked wheat, tapioca, rice, saleratus, isin-
80 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
glass, sea-mosSj salt, macaroni, chocolate, oil,
olives, candles, yeast i)o\vcler, corn starch,
matches, ginger snaps, oatnicjil biscuit, and
pilot bread. The quantities of those articles
are judiciously determined by the size of the
party and its gastronomic reputation. Neces-
saries not included in this invoice can usually
be found in the vicinage of the camp. Here
is a great aquarium thirty miles long in front
of the tent doors, with a constant supply of
perch, and a somewhat inconstant supply of
lake trout and other fish. The butcher from
Stanstead makes a bi-weekly trip to George-
ville, bringing good beef and the best of
Canadian mutton. Milk, eggs, butter, pota-
toes, and other vegetables can be obtained at
the farmhouse less than half a mile away.
There is a great sugar orchard almost within
a stone's throw from the camp, and our sum-
mer life is daily sweetened by its product.
Sixteen miles east, over some of the steepest
hills that a horse ever climbed, there is an old-
fashioned farmhouse. With telescopic eyes
the inmates see the Shay backs coming weeks
A FAMILY CAMP. 81
ahead, and as David, in IIel)raic times, car-
ried parclied coin, loaves, and cheeses to his
hrethren in camj), so Joseph the Mnscnlar in-
variably visits his Shaybaek eonsins with
loaves of graham bread, a bag of apples, a
can of maple syrup, a mould of butter, and
numerous other goodies, including some con-
traband doughnuts ripened in his mother's
kitchen.
CHAPTER VI.
GETTING SETTLED.
A GENEROUS camp-larder will repair a
good many deficiencies, but it will not atone
for a poor camp-site. The Shaybacks think
that the several requisites for a good camp-
ground were realized in their old camp at Bed-
room Point, and their new one on Bigelow's
Bay, which they call the " Camp by the cliff."
At the former, the tents were placed in the
bottom of a U-shaped wall of cedar and
hemlock, which protected them from north-
erly and southerly winds, and left a beautiful
vista opening upon the water. A pleasant lit-
tle cove, with sloping, sandy beach, made an
excellent place for bathing ; but the principal
charm of the spot was the shady peninsula,
running out into the lake, where the Shay-
backs might swing in their hammocks, catch
GETTING SETTLED. 83
the soft summer breezes, and watch the clouds
that float over the head of Orford. When
the farm upon which they had camped for five
years finally changed hands, and the shore-
front was put to other uses, the Shaybacks
had to move but half a mile to find another
site, lacking some of the characteristic fea-
tures of the first one, but possessing compen-
sating advantages. The beach was not so
smooth or sandy, but the spring was more
convenient. We missed the point for our
hammocks, but a great, towering, forest-
crowned cliff reared its battlements against
the northwest wind. And there was a
grassy, open park, so well protected by a
thick wall of trees, that no rude storm,
however violent, could disturb the trustful
composure of our tents. We were also
nearer to Georgeville, and nearer to Farmer
Bigelow's milk fountains, that irrigated our
oatmeal pudding every morning, and diluted
our chocolate at night. The Shaybacks
vote unanimously that never have they had a
more perfect camp-site than the one thus
chosen and annually reoccupied.
84 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
The shores of the lake abound with drift-
wood, and the groves contain an abundance
of dried cones and dead limbs, which furnish
fagot - gatherers with a plentiful harvest.
Only one who has camped upon the Plains,
without a stick of wood or even a buffalo
chip to cook a meal, can appreciate the lux-
ury of camping where wood seems to be as
abundant as earth or water. In the imme-
diate vicinity of the camp-ground there are
no less than twelve varieties of trees. Cedar,
birch, hemlock, maple, and spruce abound,
some of which fill an important part in the
constructive processes of camp life. The
water of the lake is soft and pure, excellent
for cooking and washing. The little babbling
brook which sings in the storm and is quiet in
the sunshine, and the clear, cold spring within
a few feet of the kitchen tent, furnish a con-
stant supply of ice-cold water on draught.
The habitual camper soon becomes, by
education, a very fair topographical engineer.
He knows a good camp-ground when he sees
it. He must have an eye for a beautiful
GETTING SETTLED. 85
situation, but, remembering the inexorable
round of camp duty, he will not overlook con-
siderations of practical convenience. It takes
the pilgrim Shaybacks, after they have landed
with the heterogeneous baggage, but a short
time to determine where their tents shall be
placed. The ladies have the first choice, and
invariably display a remarkable intelligence
in making it. The slope of the ground, the
outlook, convenience to the kitchen and the
shore, relations to the picturesque and the
symmetrical, as well as the important ques-
tion of adequate shelter, — all assist in deter-
mining the location of the tents. Military
regularity is not required. The kitchen tent
is not far from the shore, and the dining
tent not far from the kitchen. Having once
had to make a round trip of half a mile for
every pail of fresh water, when camping on
the Penobscot, Mr. Shayback recognizes the
advantages of having the camp-fire near a
good supply of water.
These canvas houses are to be the pil-
grims* shelter for four weeks ; it is worth
86 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
while, therefore, to put them up properly to
begin with. It speaks well for the engineer-
ing operations of the Shaybacks that in the
course of ten years' camping they have
never had a tent blown down. There have
been times when such an exigency has seemed
very probable. Against a north or south
wind Camp Merriman was well protected ; but
when a tornado west by south swept over the
lake, rolling great billows on the shore, and
roaring through the trees like a legion of
demons, the tent-poles bent and swayed ;
there was an immense flapping of canvas, and
on two occasions the whole camp sallied forth
from their tents at four o'clock in the morn-
ing, to witness the grandeur of the storm,
and to hang on for a time to the guy-ropes.
Eternal vigilance is the price of an upright
tent. Every night before going to bed it is
important to heed the injunction of Isaiah, to
" lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy
stakes." Mr. Shayback never retires for the
night without a lantern, an axe, and a sledge-
hammer within easy reach in case of need,
GETTING SETTLED. 87
and it not infrequently happens that he is
obliged to go forth at midnight, in undress
uniform, to pound some recreant tent-pin or
tighten a loose fly. In their first camp on
the Penobscot the ladies who occupied a tent
adjacent to Mr. Shayback's thought it a
necessary precaution at night to have a rope
pass underneath the tents, one end of which
lay within their reach, the other being at-
tached to Mr. Shayback's arm. Necessity
never required the use of this danger signal,
but attempts were made on more than one oc-
casion to haul Mr. ShaybiLii: from under the
canvas by means of it. The amount of gig-
gling heard in the next tent showed that the
motive was certainly not alarm.
Each tent is provided with a fly, which
furnishes a second roof, keeps off rain, and
renders it cooler. To keep out dampness the
tents are all floored. Lumber for this pur-
pose is stored from year to year in the barn
at the farmhouse, and when a new supply is
needed it is brought on the Lady from New-
port, or by wagon from Fitch Bay. The
88 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
ten tents, the number in their last camp, are
put up in a remarkably short time. In the
work of settling there are no spectators.
Every one takes hold. The first day is
usually a hard one. The muscles are unused
to exertion, but they are quickened by an ac-
tive and unflagging enthusiasm. In the work
of flooring the tents the mechanical capa-
bilities of women are beautifully illustrated.
Mrs. Shayback and Arline established on the
Penobscot the precedent of cutting, fitting,
and laying down their own tent-floors. They
and their associates have ever since kept up
this practice. Owing to the inequalities of
the ground it is not always an easy matter to
lay a level floor, but there are plenty of stones
to shore them up, and it is only by some
special grace of feminine resignation that the
male members are permitted to carry them.
The facility with which Mrs. Shayback will
use a saw and hammer, a screw-driver, a
brace and bit, and other useful tools, is only
equaled by the ease and promptness with
which she can get a meal for a dozen hungry
campers.
GETTING SETTLED. 89
Ticks for bedding are filled with straw at
the farmhouse. Some of the campers use
cots. Those who wish a luxurious couch
make a box six feet long and about four feet
wide ; this is filled with hemlock boughs, and
the well-filled tick is laid upon it.
On the second day a large dining-tent
table is built, either under the shade of the
trees in the grove, or under a tent-fly. Skids
are made to draw up the boats ; a spigot is
put in the kerosene oil barrel ; the hammocks
are put up ; fish-lines rigged ; and various
shelves and tables are made around the
kitchen tent, usually by Calvin or Mrs. Shay-
back. The camp-ground is then cleaned up.
The lumber left over is piled neatly up behind
the tents. Hardly a day passes but a piece
of it is wanted for some new purpose. The
ladies take much pride in the decoration and
arrangement of the interior of their tents.
They are cozy and comfortable. It w^ould
not be difficult for the casual observer to tell
the sex of the occupants from the taste dis-
played in ornamenting them.
90 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
It takes two days to get well settled, and
then Mr. Shayback, and his male associates
apply themselves with intelligence and I'^or
to the construction of the camp wharf. The
trees are cut in the forest and sawed to the
desired length of piles. A calm day is chosen
for the work in the water. Clad in his bath-
ing suit, Mr. Shayback with a huge mallet
drives the piles into the yielding sand.
Stringers of cedar are placed upon them with
cross-pieces, and over these boards are nailed.
The little wharf when made is found to pay
for the labor in saving boats from wear and
their occupants from wet feet.
CHAPTER VII.
CAMP OCCUPATIONS.
" But how do you spend your time after
you are settled ? " is the question whieh the
pilgrims are often asked.
In reply we may say that time is shorter
at Memphremagog than at any other place.
Enmd is unheard of. The order of daily
life among these settlers is very simple.
Some of them are stirring about half-past
five in the morning. Occasionally a woman's
head may be seen at this hour thrust out of
the tent door, with the flaps drawn tightly
around her neck, scanning the clouds to see
what the weather is to be. Mr. Ganzbach
fills the kerosene stove in the kitchen tent,
gathers twigs for a camp-fire out of doors,
puts on water to boil, and chops wood.
Water must be drawn from the lake for
92 THE SII AY BACKS IN CAMP.
cooking purposes. The milk is brought by
Lisel from the farmhouse. Mr. Ganzbacli
is the presiding' genius of the kerosene bar-
rel, and, like a wise virgin, always fills the
lanterns in the morning before breakfast.
Mrs. Shayback is the chief cook. ^Irs. Ganz-
bacli assists her. Mrs. Gingwerth, Hosanna,
and Arline set the table by turns.
Breakfast reigns about half-past seven, and
generally consists of rye or oatmeal pudding,
bread, butter, milk, cream, potatoes, fish, meat,
or omelet, apple-sauce, oatmeal, crackers, and
pilot bread, all eaten from bright tin-ware.
First that which is physical, afterward that
which is spiritual. Accordingly, we sing a
hymn after breakfast, read a psalm, and re-
cite together the Lord's Prayer. It helps us
to resist the common tendency of camp life
to revert to primitive barbarism.
Breakfast over, the dish call is sounded.
Mrs. Gingwerth presides with grace and ease
at the dish-washing. The children take turns
at the wiping. Many hands make light work,
and the men frequently furnish a pair for
CAMP OCCUPATIONS. 03
this purpose. The hidles then make their
heds and put their tents in order. The gen-
tlemen defer this duty as h)no; as i)()ssil)le,
arffuiu": that it is mueh better to let the beds
air until late in the afternoon. As a eonse-
quence of holdinj^ sueh theories — the theory
being founded on the praetice, not tlio prae-
tice on the theory — they f recpiently sulf er
the inealculable shame and remorse of find-
ing at night that the ladies have made up
their beds for them. I notiee that, in spite
of a troubled conseience, they generally sleep
better on such nights than when they make
their beds themselves. The punishment they
receive is not calculated to cure the evil.
After breakfast a trip is usually made to
Georgeville for the mail, and to get any
necessary addition to the stores, whether it
be a pound of lead for a sinker, a dozen
eggs, or the meat which the butcher leaves
twice a week. The duties of the camp are
considered to be synonymous with its recrea-
tions. This may not be always the case, but
it is pleasing to look at it in that way. It
94 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
is difficult to say under which classification
fishing would sometimes come, but this forms
an important part of camp occupation.
At noon occurs the daily bathing- carniv^al.
The water is delightful, cool enough to be
bracing without chilling. The children take
lessons in swimming, the sandy beach with
its gradual descent furnishing a safe place
for this purpose. One of the advantages of
fresh-water camping is that the tide is always
high, which permits a bath at a regular hour
each day.
Dinner follows an hour after bathing.
The bill of fare reveals a wholesome and
pleasing variety. But a camp dinner to be
appreciated must be eaten with a camp appe-
tite. When this is sharpened to its proper
edoe it cuts a beautiful swath through the
well-spread table. Camp cookery has been
reduced to a science. The kerosene stove is
much prized, and is supplemented by a com-
plete boiling, baking, and steaming appara-
tus. The kitchen is as well appointed as one
could desire, and its administration is as thor-
CAMP OCCUPATIONS. 95
ouffh as could be conceived. This branch of
camp life the women insist on keeping' in
their own hands, and tlie men wisely let
them. A few years ago a former editor of
the " Christian Union," who frequently exer-
cised his literary gift under the shade of a
tree near the camp-fire, was allowed, as a
mark of distinguished consideration, to watch
the potatoes as they boiled at the hour of
noon. His discovery that very good charcoal
could be made by letting all the water evapo-
rate has somewhat blackened his reputation
as a cook, and his example is held up as an
awful warning to all who accept such respon-
sible trusts. The remarkable success of the
cooking department has inspired such awe
among the male members of the colony that
they look upon the camp kitchen and its hu-
mane divinities with an awe akin to rever-
ence ; and if they were to fall into idolatry
while in camp, we fear it would be that gas-
tric idolatry which Paul repudiated.
A portion of the afternoon is spent, per-
haps, in the hammock in the hush of slumber
96 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
with which the brain acquiesces in a good
digestion. But it would be a very strange
day, morning or afternoon, which did not
find some of the boats in active use on the
varied waters of the lake. Some of the camp
members — Mr. Shayback and Mr. Pod are
examples — spend much more time on water
than they do on land. The navy consists
of five boats, — the Garfield, the Hippo-
grif, the Jeanie Deans, the Lassie, and the
Achilles, named in honor of its builder, pre-
sumably a descendant from the Homeric hero,
who has put off his ancient armor, laid down
his pictured shield, and is now the best boat-
builder on the lake. The five boats carry
the entire camp party when necessary. The
children are allowed the use of the boats
within the limits of the bay, the only restric-
tion being that they shall not go out in them
unless there is one boat with oars left at
the beach. A very ordinary day's work at
the oars for the men is eight or ten miles.
Mr. Shayback has rowed twenty and Mr.
Pod twenty-two. That gentleman, rejo' 'ng
CAMP OCCUPATIONS. 97
in the possession of a new boat, rowed the
length of the lake from Magog to Newport
(thirty miles) within twenty-four hours. In
six days he has rowed one hundred miles.
JMr. Shayback finds employment for a large
portion of his time in fishing for lunge or
lake trout. In this enterprise he is heroi-
cally seconded by Mrs. Gingwerth. Any at-
tack upon the vocation of the fisherman Mr.
Shayback considers an assault u2)on the ori-
gin of Christianity. James and John, Peter
and Andrew, and even Jesus himself, en-
gaged in fishing enterprises. If we may ap-
peal to ecclesiastical tradition there seems no
more appropriate occupation for a minister
than this. The fish has played an important
part in the symbolism of the Church. But
Mr. Shayback values it simply because it is
good to eat. All wanton destruction of ani-
mals or insects is forbidden by camp usage.
Chipmunks, scpiirrels, field-mice, moles, spi-
ders, crickets, centipedes, share the hospital-
ity of the camp without molestation. But a
good mess of perch or an eight-pound lunge
98 THE S HAYRACKS IN CAMP.
makes a very good substitute for a meat diu^
ner, and liglitens the expense bill. The perch
are caught with angle-worms or surface troll-
ing ; the lunge by deep trolling, which is de-
scribed in a subsequent chapter.
As for the youngsters, it woukl require a
volume amply illustrated to give an indication
of the extent of their daily activities. They
paddle about in the cove with the boats,
within boundaries agreed upon in a treaty of
peace with their guardians. They fish at
anchor or troll near the shores for perch, or
build rafts furnished with paddle-wheels.
They tumble about like dolphins at their
daily bath, and rend the air with screar s and
laughter. They discover delightful little
summer houses in the maple grove, or play
house, or have a grand Indian hunt. They
ride the horses in the pasture, find great sat-
isfaction in the kittens lent from the farm-
house, or watch with rapt attention Dio's
magic pencil. The day does not seem quite
finished for the children, if they do not
gather in a tent by themselves and listen to
CAMP OCCUPATIONS. 99
Dio's story of Mr. Pumpkin-seed, wliicli serial
is not finished until the camp itself is con-
cluded.
The daily routine of camp life is varied by
occasional excursions to new regrions. Some-
times the Shaybacks hire a team and make a
raid upon the enterprising town of Stanstead,
never forgetting to visit the old farmhouse
on the hill that overlooks the plain. A fam-
ily ticket on the Lady furnishes the whole
party a trip to Newport or Magog when they
desire it, and there is the great puffing, asth-
matic, lumbering Memphremagog, which
crosses the lake once or twice a day from
Georgeville, when it is not tempted elsewhere
by more lucrative business. Directly facing
the camp, on the opposite shore of the lake,
is a bold promontory known as Gibraltar.
Some ten or more years ago a company of
capitalists from ^Montreal conceived the idea
of building a large hotel on this point, in
hopes that it would attract tourists from
Montreal. T:veai'v or thirty ,8mJ.ill cotta<]^es
were erected in the iniiiiedii/tM .yiciziitv of the
100 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
hotel. The hotel was lathed, when the com-
pany burst like a huhhle. The house and
grounds were afterwards sold at a great sac-
rifice. The buildinGf with its shininfr tower
still adorns the cliff, and once or twice a year
the pilgrims make a trij) to the site of its
desolation.
The ascent of Owl's Head is usually made
by some of the party once a year. That
broad, magnificent view cannot be easily put
into the narrow pages of a book. The beau-
tiful breeze-wrinkled lake lies at the foot of
the mountain. Twelve miles away, Newport,
at its head ; eighteen miles to the north,
Magog, at its foot. Here and there, islands
break the continuity of the silver sheet, and
forest-crowned bluffs and peninsulas thrust
their feet into the waters. On the east side,
the view is unbroken by mountains save those
Avrapped in a blue haze in the distant circle
of the horizon. There lies Fitch Bay, look-
mo; like a little lake itself, the observer hardlv
suspecting tht3 nari'bw arm ^liibh joins it to
MemplircVaagog. Fa't 'away to the north-
CAMP OCCUPATIONS. 101
east, almost hidden in Canadian forests, one
catches a gHmpse of Massawippi. On the
west side lies Brome Lake, between the Bol-
ton Hills and Sugar Loaf Pond, serving as a
basin for Elephantis, whose enormous head
and ponderous trunk are stretched out before
us. Away to the north rises bald-headed
Orford, to which Owl's Head must yield the
palm of altitude. On the waters, the Lady
seems like a toy boat, and the skiffs of the
fishermen like peanut shells. Vast argosies
of clouds enrich the scenery of the sky.
A trip to Mount Orford is another temp-
tation to which the campers less frequently
yield.
In August or September, when the Shay-
backs camj), the sun sets before seven o'clock.
The boats are drawn up and fastened for the
night, the lamps lighted in the tents, the
children are put to bed. An hour is devoted
to games or reading, and generally by half-
past eight, seldom later than nine, the Shay-
backs have retired to that measure of rest
which tired muscles and a good conscience
afford.
102 THE SII AY BACKS IN CAMP.
On Sunday, service is regularly held at
eleven o'clock in tlie grove, if the weather
permits. If not, it is held in one of the
large tents. The camp has never heen Avith-
out the presence of one clergyman, and gen-
erally it has two. When these gentlemen
cannot sufficiently overcome their native
modesty to read one of their own productions,
the camp sermon-barrel, in which Phillips
Brooks, Robertson, Channing, and others have
been salted down, is drawn upon for the oc-
casion. A few of the villagers usually grace
the occasion with their presence.
No priest could ask a finer temple than
that which God has built for us.
" The blue sky is the temple's arch,
Its transept earth and air ;
The music of its starry march
The chorus of a prayer.
" The green earth sends her incense up
. From many a mountain shrine ;
From folded leaf and dewy cup
She pom's her sacred wine."
" Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song ;
CAMP OCCUPATIONS. 103
sing unto the Lord, all the earth ! " said the
Psahnist ; yet these hills and mountains had
heen sinoino^ to the Lord ajjes hefore the
Psalmist wrote his exhortation. And they
are still praisinj^ Him. David is gone, and
the language he spoke no longer lives and
hreathes. But the hills and mountains here
still sing their hymn o£ beauty and sul)limity ;
still hold the lake like a cup in the hollow of
their hand in thankful recognition of Him
who " sendeth the springs into the valleys
which run among the hills." Oh, the rest,
and reverence, and love which seem to lie at
the heart of Nature in her most peaceful
moods ! And when the storm comes, as
sometimes it does, and the lake is torn into
shreds of vapory fury ; when the lightning
whirls its fiery sword, and the thunder would
seem to crack the very hills, — there is no
profanity in that storm, no irreverence in the
voice of the wind or the rhythmic beat of the
waves. It is the same psalm . " The Lord
reigneth ; let the earth rejoice." *' The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof :
104 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
the workl and they that dwell therein ; for He
hath fonnded it upon the seas and estab-
lished it upon the floods."
The hills are full of echoes. We have
tried them with voice and trumpet ; they do
not fail us. But we know also that they are
full of echoes for the mind and heart. They
respond to the reverence, trust, and praise
which the soul sings to them.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CAMP KITCHEN.
"But who does the cookiiijj?" is the
question perpetually asked of the Shayhaeks.
In a general way it may be answered that It
docs ifsclj] but that reply does not satisfy
feminine curiosity, and unless the prosaic
details are given the skeptics will never be
convinced that one of the pleasantest ways to
spend a vacation is to go into the woods and
cook for ten or a dozen people for a month.
Coiiperation being the basis on which the
Shayhaeks have conducted all camp opera-
tions, that feature is naturally carried into the
culinary department. Servants are regarded
by them as a necessary evil of city life. The
presence, therefore, of any person who is in
any sense considered an inferior has never
been tolerated in this little republic o£
lOG THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
campers. An equal division of hibor so rc-
diiees the amount expected from each indi-
vidual member that it is really no more than
is pleasant in the way of exercise. And if
the merry-midvini^s at disli-washing' and wip-
ing, the delightful (tfc-a-(cf(s over whipping
cream or beating eggs, or even the friendly
arguments at fish-skinning down on the
beach, were to be dropped out of the day's
doings, there is no book, no hammock, which
might otherwise be enjoyed for an extra hour,
that could replace them.
The cooking tent is only 7x7, in the
centre of which Mrs. Shayback sits on a tin
cracker-box. From this modest throne she
can reach any dish in her buffet on one side
(which, as in early days, is built up of canned
goods and ends of boards), her box of stores
on the other, and her cooking range in the
rear ; while the front of the tent is usually
occupied by Mv. Pod, who sits on the low
step made by the raised floor, picking over
raisins and discussing Dante, or by Calvin
opening a bottle of salad oil, or Mrs. Ganz-
THE CAMP KirniEN. 107
bach beatlni;' o^^^. If it Is mornlnir, and
eliilly, one or two chiltlivn may be allowed in-
side to warm their lingers over the glowing
stoves. The tiny stove of the far-oif camping
time at Fern Point, so small that it "could go
under a silk liat," is replaced by two three-
burner kerosene stoves, over "which a fabulous
amount of work may be accomplished without
any exertion. But for so largo a family it is
often necessary, and always cheerful, to have
a supplementary out-door fire. The genius
of Calvin supplied this in Ihe form of an im-
mense flat stone placed on three stakes driven
firmly into the ground, on which rests a
galvanized iron " wind-shield " that came
originally to be used with the kerosene stove.
Here dish-water is heated and potatoes are
boiled, and over the glowing coals such toast
is made as never a hotel with walls could
furnish.
All kitchen as well as table ware is tin,
the brightest and best, save one stoneware
dish for stewed fruit. Silver-plated knives,
forks, and spoons a ^9 used on the table, but
108 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
the kitchen tent boasts a steel knife that has
been to India and back, and a fork with two
tines that has served its day and generation
for a hundred years.
" Eat from tin ! I coukl never do that," is
a not infrequent exclamation of people who
are ignorant of the joys of camp life. It
would be hard to find any one who likes
dainty linen and delicate china, at home,
better than our campers, but at the same time
they think that there is nothing like tin for
the woods. It is compact, takes little room,
is easily washed and wiped, never breaks, and
the fact that one never eats from it at home
gives the element of complet'^ change, which
is one of the fascinations of camping.
" Tablecloths ? " the critic continues in
doubt. Tablecloths ! Bless your heart !
No. What should we do with tablecloths
when we have the sweetest and cleanest of
pine boards to eat from? It was only this
morning that the hands of Mrs. Gingwerth,
unaccustomed to such toil, scoured it with
sand for the pare fun of it. Cover up the
THE CAMP KITCHEN. 109
work of those fair hands with e very-day linen
such as one uses at home — not a hit of it.
Napkins? Yes, because pine shingles even
are not pHable enough to wipe one's \\\)'s>.
