CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE OR On the Trail of the Early Discoverers

BY EVERETT T. TOMLINSON Author of “The Boys with Old Hickory,” “Tecumseh’s Young Braves,” “Guarding the Border,” “The Boys of Old Monmouth,” “Washington’s Young Aids,” “Ward Hill at Weston,” etc., etc.

ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE

BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 1905

Copyright, 1899, by Lee and Shepard. All Rights Reserved. Camping on the St. Lawrence.

Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A.

PREFACE.

In this story I have endeavored to take my young readers to one of our noblest rivers, and not only to make them share in the stirring experiences which are to be had on its waters, but also to make them feel something of the power of the wonderful history of those who first looked upon its scenes of beauty.

The events recorded have largely been taken from actual occurrences, the characters, I trust, will not be found untrue to life, and the historical references not inaccurate or uninteresting. Young people are able to feel the inspiration of nature’s power when they are not able to define or express it, and perhaps the best form of teaching is that which enables them to look out with the inner vision rather than to observe these things from the outside.

Inspiring as is the majestic river, no less inspiring is the story of the men who first sailed over its waters. Their heroism, persistence, and consecration are qualities which are needed by all men, and in all places and times. We never outgrow these things, though the best parts of our lives may grow out of them.

A better understanding of our own land—its natural beauty, its history and heroes—is certainly not one of the least of the demands of the present time; and the author of this story has had the modest hope that its readers may gain a desire in its perusal to see and know more of those possessions which with pardonable pride they are able to claim as their own.

EVERETT T. TOMLINSON.

Elizabeth, New Jersey.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

[Pg 1]

CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE.

CHAPTER I. PREPARATIONS.

“Have you heard from Bob? Will he come?”

“Can’t tell yet. I had a letter this morning, and he writes that it’s doubtful. He hasn’t given up all hope, though, and says he may get on the rear platform just as the train pulls out.”

“That would be just like him. He never started for chapel till all the fellows were there, or went into class-room until the recitation was just ready to begin. He never wasted a minute of his time hanging round.”

“He never was late, though, in his life.”

“That’s all right. I know that as well as you do. I sometimes used to wish he would be late, for it made me half provoked[Pg 2] to see him. Nothing ever seemed to put him out, and yet he’d always come in just at the last minute, as if he hadn’t hurried or he somehow knew they wouldn’t begin until he got there. It was just the same with his studies. There I’d be burning my midnight oil and putting in my best work, and he’d sit down for a few minutes at the table and do in half an hour what it had taken me three straight hours to work out. I never saw such a fellow.”

“Yes, Bob was a great fellow.”

“You don’t have to remind me of that. Haven’t we roomed together all through senior year? I used to think before he took up his bed and came over to room with me, that if I could only have him with me, somehow I’d catch the way he did his work, but it wasn’t contagious.”

“He’s got, without asking for it, what my father says is the one thing he sent me to the academy for, and what he’s going to send me to college to get, though I’m afraid he’ll be disappointed.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s what my father calls the power of concentrating your mind.”

“Well, Bob had it for a fact. It didn’t[Pg 3] seem to make much difference to him whether there was a room full of fellows about him, or not. When he got ready to work, he just sat down to it, and you might yell in his ears or pull his chair out from under him, and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. He’d sit there on thin air and dig away until his work was all done and then look up as if he was as surprised as you please to see any one in the room. Do you know, I just envied Bob. I did for a fact. I’d give all my