But the long table is just as carefully laid
for each meal as though Ireland had sent its
linen and France its china to deck it. And
the bunch of golden-rod and asters, the ex-
quisite ferns and water-lilies add a grace that
leaves nothing to be asked.
The twelve or fourteen hungry men, wo-
men, and children tliat gather about the
polished board might demur at the last sen-
timent. They do ask more than beauty, a
good deal more. Whatever tlioir appetites
at home, they are gloriously hungry under
the trees. If it is perch chowder with v;hich
they are to be served, a full caldron must be
prepared. If it is breakfast, and rye, oat-
meal, or graham pudding is the sta})le, a two-
gallon kettle must be bubbling in anticipation
of the delicious cream which the children are
brino'injr down from the farmhouse. If it is
griddle-cakes and huney, a well-worn path is
110 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
made between the eooklnc: tent tand the din-
ino" table before the demand ceases. If it is
boiled rice and raisins, to be eaten with maple
syrup, the snowy kernels must fill the larg-est
serving-dish, and the raisins be generously
distributed, or the dreaded (?) " vote of cen-
sure " will be passed.
People of a statistical turn of mind want
to know just how long it takes to do the
domestic work of the camp. Let us take a
single day and see.
Mrs. Shayback, who delights in cooking,
but whose hands during the other eleven
months of the year are never free from pen,
pencil, or editorial scissors, greets the dawn
with alacrity. Fifteen minutes is ample time
in which to don the light gymnastic dress
and prepare for the kitchen tent, where a
high-necked, long-sleeved, gingham apron is
ready to cover her completely like a cloak of
charity. Mr. Shayback has considerately
filled the water-pails before yielding to the
temptation that uncaught lunge constantly
offer, or Calvin is at hand to do it. Or, per-
THE CAMP KITCHEN. HI
haps, it is Mr. Ganzbacli who thus loyally
remembers the cook. Ten to one Mrs. Ganz-
baeh, the '' fagot-gatherer," has a bright fire
on the out-door hearth, and some good angel
has filled the kerosene stoves. Mrs. Shay-
back lights them, putting water for oatmeal
and colfee on one and the oven on the other ;
stirs up a johnny-cake or a pan of gems, and
then sits down on her tin cracker-box to read
a novel or write a letter.
If there are fish to fry, an omelet to make,
a stew to concoet, or cold meat to slice, she
does it all without rising from her seat. The
fish are brought to her ready to drop into the
sweet Indian meal ; Arline happens j)ast the
tent in time to beat the eggs ; one of the boys
is waylaid as he goes by and enticed into
bringing the meat from the brook-refrigerator,
and thus each one who ventures near her
cookship is impressed into service.
In due season the children climb the hill
for the milk and cream, and bring cold water
from the spring. Mrs. Gingwerth and Arline
lay the table, and in an hour from the time
112 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
Mrs. Shayback sat down to get the morning
meal — an attitude which to the city cook
might seem rather lazy — she puts a cornet
to her lips and calls her family to break its
fast. The call is obeyed with commendable
punctuality by all save the lone fisherman on
the lake, whose ears the notes have reached,
but who loves to illustrate the old adajje that
" none are so deaf as those who Avon't hear."
Nearly an hour is devoted to the disposition
of this early repast. The hymn is sung, in
which all voices gladly unite, and the singing-
books are put away. Mrs. Ganzbach and
Arlino repair to the other tents and put them
in order. Mrs. Gingwerth with her dish-mop,
soap-saver, and plenty of hot water, makes
the tin-ware shine, while the children and
their papas give it the final rub, and the
merry mingling of laughter and fun shows
that they make light of the task. Mrs. Shay-
back, meanwhile, quietly withdraws and hangs
herself in her hammock among the trees, or
ensconces herself in the Crow's Nest over-
hanging the lake. In little more than an hour
THE CAMP KITCHEN. 113
from the time when the camjiers were sum-
moned to breakfast the mornino's work is
done and all are scattered to read or row, to
walk or talk, as each may choose.
Dinner is served at two o'clock. The bath
in the lake is taken at noon by all who will.
On her way to the lake Mrs. Shayback
usually stops to light the stoves. After a
refreshing swim and reading the mail, which
the children have brought from the village,
she returns to the 7x7 tent. Some of the
little folks have rubbed the ragged jackets
from the delightful new potatoes, the water
for which is boiling. Calvin has opened the
can of tomatoes and is ready to lend a hand
at breaking up the macaroni or shelling the
peas, while he plans with the cook all sorts of
new conveniences in the way of rustic seats
and miniature bridges.
The lamb is put to roast, or the fish to
bake, — if the fisherman has been lucky, —
and Mrs. Shayback sits down on her cracker-
box aijain and resumes her German novel.
The dessert was prepared while the others were
114 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
washing the breakfast dishes : a custard,
blancmange, lemon jelly, a picnic pudding,
or some such trifle. No cakes or pies are
allowed. Fruit, either fresh or the best brand
of canned, is always added, and two or three
times a week nuts and raisins.
In spite of the novel-reading things seem
to come out right at the proper time. The
children think beets were never so tender,
peas so sweet, and potatoes so mealy, as come
steaming hot on the pine table at two o'clock.
Certainly there was never such lunge, and
Faneuil Market has no better lamb.
By three o'clock the last nut is picked,
save a few badly cracked ones that are left
for the squirrels. By four o'clock the last
vestige of dish-washing has disappeared. Not
a scrap of food is left to attract the flies.
Not an unsightly remnant but has been safely
disposed of in the " scrap-box," to be rowed
off and thrown into deep water, or buried in
a pit.
Two or three hours remain of the peaceful
day. At seven the bugle calls the group
THE CAMP KITCHEN. 115
together. A tin cup and a tin saucer are
placed for each person. A tower of bread
and butter, ready spread, a basket of oatmeal
biscuit, a pitcher of milk, a pot of chocolate,
with whipped cream, and a dish of berries or
stewed fruit, is the simple " tea," which never
varies. Ten minutes is sufficient time to pre-
pare it ; ten minutes more to clear it away.
At eight the day is done. The children are
safe in bed, and only a few of the elders are
dissipated enough to sit up till the late hour
of nine.
The domestic work has gone of itself. The
chief cook certainly can recall nothing but a
few odd bits of it interspersed with reading,
writing, and the pleasantest converse with
congenial friends.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PIQUANCIES AND PEIIILS OF A STEAM
YACHT.
Any history of our camp life in Memplire-
magog would be meagre and incomplete which
did not recognize the pride and glory of our
navy, the little steamer Nymph. It was the
second year of the occupancy at Camp Mer-
rinian that the Shaybacks saw a little, grace-
ful, noisy, industrious steam-launch puffing
its way towards Magog.
" How nice it would be to have a little
steamboat ! " said Mr. Shayback.
" Yes, it would," said Medfield.
The ladies were more cautious in expressing
their opinion, but it was discovered that they
thought such a boat would be delightful, pro-
vided the boiler could be kept from going up,
or the hull could be kept from going down.
A STEAM YACHT. 117
Mental pictures of the deliolits of criiisiiii^
on the clear waters of the lake were "apuUy
painted. The steamer was interviewed, and
the description which the owner gave of its
(jualities was considered to be far within tlie
limits of truth. The bargain was concluded.
A check and a bill of sale changed hands, and
the Nymph changed owners.
Biography has impartially recorded the
proud elation of youthful Benjamin Franklin
when he came into possession of a small
Avhistle. But the Shaybacks' whistle was a
large one ; still more it was a 6'/ea;>^-whistle ;
yet further, there was a steamboat attached
to it. The new craft was, to all intents and
purposes, a high-[)ressure toy, but a very use-
ful and enjoyable toy ;* and the Shaybacks
never thought they paid too much for their
whistle except on one or two occasions. Med-
lield and Mr. Shayback were e([ual partners
in this ownership, and for the sake of dignity
the association formed was called the Inter-
national Memphremagog Steam Navigation
Company. The steamer thus acquired was
118 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
thirty feet long', six feet beam, and drew two
feet of water. It liad a four-liorse-power en-
gine, with an ample boiler three and a lialf
feet in diameti^r, and five feet high ; a capa-
cious fire-box, capable oF burning wood or
coal ; a siphon for bailing out the boat ; a
steam-pump, and the usual mechanical fixtures
of a small yacht, except an injector. The
hull was stanch and stiff ; there was no cabin,
but an awning on an iron framework covered
the boat, and furnished protection against sun
and rain. There were lockers for tools and
provisions ; boxes for coal and wood ; a grace-
ful Hag-pole stood erect in the bow. The
boiler was placed in the centre of the boat and
the engine just abaft. By means of a rod
connected with the rudder, the engineer could
act as pilot when necessary. Rudder chains
were also extended to the bow, where the pilot
usually stood. The boat and its machinery
were built in Canada, and used originally on
the St. Lawrence, and then transported to
landlocked Memphremagog.
The Shaybacks thus came into possession
A STEAM YACHT. HO
of a foroii^ii bottom, — [i v(vssi'l ])orn and
broui»lit n\) under the Jiritlsli Wag ; a vi'sstd
■whose keel, on j\Ieniplirenia<;'oo- at least, had
never crossed the American line.
It was a moment of supreme exhilaration
■when the little Nymph sti^imed into the cove
and dropped anchor, and Chamheau, the
ohlii>In<^ engineer, formally delivered her to
Mr. Shayhack, representing the International
Memphremagog Steam Navigation Company.
A trial-trip ■was made without unnecessary de-
lay, during ■svhich her keel was rudely scraped
on the danii'erous ledi>es wliicli Hanked tlie
approach to our harbor. A Canadian coast
survey was informally organized, and the
channel was distinctly marked by buoys. A
second trli) was made to Mao-oc^ to land the
engineer on his native soil, and the steamboat
"was declared ready for use.
The vanguard of the camp at this time con-
sisted of i\Ir. and ]\Irs. Shayback, and their
daughter Pusskin, two twin women doctors,
— who looked so much alike that their iden-
tity was interchangeable, and who constituted,
120 THE SUA y BACKS IN CAMP.
with Mrs. Sliiiyback, a trio of pliyslcians, —
and their nephew, Harry. The rest of the
campers were to eouie two days hiter.
It was with mingled f'eelinos of pride and
responsihllity that jNIr. Shayhaek proposed to
the laiUes of the vanguard a trip on the
Nymph.
'^ We will make a run to Georgeville this
afternoon," he said, " tlien steam across the
lake to Gihraltar, and get back hy sundown."
The ladies graciously acce2)ted the invita-
tion. The steamer was cleared for action,
the fire lighted, the bins filled with wood, and
in about three (j[iiarters of an hour a demoniac
shriek from the whistle announced to the
responsive hills that the steamer was ready.
The ladies were brought aboard in the ten-
dor, which was judicionsly fastened behind.
Mr. Shayback forthwith proceeded to the
bow to weigh anchor. On most steamers
plying between the United States and foreign
ports this office is performed by a windlass or
a steam-engine. The superior muscle of the
crew of the Nymph disdained all such me-
chanical expedients.
A STEAM YACHT. 121
The ianclior had taken a firm grip in the
sand and refused to be parted. After con-
siderable vain tug'ging the chain was slack-
ened, a few turns of the propeller sent tho
boat ahead, the anchor was forced to loosen
its grip, was drawn on board, and the
Nymph sailed slowly out into the channel.
Harry stood at the engine, Mr. Shay back at
the tiller, and her head was pointed toward
George ville.
" How delightful ! " said Mr. Shayback ;
" how nicely she obeys her rudder ! " The
ladies were not strangers to the mysteries of
steering, but exhibited more curiosity in re-
gard to the engine and its operations. They
also asked various questions about the boiler,
some of which seemed to be dictated by a
sense of self-interest. As this was the first
trip, Mr. Sli^yback was anxious to overcome
all unnecessary solicitude.
" Just think of being able to light a fire
under a big tea-kettle, and then to move at
this rate without exertion ! "
*• Yes, it is delightful, only it seems rather
122 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
hot around the boiler. Do you have to
keep poking wood into the furnace all the
time ? "
" It is necessary to keep up an even heat,
and this wood is rather soft, and burns fast.
But then it is not so hard to fire up as to
row, you know. The gauge seems to interest
you?
" Yes, I was looking to see how many
pounds of steam you have."
" About seventy now. She runs better at
seventy. When we get her up to eighty she
is apt to thump a good deal."
"How many pounds does the Lady carry?"
" About twenty-seven."
" Mercy on us ! You don't mean that we
carry more than twice as many pounds as the
Lady ? "
" Yes, but don't be afraid ; the Lady is
a low-pressure steamer, and that is where she
differs from the twin doctors, Mrs. Shayback,
and the Nymph, who are always at high-
pressure."
" What is that glass for ? "
A STEAM YACHT. 123
" Oh, that 's the water-gauge ; that tells
how much water there is in the boiler."
" Let me see how much there is now. I
mean to watch this glass every time I go
out."
" Oh, there 's enough ! There is a little
pump here that draws the water from the
lake into the boiler."
" What is that water squirting from the
side of the boat ? "
" Well, you see the boiler is full, so that
Ave have turned this valve, and the pump is
discharofino: into the lake."
Just then the rhythmic puffing which had
been going on in the steam-stack suddenly
ceased, and a loud noise of escaping steam
came from under the stern of the boat.
" Dear me ! what is that ? "
" Oh, that is simply the exhaust-steam from
the engine. Harry has been blowing his fire
in the smoke-stack, and now he has turned it
olf from the fire and let it discharge into the
air. The steam as it strikes the water makes
a somewhat unpleasant noise. The great art
124 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
of running a stetam-yaclit/' said Mr. Shay-
back, learnedly, " is to keep up an even rate
o£ speed by preserving an even pressure of
steam. When your fire is low then turn your
exhaust into the smoke-stack, which helps the
draft. Observe also the effect of a little lu-
brication. This cup on the top of the cylin-
der is filled wdtli melted tallow. A slight
turn of this screw lets a spoonful of it into
the cylinder."
" My, how she shoots ahead ! "
" Yes ; the prompt effect of lubrication is
susfffestive for various situations in life."
" I suppose you will be working it up into
a sermoii some time."
By this time the Nymph was nearing
Georgeville. Describing one of those grace-
ful curves which the accomplished pilot, like
the practiced skater, takes pleasure in cutting
with his boat-keel, the Nymph rounded beau-
tifully towards the w harf . The whistle was
sounded with dignity ; her speed was slack-
ened, and at what seemed an appropriate dis-
tance the engine was shut off, the determina-
A STEAM YACHT. 125
tlon o£ tlie captain and engineer being to
treat the Nymph with as much dignity and
circumspection as if she had been a big frig-
ate. The pilot had been informed that it
was not advisable to run the nose of the boat
violently against the pier, as the vessel had
not been constructed to serve as a steam-ram,
and the condition of the wharf at Georoi;eville
was so precarious that it needed to be treated
with all possible consideration. Therefore
Mr. Shayback deemed it advisable to reverse
the engine.
" Back her, Harry, back her ! "
There was a rush of steam, and one or two
thumps of the crank.
" She won't back worth a cent," said
Harry.
This was quite evident when the steamer,
although Mr. Shayback's arms were put forth
to avert the force of the blow, struck with a
s(miewhat rude shock against the wharf. No
damage was evident, however. There was a
prevalent opinion on shipljoard that the
steamer could stand it if the Avharf could.
126 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
The vessel was artistically tied by bow-
lines and clove hitches. A half hour was
spent in errands at the village, it being im-
possible to do even the smallest errand in
George ville in a less space of time. Then
the lines were cast off, and the helm was jiut
about, and the Nymph was headed for Gib-
raltar.
It was about a mile across the lake to
this bold cliff. Sailing under its shadow, we
escaped the heat of the sun, and the yachts-
man here is sure of a free keel.
" We can run very close to the shore,"
said Mr. Shayback -, '^ there is plenty of
water."
" Yes," said Harry, " there seems to be a
plenty of water inside the boat, too ; I think
we could spare some of it."
He turned the valve in the steam-pipe and
let on the siphon and blew a heavy stream
of water into the lake.
'' How nice that is ! " observed one of the
twin doctors, who was naturally interested in
the anatomy of the boat and its venous circu-
A STEAM YACHT. 127
lation. " You can blow the water out with-
out bailing it. But what makes so much
water there ? "
*^ Oh, you see there is always a little from
the condensation of the steam ! And then
the hull is not perfecthj tight."
We sailed along a few minutes more on
the west side of the lake, enjoying the calm
water and cool air, and a sense of superior
leisure, as we looked at the rowers in a small
boat who were laboriously making their way
with an " ash breeze."
Mr. Shayback was in the stern holding the
tiller. Harry was engaged about the engine,
the ladies had settled down to the feminine
occupation of reading and handiwork.
" Jimminy ! " said Harry, with emphasis.
Then turning to Mr. Shayback, he remarked
in a confidential manner, " slie 's leakbuj like
Mazes ! "
Mr. Shayback put his finger to his mouth
invoking secrecy, and noticed that the water
was coming in in a small but very steady
stream just behind the engine. He cast his
128 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
eyes across the lake, and at once took his bear-
ings for Camp Merriman, the tents of which
formed little specks of white on the beautiful
green i ackground.
" Are we going back to camp ?" said one
of the ladies.
" Yes, I think we had better," said Mr.
Shayback. " I want to have a little time on
shore before dark."
Mr. Shayback might have found an addi-
tional argument in the condition of the boat,
if he had wished to urge it.
Harry turned the steam in the siphon at
intervals of about five minutes, which sufficed
to keep the water below the fire-box. But
the effect of drawing so much steam from the
engine was to lessen the speed of the boat.
If there had been a short allowance of fuel
the condition of the expedition would have
been somew^hat precarious.
Not that Mr. Shayback was greatly con-
cerned for the safety of the passengers and
crew, for, in the smooth water that prevailed,
all of them, numbering six, might have just
A STEAM YACHT. 129
crowded into the Hippogrif, which was per-
forming the responsible duty of tender. But
it seemed a little ignominious that the
Nymph, if she was to sink at all, should do
so on her first regular trip. He also pre-
feired to have this event occur in much shal-
low^er water.
It is hardly necessary to say that the course
was made as direct as the nature of shoals
and reefs would permit. And when, finally,
the Nymph entered the camp-cove, she an-
chored in a kind of funereal silence, without
any ostentatious shrieking of the whistle.
And now, with a great sense of relief at
having safely landed the ladies, the next
question that presented itself was, what to do
with the boat ?
Mr. Shayback and Harry immediately set
themselves to discover the source of the leak,
and then spent a precious hour in uselessly
trying to stop it. The trouble was found to
be in the bow. The blow at the Georgeville
wharf had evidently started the stern-post.
Oakum and putty were ineffectual. It is of
130 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
no use to put putty on below the water-line
unless it has a chance to dry.
The sun was gradually sinking behind the
hill in the west, and there was an equal cer-
tainty that the Nymph would sink also if
something were not immediately done for her
relief. It would have been possible to beach
the boat then and there. But the next day
she was to make her first trip to the United
States, and Mr. Shayback was not ready to
abandon either the boat or the cherished ex-
pectation.
" Let us wood up again, Harry," he said,
" and run her into Georgeville, and see if we
can get any help."
A little time was consumed in filling the
bunkers, and the sun had already gone behind
the hills when the Nymph, in the melancholy
twilight, started forth again to seek a physi-
cian for her wounded nose and the somewhat
wounded pride of her owner. It was not an
airreeable thinjx to leave the three ladies and
little Pusskin alone in the camp, with the
darkness fast settling, nor was it agreeable to
A STEAM YACHT. 131
start forth at this time in a sinking steamer.
But necessity is the mother of compulsion.
In fifteen or twenty minutes Georgeville
was reached. There stood the dihxpidatcd okl
wharf grimly showing its teeth, and challeng-
ing us to another encounter. Discretion was
deemed the better part of valor. We glided
in peaceably alongside and amicably tied up
to one of its logs. Leaving Harry to watch
the fire under the boiler, and yet more vigi-
lantly the water, which was striving to rise
and put it out, Mr. Shayback jumped ashore,
and ran to Bullock's store.
" Mr. Bullock, the Nymph has sprung a
leak. Is there a boat-builder in the villajre ? "
" The best man for you is Moses Achil-
les."
Mr. Shayback had heard of Moses, and
also of Achilles, but did not know then that
IMomphremagog had united and preserved in
one personality both of these ancient heroes.
" But where does this archaic personage
live ? "
*' Across the lake, — up Knowlton's Bay."
132 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
The point indiccitod was aljout three miles
away. This was disco urag'in^. Mr. Shay-
back's hopes somewhat resembled the condi-
tion of the vessel.
" Can you furnish me a guide ? " he said.
Mr. Bullock thought a moment.
" Well, I can send uj) for Jim Burbank ;
he knows where Achilles lives."
A boy was immediately dispatched to sum-
mon with haste this genius, already well known
to the campers. Mr. Burbank was a loquacious,
off-hand fellow, somewhat dilapidated him-
self, like the wharf which caused the trouble,
and unable to sympathize at all with a boat
which had acquired the vicious habit of tak-
ins: in too much water. But he was a ffood
fellow to keep one's spirits up on the trip that
we were about to undertake, and I trust that
he has abandoned the habit of keeping up
his own spirits in any artificial way.
By the time we were ready to start, a
crowd of boys, comprising almost the entire
portion of the youthful inhabitants of George-
ville, had gathered on the wharf. It does not
A STEAM YACHT. 133
take a group of boys long to know what is
going on. Mr. Shayhack was not suri)risL'tl,
therefore, to hear one of them say to the
latest comer, in a confidential voice, ^' She 's
sinking, Johnny ! "
Here was an opportunity to be generous.
" Boys, would n't you like to take a trip
across the lake ? "
There was a dead silence. The irony of
the invitation was detected. But a respectful
solenuiity befitting so funereal an occasion
was politely observed.
" Well, cast her off, boys ! "
The line was unfastened, the steamer was
backed out, turned, and pointed across the
lake. There was no moon, but the stars were
shining brightly. Mr. Shayback took the
helm. Harry served again as engineer, while
Burbank called out " port " and " starboard "
from the bow, as occasion required. It was
nine o'clock when we started on a voyage
whose issue was wholly uncertain. It was a
contest between fire and water, — the water
rising from time to time almost to the grate-
134 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
bars, Avliile the firo furnished steam to expel it
from the boat. We soon found that it was
too wasteful of steam to rely wholly upon the
siphon, and Burbank was stationed in front
of the boiler with a pail, to bail out the
water and keep the draft clear. He selected
a bright particular star for Mr. Shaybaek to
steer by, and diverted the flag<^ing spirits of
the company by copious sketches of his life
and adventures.
The pilot had little to do but to preserve a
straight course. Under the circumstances
the vessel exhibited only that decorous rate of
speed which we might expect of a steamboat
going to its own funeral. Burbank's tongue
was the one thing that ran fast on board, and
this vied with the engine in its rhythmic regu-
larity. Finally the lake was crossed, and the
steamer entered the broad mouth of the bay.
The star of our hope still shone before us,
but Burbank chose a nearer beacon more defi-
nitely indicating our destination.
" Do you see that light across the starboard
bow ? Well, keep her head towards that."
A STEAM YACHT. 135
"Does Achillos live there?"
" No ; but there is a beiiutiful cove this side
of it : we will beach her there, and then go
after him."
The fisherman knew every rock and snag
along the shores of the bay, even in the dark.
Ilis brain, when not artificially irrigated, was
as good as a coast survey map. I dare not
say how many terrible disasters, according to
his own account, we avoided before we reached
the little cove, by following his sailing direc-
tions.
The light came nearer and nearer, and
grew larger and larger, and finally the time
came when we put her helm starboard, shut
down the steam, and, after prospecting in the
small boat for a good place, ran her up as far
as we could upon the beach. Props were cut
and driven into the sand on each side of the
yacht, to prevent its keeling over in case a
storm should rise. Mr. Shayback in company
Avith Burbank, whose appearance was calcu-
lated to excite pity, stated the harrowing tale
of their shipwreck at the house near by. It
136 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
was found that the home of the Semitic
Greek was about a mile away. Mr. Shayback
desired to hire a horse and a buggy. Per-
haps his appearance and that of his compan-
ion did not inspire confidence in the farmer,
who probably saw no way in which a steam
yacht could be utilized for agricultural pur-
poses, in case his horse was not returned. He
made an effort to excuse this inhospitality
by pleading humanity to his already over-
worked beasts, which had done a hard day's
plowing.
Burbank and Mr. Shayback thereupon set
out afoot for the temple of the hero. They
found that the Mosaic element in his charac-
ter had triumphed over the Grecian. He had
given up his polytheism, and had just come
from a Methodist meeting. He was a great
strapping fellow, six feet plus, of heavy frame
and heroic features. He received us even
more graciously than the ancient Achilles re-
ceived Ulysses and his friends when they
came to pacify his wrath. He promised to
repair the boat in the morning, but said he
A STEAM YACHT. 137
musfc have assistance, and gave us the names
of two people who were to be roused on our
way back. One o£ them had already long
retu'ed for the night, and was only awakened
after a vigorous banging at the door, and then
appeared in his robe de nuit, in a state of
sleepy curiosity. He had a job of haying to do
next day, but promised to be early on hand to
help with the boat.
Eeturning then to the Nymph, we cov-
ered our engine with canvas, bade her a
good night's sleep on the beach, undisturbed
by winds or waves, and, taking the tender,
pushed off from the shore. The contrast be-
tween sailing leisurely in the Nymph and
earning our passage with a pair of heavy oars
such as the Hippogrif possessed was made
the subject of remark ; but no little gratitude
v,as expressed that the harbor we had found
for the yacht was not at the bottom of the
lake.
A direct course for camp would have short-
ened our trip by a mile and a half, but it was
necessary to take both sides of the triangle
138 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
instead of the hypothenuse in order to leave
Burbank at Georgeville.
The little village was wrapped in slumber
when we landed. Not a soul was on the old
wharf, and it seemed to grin at us as satiri-
cally as ever. Some seven hours had elapsed
since we ran the nose of the Nymph into
its timbers, and the wharf had not sunk yet.
It was the same old wharf through which, on
account of a rotten plank, Mr. Shayback had
fallen a year before, and taken an involun-
tary bath in his Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.
Next to the pleasure of seeing that wharf
sink, nothing would have been so exhilarat-
ing as to see it go uj^ through the elevating
iiifluence of a charge of dynamite ; but it did
not do either. It sat there in the water just
as unconcernedly as if nothing had happened,
and mocked us by its grim and silent com-
placency.
More than once our thoughts had turned
to the three little women at camp, and, hav-
ing landed Burbank, we pointed the prow
of the Hippogrif towards the familiar cove a
A STEAM YACHT. 139
mile and a half away. After fifteen minutes
of vigorous pulling we rounded the long
point, and, looking over our shoulders, saw
the light of a red lantern on the shore. A
loud, cheerful war-whoop from Mr. Shayback,
.1 vocal idiosyncrasy familiar to the campers,
showed that the welcome signal had been
recognized. A faint but reassuring response
came from the shore. The three short-skirted
graces of the camp were there, wrapped in
the halo of kerosene lanterns. They had not
been eaten up by the squirrels or carried off
by the night-hawks. The prow of the Hip-
pogrif ran upon the sand. It was past mid-
night.
" Well, the Nymph is safe," said Mr. Shay-
back, " and you are safe, and we are safe too.
The joys of salvation are pretty well distrib-
uted," and he rapidly recited the tale of their
adventures. " But were n't you afraid to stay
alone in the woods until midnight ? " he asked
the ladies.
^^ No," was the response.
" Did you feel anxious about us ? "
140 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
"Oh — no! we didn't worry much. We
thought you could take care of the boat
and take care of yourselves too. But we are
glad to see you Ijack."
Neither Harry nor Mr. Shayback had had
any supper. They had been too much con-
cerned for the interior of the Nymph to
think of their own internal emptiness. His-
toric truthfulness compels us to say that the
hot chocolate which ]\Irs. Shayback had
thoughtfully prepared was a delightful mid-
night sequel to the anxious adventures of the
day, and that the slumber of the tired mari-
ners was as deep and refreshing as that of
Ulysses when, after his still more perilous
misfortunes on his raft, he sank to rest on
the Phseacian shore.
The next morning Mr. Shayback and Harry
rowed over again to Knowlton's Bay. They
found the faithful Achilles and his men at
work on the yacht. After taking a swim in
the bay, and collecting a boat-load of wood
in their tender, they returned to the Nymj^h,
which was repaired and ready for use.
A STEAM YACHT. 141
" I have patched her up now," said the
Canadian Greek ; " Lut I advise you to put
a new bow into her."
" You would not advise me, then, to run
her nose into the George ville wharf again ? "
" No," said the smiling Achilles.
"How much do I owe you?" said Mr.
Shayback.
" Oh, about a dollar and a half 1 "
" Phew ! " said Mr. Shayback, overcome by
the shocking moderateness of the demand.
" Well, you see," said Achilles, in an ex-
planatory tone, " I must pay twenty-five cents
apiece to these men for drawing her up."
Mr. Shayback paid the bill without fur-
ther protest. The fire was lighted, the steam
was raised, the boat was shoved into deep
water, and in about three quarters of an hour
was once more plowing the smooth waiters
of the lake.
"Well, I think that we got out of that
pretty well," said jMr. Shayback.
"Yes," said Harry.
Eeachino; the centre of the lake the white
142 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
specks of the camp-tents could be seen in the
distance.
" Let us show them she is afloat again,"
said Harry, and so he took the whistle-cord
and gave a series of vigorous pulls. First
a long screech, then a short screech, then
a variety of staccato shrieks in triple time.
The whistle seemed fairly intoxicated with
elation, and screamed at the top of its voice
until every bird and squirrel on the shores
must have thought the Nymj^h had gone
crazy.
Quite a different effect had this steam-
whistle jig at Georgeville. It was known in
what condition the boat had left the night
before. The people at the store were filled
with alarm. Paul Younjr, one of the best
oarsmen on the lake, rushed down to the
water for his boat. All unconscious of the
alarm they liad created, Mr. Shayback and
Harry, in high feather at their good fortune,
were steaming proudly towards Georgeville.
'^ Harry, do you see that fellow in a boat
leaving the wharf?"
A STEAM YACHT. 143
" Yes."
" What a tremendous stroke he is pull-
ing!"
" Jiniminy ! " said Harry ; " I think he is
coming towards us. I wonder what 's the
matter ! "
The man seemed pulling for dear life ; in
a few minutes he was alongside.
" Do you want any help ? " he cried.
" No, thank you," said Mr. Shayback.
" Well, I thought you were sinking, you
made such a tooting with the whistle."
Mr. Shayback and Harry thanked him,
however, as warmly as though he had saved
their lives, and a week or two later they re-
warded him by buying his boat at a price
somewhat more than she was worth ; and
when, some weeks after, at the regatta at
Magog, Paul Young came in ahead over all
competitors, including some Montreal oars-
men, the penitential Avhistle of the Nymph
and most of its passengers screamed them-
selves hoarse with congratulations.
CHAPTER X.
NYMPHIC NAVIGATION.
The Nymph had escaped the watery
grave which threatened her. She was once
more seaworthy and ready to make her first
voyage to the United States. Medfield, the
other member of the International Mem-
phremagog Steam Navigation Company, was
to arrive at Newport on the following morn-
ing with the rest of the camp party. It was
fitting that the steamer should be there to
meet them. Returning to camp after stop-
ping at Georgeville to assure the inhabitants
that the Nymph still lived, we took in a
good supply of fuel and set out in the after-
noon for Newport.
The yacht, be it remembered, was a British
vessel, and had never before entered an Amer-
ican port. Harry and Mr. Shayback, who
NYMPHIC NAVIGATION. 145
constituted the crow on this occasion, looked
upon this event as one of the most important
in lier history.
Mr. Shayhack had been to Newport numy
times on the Lady and had occasionally as-
sisted at the wheel. There is a dill'erence,
however, between the casual passeng-er and
the regular pilot. The passeng;er sees the
surface of the water ; the pilot sees the river
bottom beneath. He acquires a knowledge
of its topography; he knows just how many
feet of Avater there ouo^lit to be under his
keel at any given place. Mr. Shayback found
that such knowledge was only acquired by
experience.
The trip from Georgeville to Owl's Head
was made in good time. The navigators were
careful to keep clear of the reef which runs
out from Molson's Island. They avoided
also with a conscious pride the shoal water olf
Kound Island. In an exuberant outbreak of
patriotism they ran up the American colors
on reachino; the boundary line. Everythiuii'
Avas going beautifully ; the engine was in line
146 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
running order ; tlio yacht was making good
time ; they eoidd catch a ghmpse of Newport
in the distance. Within a few nilh'S of this
vilhige is a beacon, looking very much Hke a
gallows, standing in the water a few hundred
yards from the shore. At night a guiding
lio-ht for the mariner is hung: from it. AVhen
a pilot observes such a beacon far out in the
water he is certain that it means somethinjr.
It means that he shall pass on one side or the
other ; it does not always tell which. Mr.
Shavback had often seen this beacon from
the Lady, but had never comprehended its
full significance. There were only two
courses possible to the Nymph ; one was to
take the rij^ht side and the other to take the
left. Not knowing which was preferable,
Mr. Shayback concluded to follow the usual
custom on American country roads. His
decision to pass to the right would not have
been at fault provided he had been going in
the opposite direction. For a few minutes
the steamer seemed entirely satisfied with the
decision. But it was not long before Harry's
NYMPIIIC NAVIGATION. 147
face bej^an to wear an anxious expression.
He used his oil-can liherally on the engine
and hjoked seriously at the iiie-hox, which was
as full of wood as it could hold.
"What is the matter?" said Mr. Shay-
back.
" She is stoppin<>'," said Harry.
The puffs in the escape-pipe grew slower
and more labored. Mr. Shayback looked
over the bow ; the water Avas as clear as a
bell. He could see the bottom beneath. He
seized a boat-hook and plunged it into the
water.
" Stop her, Harry," he shouted, " we are
on the mud flats ! "
The injunction was hardly necessary ; for
the engine had stopped as if from sheer ex-
haustion. The situation was temporarily
amusing, but it would rapidly c(\ase to be so
unless the yacht was got off. Mr. Shayback
looked behind him. There was the Lady
of the Lake ; and there also the Mountain
Maid and yet again the Newport ; all of them
but a few miles aw^ay and steaming towards
148 THE SUA r BACKS IN CAMP.
Newport. Slioiild the stranded Nyin])li iViw^
out a siLi'iml of disti'css and u'ot ono of tlR'sc
steamers to j)idl her from her miry l)ed ? It
seemed rather hiimiliatlni>' that on the lirst
voyage to the United States they shouhl he
compelled to ask such assistance. Their rep-
utation as navijjfators was at stake. Thev
did not wish to he seen away up on these
mud flats with the American flag flying at
the peak, and that too not far from a heacon
which was expressly erected hy the United
States government to warn them off.
Seizing the pole again they drove it into
the sand and threw all their weight upon it.
The steamer did not budge. The engine was
reversed and once more the stranded seamen
strained at the pole with desperate energy.
The combined power of steam and muscle
eventually proved triumphant.
The bad luck of the mariners in oettinii'
on the flats — if luck is the proper word to
use in this case — was only equaled by their
good luck in getting off. When Mr. Shay-
back is compelled to travel overland he pre-
NYMPIIIC NAVIGATION. 149
fcrs to do it on somo other vchiclo tli.ui a
steamboat. lie tried the overhmd iiu'thod
some years ai>() on the Yellowstone liivtT.
The upper Missouri steamer always earrles a
pair o£ spars, whieli enable it to walk over a
bar when it eainiot sail over it. Loeomotion
is not rapid under sueli cireiimstanees, and Mr.
Shaybaek recalls one trip on that river, in
which, owino; to the laro'e amount ol land
and the small quantity of water, it took nine
days and nights to go a hundred miles. The
water part of this trip was rai)idly executed ;
it was the land part that took the time. The
whole constitution and make-up of the Nymph,
however, was such that she was much better
adapted to travel by water than by any other
clement, and both Harry and jNIr. Shaybaek
were delighted when they found that there
was again plenty of water beneath her thirsty
keel. Backing into the channel, they started
ahead again and reached Newport withont
fuither accident.
The fact that the principal steamers which
constitute the merchant marine of the lake
150 THE SIIAYBACKS IN CAMP.
were coming into port drew a crowd to the
wharf, among them a numerous and unofficial
delegation from the hotel. The Lady, the
Maid, and the Newport were familiar sights
to the onlookers, but the little Nymph, puffing
energetically in the wake of the other steam-
ers, was a new advent. The fact that she
carried the American flag at her masthead
tended to secure her a kindly reception from
the small boys on the wharf, who gladly seized
and made fast the scientific bow line which
Mr. Shayback threw out.
Although we were actually Americans and
were setting foot upon our native soil, we
were metaphorically foreigners. At least, we
were the owners of a foreign vessel, and it
was necessary to make a formal representa-
tion at the custom-house, a proceeding which
invested the Nymph and her owners with new
dignity.
The foresight of the builders of ihis little
craft had not provided it with a state-room,
but tying her up for the night in a quiet,
sheltered place, drawing down the awnings
NYMPHIC NAVIGATION. 151
and extemporizin<^ some bunkers, Harry and
Mr. Sliayback had a g"ood night's rest and in
the morning a prosperous return voyage to
camp with the rest of the party.
Durino; the course of the four weeks Avhich
constituted the camp season, the Nymph in
the first year of her career with the Shay-
hacks ran six hundred and fifty miles. In
that time she scraped her keel, butted her
nose on the wharf, ran aground on the fiats,
blew out her whistle-pipe from the top of her
boiler, " picked up " several buoys and dex-
terously twisted their lines around the pro-
peller, and encountered several extremely
severe gales; but the little boat lived through
all her adversities and sustained only super-
ficial injuries.
The most serious event in her history w\as
due to a second interference with that same
dilapidated Georgeville wharf. The party
oil board consisted of Medfield, with his wife
and two children ; a former editor of the
"Christian Union," and Mr. and Mrs. Shay-
back. Just as we were moving away from
152 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
the wharf a projecting log caught in the
awning frame and forced it violently against
the whistle-pipe, which cracked close to the
boiler. Medfitld stopped the engine imme-
diately.
" It 's all up," he said to Mr. Shayback, in
a whisper.
The yacht was hauled back to the wharf,
and the ladies and children landed. A jet
of steam issued from the cracked joint.
*^ Perhaps the joint is only loosened," said
Mr. Shayback. " Let me bear against the
pipe with this stick while you try it with the
Stillson wrench."
Medfield seized the wrench and gave the
pipe a powerful twist. It broke short off at
the top of the boiler, and the steam, at a pres-
sure of eighty pounds, burst forth with a
friofhtful and indescribable roar. Both Med-
field and Mr. Shayback had a narrow escape
from being scalded. Medfield, with his usual
presence of mind, dropped to the bottom of
the boat and drew the fire from under the
boiler. The noise of the escaping steam
NYMPHIC XAVIGATION. 153
could have been heard miles away. It threw
Gcorgeville into a state of temporary conster-
nation. A few weeks before the inhabitants
thong'ht the Nymph had oone down ; now it
was reported that she had <;"one up. But
when the deafeninj^ noise had su])sided and
the clouds of steam had passed away, she was
all there, and the broken whistle-pipe was the
only evidence of damag'e.
Yet, under the circumstances this was
serious enough. Medfield and his family had
embarked on the Nymph, expecting* to take
the night train from Newport to Boston, but
here was an accident which might lay iier up
for two or three days until a skilled mechanic
could come to our relief, the small resources
of Georgeville being inadequate for such an
emergency. It was then, however, that the
su[)erb mechanical genius of Medfield came
into play. He inspected the hole in the
boiler with a critical eye. The few tools that
we carried consisted mainly of a hammer,
cold chisel, iiles, and the invaluable Stillson
wrench. With the hammer and chisel he
154 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
succeeded in dexterously cutting out tlie piece
of broken pipe in the boiler head without
injuring the thread into which it had been
screwed. We had no extra pipe with us.
The broken whistle-pipe was composed of two
or three joints, to one of which the gauge
was attached. Mi'dfield's quick eye saw how
these lengths might be taken apart and
recombined. It was then that the Stillson
wrench proved a friend indeed, but it needed
Medfield's magnificent muscle to invest it
Avith authority. The old joints were unfas-
tened ; a new end was screwed into the boiler,
and by ingenious combinations of different
lengths the wliistle-pii)e was reinstated and
the gauge restored to its responsible position.
It took but half an hour to do it. It took
another half hour to get up steam again, and
thus within an hour from the time of the
accident which threatened to detain the
Nymph tv>'0 or three days at Georgeville, she
had cast off her lines and, after a fresh and
exultant scream v.itli her whistle, proudly
steamed toward Newport.
NYMPHIC NAVIGATION. 155
No one but the owner of a steam yaelit,
Avlio enjoys the privilege of running- her him-
self and helping her out of all her distresses,
can appreciate the exhilaration which such
ovrnership imparts. The exigencies that arise
give but a new zest to the enjoyment. The
man who owns a yacht so large that he must
have a trained engineer and a trained captain
to manage it is little more than a passenger
on his own craft.
The possession of this steam yacht had an
important influence upon feminine education.
For the whole of one season the duties of
engineer devolved upon Mr. Shay back and
the responsible position of pilot fell to ^Irs.
Shayback. The engineer recalls with pecul-
iar satisfaction various scenes in which fem-
inine skill in navigation was beautifully dis-
played. The Nymph being a private boat
had full liberty to run upon the rocks, break
her nose on the wharf, blow up, or sink, as
her caprice might determine. Neither the
captain nor the engineer was recpiired to have
a government license for such indulgences.
156 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
The question which awhile ago agitated the
United States, as to whether a woman who is
perfectly able to perform the duties of pilot
on the Mississippi River should be allowed a
commission after her husband's death, did
not come up at Memphremagog. Mrs. Shay-
back, without asking leave of President or
Queen, simply took her place at the wheel
and pointed the Nymph in the way she should
go. In a short time she could make a land-
ing with as much skill as any captain on the
lake. She became familiar with such of the
rocks, ledges, and shoals as sustained a threat-
ening relation to the keel of the boat. For
an entire week at the close of the camjjing
season, Mr. Shayback was the only man left
in the depleted company. He was, as the
Germans say, a "Hahn im Korbe." Mrs.
Shayback, Pusskin, and two lady campers
constituted his social, and perhaps it may as
well be confessed, his governmental environ-
ment. Notwithstanding this preponderance
of female voters, neither the tension of cam})
duties, nor the heroic character of camp rec-
NYMPH 10 NAVIGAriON. 157
reatlons was at all relaxed. That demoral-
izatiun wliieh is sometimes supposed to come
■with woman suirrage was not experienced.
Eveiything went on with equanimity and
good order both on land and at sea. The
navy department was administered with nau-
tical skill ; the treasury d('i)artment v,itli
financial ability ; and the interior department
with the genius Avhich has always distin-
guished its operations.
A })leasant way of using the Nymph under
this administration was to start oil: in the
morning for an excursion to some distant
})oint and return at nightfall. A round trip
of twenty-five miles made to Fitch Bay in
this way comes vividly to mind. The beau-
tiful amber day, the calm, clear water, — as
peaceful as that which is mirrored in the
twenty-third Psalm ; the cruise among the
islands : the vovaii'O un the ])av iiiiarded with
forests and waHed with hills ; the heron
which spread his broad wings and hovered
over the vessel ; the refreshing bath ; iha
delightful meal on a bold rock beyond the
158 THE SUA y BACKS IN CAMP.
Narrows, all come into focus ajicain with that
unfadnij^ color which is not easily washed out
of our recolk'ciion of a good time. But there
is one experience of the day which always
comes into the foreground ; it was the pas-
saji'e over the har. The Shavhacks had heen
warned of its existence, and that on account
of the low Avater it mio-ht be difficult to cross.
Arriving at the mouth of the hay the ardor
of the busy little engine Avas cautiously mod-
erated, and the pilot kept a sharp lookout.
It was almost impossible, however, to deter-
mine the channel simply by the eye, and in
a short time the Nym})h had run lightly
aground. The ladies had no idea, however,
of staying there. Mr. Shayback's duties as
engineer required his presence at the engine.
Nor was there any necessity for him to aban-
don his post, for jNIrs. Shayback, with her
keen zest for exploration, took the tender
and went ahead to search for the channel.
Arline, taking the boat-hook, stood in tlie
bow of the steamer and made soundinos.
The tiller was temporarily intrusted to Zer-
NYMPIIIC NAVIGATION. 159
Una, wlio was without previous experience in
manaj^ini;* it. Coi3[)erative navi^'ation was
the only kind here that promised any success.
Mrs. Shayhack, with the pih)t's instinct for
findin*^ deep water, soon discovered the chan-
nel. But at best the depth of water on the
bar was small. When Mrs. Shayback waved
her invitation to proceed, Arline, from the
bow of the Nymph, plunged her pole into the
sand and reported the depth, while jNIr. Shay-
back, with his hand on the valve, stopped
and started as occasion required, and shouted
'' starboard " and " port " to Zerlina at the
helm. The meaning of these terms was rap-
idly acquired ; but being a young lady of
positive character she made no half-way work
with the tiller. Her sense of freedom in con-
trolling it was equal to her sense of respon-
sibility. If " port " was called, she gave all
the port the tiller would permit. To correct
the threatening deviation of the bow, it was
immediately necessary to shout '' starboard,"
when the tiller was swunc^ to the other ex-
treme. This decision of character on the
IGO THE SII AY BACKS IN CAMP.
part of Zerllna gave a certain indecision to
the course of the Ijoat ; but Arline's pole was
as good as another rudder at the bow. By
the combined skill of these hidies and the
facility with which they worked in opposition
to each other, the Nymph was finally zig-
zagged over the bar.
Memphremagog shares the inconstancy of
all mountain-walled lakes. It is a iine play-
ground for the winds. One can never tell
when they may skip down from the mountains
and break that glass mirror into a million
ripples, or roll it into foam-crested billows.
A little too sportive we think these winds for
a sail-boat, but the Nymph carried no sail,
and was so stanch that the wildest storm was
not feared during the daylight so long as her
machinery was in order. But occasionally the
party was belated, and camp was not made
until after darkness had settled over the lake.
The rocks and ledi»x's around our little cove
were so dangerous that one needed to be per-
fectly familiar with the entrance to pilot the
Nymph safely to her anchorage.
NYMPIIIC NA Via A Tl ON. 1 ( > I
Durlni^ the last year in which the yaclit
leiiiaiiied in the possession of the Shayhacks,
it was made a rule to return to cain[) hy sun-
down. This rule, of course, was broken on
the very first trip. Two ladies from LiM)min-
ster, Massachusetts, had made one of their ten
annual summer drives through New Kni;l;ind
in a bug-gy. This time they had crossed the
Canada line and surprised the Shaybacks in
their camp. Ladies who could take together
a round trip of live hundred miles in a bug'i^y
did not have any fear about trustini*' their
safety to a steam yacht. An invitation to
take a trip to Magog' and back, twenty miles
in all, was promptly accepted ; and wlu>n the
time for wooding-up came, the ladies carried
their full share of sticks and insisted on try-
ino* the buck and saw. A new ash row-boat
had been ordered for our naw. She was
built at Lawrenceville, Canada, and was to
come by rail to Magog. It was poetically as-
sumed by Mr. Shayback that these enterpris-
ing ladies had come two hundred and iifty
miles in a buggy to witness the launching.
1G2 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
Delay was cxporloneed in staitlnj^, and
airain at jMaLiou*. A visit to the viliai»o con-
suniod additional time. When finally the
Garlield was tiinniphantly lannehed and
liitched to the Nvmidi it was evident that if
the engine did its ntniost we eonld not reach
camp before dark. Mrs. Shay back took the
helm as usnal, which is a warrant that no S's
were Avritten on the lake with the rndder ;
and Islv. Shayback did all that oil and wood
permitted to keep np the speed of the engine.
It was a race with the snnsot. Bnt we were
too heavily handicai)ped. If we lost no time
it was clearly impossible to gain any. Neither
Josluia nor Ilezekiah Avas available to lenothen
the d;iy for onr benefit. Before v,e had
reached Lord's Island the sun was far gone
behind the hills. The day had been mate-
rially shortened by the heavy clouds which
had been all the time gathering overhead, and
growing blacker and blacker. There were
fire and water, thunder and wind, in those
sullen, inky masses. With no moon, and not
a ray of starlight, it was not safe to run at
NYMPIIIC NAVIGATION. 103
full s])ee(l. Tho (Liikness bcMMine so thick
tliat Mr. Sli;iybii('k taiiclcd it inijxMlcMl the
pi'o^Toss of tho boat. The canii) had hcen
left entliely unnihahited. As a matter of
preeaution a red lantern, the usual iiii;iit sio--
nal, had h(H>n lighted and hung in its plaee
on the point before we set out in the after-
noon. Had the lantern been burning osi the
shore either Mrs. Shaybaek or her husl)and
could have taken the boat into the harbor as
easily as Captain Fogg put the L;uly in at
Newport. But the lamp chimney had par-
taken of the general blackness, and tin; wick,
as it was afterwards found, had smoked itself
out. All that we could do was to feel our
way. The black mass of cedars and hem-
locks rose like a dark wall on the east side of
the lake. But the five white birches on the
camp point could not be discerned. There
was only one way in which we could a})proxl-
mately determine the location of our camp,
and that was by the outline of the hill-tops,
the curves of which could still be distino'uished
through the clouds above. The Nymph,
164 THE SIIAYBACKS IN CAMP.
by this time, wo jiulgetl, was about a mile
south 01 Lord's Islaud. But the rudder Avas
perplexed and the engine cautious. Not a
single glimmer on the east shore ; only the
sky line rose and fell with the curving and
swellinjx o£ the hills. On the v.est shore, a
mile and a half across the lake, opposite the
camp, is the ruin of a sawmill. Two or three
French families still live in the adjacent cot-
tages, and make a precarious living by fishing
and small farmin<»:. Once u'et the bearino's
of the sawmill and the Shaybacks knew well
the diagonal which would brini»' them to the
camp cove. The official lighthouses with
which the lake is provided were too far away
to be of any use in finding the harbor. A
sing-le gleam from a cottage by the sawmill
w^ould be worth all the lighthouses on the
lake. Our pilot strained her sky-blue eyes —
the only sky-blue there was in that darkness
— towards the west shore where the dim line
of Black Rock rose like a battlement. To
the left of that clilf must be the sawmill cove.
If wo were to get any light it must come from
that bay.
NYMPIIIC NAVIGATION. 165
A swarm of lurid sparks rose from the
smoke-stack, and ghostlike piiirs of steam
rhythmically shot into the air from the ex-
haust pipe, as the yacht slowly cut the dark-
ness with her prow. It was a weird and awful
night, and under its iniluence the voyage lost
some of its character as a pleasure trip. Yet
there was a strano-e fascination in the uncer-
tainty and danger of the situation. The very
darkness, thick with foreboding, demanded a
new keenness in the eve, a new steadiness in
the hand. Everything depended, in the first
place, on the fidelity o£ the engine, and Mr.
Shayback, hy the aid of a lantern, watched
each coupling, bolt, and screw, with exacting
vigilance. lie knew that the rudder was in
go d hands, and that no keener eye could
^epiuh the mystery of the darkness.
It was a little pencil of light that tunneled
its way through the gloom and kindled i.ie
pilot's eye.
" The sawmill ! The sawmill ! " she
shouted.
All eyes were strained into the darkness.
166 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP,
A sing^le glimmer of light shone from the
west shore. Steiidily it burned, as if it were
a stiir that had set in the woods.
Ah, my good Frenehman ! we thank you
for your beaeon. You lighted your lamp at
the evenino' meal. You are comfortahlv smok-
ing your pipe, or chatting with the children, or
reading a paper a week old. You do not know
how far that little candle — or was it a kero-
sene lamp ? — casts its beams, and how wel-
come it is to the nioht-bound, storm-threatened
mariners. You did not know when you lighted
tile wick that you would light a pair of blue
eves, and perhaps some faintly blue hearts
upon the lake. 1 leave it to the casuists to
determine whether the Frenchman is entitled
to any credit for the benefit of an action
whose indirect results he did not contemplate,
and for an influence which he is still uncon-
scious he exerted. But we easily forgive, and
even connnend, that form of selfishness which,
while it serves the doer's pleasure, brings
guidance and comfort to others. Far better
thnn the sern^ in which Mr. Shay back preached
NYMPIIIC XAVIdATIOX. 1G7
on the next day was tliat which oleamed
from the Frenchman 's hunp. '' Let your
YvAxt so shine before men that tliey may see
your good works."
The moment Mrs. Shayback saw that iiaiid-
ing llg'ht she put the hehn to star1)oard and
l)rou<>]it the stern within its rano-e. It' wo
couhl not steer by a hglit ahead we coukl
steer by one astern. Slowly we steamed
across the lake on the pathway of that lileam.
As the dark outline of the forests on the
east shore became more distinct the engine
was cautiously shut down at a safe distance.
Mr. Shayback could not leave his euiilne, nor
his wife the wheel. The tender was un-
hitched, and Ignatio, the only other gentle-
man in the party of seven, who was making
his first voyage that day on the Nym[)h,
took a lantern and went ashore. We had no
time to lose. The wind was risiug in the
forest. Thrice welcome was his voice when
it reached us with a reassurlnii' cr\'. lie had
landed, found the camp, and in a few minutes
the signal lantern was shining on the point.
168 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
Well done, Mrs. Shaybaek, you have brouglit
her strai<»'lit to the mo nth of the eove.
Yet Ave are right over some of the worst
ledges ill the lake. Unless our pilot knows
just what that light means, we are worse oif
than ever. Ai>-nosticism will not do here.
But Mrs. Shaybaek knows that Bedroom
Point lies to the left, with its long roeky
tono'ue : that Bastard Rock is standinof two
inehes out of water to the ri^ht, though she
cannot see the flag on the huoy. Once more
the propeller lashes the water. Port goes the
helm. " Steady." '' Hard a starboard."
" Port again." '' Shut her down." IMr.
Shaybaek skips forward to the bow. There
is a loud splash in the water, a rattle of chain.
The anchor is over. We are safe in our cove.
Hardly had we got the ladies ashore in the
tender than one of the most teriific storms of
that season broke on the lake Avith majestic
violence. But the campers were safe Avithin
their tents. More than once during the night
Mr. Shaybaek Avas down on the beach Avatch-
ing the tussle betAveen the Nymph and the
NYMPHIC NAVIGATION. 169
storm, which continued until seven or eisrht
o'clock the next morning ; but the anchor
had a iirm grip in the sand, and some bhick-
smith had put his conscience into the chain.
There is one element o£ mystery in the
sequel to that trip which is tenderly submit-
ted to our readers. Our Leominster ladies
on account of the storm were obliged to
spend the night in camp instead of returning
to the hotel in George ville as they had ex-
pected to do. The same cause which pre-
vented them from going that night to George-
ville prevented us from getting any supplies
from the village for our Sunday dinner.
There was no meat for our guests. There
was a beautiful aquarium in front of our
camp well stocked with voracious perch ; but
it was Sunday.
Mr. Shayback was permitted to retire to
his study in the woods to prepare himself for
the church service at eleven o'clock. As he
left the beach he noticed that a row-boat
with oome ladies in it left the shore. Two
horns later the horn was sounded for the ser-
170 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
vice in the grove chapel, and all the campers
being present Mr. Shayback preached his ser-
mon. There was nothing remarkable in this ;
but when the dinner call was sounded later
in the day a fine mess of fish appeared upon
the table, and Mr. Shayback offered thanks,
and ate, asking no questions for conscience'
sake.
I leave it to the society for Psychical Re-
search to determine how the fish got there.
Mr. Shayback's theory is that they fell from
heaven in the storm of the previous night,
but that angel hands were still needed to
hook them out of the waters beneath.
CHAPTER XI.
SPOON AND SINKER. THE SCIENCE OF IT.
To the Sliaybacks the chiirms of Lake
Memphremagog have proved to be a pro-
gressive revelation. Each year has brought
its own zest. It is Avithout any corroding
sense of regret that Mr. Shayback confesses
that for the first four years of his stay at
Memphremagog he was a stranger to the
charms of the spoon and sinker. The two
years spent with the steam yacht demand no
reparation from any other enjoyment. The
other years had their own novelties and ex-
citements. Mr. Shayback's ignorance in re-
gard to the spoon and sinker was shared at
that time by the whole community. The
spoon Avas well known to the fishernuMi, the
sinker was no stranger, but the condjination
that I am about to describe had not then
been introduced.
172 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
Of the various fish which inhabit the
waters of Meniphreinagot^ pickerel, shad-
waiters, pout, bass, lunge, and perch, the
last two most engage attention during the
cain})ing season. Pickerel were formerly very
abundant ; and are still caught in diminished
numbers in Fitch Bay and elsewhere by those
who know how. Bass have only recently
been put into the lake, but are gaining in
numbers every year. The perch were intro-
duced about a dozen years ago, and have
multiplied Avitli remarkable rapidity. The
native dwellers on the lake are inclined to re-
gard the stocking of its waters with perch as
an unmixed evil. It is a popular impression
that the perch eat the young of the lunge,
and thus contribute to decimate the nobler
fish. The " lunge," as it is popularly called,
is a true species of lake trout {Sahiio con-
Jinis)o It is found in four marked varieties,
known to the fishermen as the black, the sil-
ver, the gray, and the copper lunge. In
Memphremagog they range in weight from
one to twenty pounds, though there is a well-
SPOON AND SINKER. 173
attested instance of a forty pounder among-
the salted-down traditions of the lake. The
name " lunge " is probably a corruption of
masqu'allonge (often spelled muskallonge and
muscalonge, and converted by lishermen into
niaskinonge), founded possibly on a supposed
relationship of this fish with the kd^e trout.
But the families are entirely diiferent. The
muscalouiie is not found in Memi)hreniai''o<>;.
The name " lunge," however, has become so
securely fastened to the Memi)hrema<i;;()i>' lake
trout that it is of no use to try to remove it.
We humbly bow to the necessity, and respect-
inn- the custom of the lake will use the com-
iiion term instead of the scientific one.
For perch fisliing JMr. Shayback confesses
that he has no enthusiasm. The operation
of dismembering a grasshopper or transfixing
a wriggling worm is not poetic or agreeable.
Perch seldom tempt the rod of the natives ;
but when one of the editors of a prominent
Boston daily and his wife go to Memphrema-
gog for a two weeks' vacation the perch al-
ways hear of their arrival. A thousand fish
174 THE SIl AY BACKS IN CAMP.
causflit ill two woolvs with the assistance of
another companion is a well veriiied achieve-
ment. Skinned and dressed the })erch makes
a good pan-iish ; hoiled and boned it fur-
nishes a delightful chowder. The exigencies
of the camp larder sometimes require a draft
of these fish. In such cases the children are
only too glad to organize an expedition for
their capture. They simply need to row un-
der the shadow of the great clill' to iind one
of the best fishing-places on the lake.
For Mr. Shayback, however^ the excite-
ment of catching them is too transient. No
sooner is a sudden twinge on the line felt
than the voracious perch is Avhipped into the
boat. The hook is rebaited and dropped as
a new lure. There is no running of the line,
no conflict of the emotions, no vibrations
between hope and doubt, culminating in sad
disappointment or triumphant exultation. It
is merely a series of atavcato beats on nerve
sensation.
As for the lunge, they were acknowledged
to be scarce in the month of August, and Mr,
SPOON AND SINKER. 175
Sliiiyl)ack for a lonji^ time ro2^ar(le(l tliom as
the prize only of the prol'cssloiial lishcrinan.
The method they adopteil had Few attraetioiis
for hhn. To catch your hmj^e it was neces-
sary first to catch your minnows. At various
l)hices on the hdte where exi)erience dictated
the fishermen had fixed buoys by tying- bark
rope to logs or boards, and anchoring them
with heavy stones. Fastening his boat to
one of these buoys the fisherman phiced a
minnow on his hook and dropped about
eiglity feet of line. There were days in the
early history of lunge fishing when this
method was promptly rewarded. The fish
were plentiful and they Ijit well. But such
mordant experiences when Ave carne to Mem-
phremagog were only a matter of tradition.
It was not uncommon for the fisherman to sit
all day in his boat without getting a bite.
Visions still pass before my eyes of old Colo-
nel Burbank, with his invariable nightcap on,
sittinof in the stern of his anchored skiff, hold-
ing his line with an infinite patience from
morn till sundown.
176 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
In the summer of 1882 a more tempting
contrast was furnished to this picture. It
was noticed that a certain fisherman seemed
to be blessed with unusual success. Day after
day he returned to Georgeville with from ten
to forty pounds of the coveted fish. Every
morning as the Lady landed at the wharf he
met her with a string of lunge which excited
the envy of all beholders. Some of them
weighed from fifteen to twenty pounds. The
old fishermen, on the other hand, returned
with empty boats. The phenomenon was a
mystery to them. The use of the seine at that
season of the year is prohibited ; but one of
the disappointed fishermen expressed to Mr.
Shayback his confident suspicion that Frank
Merriman used a " leetle net." The speaker
meant to have it known that he at least could
not be caught napping. There was a double
charge of sarcasm packed into the word " lee-
tle." It assumed that anybody could do as
well as Frank if he used such disreputable
means. Meanwhile Merriman leisurely puffed
his pipe, sold his fish at twenty cents a pound,
SPOON AND SINKER. 177
and kept his own counsel. It was not an un-
common thing for the successful fisherman to
run into the cove near Bedroom Point at
noon, draw his boat into the shade, eat his
lunch, get a drink from the spring, and take
a nap.
"Pretty, ain't they?" he said one day, as
he held up a pair of ten-pounders which
would bring four dollars and forty cents the
next morning at the Lady. Mr. Shayback
was forced to confess that such fish were
worth catching.
Mr. Merriman took out a match and lighted
his pipe. His voice assumed a confidential
tone ; his face was beaming with generos-
ity.
" Mr. Shayback," he said, " you can catch
these fish just as well as T can, and if you
have a few minutes to spare I will show you
how."
Mr. Shayback Avas self-distrustful, but cu-
rious to see the new wrinkle. The fisher-
man sat down on a stone and his disciple sat
down beside him with expectant docility. He
178 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
took from his boat a long reel of line with a
shiny spoon and a heavy egg-shaped weight
dangling at the end.
" There is my rig."
" Is that all ? " asked Mr. Shayback.
« That is all."
Later experience taught Mr. Shayback that
it was one thing to have a rig, and another
thing to know how to use it. Opening a
little box filled with swivels, rings, hooks,
pack-thread, needles, and beeswax, Mr. Mer-
riman initiated his pupil into the method of
constructing a rig for himself. With still
greater generosity he informed Mr. Shayback
that he was going to Waterloo for a few days
and tendered him the use of his own line.
When Mr. Shayback remembers the destruc-
tive work which the uninitiated often make
with such appliances, the generosity of Mr.
Merriman looms up into the grandeur of
Owl's Head. ■ Five minutes after Mr. Shay-
back cast that borrowed line he had hooked
it on one of the worst ledges in the lake. It
was only by patience and good fortune that
SPOON AND SINKER. 179
he got it off again, and fifteen minutes after-
wards he landed a seven-pound huige in his
boat. He did not catch another for a week,
but that seven-pounder was enough to fire
his enthusiasm with an inextinffuishahle
ardor. He had caught a fish ; but he had
also become himself firmly hooked to this
new and alluring pastime.
A German from Montreal is credited with
first introducing this innovation. Mr. Mer-
riman, who is an ingenious mechanic, then
took it up and substantially improved the rig.
Gradually the old fishermen were obliged to
adopt the improved method.
"I have fished in this lake for forty years,"
said old Diman, as he reluctantly surrendered
the buoy for the trolling line, " and it is hard
to teach an old dog new tricks."
Surface trolling has of course been prac-
ticed upon the lake for many years, not only
for pickerel but for lunge. It was confined,
however, to the spring of the year or to early
summer, when the fish are near the surface.
Through July and August, when they seek
180 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
deeper water, the trolling line was put by.
Now that we know what can be accomplished
by it, it seems singular that no one ever
adopted before the simple device of adding a
sinker to the spoon and sending down the
shining allurement to wreak its deception at
the bottom. This simple device, however,
involves a wholly new method of fishing. It
requires not merely the addition of a weight,
but the addition of that experience which
develops skill and knowledge. The condi-
tions for successful trolling on the surface
and for successful trolling on the bottom are
essentially different.
Mr. Shay back found himself at the begin-
ning of an epoch in the history of fishing on
the lake. He has the honor of beino: the
first amateur to adopt the new method, and
has succeeded in disproving the assertion
which often went uncontradicted, that " no
amateur can catch a lun^e." In the last
three years he has acquired not a little expe-
rience and has profited by the experience of
others. Much of it, however, is incommuni-
SPOON AND SINKER. 181
cable on paper. It is not precept upon pre-
cept, but line upon line that is needed.
By all means let the line be a good one.
Mr. Shayback prefers a hard-braided number
2 line. It is not so liable to snarl ; it is not
elastic. Achilles declares that with such a
line he could feel a bite three miles off. The
Homeric heroes are given to hyperbole. If
Achilles meant a ledge bite there is no doubt
that he spoke the exact truth. No matter
how long the line, if the fisher gets it hooked
on a ledge at one end he will eventually fe .i
it at the other. The line should be about
three hundred feet in length. It is a good
plan to have it divided into sections of one
hundred and fifty feet each. A loop is made
at each end of the severed parts, and one of
them is made long enough for the reel con-
taining the other half of the line to be passed
through it. In this way the additional length
can be securely united in a moment when the
depth of the water requires it.
The spoon is one of the most important
features in the outfit. Upon its perfect
182 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
adaptation to its work the success of the
"whole venture may depend. The Memphre-
magog fishermen have an aversion to patent
spoons for deep trolling. Mr. Shayback has
given them only a limited trial, but without
encouraging results. The most successful
fishermen on the lake buy at Newport an
ordinary silver-plated table spoon. With a
chisel they cut off the handle close to the
bowl, filing the bowl smoothly at the severed
part until all trace of the handle has disap-
peared. A hole is bored in each end of the
bowl near the edge, care being taken that
the holes shall be in line, as the position of
the holes has an important influence upon the
revolution of the spoon. Some fishermen
bend up the back of the spoon to furnish a
little more resistance to the water. Some-
times one gets a spoon that revolves like an
egg'f but a slight deviation in boring the
holes will cause it to make a wider circle
through the water. The hook should be a
three-barbed grapnel of medium size.
For the benefit of amateurs who may wish
SPOON AND SINKER. 183
to prepare a similar line and try the experi-
ment, I will describe in detail the construc-
tion of a rig. The hook should be hung
from the large end of the spoon by the inter-
vention of an ordinary steel ring. Another
ring is placed in the small end, and to this is
joined a good swivel, allowing the spoon to
revolve freely. Two or three feet of gimp
are fastened to the swivel and the main line
is joined to the gimp by another swivel. It
is a good plan to fasten the gimp to the line
by looped hitches, so that the spoon can be
readily detached if necessary. Measure off
twenty-one feet of line from the spoon and
then attach another swivel. At this point
the lead line is fastened. It should be five
feet in length, and should hang perpendicu-
larly from the main line by a swivel running
on the line and also another swivel at the
end where it joins the weight, thus allowing
the lead to revolve without getting twisted
in the line. The swivel joining the lead line
to the main line may be fastened by a piece
of copper wire to the swivel which connects
184 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
the main line with the back line. This will
prevent the lead line from sliding along too
far on the main line, or the same purpose
may be served by " ganging," or winding,
the main line so heavily with thread that the
eye of the swivel will not slip over it. The
most approved weight is made by blowing
out the contents of a large egg and using the
shell in the sand as a mould. A piece of
heavy wire may be moulded into the lead and
formed into a staple as a point of attachment
for the ring. The lead should weigh a
pound.
As to the modus operandi, the fisherman
who rows alone, after a sufficient length of line
is paid out, according to the nature of the
ground, fastens his reel in the boat and winds
the line around his hand so as to bring the
bearing upon the first finger. In throwing
out the spoon be careful that the grapnel
does not catch on the line. Take heed also
in dropping the lead that it does not twist on
the main line. The line should be paid out
until the lead touches the bottom. The boat
SPOON AND SINKER. 185
should be gently rowed, just enough to let
the lead bob along on the bottom, while the
spoon is kept revolving in the water behind.
If there is no wind to row against, a gentle
movement of the oars will suffice. The
motion of the boat should not be arrested
long without drawing in the line ; if it is
the spoon may be trusted to catch on the
bottom.
With the line wound around the hand the
fisherman will find no trouble in managing his
oars. Indeed there is a great advantage in
being able to regulate the motion of the boat
by the intelligence which the oarsman gets
from below. He soon becomes so accustomed
to the thud of the lead on the bottom that
he feels it every time he bends forward to
take a new dip with his oars. When he
moves off into deeper water and fails to get
the answering thud, he gradually lengthens
his line until he feels it again. Sometimes in
crossing a bar or ledge, the sinker bobs along
from rock to rock. The motion produced is
a very deceptive one. The amateur is certain
186 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
that he has a fish, and is perhaps only unde-
ceived when he brings his empty spoon to the
top of the water.
The necessity of trolling near the bottom
renders it important that the fisherman should
know the ground on which he fishes. He
soon learns, and sometimes by bitter experi-
ence, the trend of the most dangerous ledges,
the location of bars, and the outline of the
channel. The constant use of the lead makes
him almost as familiar with the topography
of the bottom as he is with the top. The
trees and landmarks on the shore serve to fix
his course. If he fishes on the soft bottom
he may bob along without much inconven-
ience, but sooner or later every fisherman
finds himself suddenly brought to a stand-still
by a strong and steady tension on his Une.
The practiced troUer soon learns the differ-
ence between a real bite and a " ledge bite."
When he finds himself fast he immediately
backs water. If the line is obstinate, he runs
in the opposite direction to draw the hook out
of its catch. Sometimes it is the weight that
SPOON AND SINKER. 187
is caught between the crevices of the rocks.
Usually a few minutes will suffice to free it.
But such hitches occasion no little annoyance
and delay. Mr. Shayback fished for three
years without losing a spoon, his account be-
ing squared by the loss of a couple of leads.
But sometimes even the most experienced
fisherman, going out with a good rig, may
come back minus spoon, lead, and most of
his line. If he is so unfortunate as to get
fastened to a ledge when the wind is high,
he finds it hard work to get loose again. In
such cases he may buoy his line and leave it
until calm weather.
Two summers ago, Mr. Shayback w^as fish-
ing off Georgeville in about seventy feet of
water, when he suddenly felt the tension
which telegraphs a hitch. He at once backed
his boat, paid out his line again, and then
hauled in without success. He worked to
the north, the east, the south, and the west.
Half an hour of patient but unavailing effort
at every point of the compass failed to release
the obstinate hook. Finally he concluded
188 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
that he must snap his line and leave it there.
He determined to secure as much of it as
possible, and pulled his hoat directly over the
obstruction. Drawing heavily on the line, he
expected it to snap. He slowly pulled in a
foot or two. The line seemed elastic ; it gave
with each added strain. He pulled in a yard,
then a fathom, and still it came. It was a
pleasing exercise of the imagination to con-
jecture the nature of the haul. If not a fish,
it was a disappointment of an unusually heavy
order. What could it be? A little twig
eventually appeared above the water. It was
followed by a bough, then by a long and
heavier limb, until finally the trunk of a
good-sized tree emerged from the water, and
was drawn across the top of the boat. It
measured fully twenty feet in length, and
being water-logged was a tolerably heavy
load for a man to carry. It seemed hardly
possible that a tree of this size and weight
could have been brought from the bottom by
so small a hook. Undoubtedly if Mr. Shay-
back had endeavored to raise it at first his
SPOON AND SINKER, 189
line would have broken. But having worked
his boat in every direction before taking the
direct strain, the tree was dislodged from its
sandy bed.
The irony of trolling is occasionally illus-
trated in the way I have described. To bring
up a twenty-foot tree from the bottom is a
poor return for a whole day's work, especially
when the tree is so water-logged tliat you can-
not use it to cook the fish with which you
revenge yourself the next day. The vexation
of bringing up a tree or stone, however, is
small compared with that of leaving your
spoon and hook at the bottom.
I have indicated the main conditions of
success in deep trolling. But in this branch
of fishing, as in all others, " fisherman's
luck" plays its mysterious part. Neverthe-
less there is a growing tendency among fish-
ermen on the lake to depend more on " sci-
ence," and less on superstition. The most
successful fishermen are those who pay most
attention to their " rig ; " who keep their
spoon shining, and who are fastidiously par-
190 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
ticular in regard to its whirl ; who, literally
speaking, have got to the bottom of the
thing, and know the topography of the lake
bed with that minuteness which can be ac-
quired only through a careful study of the
revelations of the spoon and sinker. During
the four years in which deep trolling has
been followed on Memphremagog, the num-
ber of fish caught by this method has greatly
increased. This, I think, is not to be attrib-
uted to an increase of the fish so much as to
the fact that the fishermen are gradually get-
ting the knack of it. The number of lunge
in the lake is small compared with the num-
ber twenty years ago. The spear and the
seine have wrought fearful decimations. The
summer catch under the old method uf an-
gling has been getting smaller and smaller.
The relative scarcity of fish compared with
the old-fashioned reign of plenty may be
seen from the fact that lunjje brings fifteen
cents a pound right on the ground where it is
caught at Georgeville, and that eighteen and
twenty cents have been paid at the southc i
end of the lake.
SPOON AND SINKER. 191
Success in trolling is very variable. Mr.
Achilles has caught in one day fifty-three
pounds, one of the fish weighing sixteen and
a half pounds. On another day he caught
seventy-seven and a quarter pounds and sold
the lot at fifteen cents a pound. The weather
at this time was tolerably cool and the fish
seemed to rise in schools on the shoals. This
is the largest catch ever made in a single day
by deep trolling. For three or four days
succeeding the weather was extremely warm
and hardly a fish was to be caught on these
grounds. The possibilities of the single deep
trolling line may be well illustrated by the
work of Paul Young, a fisherman who de-
voted himself to the business from the first
of June until the season closed, October 15.
His total catch during this time was 1776
pounds. The largest fish caught during the
season weighed nineteen pounds.
The tyro, even when he is provided with
a good rig, incurs the possibility of failure
from not knowing the ground over which he
trolls. But still another source of failure to
192 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
"which even the best fishermen are exposed
arises from the occasional difficulty of land-
ing the fish. It is not necessary to let the
lunge " run," as with bass or salmon. When
the telegraphic jerk is fairly felt, the fisher
may begin to haul in. If the hook is caught
in the lower jaw, he will generally bring him
without trouble. It is frequently as easy to
land a six or seven pound lunge as to land a
perch. But sometimes it requires all the skill
of the practiced troUer to get his fish on
board. The amateur, in the excitement of his
first haul, must be cool indeed if he does not
pull his fish into the boat without the formal-
ity of the gafP. He may succeed several i mes
in this way, but when he hooks lightly on a
ten or twelve pounder, and loses it just at the
side of the boat, he will be apt to seek in fu-
ture a little instruction in the theory and prac-
tice of the gaff. The gaff should be about
three feet in length, with the hook turned a
little outward, and made as sharp as a file can
make it. Let it be placed near the stern of
the boat, ready for use. When the fisher-
SPOON AND SINKER. 193
man in hauling the line reaches the sinker
there is still twenty-one feet of line behind it
upon which the fish is playing. He should
take the gaff in his right hand and hold it
there as he draws the line, hand over hand,
into the boat. As soon as the fish is in reach
of the gaff, and before it breaks water, he
should strike beneath it, being careful to keep
the line taut lest the hook should loosen in
its mouth. In his excitement he must be
particularly careful not to strike the fish off
the hook, by smiting him with the side of his
gaff. A good fisherman on the lake made it
a point at first to gaff his fish in the head,
but having struck one in such a way as to cut
off the spoon and allow the fish to escape with
it in his mouth, he changed his tactics and
gaffs him if possible in the back. But the
amateur will not find it easy to be particular
as to how and where he applies that instru-
ment. He will consider himself fortunate if
he is able to land his fish at all through its
agency. Now and then he will hook a lively
trout that will rise suddenly to the top of the
194 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
water, and whirl and flap and dart, so that
it will be a piece of sheer good luck if
he succeeds in gaffing him at all. Misery
loves company, and while Mr. Shayback
failed to express symj^athy at the time, it has
only added to the growing feeling of self-
complacency when he has seen the most skill-
ful fisherman on the lake sometimes draw up
one of these whirligigs to the side of his
boat, put out the gaff to land him, and find
that he had gone.
I cannot do justice, in a single paragraph,
to the attitude of mind which such an experi-
ence occasions. There is science in catching
a fisJ.; philosophy comes in when you lose
hiir iud to the consolations of philosophy
til ^sherman must betake himself. No man
can be a fisherman a great Avhile without ac-
quiring some philosophy of his own. It may
not be so profound as Kant's or so mystical
as Hegel's, but it is a philosophy which con-
dones his mistakes and yields a soothing balm
for his misfortunes. The fisherman needs to
invoke it when he finds, as the Apostles did.
SPOON AND SINKER. 195
that he has toiled all the clay and caught noth-
ing. But still more does he need it when he
finds that somebody else who has not toiled
half as much has gained all that he has lost.
He has risen at daylight and rowed out to the
grounds and pulled steadily over the course
until breakfast. He has worked all the fore-
noon until dinner time, and taking but a fru-
gal lunch has plied his oars until sundown,
and not a bite. And yet the man who is
rowing alongside of him has taken in thirty
pounds. Or some other fisherman who has
spent the whole day lazily ashore rows out an
hour before sunset, drops his hook on the
same ground, and fifteen minutes after he has
cast his line hauls in a ten-pounder. Under
such circumstances there is no better philoso-
phy, I imagine, than that of Paul Young,
who once said to Mr. Shayback, " Well, I
believe that no man catches another man's
fish." This is an admirable way of looking at
it. It is a useful application of the Calvinistic
doctrine of election to deep trolling. But the
fisherman himself must illustrate the doctrine
196 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
of the perseverance of the saints, or he will
not make his calling and election sure. No
man can i.^.ake a good record at *' lunging '*
who docs not hold out faithfully to the end.
A chapter, yes, whole volumes might be
written on the mystery and fickleness of
fortune exhibited in " fisherman's luck."
Three of the best fishermen on the lake,
Moses, John, and Paul, are working side by
side off the Merriman shoals. They have all
received that preparation for success in life
indicated in a good name, though I doubt if
any of them would honestly say that a Scrip-
tural name is necessarily better than great
riches. Their rigs and spoons are as nearly
alike as they can be made ; the chances for
success seem to be equal. Yet while Moses
keeps hauling them in, John and Paul scarcely
get a bite.
" This is a victory for the old dispensa-
tion," said Mr. Shayback, as Moses landed
another eight-pounder. But on some subse-
quent day the new dispensation has its turn,
and Paul or John can show a good string,
SPOON AND SINKER. 197
while Moses is saying, " I mum : something 's
the matter with my spoon."
But in the long run the doctrine of sowing
and reaping applies here as it does elsewhere.
It is the hard-working, industrious, vigilant
fisherman, who brings intelligence as well as
perseverance to his art, that has, on the whole,
the best luck. If fish cannot be had in one
place, they may be had in another. The
troller must go where he can find them. His
spoon must be kept faultlessly bright, his
hooks sharp, and his line ready.
At Memphremagog, as everywhere else,
there are no fish cauoht so laro^e as those
which the fisherman loses. It is wonderful
how much more a trout weighs when he drops
off the troUer's hook than if he had been
landed in the boat. Fish never grow so fast
in the water as they do in the imagination.
This faculty does not embalm departed fish,
over which the fisherman has shed many salt
tears of regret, until it has first sufficiently
magnified them. Even then their capacity
for growth does not cease. Old John, I fear.
198 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
always thinks that the memory of such a fish
is best preserved when steeped in alcohol, after
the manner of the museums, and he is quite
willing to act as the barrel. The fish has
played an important part in mythology, and
its career in this field is not yet closed. There
is as much piscatorial mythology manufac-
tured to-day as there ever was, and perhaps not
more on Memphremagog than in other waters.
I have discovered that the forty-pound
lunge which my friend Lucius ^lerriman cap-
tured some fifteen years ago has a tendency
to grow a pound heavier every year, when it
hangs again upon the tongue of some proud
guardian of its traditions. Such exaggeration
may sometimes be checked by the contradic-
tion of a more exact witness, who saw it and
knew all about it. But the man who has
failed to land his fish cannot be gainsaid. He
may add a pound every year to its weight, or
a foot to its length, and no one can contradict
him. If he has actually seen the fish in the
water before it spurned his gaff, then he can
offer the testimony of his eyesj if he has
SPOON AND SINKER. 199
failed to see it before it hroke loose from his
hook he can offer the more glowing testimony
of his imagination. If one wants to hear
Spartan Joe Hughes warm up into dramatic
eloquence, let him be asked to tell the story
of the great fish which old John Hotham
failed to land, and which as he jumped from
the water seemed as large as a full-grown
man. There is not a fisherman on the lake
who has not a stock of traditions of his own
of mythical proportion and variety. After
one has heard them, he can sit down and
read the story of Jonah and feel that the ten-
sion on his credulity has been greatly relaxed.
There are no stories which the Memphre-
magog fisherman tells with a keener interest,
or with greater accuracy, than those which
relate to lunge spearing. In the old times
before the law forbade the use of the spear,
there was an overwhelming massacre of fish
every fall, the evils of which have been felt
in the subsequent scarcity. In the latter part
of October and the early part of November,
the lunge come up in immense numbers to
200 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
spawn. They appear in great schools packed
closely together, and lie nestled around the
rocks, or swim so far up on the heach that
thoir backs are half out of water, and one
could easily haul them ashore with a galF,
without wetting his feet. In the old times a
favorite spearing place was on the Merriman
shoals. Here it was not an unusual thing for
two or three men to spear and cart away an
ox-load of lunge in a night. The Dominion
laws now protect them during the breeding
season, and watchers are engaged by the gov-
ernment from October 15 to November 15 to
see that the laws are stringently executed.
But when the lunge may be so easily and so
abundantly taken, it would be strange if the
law were not fractured very frequently. A
common ruse is to light a fire at night, at
some point on the opposite shore. The fish
officers immediately man their boat and cross
to capture the violators. While they are fol-
lowing this decoy, the real law-breakers are
at work with a jack-light at some point on
the shore from which the officers have started.
SPOON AND SINKER. 201
Nearly every season Mr. Shayback has to act
as father confessor to some of the natives who
are only too fond of retailinj^ their ex2)loits
of the previous season. The fishermen gen-
erally see the wisdom and justice of this law,
and the government tries to insure their co-
operation by placing them under oath and
paying them a fair sum to act as watchers.
There is the same zest for adventure in break-
ing the game law^, however, as in smuggling.
And I have heard of good pillars in the
church, who would not think of telling a lie
or takin"; a cent that did not belonij to tliom,
who felt that they had a right to l)eiit the
fish ofiicers, and get their share of lunge.
The uncertain catch of the troller seems
meagre indeed, when compared with the har-
vest of the spear. One night two years ago,
three fishermen surreptitiously left George-
ville durinof the close season, to try their luck
in Bullock's Bay, and then across the lake.
They were all skillful oarsmen and managed
to elude the vigilance of tjie fish ofiicers. In
the course of two or three hours, they took
202 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
five hundred pounds, all large fish. They
did not dare to land their catch at George-
ville, as their boat and every pound of fish
would have been confiscated, in addition to
the fine imposed. Concealing it for the night
on Lord's Island, they rowed it the next day
to Newport, where they sold the fish for sev-
enty-five dollars.
As Mr. Shayback has never yet spent any
tin^ . at Mempnremagog when fishing was not
perfectly lawful, he has been saved all tempta-
tion to engage in this ruthless slaughter. So
far as the spoon and the sinker are concerned,
it may be said that the fisherman has to pay
in good hard work for all his gnins by this
method. The best time for deep trolling is
in the latter part of Soj^tember or the first
part of October, when the fish come up on
the shoals. In August they seek the cooler
depths.
The introduction of deep trolling has
tauolit the fishermen not to oe tied down to
old methods, and there are some who think
that better results than those furnished by the
SPOON AND SINKER. 203
spoon may be attained by the use of a phan-
tom minnow, or, according to others, by a
live minnow or a smelt fastened on a spinnet
in place oi the spoon. But this yet remains
to be demonstrated, and I must confess that I
should have less inclination for fishing, if,
instead of the bright and innocent spoon, a
live fish must be used as a lure on the end of
the Une.
To Mr. Shayback, not the least advantage
of this summer occupation during the vaca-
tion is that he has an opportunity to identify
his sympathies and interests with these hard-
working fishermen ; to rise with them at day-
light ; to labo: through storm and heat ; to
share the vicissitudes of their fortunes ; to
enjoy the rewards which come from patience
and industry ; and to bear with philosophic
calm the loss and pain of irretrievable defeat.
CHAPTER XII.
SPOON AND SINKER. THE POETRY OF IT.
Washington Irving, in his " Sketch Book,"
has given a description of his first attempt
at angling. He confesses that it was in-
spired by the seductive pages of honest Izaak
Walton. *^ I recollect studying his ' Com-
plete Angler,' several years since, in company
with a knot of friends in America, and, more-
over, that we were all completely bitten by
the angHng mania." " Our first essay was
along a mountain brook among the High-
lands of the Hudson, — a most unfortunate
place for the execution of those piscatory tac-
tics which had been invented along the velvet
margins of quiet English rivulets." The ill-
success of the expedition is described with a
truthfulness not supposed to be characteristic
of unlucky fishermen : —
SPOON AND SINKER. 205
For my own part, I was always a bungler at all
kinds of sport that required either patience or
adroitness, and had not angled above half an hour
before I had completely satisfied the sentiment
and convinced myself of the truth of Izaak Wal-
ton's opinion, that " angling is something like
poetry, — a man must be born to it." I hooked
myself instead of the fish, tangled my line in every
tree, lost my bait, broke my rod, until I gave up
the attempt in despair, and passed the day under
the trees, reading old Izaak, satisfied that it was
his fascinating vein of honest simplicity and rural
feeling that had bewitched me, and not the pas-
sion for angling. . . . And, above all, I recollect
the good, honest, wholesome, hungry repast which
we made under a beech-tree just by a spring of
pure, sweet water that stole out of the side of a
hill ; and how, when it was over, one of the party
read old Izaak Walton's scene with the milkmaid,
while I lay on the grass and built castles in the
bright dome of clouds, until I fell asleep.
Tested by the standard of the market or
the larder, or what we may call the prose
side of fishing, Irving's expedition was a fail-
ure. But no sympathetic reader can fail to
206 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
see that, from the poetic side, it was an un-
doubted success. It was the poetry of the
pastime that had alhired him. The profes-
sional fisherman may smile at this weak form
of compensation, but the amateur is often
obliged to count his gains in this way. In
more cases than we are wont to suppose there
exists also in the professional fisherman an
inborn love for nature, which he could only
rudely express, but which furnishes an under-
tone of satisfaction in his work. Every form
of out-door recreation shares more or less in
this companionship witli nature, but it is the
peculiar merit of fishing that it furnishes
time for its contemplation. It is not hilari-
ous, like hunting, skating, or canoeing, but
calm and conducive to reflection. If it
misses much which is furnished by saddle or
paddle, it also opens another avenue to nature
which is closed to them.
But fishing itself is of many kinds, and
differs much in the emotions it creates.
There is a vast difference, on the one hand,
between fishing in a yacht, with a stiff breeze
SPOON AND SINKER. 207
and a lively school of bliiefish behind, and
sitting patiently under the cool shade of for-
est trees on the shores of a lovely inland
brook, waiting for a trout to rise. The first
partakes of the exhilaration of the hunt, al-
beit the fisherman does not pursue, but is
himself pursued. The second is a dreamy,
patient, hopeful form of inertia, which has
its own inherent satisfaction. But the troller
for lake trout has a province of his own,
which furnishes a happy medium between the
exuberant excitement of the first and the
patient inertia of the second.
The routine of our camp has never been so
established as to make early rising a neces-
sity. To do this would be to remove it from
the catalogue of virtues. Whenever, there-
fore, we rise at half-past four in the morning,
slip from the camp unobserved, and quietly
push off a boat into the calm, clear water, it
is not without a certain sense of superiority.
Egotism is said to be almost inevitably an ac-
companiment of early rising. But the charm
of self-contemplation is soon lost in the en-
208 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
joyment of material beauties which do not
need to be suffused with the heightened color
of our pride. Homer, with archaic simplic-
ity, makes nearly all his days begin with the
sunrise, as though a day could not begin
properly at any other time. He paints them
with a single stroke of his pen, as if they
were familiar to his readers. The modern
day for the city dweller does not, in this late-
rising zone, begin with the sunrise, except in
the dead of winter. For the rest of the year,
the sun has a few hours' start of him. He
misses Homer's rosy-fingered morn.
The sunrise is the oldest and yet the new-
est event in the world. It should be in itself
a process of mental and spiritual regeneration
to witness the birth of a new day. No one
has really seen a sunrise unless he has been
kindled by it. It is an old, old story of the
world, but one repeated with ever-varying
eloquence. Nature never tires of revealing
her life and what seems to be her joy, — a
symphony of color in the sky, an answering
orchestra in the forests, a fugue of bird notes,
SPOON AND SINKER. 209
a new freshness in the rustle of the trees, a
new song to the brook. Do the winds them-
selves get drowsy ? Or what subtle and mys-
terious anodyne is it that lulls the lake to
sleejD at night ? There are times of f rightf id
stormy revel, when the night winds roar
through the forest and tear the lake into
foam. But these are exceptional. In gen-
eral, the winds seem to retire to their fabled
caves at sundown, and the lake lies sleeping
on its bed as calmly and sweetly as the camp
baby in its hammock. As we move from the
wharf in our skiff and gently dip the water
with the oar, it seems as if the whole lake
felt the tremor of the boat. Has the morn-
ing light unloosed the leash of the breeze ?
Ripple after ripple wrinkles the surface : the
air is all astir with new life, and \ve breathe
its quickening freshness.
To the poetry of color and the poetry of
sound, we add the poetry of motion. We are
moving softly and genily over the surface.
This is the charm of trolling. To Mr. Shay-
back there is no poetry in the motion of a
210 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
boat at anchor, especially when wind and
waves are high. It is not, then, the solar
light that impresses him, but the solar plexus.
Such motion is apt to develop anything but
poetic feelings. But there is an indefinable
charm in the straightforward, gently moving
boat. Each dip of the ash blade cuts a silver
scroll, and miniature whirlpools spin in its
cool path. The water drops in a gentle
shower from the oar. The lake itself never
becomes monotonous. It toys with our feel-
ings as if it were a practiced coquette. We
never can tell one hour what aspect it will
present in the next. Sometimes, it is a mirror
in which the clouds may make their toilet. It
is delightful then to dip the oar into the mol-
ten glass, and leave a long retinue of airy-
domed bubbles in the wake. Again, the lake
is a wrinkled sheet, ruffled by coy breezes.
The same gentle gale that fans the water fans
the oarsman, and gives a new impulse to his
blade. Or, later, the wrinkled sheet becomes
a wild, tempestuous sea, rolling with billows,
crested with foam. The fisherman can then
SPOON AND SINKER. 211
no longer lightly pull with his arms, bnt must
throw all the stren^jth of les: and back into
the effort.
If his line is out, the troller may not go
too near the shore ; and yet the shore never
loses its interest for his eye. It furnishes
him with landmarks by which he determines
his position. He has learned to mark the
bottom by the contour and piquancies of the
shore. Away on a lofty hill is a solitary tree.
It stands like a sentinel on that eminence.
The fisherman has discovered that there is
a very definite relation between that hill on
shore and another hill which lies buried in
the water beneath him. He knows the anjrle
which the bow of his boat should bear toward
that friendly tree, to pass in safety the ob-
struction beneath. The whole shore is his
chart. He has learned to read it. Yet it is
riways poetic in its utility. The sky line of
the hills dips and rises as we move slowly along
beyond reach of its shadow. There is no mo-
notony in the foliage. It is a luxurious in-
terblending of maple and hemlock, spruce,
212 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
cedar, and birch. We not only recognize the
trees in families : we have come to individu-
alize them. We feel a sense of personal re-
lationship toward many of them. Even the
distant ones are not remote from our com-
panionship. There is a tree fully five miles
away, seeming like a little bush against the
sky ; yet we know that, when the stern of
our boat is in line with that tree, we shall not
be suddenly called to account by the grapnel
at the bottom for swerving from the right
path. -The isolated trees on the distant hills
assume animated shapes under the wand of
imagination. A group of three, representing
a man and woman accompanied by a dog, is
so persistent in its suggestions that it seems
almost real. The smoke rising from a farm-
house up on the hill gives a human interest
to the scene. The tall poles fixed at regular
intervals mark the line of the road which
runs along the hill-top away on the east
shore. The telephone has pierced Canadian
forests. While we are gently rowing, the
human voice — with the swiftness of thought
SPOON AND SINKER. 213
— is speeding its messages, bounding over hill
and valley, gorge and stream, but never losing
its way. And yet it is not the human voice
at all, but a form of motion which we can
name, but not explain.
But there is a third element in the scen-
ery, and this the most poetic of all, — the
scenery of the sky. The imagination cannot
range far on the shore, for the world of fact
constantly challenges its purported fictions.
It may dive deep into the lake, and picture
whole schools of large and luscious trout
eager to catch the whirling spoon. But we
have too much experience to be deceived by
such phantasms. When it mounts to the sky,
however, it may range with unchecked exu-
berance. The ever-shifting clouds furnish
endless material for its creations. It peoples
the heavens once more with enormous giants,
and lets loose whole menageries of living
creatures, — elephants whiter than the Rose
of India and lari>:er than the mourncd-for
Jumbo, lions of indescribable vigor, polar
bears, tigers, camels. We pause to give a
214 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
few moments to the prosaic task of examining
our line, when, presto ! the whole scene has
changed. The menageries have consolidated,
as menageries are apt to do, and have finally
been swept out of existence. We witness a
magnificent example of cloud-hnilding. There
are castles in the air with lofty towers and
impregnable ramparts. The castles melt into
a man-of-war, which floats on the air current,
until it settles on Owl's Head, as the ark
rested on Ararat, but only to be wrecked and
dissipated into a lovely veil, which shrouds
the mountain peak in its delicate folds.
Sometimes, the blue canvas is entirely clear,
not a speck of white cloud on its surface.
Sometimes, a few wreaths of mist float over
us like white gulls. The next day there are
vast argosies of cloud. Great brigades of
mist wheel into battle-line, and move across
the sky with unbroken front. There is the
low rumble of artillery. We put on our
waterproofs, but we do not think of going
ashore. Blacker and blacker grow the cloud
masses. The lightning gleams in the sky.
SPOON AND SINKl^H. 215
and the rain bocjlns to fall on the surface of
the Like. First a rini»' liere, tlicii a riiiix
tliere, then a score of them, then myriads.
Every drop tliat falls upon the water has its
rebound. It not only rains down, hut it rains
up. Millions on millions of silver pellets leap
from the surface of the water, and then sink
again into the circle they have made. The
lake seems to be covered with a hea\'y frost.
In a few minutes, the rain has spent its force
and ceases ahnost as suddenly as it began,
only, perhaps, to be renewed a few minutes
later. It is a storm, however, with no fierce-
ness. The clouds have simply come down to
take a bath ; and the dark, heavy masses
show us that the bath is not yet completed.
Yet, in the south. Owl's Head stands out
clear cut from base to peak, though heavily
shaded by the black clouds that cut off the
light of the sun in the west. A little streamer
of mist floats idly above the mountain peak,
and to the left a lonjx cloud ribbon seems to
be preparing to encircle its head. To the
north, a pale, almost supernatural light trans-
216 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
figures the fleecy masses of white. Once
more, the raindrops patter on the lake ; but
it is a Hght and gentle shower, ^ye watch
with eajjerness to see what is to be the reso-
lution of the picture. There are clouds of
leaden hue, clouds of white, and others of
inky blackness, and no sign of color on the
canvas. Will the leaden hue spread over the
sky ? For a few minutes, the intentions of
the Artist are left in doubt. Then there is a
rift in the dark mass. Veins of silver and
gold convert it into precious ore. There is a
silent yet concerted breaking up. A grand
water-color exhibition it is, — dyes of lovely
blue, a few floating clouds of saffron, streaks
of claret red, and stretches of pale green, and
bands of old gold, touched with delicate and
indefinable pigments ! What a magnificent
canvas, and how beautifully the colors are
laid ! In the east, the reconciling rainbow
stretches its broad chromatic arch with un-
broken span. And, now, the sun is going
down in the west with unspeakable splendor.
The whole air is saturated with a soft crim-
SPOON AND SINKER. 217
son light, which bathes the hills and lake in
its delicate glow. If this were to be the last
day of the world, Nature could not have
brought it to a finer close. Gradually, the
crimson veil is lifted, tlio red and gold fade
into purple.
We turn our boat to the shore, and bless
the charm of the day, with its rhythm of wind
and wave and its indescribable beauties of color.
Eight hours have we spent on the lake, com-
ing in only for breakfast and dinner. As ,ve
near the wharf, the children run down to the
shore, and shout, " Did you get anything ? "
— as though this day of ours could be
weighed in the scales and baked in a pan !
What have we caught ? A ledge or two,
perhaps, a few twigs from the bottom ; but
something more. We have caught the charm
of the sunrise, and been kindk^d with its
glow ; we have caught the inspiration of the
infinite blue above us, and reveled in the fan-
tastic imagery of mist and cloud forms ; Ave
have rejoiced in the rich drapery of the forest
and the fresh verdure of the field ; we have
218 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
climbed the mountains at a glance, and wan-
dered over the peaks of Orford and Elephan-
tis ; we have seen the swift transitions of the
lake moods, the placid mirror moulded into
the billowy sea. The shower has caught us ;
but we have also caught the shower, and seen
its clouds dissolve into the lake cup. We shall
sail on those clouds to-morrow, and drop our
spoon and sinker in them. We have seen the
lake rimed with a silver sheen and graven
with circles like the tracery on a watch ; we
have seen the glorified span of the rainbow
and the poem of the sunset. Nature has
opened her door to us, and shown us her
treasures as a bride shows her trousseau. This
is a catch which cannot be weighed or served
up at a camp dinner, except in the form of
grateful emotions. We have stored up muscle
of body and beautiful pictures for the mind.
By the reckoning of Washington market, we
have lost a day. As we measure it ourselves,
we have gained one, the value of which can-
not be reckoned by the piece of coin which
we failed to find in a fish's mouth.
SPOON AND SINKER. 219
Do not think, however, that solitude is the
only condition in which this poetry of trolling
can be enjoyed. On the contrary, a fresh
poetic element is introduced when a lady sits
in the stern of the boat, holds the line in her
gloved hand, and, while practicing her artful
allurements on the watery world beneath,
lends the charm of her presence to the things
which are above.
CHAPTER XIII.
TO BROME LAKE.
It is a part of the yearly plan of the Shay-
backs to make one or two trips from then-
permanent camp on Memphremagog into the
interior. Across the lake from their camp-
ing-ground may be seen against tlie sky the
Avavy outline of the Bolton Mountains, broken
sharply in one place by a V-shaped cleft.
Several miles beyond this cleft lies Brome
Lake, reputed to be rich in bass and pickerel,
and withal one of the prettiest cups which
the mountain holds in the hollow of its hand.
" To Brome Lake it is," was the unanimous
vote of all those in camp who are entitled to
the exercise of suffrage, a privilege which is
not limited by sex, color, or previous condition
of servitude.
The expedition, as organized, consisted of
TO BROME LAKE. 221
Calvin and his son Frank, Arline, Digit, Dio-
datus, and Mr. and Mrs. Siiayback. Mrs.
Ganzbacli generously volunteered to remain
in camp to take care of the children. The
lunch-baskets were well packed. Waterproofs,
fishing tackle, a hatchet, and a small supply
of rope were a part of the excursion outfit.
The trip from camp to Georgeville, a mile
distant, was made in small boats under escort
of the children. As no vehicle of sullicient
size could be obtained on the opposite shore
of the lake, Mr. Tuck's team, already familiar
to the excursionists, had been engaged for the
trip, and met the party at the wharf Avhere
the ferry-boat Memphremagog was lying, de-
veloping the energy necessary for the passage.
The Memphremagog embodies none of the
beauty of the lake after which it is named.
It is built like a catamaran, with a single
paddle-wheel, which is not placed behind like
a Western river steamer, but just aft the cen-
tre of the boat. It is a double-decker, with
room for several teams, provided the horses
are unharnessed before embarkation. It
222 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
makes two trips across the lake daily, one at
8.30 A. M. and the other at 5 p. m. It spends
the inter \ ning time in such johs as it may
pick up. It is capahle of running where
there is a small degree of moisture ; but its
feeble engine propels it with a series of pain-
ful, wheezing gasps, which excite the sympa-
thy of the passenger. It can possibly make
five miles an hour, under favorable circum-
stances ; but these circumstances did not ex-
ist on the day referred to. Its crew consists
of captain, engineer, and a boy.
Team, baggage, and excursionists were duly
embarked. By crowding and manoeuvring
room w^as also provided for four open bug-
gies and horses. Thus laden the lines were
cast off, and the ferry-boat, which resembles
Noah's ark, slightly modernized, set out for
the opposite shore. When about a quarter
of a mile from the landing shouts were heard
from the wharf, and a man with another
horse and buggy was seen gesticulating vio-
lently. He had arrived just too late to take
the boat ; and as the next trip would not be
TO BROME LAKE. 223
made until five o'clock in the afternoon, the
thouo^ht of waitinjj ei^ht hours for a chance
to cross had engendered active emotions. But
it was impossible to enlarge the boat at such
short notice, and the captain was saved the
temptation of returning for an additional
fare.
Opposite Georgeville on the west shore of
the lake rises a lofty cliff known as Gibraltar.
Here the first settlement on the lake is said
to have been made. No trace of the original
occupancy is visible ; but in a little bay under
the shadow of this cliff is a miniature wharf
where passengers are landed for Peasley's
Corner, a village consisting mainly of two
churches, a store, and a blacksmith shop.
The landing at this point was made without
difficiUty, and all the teams save one disem-
barked. But in attempting to move off, the
hawser caught fast in a log and swung the
boat around upon the beach.
" She 's aground," said the captain, and
ranjj the bell to back. But the enmne was
in a feebler condition than usual from a
224 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
cause subsequently revealed, and the boat
would not budge. The captain rushed down
from the pilot-house and jumped overboard.
Arthur, the boy, who was on the wharf,
joined the captain in the water, and the two
applied their united strength against the side
of the boat, while the engineer looked help-
lessly over the rail. Mr. Tuck and Mr. Shay-
back seized a pole and drove it into the sand.
Arline seized another and did likewise. She
had not served as deck-hand on a small steam
yacht in vain. The combined force of heroic
wills and persistent muscles was too much for
the stubborn inertia of the Memphremagog.
She swung slowly from the beach into deep
water, and the captain, watching his opportu-
nity, sprang aboard. But the faithful Arthur
stayed a moment too long, and was soon up
to his neck in water and the boat slowly
leaving him. A rope was flung to him from
the deck ; and, Mr. Tuck, Mr. Shayback, and
the captain taking hold, he was drawn up as
though he had been a huge fish. His good-
nature was water-proof, and he proceeded to
TO BROME LAKE. 225
empty his boots and wring liimself out as if
this were a part of his daily experience.
The Shaybacks congratuhited themselves
on avoidinjj what mi^ht have been a vexa-
tious delay. When it was discovered, how-
ever, that the boat had nearly another mile
to run before reaching Knowlton's Landing,
and that every stick of wood had been cast
into the fire-box, the advantage of pushing
off from the shore was questionable. The
engine wheezed and gasped more than ever,
the piston showed a feebler pulse, and the
fuel was in the last stages of consumption.
The resource of the captain did not desert
him. He looked about for some object with
which to replenish the slowly dying flame.
There was nothins: inflammable in the cari»;o.
But the captain was not discomfited. With
admirable decision he determined to set his
boat afire for the purpose of keeping up
steam. He seized an axe, tore off a i)lank,
and the resolute Arthur cut it into lenoths
for the hungry furnace. It was a dangerous
precedent to set, and one that needed to be
22G THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
exercised within obvious limitations. The
good judgment of the captain was evident
throughout this transaction. Had he taken
a plank from the bottom of the boat instead
of somewhere on the top, our voyage would
have been rapidly shortened, and the fires
under the boiler would have been effectually
quenched. Or had he set lire to the plank
before separating it from the rest of the boat
the danger from too much fire would have
been greater than that which we suffered
from having too little. There was only one
way in which the captain could have showed
better judgment than he did, and that was
by taking a sufficient quantity of wood to
start with.
Inspired by the ardor of this new plank
the engine took a fresh start, and passengers
and teams were soon landed safely on the
shore. The conveyance hired by the Shay-
backs was the open, three-seated stage used
on the ten-mile route from Georjreville to
Smith's Mills, and the horses may be prop-
erly described as old stagers. One of them
TO BROME LAKE. 227
had long before received a " Doctor's " di-
ploma from his owner, whether out of com-
pliment to the medical or clerical profession
I know not. But Mr. Shayback, who handled
the ribbons, chose to regard him as a doctor
of philosophy, because of the philosophical
way in which he shirked his half of the load.
The other horse, a little black, an active, am-
bitious creature, ought long since to have
sued for a divorce from the '' Doctor," and
found a mate better fitted to her pace in
life.
There could not be a greater contrast to a
prairie ride than one over Canadian hills and
through Canadian forests. Tough hills they
were to climb and steep descents, when Mr.
Shayback had to take a short hold on the
reins and give a strong push on the brakes.
Enormous masses of rock jutted out from the
hill-tops or flanked the roadside, assuming
fantastic shapes under a jiliant imagination,
the most familiar to Mr. Shayback being that
of a fish's head, especially that of a lake
trout. His devotion to this fish finds anal-
228 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
Ogles in cloiuls and landscape, and realities
in the depths and shallows of i\Ieni[)hrema-
gog. The first part of our way lay through
beautiful maple orchards. Indeed, the maple
was never far from our path. The mountain
sides were clothed in white birch and cedar,
with alternations of ash, spruce, elm, beech,
poplar, hemlock, and occasional pines. For
a time our road skirted Sargent's Bay, an
arm of Memphremagog. Then we were left
alone with the forests and mountains. A
vast blackberry patch, too far from a market
to tempt the picker's cupidity, offered a chal-
lenge of fruit and brambles, which was
promptly accepted by the party. Enough
was gathered in a short time for a generous
dessert to our lunch, which was reinforced
by milk, maple sugar, and boiled potatoes
obtained from a farmhouse.
In the ride of fourteen miles the only vil-
lage we passed through v/as one of half a
dozen houses, called Rexford's Corner. As
we advanced the way grew more open, and
the hot sun less agreeable than the shade we
TO BllOME LAKE. 220
had left behind. Early in the afternoon we
reached our destination, the village of Knowl-
ton at the head of Bronie Lake. A brisk
and enterprising village it is, Avitli about eight
hundred inhabitants, three churches, two ho-
tels, seven stores, a pump factory, and a large
tannery. An orphans' home is also situated
here. We noticed several fine residences in
the midst of luxuriant gardens. At the Lake
View House excellent accommodation for man
and beast was found at very reasonable rates.
Just think of supper, lodging, and breakfast
for seventy-five cents !
The lake is but a short walk from the
hotel. It is about three miles by four in ex-
tent, — a beautiful sheet of water, with low
banks and sedges, and a few hills in the dis-
tance. A wooded island near the centre of
the lake is one of its pleasantest features.
Neither in extent, variety, nor picturesqueness
can it compare with. Memphremagog. It
lacks its rocky shores and its bulwark of
mountains. By means of a branch road to
Sutton Junction Brome Lake taps the rail-
230 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP,
road from Boston to Montreal, and is about
sixty miles distant from the latter city.
Sportsmen are lured from Montreal by the
abundance of pickerel and black bass. A
beautiful string of bass weighing twenty-nine
pounds, and one of the fish weighing seven
and three quarters, was taken the day of our
stay. A man, we were told, — and we al-
ways were susceptible to fish stories, — could
sometimes catch a barrel of pickerel in a day.
Two boats were hired, a voyage was made
to the island, and a bath taken in the de-
lightful waters of the lake. Arline and Mr.
Shayback in one boat, and Calvin and the
boys in another, essayed to catch a barrel of
pickerel. Arline landed a beautiful two-
pounder ; but her success proved ruinous to
the spoon, and the sun soon went down upon
our humiliation and an empty barrel. In
another venture in the early morn the spoon
was lost altogether ; but we believe that there
is still a barrel of pickerel in Brome Lake
waiting for our hooks.
Though spending a single night at Brome
TO BROME LAKE. 231
Lake we could see easily how one could pass
a delightful vacation on its shores, especially
the lover of rod and gun.
Our journey lion^e was made through the
Bolton Notch. The day was tempered with
a cool, refreshing breeze, and the road lay
through grateful forest shades and between
rocky cliffs. On the top of the mountain Ave
paused awhile at Coon Pond, famous in this
region for its trout. A scow was hired from
two small boys, and an hour was spent on
the pond or in its vicinity, Mrs. Shayback
seeking to catch some of its beauty with her
camera, and Arline seeking to catch some of
its fish with her hook.
Mrs. Shayback's plates have long since been
developed, but no amount of time will suffice
to develop Arline's mythical fish. It was just
at this point that Calvin and Digit deter-
mined to start on and hunt for blackberries,
assuming that they would eventually l)e over-
taken by the team. When the march was
once more resumed, no answer was returned
to signal shouts from Mr. Shayback. We
232 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
drove on until a high hill was reached and a
small house was passed. No travelers had
been seen that way. Mr. Shayback sounded
war whoops until his throat was hoarse ; but
Digit's well-known loon wail was not heard in
reply. What had become of the wanderers ?
Had they been eaten by bears ? Had they
impaled themselves on a blackberry-bush or
lost themselves in the woods ? A search ex-
pedition was organized. Diodatus started
ahead on the trail, while Frank took the
back track over the hill. In a few minutes
a signal call from Dio announced that the
wanderers had been found. They had not
been hugged or eaten by bears. They had not
been impaled on a blackberry-bush. They
were sitting in the shade by the roadside,
waiting for the team. The keen perception
of our Roxbury scout had discovered the
prints of an American foot on Canadian soil ;
and, with much emotion, the relief expedition
and the survivors were received into the
bosom of the wagon.
The lovely features of this ride are photo-
TO BROME LAKE. 233
graphed in the mind with a distinctness which
Mrs. Shayback's camera could not surpass.
Long to be remembered will be the pictur-
esque halting-placo through a narrow defile
shaded by forest trees, where a beautiful
brook ran over the mossy rocks on one side of
the road, and a cold spring trickled into a
natural cup in the rocks on the other side.
Blackberries by the million offered themselves
for the picking. The horses were unhar-
nessed and drank eagerly from the rocky
basin. Lunch was eaten by the brook side,
and Mr. Shayback's cold brook-soaked oat-
meal crackers were pronounced rarely deli-
cious. Beautiful moss, delicate forget-me-nots,
and wild clematis were floral trophies of the
ride.
It was on this trip that Mr. Shayback
earned as a driver the appellation of Hank
Monk. Readers of Mark Twain's " Rouffhing^
It," or of Richardson's " Beyond the Missis-
sippi," will not forget the prominent part
which this noted Jehu plays in Western my-
thology. The way in which he " put Horace
Greeley through" when that soul of honesty
234 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
was on a lecturing tour, is a tradition as well
established in the West as the story of the
flood is in the East. When Mr. Greeley's
head popped through the top of the coach,
he told Hank that he need n't drive quite so
fast ; but Hank told him not to mind, he
would put him through, and so he did. Mr.
Shayback has earned the similar glory of
" putting through " the passengers on the
hind seat of the stage. Fortunately there
was no top to the stage to impede their flight
into the air when at the foot of a hill we flew
over the holes and " thank yer ma'ams." But
Mr. Shayback told them not to mind, he
would " put them through," and so he did.
The horses and the stage stood it beautifully ;
and when, finally, " Hank " Shayback turned
them over to Harry, the teamster, when the
journey was finished, " There is no man,"
said Harry, " I 'd rather let drive my team
than Mr. Shayback."
To Mr. Shayback this compliment was
worth more than all the butter and honey
which we bought at Farmer Tuck's on the
way hbmc.
CHAPTER XIV.
MASSAWIPPI.
The very name has an enticing sound. In
its soft, lisping syllables, one can almost hear
the waters of the beautiful lake, whose name
it is, lapping the shores. We had long heard
of Lake Massawippi. At last we determined
to see it. Who "we" were does not matter
an atom ; but there were five of us, four wo-
men and one man, and a pair of horses.
It was a cool, brisk autumn morning, with
the sun peering over billows of mist that
skirted the mountains, when the big team
that was to carry us the seventeen miles drove
up. Wraps and shawls, and a very ancient
buffalo robe, exceedingly bald in spots, were
comfortable in the chilly air. Luncheon and
hand-bags, camera and tripod, were handed
in, and away we drove.
236 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
For miles the road led up and up, till at
last a beautiful "panorama of hill and dale,
mountain and valley, lay spread out before us,
with Lake Memphremagog sleeping peace-
fully in the midst. For this was a side-trip
from the tented field on its tranquil shores.
Such views are exhilarating. They raise
one's thoughts and aspirations ; and, in such
lofty air, one thinks no longer of rocky roads
or hard-springed wagons. Then came shady
woods where the graceful maiden-hair fern
grew in great bunches almost as the common-
est ferns in Massachusetts grow. The sun
rode high, and the lights and shadows of the
forest j^rimeval were bewitching. Now and
then a wood bird or a squirrel darted about
among the trees ; but, aside from this, no life
save that of the growing vegetable world ap-
peared. Once in a great while, a little open-
ing in the wood, a rough clearing, and a rude
log cabin broke the monotony ; and the little
children, that invariably were playing outside,
stared in surprise as we rattled past.
As dinner time approached, we drove up to
MASSAWIPPL 237
a cozy farmhouse for a pitcher of milk. The
buzz of spinning'-wheels was heard within.
Hosanna, whose only acquaintance with that
homely machine was as a modern parlor orna-
ment, jumped out of the wagon, and went in
to " see the wheel go round." Such interest
on her part was as much a curiosity to the
buxom spinner as was the spinning to the
Yankee girl. No milk could we get, how-
ever.
The next farmhouse supplied us with a
bottle of delicious milk, fresh tomatoes from
the vine, new apples, and a plateful of hot
potatoes in their jackets. We drove under
the shade of some overhanging trees, and,
with this addition to the luncheon Ave had
brought, had a repast fit for a king.
At last, a turn in the road revealed to us
the lake, lying like a letter S among the green
hills. But our first point of interest was be-
yond the lake, a mile or more, a wild glen
or gorge where the Burroughs River comes
tumblino" down in falls that shatter the water
into froth and foam and crystal beads.
238 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
Tying our horses to a Virginia fence, which
they took the liberty to tear down in our
absence, we clambered down the glen side till
we could look up at the beautiful cascade.
Hemmed in by abrupt stone walls, and broken
everywhere in its course by huge masses of
fallen rock, it comes dancing down in frantic
haste, as if to free itself in the troubled river
below. It is a wild, picturesque place, almost
unknown to modern travelers, yet well worth
a visit. The camera was called into use to
catch a part of its beauty ; but the play of
light and shade, the richness of coloring in
rock, tree, and sky, eluded us, as they always
elude the best endeavors.
The quiet afternoon, with the sunset bright-
ness on lake and shore, lured us back to the
side of Massawippi. A boatman was found
who proved to be a character. As he pulled
steadily on with his sinewy arms, — by trade
he was a blacksmith, — he kept time with his
tongue, telling, in quaint, original English,
tales of the neighborhood. Beneath us where
we rowed, a fine new sleigh was lost through
MASSAWIPPI. 239
the ice last winter. Yonder, a stranger fish-
erman was npset in his log boat, while trying
to land a twenty-five-pound sturgeon. Be-
yond that point, the Burroughs River flowed
into the lake, named from the famous coun-
terfeiter and thief who milled " hard money "
in a cave near the falls, and sold it afterward
in Boston for ten cents a dollar. He had a
charmed life. Twice condemned to death, ho
picked his prison locks, changed his name,
became a minister, lived to old age, and died
in his bed, a finale which our informant
seemed to think a great piece of injustice.
Into the next bay the waters of the Tomopho-
bia flow. Calmed down from its boisterous
course in Stanstead, it becomes placid and
deep, and forms a home for untold schools of
fish.
The lake itself is marvelous in this respect.
Sturgeon, lake trout, salmon trout, masqu'al-
longe, bass, perch, shad, and chub abound ;
and, during certain seasons of the year, hun-
dreds of pounds are caught.
Our boatman finally discovered that he had
240 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
lived ten years in the same town with one of
his passengers, whereupon he grew garrulous
and poured out reminiscence after reminis-
cence, accompanied by dry wdt and shrewd
remarks that kept his listeners more than a
little amused.
At last the weary oars were laid down ; and
we found our way back to the smartly painted
hotel, where a stifled night, after the fresh air
of tent dwellings, awaited us.
The next day dawned hot and sultry, and
the fish refused, as on the preceding day, to
bite ; and we determined to return early, tak-
ing the longer road byway of Magog, through
woods where little brown bears have been
seen this very summer. What an inducement
that was ! How "vve longed to see one, though
a fish gaff was our only weapon of defense !
It was a charming return drive, through
almost wild country, with only now and then
the tiny log-cabin, the little patch of oats or
wheat, the great forests aglow here and there
with maple -trees that looked like pillars of
flame, the fern-decked highway, the alder
MASS A WIPPI. 241
bushes half hid beneath the hoary glory of
clematis, the carpet of bunch-berries, and the
endless seas of purple and white asters.
Once we caught sight, through an open
door, of a woman in a snowy apron '' working
over " butter, and for ten cents rescued a
half-pound before its sweet taste was smoth-
ered in salt. Once we passed a farndiouse
where fowls abounded, and drove on with a
hatful of eggs. Again, we heard the hum-
ming of bees, and a box of delicious honey
was added to our treasures. Next, w^e passed
crab-apple-trees bending beneath their loads
of crimson and yellow fruit ; and, at a word,
a beautiful branch was placed at our disposal.
And thus we journeyed on, enjoying the
beauty and sharing the fruits of this interest-
ing land. For the last ten miles the road
runs on a high blulf that overlooks Mem[)hre-
magog ; and the views are simply superb.
But, after all, there was nothing in our whole
trip that looked to us so beautiful as the
sunny bay around whose curve the camp tents
were gleaming in the sun, and about whose
open doors the little ones were playing.
CHAPTER XV.
OUR LOG-CABIN.
It was our trij^ to Massawippi that in-
spired it. Coming back from that beautiful
lake, through long stretches of Canadian for-
est, during which Hosanna held the fish gaff
in her hand prepared for a demonstration
from any obtrusive bear, we noticed, in the
intervals when our solicitude was slightly re-
laxed, the picturesque rough-and-readiness of
Canadian log-cabins. Their architecture was
distinguished by simplicity and strength.
The cabins seemed to fit naturally into their
surroundings. They would not have seemed
ornamental on Commonwealth Avenue ; but
here, under the shade of the trees from which
they were reared, their rugged squattiness
blended easily with the architecture of the
forest.
OUR LOG-CABIN. 2-43
" How nice it would bo," it was said, " to
have a log-cabin in camp ! " The suggestion
was ratified by all in the wagon ; and, for a
time, Hosanna forgot about the anticipated
bear in contemplating the security of a house
which bears could not invade.
The idea was planted in the camp brain,
and from time to time tenderly watered ; but
it took two years for it to grow to fruition.
For nine years the Shaybacks had dwelt be-
neath duck and drilling. The log-cabin was
therefore looked upon as in no wise a neces-
sity, but simply as a luxury. It was in cool
weather that the tempting vision rose more
frequently before our eyes with pictures of
the broad open fireplace, the crackling flame,
and the evening mirth within its walls, defy-
ing all adversity of storm and temperature.
What more beautiful site for a cabin than
that offered by their present camp ! They
would have to search far and wide for a bet-
ter one. Farmer Bigelow cordially gave his
consent ; and, in a camp council held this
summer, it was finally decided to build the
cabin.
244 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP,
Achilles, the joiner, insisted that it would
be much cheaper and better to build a frame
shanty ; but the Shaybacks retorted that a
frame shanty is an abomination. A log-cabin
they were bound to have. When Achilles
found that Ephraim was joined to his idols,
he determined to let him alone ; but he pro-
nounced no curse upon the enterprise, and
was kind enough to suggest a native work-
man who was equal to the task.
By unanimous consent, the site chosen for
the cabin was in the birch and cedar grove
between our dining-room tent and the lake.
By a little planning, we managed to save
some of the best of the trees around the pro-
posed cabin. In the heavy growth of woods
which lies between the camp and the road, it
matters little where one falls. But in the
grove which skirts the lake shore, where the
birches are planted in the rocks beneath, and
the cedars join their shade and shelter, every
tree is precious. The ruthless axe of the
woodman must not venture here until a court
has been held and judgment pronounced
OUR LOG-CABIN. 245
against the life of any offending tree. The
loss of even a few boughs might spoil the
union of branch and leaf that frames the
vista to the lake.
No surveyor was needed to stake off the
ground, nor was any architect required. It
is said that, when the present meeting-house
of the First Parish, Dorchester, was under-
taken in 1816, the builder took a shingle,
and drew a plan resembling that of the Rox-
bury meeting-housG, and that this was offi-
cially accepted. Of the truth of this tradition
I know not. I can speak with more positive-
ness of the plan of the log-cabin, which was
drawn out upon a small piece of board and
submitted to Charlie King. The dimensions
decided upon were twenty by fourteen feet
on the inside. This required logs twenty-two
bv sixteen feet. The brush was soon cleared,
and the axe was put to the root of a twin
cedar, whose stump Mrs. Sliayback immedi-
ately appropriated for a rustic seat. The pil-
lars of our house were standing in a grove
just beyond the beautiful park in which our
246 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
tents aro set. There were great Doric ce-
dars, Ionic hemlocks, and tall and elegant
white birches, like plain Corinthian columns,
with spreading leafy capitals. For a log-
house, nothing is better than spruce, which
runs pretty even in diameter for many feet.
But there was no spruce at hand, at least not
in sufficient numbers for our cabin ; but, for
durability, nothing could be better than the
cedar of which we decided to build it. It
was lighter to handle and easily worked. The
only trouble was that, while the butts were
iarge, the trees did not hold their diameter,
so that a twenty-two feet log was much smaller
at the top than at the bottom. But this
could be remedied by reversing the logs in
laying them up, so that the large butt of one
log would rest on the small end of another.
Thirty-two trees were chosen. Blow after
blow rang through the forest ; and tree after
tree fell, crashing into the heavy underbrush
below. Then the limbs were cut off, and
roads were cut through the brush to draw
them. Farmer Bigelow, with Gypsey and a
OUR LOG-CABIN. 247
good log-chain, spent the most of a day in
hauling them to the site of the cabin.
The corner-stone of the new building was
laid without ceremony. I say corner-stone.
But a very big bowlder would have been
needed under the southwestern corner of our
cabin, to make the foundation as level as it
was when about a ton of stone was carried
from the lake shores and piled up into a solid
pier. Four heavy logs were chosen for the
foundation. The logs running longitudinally
were laid first. A notch called " a saddle "
was cut in each end. The cross-pieces were
then laid on, with notches cut to fit into the
logs beneath them. Then another tier of logs
was laid on these in the same mannnr. And
so the cabin proceeded, growing not brick
by brick, but log by log and tier by tier. It
required ten logs on each side, or forty in all,
to insure a wall seven feet in height ; and from
this the roof was to spring sharply to a peak.
Some of the logs were unpropitious, but
King's incisive axe hewed them into shape.
The rafters were cut from cedar poles. Beams
248 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
were laid across from wall to wall to bind the
building and to provide for a loft at each end
of the cabin five feet in width, leaving a space
of ten feet in the centre, in which the rustic
rafters were exposed to view.
The builder of a frame-house generally
puts in the openings for windows as he goes
along. The windows and doors of a log-cabin
are put in after all the walls are up. The
places for windows and doors are then marked.
A log is hewed out with an axe, and the rest
of the window or door is cut with a cross-cut
saw. A place for the chimney is cut in the
same way. The Shay backs had decided, in
lieu of windows in the side of the cabin, to
have two large doors at p :ch end, making an
opening six feet in width, so that in pleasant
weather the doors might be swung back and
the breezes sweep through from the lake. It
was also a part of their plan, yet to be ful-
filled, to have windows in the doors and in
the gable ends. Boards for the flooring and
the roof and shingles were obtained at Fitch
Bay, six miles away. Not so easy, however,
OUR LOG-CABIN. 249
was it to ffet all the material. Not one of the
t5'
three stores in GeorG^eville had a shino-le-nail.
An order Avas sent to Magog, by the evening
stage. But Mr. Shay back rowed to George-
ville before breakfast the next morning only
to find that no shingle-nails were to be had in
Magog. Taylor, one of the storekeepers,
was sure that the twenty pounds needed
might be borrowed of Rat Packard, who was
building a house a mile and a half away.
The pilgrimage across the fields for this pur-
pose was unsuccessful ; and, finally, Mr. Shay-
back determined, as there were no shingle-
nails in Canada, to send to the United States
of America by the steamer Lady of the Lake.
The errand, kindly accepted by a venerable
friend, Avas promptly executed ; and the
shingle-nails were at hand in the afternoon,
ready for use the next morning.
An equal difficulty was experienced in get-
tinir lime for our mortar. An order was sent
to Mao•o^• by the Mountain Maid. But there
was no lime in Magog. We then essayed to
telegraph to Newport, but the telegraph did
250 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
not work. Finally, after two clays' delay, it
was learned that lime could bo obtained in a
kiln across the lake, two miles from the water.
A skiff and two men were sent for it, but an
ox-team had to be hired on the other side to
draw the three barrels necessary. Lime is
not the only thing to which the word slacJc is
applicable in this region. It is this modera-
tion in movement and freedom from excite-
ment which makes the vicinage of this lake a
desirable soothing place for inflammable and
restive people.
As good brick could be found on the site
of our old camp at Merriman's, less than a
mile away, and also excellent sand for our
mortar, all the men and the boys in camp
made a voyage with Joe Hughes and his
barge to the brick kiln ; and while Burbank
loaded the sand, the others selected the eight
hundred brick which the estimate required.
The miscalculation in brick was afterwards
repaired by a voyage in two of the skiffs, in
which Mrs. Ganzbach and Mrs. Shayback
liandled two hundred more brick with indus-
OUR LOG-CABIN. 251
try, if not with professional facility. There
was at first some dispute among the natives
as to what knowledge of the bricklayer's art
would suffice to build a fireplace and a chim-
ney. But all agreed that Vaughn across the
lake could make the best job, notwithstand-
ing the timidity he had about crossing the
lake in a small boat. He proved to be a
" workman that needed not to be ashamed."
To the uninitiated, it was not clear what
was to be done with the great yawning cracks,
sometimes two inches in width, which lay be-
tween the tiers of logs. But to King, who
had laid up many a log-house, this presented
no difficulty. Strips of wood and branches
of trees were nailed into the crevices, and
then the chinks between the logs were plas-
tered inside and out with mortar. A log-
cabin treated in this way is one of the warm-
est of houses. Sometimes, moss and clay are
used for pointing between the chinks, wdiere
lime and sand cannot be had.
During the ten days in which it was going
up, every step in its evolution was watched
252 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
by the campers with as much interest as Silas
Lapham watched his house on the water-side
of Beacon Street ; and every one of the camp-
ers, large and small, without distinction of
sex, had something to do with rearing it.
Mr. Ganzbach and Mr. Shayback helped to
hew off the limbs, to carry the trees, and un-
der King's direction to " lay them up." It
was Mr. Shayback's further mission to secure
material and labor, and, with Dio's help, to
dig the foundation for the chimney. It was
a matter of pride to Mrs. Shayback and Frank
that they shingled about half of the roof.
" It tickled me," said King, " to see a wo-
man do that. She beat my father-in-law, and
I plagued him a good deal about it when we
got home."
The locker in the corner was Calvin's spe-
cial work. He also laid much of the floor,
and chinked the logs, and put on the locks.
The children handled the brick and ran on
errands. Even our guests took hold. Cousin
Alfred was used to the saw and hammer ; and
it was he who ran to the blacksmith's at the
OUR LOG-CABIN. 253
right time, and got him to forge the eyes for
the hanging of the crane ; nor will our min-
isterial guest from Boston he likely to forget
the weight of those enormous heaitlistones
which we carried on a harrow from the lake
to the cahin. But King, our French Cana-
dian, who was the huilder-in-chief, bears ofF
the palm for industry and skill. His fame
as a hewer, developed in more than one
ship-yard in the United States, extends far
and wide. As an expert wdtli the hroad-
axe, we would match him against any man in
Canada. It was a wonder and a delioht to
see the precision with which the broad-axe, in
hewing along a line, would strike in the same
place every time, and leave the log almost as
smooth as if it had been planed.
It was not until Saturday evening, three
days before the day set to break camp, that
the cabin w^as sufficiently completed to be hab-
itable. For three delightfid Sundays the
Shaybacks had held religious services in their
grove temple. Here, in the open aisles of
this leafy bower, the campers gathered, sup-
254 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
plemeiited l)y ;i few friends from the village,
constitutin"' w r(^";ular audience oF about
twenty. The Gothic cathedral is said to be
an imitation of a grove, with its lines i)oint-
ing skyward. But nature has not been
dwarfed by the imitation. No structure
reared by human hands seemed more beautiful
than this God-wrought temple in which the
camp was gathered. Not the cedars of Leb-
anon were more reverent or beautiful than
these which rose in stately solemnity, while the
white birches mingled their quivering branches
with the evergreen in the fretted groining of
the roof. If there were no galleries in this
grove temple, the campers easily made them
by swinging six or eight of their hammocks
between the pillars. Perhaps if hammocks
were permitted to be swung between the col-
umns of our city churches, church-going
would be more popular in drowsy weather.
But the last Sunday in camp was not pro-
pitious for out-of-door worship. It was then
that the log-cabin became our meeting-house.
The altar fire was lighted on the hearth j and,
OUR LOG-CABIN. 255
while we "mused, tlie fire burned/' The
dedicatory sermon was preached by the pas-
tor of the oklest religious society in Boston,*
albeit the dedication which it implied was
rather that of the temple of the Holy Ghost
than of this little log-cabin. When the Pu-
ritan settlers landed in New England, they
first worshiped in the grove, and then in their
rude little meeting-house. So it was fitting
that the voice of thanksgiving, praise, and
prayer should be the first consecration of our
Canadian cabin.
The campers determined to have a house-
warming, or shall I call it a house-freezing,
when ice-cream and the fire on the hearth
contended for the supremacy. Mr. Shayback
trolled all day, in the vain endeavor to induce
a large lake trout to attend the even nig cere-
monies. But other invitations issued, with a
much smaller spoon for bait, were more po-
litely honored by our friends in the village.
A large back-log sawed by two of the ladies
with a cross-cut saw was put in the fireplace,
1 First Parish, Dorchester, Rev. C. 11. Eliot, pastor.
256 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
and the pile made ready to light. A heavy
frieze of golden-rod was hung all around the
cabin. A braneh of scarlet-tinted maple
leaves found in the woods seemed to have
ripened especially for the occasion. Three
large, brilliant kerosene lamps were hung
from the rafters, supplemented by candles and
Chinese lanterns. Such afghans and cushions
as the camp possessed were spread on boxes
and benches to give color as well as ease to
the scene. It was just at dusk when the
sound of merry voices was heard on the wa-
ter ; three bout-loads from the village brought
the doctor, his daughter, and a friend. Mon-
treal, Boston, and New York, as well as
Georgeville, were represented by the guests
present. Guests and campers numbered twen-
ty-seven in all. It was deemed appropriate
that the fire should be lighted by the oldest
and the youngest member present, there being
just seventy years between their ages. As a
Canadian King had built the cabin it was fit-
ting that a Boston Prince should preside at
the house-warming. Then little Arthur for-
OUR LOG-CABIN. 257
mally delivered the key to Mr. Shaybaek, who
received it with the same imite eloquence witli
which it was conveyed. The huge caldron of
chocolate which tho camp ladies prepared was
distributed with oaten flakes, the nearest ap-
proach to a delicacy left in the canq) larder.
Mrs. Packard's generous gift of ice-cream
from the village was gratefully accepted, and
imparted a genial chill to the occasion. The
social festivity was concluded by all joining
in singing " Auld Lang Syne." But it was
long after the guests had departed before the
fire on the hearth was quenched and the
Shaybacks retired to their fragrant couches
for the last night in camp.
CHAPTER XVI.
MR. SHAYBACK AT MUSTER.
The Lest way to go to war is to do so in
time of peace. You are then free from many
inconveniences. You avoid long and distress-
ing marches. You are seldom absent from
your home for any great length of time.
Your diet is more equable. Your uniform,
hanging on a hook in the clothes-press three
fourths of the time, is in much less danger of
being soiled than if exposed to the dust, rain,
or blood-stains of active service. If moth-
holes are less honorable than bullet-holes,
there is this to be said in their favor : they
pierce the uniform when the wearer is not
inside of it. The needed ventilation for the
militia man's attire is obtained in the expos-
ure of armory drill or dress parade rather
than in more disastrous exposure to an eue-
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 259
my's fire. If the militia man beloiii^ to the
cavah'y, or i£ as an officer he is entitled to
ride, he may civilly tnrn hi'^^ military horse to
advantage in many directions. He may drive
him to a trnck, put him on a milk route,
hitch him in a doctor's gig, or use him for
family purposes, till the trumpet sounds the
"assembly," Avhen this same steed, bridled
and caparisoned, like the battle-horse of Job,
" goetli on to meet the armed men ; his neck
is clothed with thunder ; the glory of his
nostrils is terrible. He mocketh at fear, and
is not affrighted ; neither turneth he back
from the sword."
Such were the thoughts which revolved in
Mr. Shayback's mind, when he was invited
to accept a position as chaplain in the Massa-
chus, ts Volunteer Militia. It seemed to him
that the time was then exceedingly propitious
for serving his country. Having offered \yi"
services some twenty years before to the
United States Navy, under circumstances of
health which forbade the oovorinnent from
accepting them, Mr. Shayback's pride was
260 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
restored to its full height hy this overture
from the State of Massachusetts, communi-
cated to him through one of its ablest and
most gracious colonels.
^^ Framingham, fair cup-bearer, leaf -cinct-
ured Hebe of the deep-bosomed queen sitting
by the seaside on the throne of the six. na-
tions." So wrote Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes,
when, on returning from his " Hunt after the
^ Captain ' " during the war, he passed through
Framingham, Mass., with his wounded son
on the train. If Dr. Holmes had visited
Framingham during the w^eek w^e are about
to describe, he would have found leaf-cinct-
ured Hebe engaged in a different but still
highly classical operation, that of putting in
running order the special w\ar chariots of the
Boston and Albany Railroad.
" Bright Hebe waits ; by Hebe, ever young,
The whirling wheels are to the chariot hung.
On the bright axle turns the bitklen wheel
Of sounding brass ; the polished axle steel."
Homer did not know that car wheels are
made of paper.
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 2G1
" Athena hath laid aside her woven vesture,
and arrayed her in armor for dolorous battle."
Upon her head, she has set her crested golden
' almet, and gone forth into the camp of the
Greeks at Framingham. Under a similar in-
spiration, awakened by a general order from
the commanding officer, Mr. Shayback put on
his warlike garb and prepared to go to the
same place.
Massachusetts is fortunate in a good many
things, and she is fortunate in having a fine
ground on which the troops of the State may
assemble for their yearly exercise. It is a
level, unbroken plain of large extent, fenced
in, provided with an arsenal, and with perma-
nent quarters for the general commanding
the brigade and his staff. It is without
beauty of scenery, unless we take the word
scene in its original Greek sense, meaning a
tent, a camp. In that sense, no place in the
State has so nuich scenery during two weeks
of the year as Framingham. The tents for
fifteen hundred men cover a broad strip of
this field, running its whole extent. They
262 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
are Laid out with military precision, and form
a pleasing picture to the eye, especially if
one sees them from the north side, where
the untesthetic kitchens are hidden from view.
If now "the fair cup-bearer" had oniy poured
a river into this valley, we should have here
a perfect camp ground for military purposes.
The drinking water now obtained from wells
may eventually be had from a small pond
lying outside the grounds and not affected by
its drainage; but no military camp is com-
plete without a place for the soldiers to bathe.
Pursuant to order, Mr. Shayback assembled
himself at the headquarters of his regiment
in Pemberton Square, Boston. The field
and staff were present in full force, and one
by one the eight companies reported for duty.
Some were rather slim in numbers, the inter-
ests of employers sometimes conflicting with
the interests of the State. The larjxe com-
panics of war times, when a hundred men
marched under command of one captain, no
longer exist. The plethoric drum was there,
and the sonorous instruments of the band,
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 263
waiting' for that intelllgont inspiration Avhicli
should convert them all into soimdino* brass
and tinkling cymbal. The rattling" drum
corps, with the compact and facile drum-major
and his mai>;ic staff, were there too. The
word of command was given by the colonel,
the drums pulsed with rhythmic beats, the
brass lungs vented their brazen music, and
the whole regiment moved off in equal step,
as if animated throughout by a single will.
The regiment reached the depot, and was
on the train two minutes ahead of the time
required ! Railroads perform tliis good ser-
vice for the community : they keep up the
ideal and the necessity of promptness. And
Colonel Bancroft showed how promptness
could be organized into a military virtue.
Mr. Shayback would fain inquire here how it
is that a thousand people can gather together
at a railroad depot two or three minutes be-
fore the train starts ; but, if the same number
of people were expecting to go to church,
about one third of them would come in after
the service had begun.
264 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
Arriving at South Framingliam, the field
and staff mounted their horses, and the resri-
ment triumphantly marched to the camp
ground. A gracious shower the previous
night had laid the dust. The pathway was
one of pleasantness and peace.
Halting his men on the camp ground, the
colonel made them a brief speech before dis-
missing them to their quarters, exhorting
them to remember that thev came for two
things: first, to do their duty; and, secondly,
to have a good time. Then, the work of the
week began. A busy week it was too. A
detail of soldiers sent up on the previous day
had, under the direction of the resrimental
quartermasters and the brigade engineer,
pitched all the tents. The canvas city was
soon occupied, and the effects of men and
officers neatly arranged within them. Each
of the officers rejoiced in two wall tents nine
by eleven, placed end to end, the front one
serving as a sitting-room ^ the second as a bed-
room. The men divided up into squads were
also quartered in v/all tents. No A or shelter
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 2G5
tents were used. Let them be reserved for
the horrors of war. The State wisely deter-
mines to make its men as comfortable as pos-
sible durinj^ their stay in camp. The tents
are provided with board floors^ and the
ground is so even that they require little lev-
eling.
In strange contrast to these felicitous in-
teriors with their wooden floors, cots, wash-
stands, tables, and curtained wardrobes, Mr.
Shayback recalled the many times he had
pitched his tent on a cactus bed and cast his
buffalo skin on the side he had cleared from
its dominion, always being careful, however,
to keep the uprooted spines out of his blan-
kets. He does not forget how his active
imagination converted one of these spines
into a rattlesnake which bit him one nijjht in
the foot, and caused him to bound from his
bed without waiting for the reveille. Nor
does he forget that night when they camped
on a bed of glacial drift in Western Dakota,
where there were not only enough stones to
furnish a pillow like that of Jacob's, but also
266 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
enough to f iirnisli ji Avliolo uuittress. Such a
mattress is not so elastic as one made of
springs or spruce boughs.
The Massachusetts militia is nearly ecpially
divided into two brio'ades. Instead of re"-i-
mental encampments as in New York^ a whole
brigade camps together ; the first brigade in
June and the second in July. When fully
occupied by three regiments of infantry, a
battalion of cavalry, and a battalion of artil-
lery, the camp at Framingham presents a de-
cidedly militar}? aspect. The sound of bugle
and drums, the pacing of the sentinels, the
evolutions of companies and regiments on the
field, the galloping of horses, the music of
the bands, the crack of the rifle at the shoot-
ing range, and the reverberations of the morn-
ing and evening gun, all furnish the spectator
or participant with the most warlike associa-
tions. But to Mr. Shayback there was one
thing lacking to the perfect military asp jct of
the camp. It was the absence of the army
wagon and the army mnle. Having formed
an intimate acquaintance with that element of
MR. SIIAYBACK AT MUSTER. 2G7
discord, impiety, and utility, Mr. Sliayback
could not overlook his absence from a mili-
tary camp. But he wore no mourning on his
arm or in his heart. Had the army mule
abounded at this camp, his duties as chaplain
would have been greatly increased ; and he
would have been far less iitted to exercise
them. Every mule team needs two chaplains,
one to look after the reliiiious education of
the teamster and the other to sap})ress tlie
irreligion of the mules. Were this idea car-
ried out, a place might be found for all the
unsettled ministers of Massachusetts. But,
whatever moral force might be summoned
against him, we are sure the nude would be
triumphant in the long run. An animal who
carries his sense of humor, his sense of jus-
tice, and his capacity for argument all in his
heels, cannot always be reached by a})peals to
his head and heart. The teamster follows
another course, and addresses his ears and
his hide. Will some competent moralist in-
form us whether it is the teamster that first
corrupts the mule or the mule that first cor-
rupts the teamster ?
208 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
If the Adjutant-General liad drawn a req-
uisition on the Signal Serviee Bureau for ex-
cellent weather, the order eould not have heen
better fuHilled. Tuesday, the air was erisp
and cool, a steady breeze l)leAV through the
camp. A fine shower on Wednesday night
laid the dust and cleansed the air. A mis-
chievous gale of wind blew down the mess-
tent of the band. It would have been of
more serviee, if it had inflated their instru-
ments. It is a constant marvel to Mr. Shay-
baek how a band can blow a whole week
Avith pneumatic constancy without exhausting
themselves and exhausting the atmosphere.
Friday morning, the spirits of the men were
dampened by the rain that gently pattered
on their tents ; but it was simply Pluvius
kindly driving a watering-cart above. The
sun came out fiercely before noon, and helped
to bake necks and faces to a healthy brown.
The interest which the boys felt in camp is
shown in the way they turned out. The reg-
imental commanders were correspondingly
gratified, and General Peach's countenance
MR. SHAY HACK AT MrSTIJR. 2G9
bloomed with j^-ciicral satisfaction. A less
degree of satisfaction would not accord with
his rank.
Each day was packed as full of military
exercises as it could hold, and the uumi liHcd
in the chinks of time by playing ba.se baJl.
Colonel Pennington, of the regular army,
whose red plume is yearly welcouu'd at the en-
cam[)ment, m;dves a report to the government,
which his well-trained ey(^, acute observation,
and ample experience can well furnish. I
may say, however, that, viewed from a chap-
lain's standpoint, the moral condition of the
camp was, on the whole, very gratifying. I
do not mean that a military camp-meeting is
precisely like a religious one. The sources of
refreshment are apt to be entirely dilferent.
In any camp of eighteen hundred men there
are always some who do not know how to
have a cfood time. Excess is sure to defeat
enjoyment. I am persuaded that, if more
men came to get a })rescription fi'om the
chaplain, fewer would need to get a })rescrip-
tion from the surgeon. The spirit which
270 THE SHAYBACKS IiY CAMP.
needs to be exorcised from a military camp is
the demon of the demijohn. It is gratifyini^
to note, however, the general good order
which prevailed bot'i day and night. Tlic
chaplain's duties were therefore extremely
light. Father Lee, the chaplain of the Ninth,
established a tax on profanity in his regiment.
The small amount of revenue derived from it
indicates the self-restraint Avhich the presence
of the chaplain evoked. How much profan-
ity occurred out of his hearing, it would not
be courtesy to reckon. Troopers are supposed
to be more addicted to this vice than foot
soldiers. Perhaps the best test of such an
experiment would be to try it in the cav-
alry.
It is one of the felicities of military life
that you do not have to map out your time.
Your time is mapped out for you. The bu-
gle and the drum deal it out in installments.
Reveille sounded at 5.45 a. m. ; surgeon's call
at G.15, when the sick and wounded gathered
around the doctor's tent ; breakfast at G.45 ;
adjutant's call (guard mounting) at 8.30;
MR. SHAYBACK AT MUSTER. 271
drill, 9.30 ; recall, 11.30 ; orderly hours,
12.00 M. ; dinner, 12.30 r. m. ; drill, 3.00 ;
recall, 4.30 ; dress parade and retreat, 5.30 ;
inspection and muster, immediately aftc'r dress
parade; supper, G.45 ; tattoo, 10.30; taps,
11.00. The amount of work exacted from
the soldier in drills and <^uard duty is consid-
erable ; but it is the opinion of Mr. Shay back
that no soldiers worked quite so hard during'
the camp as the colonel and his adjutant.
The rations at camp, dispensed as they are
by hired caterers, are somewhat more varied
and liberal than they are in the regular army.
There are civilians who wonder, when the sol-
diers march back to their homes, how they
can look so well after living: a whole week
on hard-tack and bacon.
The chaplain and the rest of the regi-
" mental staff are excused from all drills but
reviews, dress parados, and inspections. At
inspections, the clKH)lain follows around be-
tween the ranks on the tall end of the staff,
like a snapper on the end of a whip, and
examines with great solemnity the uniforms
272 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP,
of the men to see that the brasses are bright-
ened, that the coats are well buttoned, and
the belts put on sufficiently tight to endanger
the digestion of the wearer. As eight officers
precede the chaplain in this inspection, there
is very little left for him to say. It becomes
with him mainly a study of physiognomy. He
endeavors to probe the heart which lies be-
neath the coat. While the rest of the field
and staff are measuring the man's body, the
chaplain is trying to inspect his soul. Not
all men wear their hearts on their sleeves.
The task of the religious inspector is there-
fore more difficult than the superficial work
of his associates.
The position of a chaplain on a regimental
staff is one of peculiar responsibility in all
military evolutions. His position is on the
extreme left. This responsibility he shares
with the surgeon, whose position is on the
extreme right. The other staff officers are
sandwiched between them. It is not easy to
describe military evolutions to men and wo-
men of purely domestic tastes. Imagine a
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 273
row of five muffins in a bake-pan. The sur-
geon would represent the muffin on the right
end and the ehaphiin the muffin on the left.
The rest of the "dough boys" — the quarter-
master, assistant surgeon, and paymaster —
fill in between. The term " muffin " is chosen
entirely at random, and has only a metaiihoric
significance. The term " dough boy " is an
army name for an infantry man. The sur-
geon may be supposed to symbolize the body
of the regiment and the chaplain to symbolize
its soul. In all evolutions, it is necessary to
wheel on either the soul or the body. Some-
times the chaplain occupies the humble office
of pivot, while the surgeon describes an arc.
Sometimes, the surgeon is the pivot and the
chaplain the describer. All that is necessary
for the rest of the staff is to remain between
these layers like the inside of a well-ordered
pie which refuses to ooze out of the crust.
In some regiments, the drill of the staff is
greatly neglected. There is no sight more
pathetic to a military man than a staff which
is completely demoralized from a failure to
274 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
recognize the proper ubiquities of its position.
The private soldier in the ranks sacrifices his
individuality on drill ; it is the privilege of
staff officers to retain theirs, with all the
disastrous consequences this may involve.
When the call sounds for dress parade, the
staff are always ready. They have succeeded
in adjusting their helmet cords under their
right arms, have given their plumes to the
breeze, mounted their restive steeds, and are
ready for the glory which awaits them. An-
other bugle note from headquarters trembles
on the air. The various companies from the
regiments march out in quick time ; and,
amid the shouting of their captains, the colo-
nel, and the adjutant, form a double line in
front of the company streets. The staff,
with bridles in one hand and swords firmly
clinched in the other, await future action at
a distance of thirty-three yards in the rear.
In time of Avar, such a position has its advan-
tages. As the chaplain has no sword to
clinch and his only weapon is a lead pencil
concealed in his vest pocket, he either
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 275
clinches his right fist on the bri(Ue, or drops
liis hand graeelessly by his side. It is about
this time that the embarrassment of the staff
begins.
"What do we do next?" says one who is
servinjj his first tour of dutv.
"Well," replies the surgeon, "we go up at
the command of * Rear, Open Order.' "
" No," replies the quartermaster, " wait for
the order, * Field and Staff to the Front.' "
The quartermaster insists that he is right,
the surjjeon insists that he is wron"-.
The paymaster confesses tliat he crammed
on the subject before leaving liis tent. All
make the same confession. None are able to
agree as to what the book says.
" I tell you," says one, " it is ^ Rear, Open
Order.' "
"I will bet you a hat," says another, "that
it is * Field and Staif to the Front.' "
The chaplain suggests that it would be a
good plan to leave the question to their
horses. Tliey would probably know what to
do better than their riders. Indeed, Professor
276 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
Bartholomew's educated horses seem to go
througli the most intricate evolutions without
riders at all, and perhaps with less embarrass-
ment than it' they had them.
Meantime, the colonel, in his stentorian
voice, shouts out, " Bear, Open Order.'"
" I told you so," says the surgeon.
^' March!'' cries the colonel.
The staff, as if animated by a sudden in-
spiration, put spurs to their hoi'ses, and race
off for their positions on the right flank,
on the line of the company officers. The
movement may lack dignity, but it has the
virtue of promptness. The alignment is
somewhat unsteady.
" Well, we got up here," says one.
"Yes," says another; "and I think, all
things considered, we did pretty well."
The chaplain asks the assistant surgeon
and quartermaster to dress up on the sur-
geon. The paymaster reminds the chaplain
that he should be about six yards from the
line of company officers. The regimental
adjutant, who is slightly in the rear of the
MR. SHAY BACK AT MUSTER. 211
staff, cautions them to have their swords
ready for the^^resc;?^. He observes that one
of the staff has forgotten to draw liis sword.
The officer reminded brings it to a carry.
'' Present!'' cries Adjutant Fry. The
staff bring the handles of their swords to theii*
chins, and hold them up like bowsprits.
"u4rms/" from Adjutant Fry; and the
swords drop together with glittering una-
nimity.
'• Well done," whispers the chaplain. " I
congratulate you, gentlemen, on not having
cut off your horses' ears."
If it is a dress parade, the staff remain
stock-still thenceforth until the parade is dis-
missed. If it is a review, the staff have the
further task of wheeling to the right, and
following the colonel in good order at a dis-
tance of six yards. They must also salute
with their instruments of death in good time
Avith the colonel, when they pass the review-
ing officer, all save the chaplain indeed, who
does not salute on review.
When the staff has the temerity to engage
278 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
in a Imttal 1(311 drill, the opportunity for dis-
sension concerning their iii)proprititc position
is greatly increased. Their chief responsi-
bility at such a time seems to bt to keep out
of the way of the regiment. The i)osition of
the staif is thirty-three yards in the rear of
the regiment; and should the colonel order
the regiment " About face I " the staif find
themselves obliged to get around on the other
side as quickly as possible. They may not
get there simultaneously, but they get there
consecutively, and usually in time to get out
of the way of the next move. And this is
the most important service they render on
di'ill ; but if their services were relaxed at any
other time the regiment would seriously feel
it. Perhaps the chaplain's office is an excep-
tion. Any relaxation in the religious services,
which are held at least twice during the week,
may possibly be deemed a boon.
I cannot take further space to describe
everything delectable, curious, engaging, or
mysterious in our military encampment.
Regimental concerts are held every evening.
MR. SHAY HACK AT MUSTER. 279
The ai'tillcny and the cavah-y vie with each
other in their display of Chinese lanterns and
other deeoratiuns, as well as in the j)r()in[)t-
iiess with whieh they move oil' the iield after
dress parade. Thonsands of visitors lloek to
the grounds on Thursday, and on Friday,
when the Governor comes to review the
troops, the interest of the week culminates.
Mr. Shayhaek has for four years accompa-
nied the Second Brii^ade of tlr.i ^lassachusetts
militia to its annual encampment and has
hivariahly visited the First Brigade. The
result has been to increase his respect for the
Massachusetts militia. The old time muster
days have passed away, a new and higher
order of discipline is maintained. More or-
derly camps he has never seen. The men
are manly, courteous, and good-natured; the
officers generous and gentlemanly. And to
Mr. Shayhaek it was a satisfaction to think
that on the following Monday all these men
and officers would return to the store, the
shop, the workman's bench, the anvil, the
clerk's desk, the lawyer's office, and the va-
280 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
rious avocations of civil life, to devote them-
selves assiduously to the arts of peace, — all
the better, we trust, for the lessons of oblioa-
tion, courtesy, and practical service which
they have received in the art of war.
CHAPTER XVII.
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. — THE VALLEY OF THE
GODAVERY.
OwL*s Head, so often referred to in these
pages, looked down on the cradle of the
present writer, and Memphremagog was the
first lake to mirror the skies before her. But
circumstances in after years bade her ex-
change the Green Mountains for the Ghauts,
and the frosty air of New England for the
tropical climate of India. The new home
was on the table-land of the Deccan where it
sweeps gradually down to the fertile valley of
the Godavery. It stood on the banks of a
small river, tributary to that noble stream,
amid acacia and tamarind trees and half hid-
den with roses and luxuriant vines. Here
the days came and went swift as a weaver's
shuttle, with little to break the monotony of
282 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
study. At last it was proposed, one charming
day in Decembei-j that we should go out tour-
ing ; for that was the name given to the
annual custom of going about from village to
village, spending a few days in each, to visit
schools and oversee the work of the native
teachers.
As no provision for white visitors is made
in Hindoo villages it is always necessary to go,
like the snail, provided with a house. To the
young enthusiastic girl of nineteen this
seemed, as it proved, a delightfully romantic
way of becoming intimately acquainted with
Eastern manners and customs, and the love
of tent-life then enkindled has never grown
less.
It was approaching Christmas time, but the
air was clear and dry. On the coldest nights
the mercury never dropped below 56" Fah-
renheit, and at noon it soared away among
the nineties. There was no fear of rain or
showers, for the wet season was over and the
whole country was clad in the matchless ver-
dure that the rains had left behind. The
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. 283
sugar-cane fields looked like miniature forests ;
the green wheat swayed in the soft air ; the
cotton was bursting its bolls and the peanut
and sweet-potato vines wove a close fal)ric
over the brown earth. Tlie trees were in
their most beautiful array and the wardens
were smiling with plenty. What wonder
that " touring " amid such tropical beauty
looked fascinating in advance ?
The tinkling of bells on the bullocks' necks
in the " compound," or door-yard, announced
that the preparations were ahnost complete.
Good Mulkoo, the Hindoo cook, had packed
everything necessary for the culinary de})art-
ment in a chest with stronjj handles and a i>'ood
lock. This chest was to be his kitchen, china-
closet, store-room, and sideboard for a month.
Nothing was forgotten that could possibly be
needed. There was first the folding tripod
wdiich was to serve as a cookino- ran^e : a
nest of copper sauce-pans freshly tinned by
the traveling tinman ; a " kujah," or porous
water-jar ; dainty china for four persons ;
glass, silver, napkins, and table-cloths; a
284 THE SIIAYBACKS IN CAMP.
bottle of curry powder, small packages of
sundry spices and condiments not easily
obtained in the villages, and a supply of rice
and sujjar. For fruit and vejjetables we were
to depend on the villagers' gardens ; for milk
on their buffaloes, from which sweet butter
would every morning be made by churning
in a leathern bottle ; for flour on the village
women, who grind it daily in their rude stone
mills ; for meat on the poultry-yards of the
natives, or on the unerring rifle of the head
of the little camping party.
The cook's chest was lifted into the low two-
wheeled cart. Beside it were placed a folding
table, four folding chairs, two folding bamboo
cots, a folding washstand, a wall tent, a mar-
quee and a bundle of matting and rugs.
Another small chest contained linen, blankets,
and thin hair pillows. This cart was intrusted
to a coal-black driver, Avhose scarlet turban
and snowy dress gave him a brilliant air.
The next cart to drive up was covered and
upholstered, with the cushions arranged in
such a way that at night, by little shifting,
CAMI* LIFE IN INDIA. 285
the vehicle could be converted into a snuir
sleeping apartment, which two of lUe party
were to occupy. Pockets and drawers and
various hiding places furnished receptacles
for books, stationery, toilet articles, and extra
wraps. Both carts were drawn by small bul-
locks with a hump between their shouldeis,
well known in pictures as tha '' sacred cattle
of India." They are trained to trot, and they
jog along from four to six, rarely eight,
miles an hour. They arc driven by ropes
and a riniif throu<»'h the nos?, as the natives
decline to pollute themselves by using leather
reins on account of religions scrui)les. Little
" Brownie," a gentle pony, ambled alongside,
to be ridden in turn bv the four as a chani»o
from the monotonous jar of the bullock cart,
the full Turkish trousers of the neat taifeta
gymnastic suits worn by the ladies enabling
them to use the man's saddle not onlv with
ease but enjoyment. It is much less conspic-
uous for a woman to ride astride in India,
after the fashion of the Hindoo and ]Moham-
niedan women. A woman on a side-saddle
28G THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
would have been a seven clays' wonder to
tlieiii.
The native roads are mere paths among the
fields, but the highways between the main
villages are macadamized and kept in good
repair. As far as the eye can see, the country
is covered with gardens and plantations, nn.-
broken by fences or walls. Rarely a hedge
interposes its green barrier, but the usual
dividinii' lines are ridsfes of earth v.ith small
stones set up at intervals to marli; the bound-
aries. On bits of grass land here and tliere
she})lierds are Avatching their flocks, and
occasionally we come to a bit of wild land,
as 3'et untamed by the Ik iid of man, where
we scare up a herd of tiny deer or a covey
of birds. In the gardens, boys, standing on
high scall'olds, are guarding the growing crops
or friiihteninji' away maraudino- birds with
stones from a sling. It is too early for tlie
wheat harvest, but the farmers are beating out
the (;arthen threshing floors and preparing
the oreat iars — lar^'e enouoh for Ali I^aba's
Forty Thieves — v/hich serve as granaries for
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. 287
the barley, millet, and wheat which will soon
be ready for the sickle. Only when it is
ready the people will pull the grain all up
by the roots instead of using knife or sickle.
The first obstacle in the road is a small
river, which we are to cross in a government
ferry-boat, an unwieldy craft of such propor-
tions that it can come oidy within ten feet of
either shore. We must drive down the bank
and into the river, and then up inclined planks
to the deck, and down into the river on the
other side before we can effect a landinji-.
Many streams flow through this part of the
country on their way to the beautiful Goda-
very, and twice more we are compelled to
cross them. On both occasions the rivers are
so high that the carts must be sent round to
shallower fords while we, to save the extra
drive, are put directly across. The first time
we make the passage on the shoulders of two
men, who lay their arms about each other's
necks thus making a seat for us, while with
the disengaged hands they hold our feet high
out of the surging, roaring torrent which
288 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
sweeps up to their naked breasts and seems
ready to engulf us as we attempt to crosy.
Vainly we try to clutch their smooth-shaven,
well-oiled heads ; their ears are the only projec-
tion to which we can cling. The next time we
cross with less anxiety but without dry feet.
The native ferry-boats at this ford are of two
kinds ; one, a sort of coracle, or tub, made of
leather stretched over a bamboo frame, and
which rides the water in a very ticklish
fashion ; the other, a skeleton of wood buoyed
at the four corners by large empty water jars
tightly bound to it by strips of bark, and by
a lot of dry gourds, wrapped in a net and
lashed to the lower part of the frame. Two
of us at a time take the rude seat on this
ruder raft and are propelled across the wide
river by several men with gourds tied about
their necks, and who half swim and half walk
the water, steering with awkward paddles as
they push us safely across.
We are not sorry when, before the day
closes, we pause in a beautiful mango grove
where our tents are to be pitched. The mar-
CA.UP LIFE IN INDIA. 289
quee is pitched under the sheltering; arm of a
banyan-tree, which stretches out seventy feet
horizontally, supported at various points by
the aerial roots that it has sent down to the
earth and which, takinj^ firm hold, have grown
to be tiny trunks. The tree has scores of
these little trunks so that it is a a'rove in it-
self.
It is the work of but a few minutes to se-
lect the exact site of the sleeping- tent, roll
away the small stunes, beat the ground to kill
or drive away snakes, scorpions, or centipedes,
burn it over to kill smaller pests, sprinkle it
to lay dust and smoke, and spread over it the
mattino; and ruijs on which we are to tread,
if the white ants do not devour the mattino-
before mornino-.
The tent is 12 X 12, with high walls, a fly,
a door, and two windows. It is double
throughout, white without and crimson within.
Our furniture is unfolded and sjt in place,
and in less time than it takes to describe it a
charming room is ready for our occupancy.
The monkeys in the grove, the parrots over-
290 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
head, and the innumerable bhick crows above,
below, and everywhere scold us for breaking-
in upon their domain, but what care we ?
We sit in our tent door, like the i)atriarclis of
old, and watch our faithful Mulkoo as he boils
water over his tripod, sets up three stones
against a tree and kindles a fire, over which
as in Si ripture time he " seethes a kid " and
bakes unleavened cakes. From the neighbor-
ing village he brings delicious buifalo's milk,
fresh eggs, mangoes, figs, grapes, and ba-
nanas, and in due time we have a supper fit
for the gods, — too good for the gods of wood
and stone all about us.
The moon rises and shines down throuo'h
the glossy mango and banyan leaves and
lights up the little group of servants at their
simple repast of bread and fruit, and here
and there wakes a bird to a single note. The
air is intoxicating with the tropical breath of
night, but above all the union of sweets we
perceive the refreshing perfume of orange
flowers from the garden at our right. But we
tear ourselves away from this enchantment,
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. 291
and drawino; tlio mosquito bars over our door
and \vind()\vs retlrij for our llrst nli»lit uudtr
canvas, countln*^' ourselves fortunate that the
tent, rather than the cart, fell to our lot.
The latter affords a more luxurious bed aiul
is safer from serpents and sm;dler pests, but it
shakes dlsa«2'reeablv in a wind, and one is of-
ten startled out of a sound slt'ep by a stray
donkey or buffalo impertinently rubbino- vip
ag'auist it.
Morning- dawns as it never dawns anywhere
but in tents, fresh and pure and radiant.
We shake a seorplon out of a slij)per where
it has tented over nlg-lit, barely escape ti-ead-
ing on a six-inch centipede that is scurrying
over the mat, and think no nu)re of them
than of a mouse or a sfpilrrel in a New
England camp. From the mud-walled village
we can hear "the sound of the <rrlndlu<r" as
the women turn tli;3 wearv mills to ui'lnd meal
for the dally bread, singing a lov>' v.elrd song
as they work. The creak of the well is also
in the air, where oxen are drawing up, by
means of groaning pulleys, great skin buckets
292 THE SUA y BACKS ix camp.
of water to irrigate the f^ardeiis and sui»i>ly
the lioiiscs in the N-ilhij^e. We luiny out for
a g-liiupse of the nionilno- and meet women in
blue and scarlet and Avhite retmniiio- from
the v.ell with watei-pots upon their heads.
Their faces are half hidden bv their veils, hut
we can see the "learn of dark eyes and the
flash of ear and nose rino;s, and hear the
tinkle of bangles on wrists and ankles.
In a tamarind orovc* not far away is a gray
stone temple, beautifully carved, and with the
stones so perfectly laid that one could not in-
sert a peidvuife blade between them. Within
we can see a hideous idol and a stone bull on
which he is supposed to ride. Several early
devotees are making- offerings of rice and oil
and garlands of jessamine flowers.
We wander on through a meadow where
bright-hued balsams and day-lilies orow wild.
Along its edge lantanas, ten feet high, make
natural hedges, and countless other flowers
are scattered about, filling the air with sweet-
ness. In the bed of an almost empty brook
we find tall oleanders in great profusion, for
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. 201^
they love to grow where hichleii waters feed
tlieir roots. We piek orroat haiulfuls of the
frao-rant and ex(|iiisite blossoms and return to
camp to add them as the iinishin;;- touch to
Mulkoo's breakfast of curried chicken and
sweet potatoes.
At ten o'clock our pundit, a high caste
Brahmin, comes to give us our dailv lesson.
He is a handsome man, with light brown skin,
piercing black eyes, and well-cut features.
He is dressed in spotless white Howing robes,
a snowy turban on his shapely head. He is
a delightful teacher and friend, this courtly
Hindoo gentleman, Vishwanath. After
wrestling for some hours with the mysteries
of this Eastern tongue we accept his invita-
tion to visit with him the ruined palace of a
former Hindoo prince.
The old palace is not far from our mango
grove. It Avas built hundreds of years ago
of polished stone. The door is deep set in
a stone archway. Above it is a projecting
front of woodwork, so thoroughly carved as
to present an unbroken mass of ornament.
294 THE SHAY HACKS LX CAMP.
Loaves, flowers, fruit, cliains, aiul many fan-
tastic forms are "wroinilit out of the wood in
the ii'reatest contusion and clustered toiictlier
in an endless variety of cond)iMatIon. Like
all of the best Hindoo houses it is built about
an open court with a fountain in the centre.
Aroiuid this are galleries, t\u) pillars support-
ing Avhich are carved in the same elaborate
style as the entrance. The palace is fast
falling to decay. Common people dwell in
the ele<»\int o'allcries and stable their cattle in
the spacious marble-paved area.
As we walk alonji' the narrow streets of the
village we notice that the peo2)le are all in
gala dress. Even the horns of the cattle and
goats are painted red and have tassels tied to
them. This is in honor of a visit that a god
from a j eighboring village is to make to our
idol under the tamarind-tree. The visit is
made at night. The ugly image comes
wrapped in cloth of gold and priceless Cash-
mere shawls, carried in a gilded palanquin
and followed by an immense procession of
worshipers. The air quivers with the musical
CAMP LIFE ly INDIA. 295
nolso — it can luinlly be called music — of
scores of native instruniciits. Firi'works niori?
beautiful than wc; e\er dreanicd of are burned
in lionor of the occasion, and thoui;'h we can-
not share the people's enthusiasm at the ad-
vent of the o()d, we vie with them in enjoy-
ment of the dis})lay.
Our afternoons arc given up to visitin<^ the
schools. The school-house is a low buildinj;*
open on one side to the weather, with a hard
beaten earth floor on which the little urchins
sit, and on wl-ich they are often caught play-
ing jackstones when they ought to be learn-
ino; their lessons. There are no mrls amono*
the scholars. The boys, entirely naked, or
with a shirtdike frock, or only a waistcloth,
but with plenty of ornaments and streaks of
paint on their person, study (doud in a dron-
ing tone. But they recite with animation
and show bright, quick intellects. The
teachers are native, bnt they do not attempt
to carry their pupils beyond the three R's.
So our camp life moves on without excite-
ment ivAid without adventure. Every few
296 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
(lays we change our site, visit new villages,
become better acquainted with the simple,
kindly people and their strange mythology,
and more interested in their lanjruaofe and
their education.
We always strike our tents early in the
morning and often walk from village to
village, six or eight miles, leaving the carts
to follow. At one of the largest villages by
which we tented we were invited to visit the
house of the head-man, or Parted, and we
were nothing loath to see the inside of a
high-caste Hindoo home, as foreigners are
usually jealously excluded.
The house stood close on the street with no
more imposing front than a high, smooth wall
daubed with yellow wash, and with vermilion
figures traced on the threshold. The door-
way of wood was handsomely carved, but
otherwise tliere was no ornamentation.
On entering we found ourselves in a square
courtyard, in the centre of which a small
fountain was playing into a dark stone basin,
on whose borders a few plants were growing.
CAMP LIFE JJV INDIA. 207
Sundry floats and eliickens wandering- about
the yard detracted from the neatness and
beauty of the phiee. Around the court stood
the dwelhng. TJiere were eight rooms, four
in the first and four in the second story.
This was a house where one who wished to
throw stones couhl live in safety, for there ^s'as
no glass about it, not even a single window
pane. The rooms had each three walls, the
fourth side being open toward the court.
The upper story was guarded by a light lat-
tice-work running across the lower part of the
room, with curtains above. The lower rooms
could also be curtained o(f from the court.
They were raised a step or two above the
ground and the floors \,ere of beaten earth.
We were ushered into the largest apart-
ment, a reception-room for the Parteel's
guests. lie received us cordially, though
looking hard at our feet to see if we really
intended to come in Avitli our shoes on. Wo
also looked admiringly at his well-tihaped,
. bare, brown feet, but were all silent on this
subject. Here and there lay bright-colored
298 THE SHAYBACKS IN CAMP.
Turkish and Indian rugs, wliicli lighted up
the room wonderfully. In vain did we cast
our eves about for auythiniT' else. The Parteel
motioned us to a seat on a rui»: on a divan that
followed the wall on two sides of the room, set-
tiug the example hy deftly folding up his legs
and making use of them as a chair. In the
twinkling of an eye we had each dropped in
like manner upon a mat. What a forlorn
home ! No furniture, no pictures, Jio art
treasures, no hooks, worse than all no womanly
presence making itself felt as a benediction.
But the quick lire of Hindoo questions,
unsurpassed by any Yankee's, left no time for
reflection. What might our names be, how
old were we, were we married, had we chil-
dren and how many (always excepting the
girls, who do not count to a Hindoo mind),
and did we come in a ship, and what was a
ship like, and what ke[)t it from sinking, and
was it true that we could walk on water in
our land (ice), etc., etc., almost without end,
with occasionally an exclamation at the de-
scription of new wonders and especially at
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. 299
lecarning that we do not alwa)js do as our
grandfathers did before us.
We modestly expressed a desire to see his
wife and chikb-en. The Parteel ac(|uieseed
and withdrew, not to api)ear again, fur it
wouhl be against all custom for husband and
wife to appear together. Soon the hangino-
was drawn timidly aside and in slipped several
women wearing their graceful drapery as
only Hindoo women can, and two or three
little children, the youngest riding astride her
mother's hip, after the usual way of carrying-
babies. At first as we looked at these timid
women we saw only the draped form and one
eye, shining at an uidvnown depth of snow-
white folds. By and by the veil fell lower
and the whole face was visible. They be-
longed to the Parteel's household, — two or
three were his wives, tlie others relatives.
After them came a group of women, neigh-
bors drawn thither by the reported visit. All
seated themselves on the rugs. Many were
dressed entirely in white, except the brilliant
border of colored silk which is woven into
300 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
the fabric. The manner of dress is ahke for
all. It consists of two pieces of apparel, —
a small, close-fitting jacket next the skin, low
in the neck, short sleeved and open in front ;
then a strip of cloth from eight to ten yards
long and abont a yard wide, which is wonnd
about the body several times, a little loose-
ness being given by laying a plait on one side,
and the end brought around the shoulders
and head so that the wearer is completely
concealed, if she please, this one article ser-
ving as skirt, bodice, mantle, and veil, without
the use of hook, button, or pin. It may be
of any color, but indigo blue is the prevailing
tint. The wealthy wear white. Beneath this
dress the tiny feet steal out loaded with silver
toe-rings, anklets, [ind jingling chains. The
arms are covered wdth bangles, the fingers
with rings, the neck with necklaces innumer-
able, from the tiny circlet about the throat to
the heavy chain that rests on the swelling
bosom. The ears are sometimes pierced in
eight or ten places, each with an ornament
thrust through ; the nostrils are also pierced
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. IIQI
and disfigured with ornaments; the long,
shining braids have coins tied here and there
among them ; upon the forehead rests a semi-
circle of flat ornaments, held in place hy a
chain, and in the centre of the brow a bright
spot of paint indicates that they are idol wor-
shipers. If married — as they probjdjly
were while httle more than infants — a strinir
of tiny black beads is tied closely about the
throat. This corresponds to the European's
wedding ring, and is never voluntarily removed
till widowhood. The eyebrows are stained
with India ink ; the nails are dyed scarlet and
the teeth frequently painted black.
Such was the dress of the women before
us, with the exception of one, who, in a d;irk
garment with no visible ornament, sat apart in
a corner. We asked if she were in sorrow,
and were told that she was in deep grief be-
cause she was childless. " And that," added
one naively, '^ is not only a sorrow, but a
great disgrace."
Like simple children they studied our dress,
shoes, stockings, gloves, hats, and handker-
302 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
chiefs with great curiosity, — a curiosity
equal to our own, which, however, was better
repressed. At times they exchauoed among
themselves glances of surprise and sometimes
of contempt. Of course none of them could
read. The Parted himself laid claim to no
such accomplishment. There is always a vil-
lage scribe who can be called on to attend to
matters of the pen.
Again with a slight rustle the curtain
swung aside and a servant appeared, bearing
a polished waiter covered with shinino- o-reen
leaves, a little lime, cardamom seeds, cloves,
mace, and broken betel-nuts. Refreshments
for the eye and nose, we thought. We were
doomed to be undeceived. While we won-
dered and watched one of the women took a
leaf in her hand, placed on it a trifle of mace,
a little lime, a dozen cardamom seeds, and a bit
of betel-nut ; folded it up to about the size
of a hazel-nut, pinned it with several cloves,
and placed it in my fingers.
"What is it," I very innocently asked.
"Pan supari," she replied.
CAMP LIFE I^r LXij/A. 3Q3
I looked very wise ])ut eoiitliiuod to hold it
noticing, at the same time that my eompanioii
liad been also treated to one.
"Eat it," iiro-od my Hindoo hostess.
Now I luive a horror of eloves acquired
^vhen a chihl from an old woman givin,. „,, ,,
suo-ar-coated one in church to keep me still •
and the thought of three cloves at once was
enough to appall me, to say nothing of the
Iiitherto untasted lime and other ingredients.
But knowing something of Eastern ideas of
hospitality, I feigned to obey by nibblino-
carefully around one of the cloves.
" Not so ; eat it all and it will be sweet to
your taste," cried the little ladv, and speakino-
ni real earnest, for this is their most hi<.hly
prized "goody." "^
I began to mutter something about its size
when a chorus of voices around me cried,
" Eat, eat, or you are not our friend."
With a heroic effort I thrust tlie unwel-
come bite into my mouth and closed my lips.
At first the taste was not disagreeable. In
another moment mouth and throat were eon-
304 THE SHAY BACKS IN CAMP.
verted into a burning' f uiniiec, it was so pun-
ii'ent and hot. The Hindoos from courtesy,
and from fear of Lreaking caste by eating
with foreigners, refrained from eating" them-
selves. Turning to my friend, whom they
had been " hospitably entreating " after the
same fashion, I was startled to see her lips
look as though bathed in blood.
^' Do I look so too ? " I exclaimed in horror.
Yes, lips, tongue, and teeth were all of the
brightest scarlet, and likely to remain so for a
day or two.
The women were delighted. They clapped
their hands, pointed to our lips, and said,
^' Now you are our friends indeed."
That closed the reception, and as we said
adieu we were each presented with a cocoanut
fresh picked from the trees in the garden.
We were glad to shake the dust of the village
off from our feet and cool our mouths with
the delicious fruit.
Then we wandered on between grain-fields
and gardens, resting now and then by a well,
till we could see our tent under the lovely
CAMP LIFE IN INDIA. 'S05
tamarind trees that seemed to be nodding
their well-sliaped boughs in welcome. The
feathery leaves were fairly dancing in the
light of the setting sun, save those that the
shadows had already touched, which were
folded face to face and would soon be sleeping
like the birds among: them.
Many a day has come and gone since that
fair month, and the shadows have touched the
lives of three of those who then camped in the
valley of the Godavery, and they too have
fallen asleep; their earthly tabernacles are
folded for aye, and along with the memory of
this first bit of camp life that we shared to-
gether come memories that are too deep and
sweet for words.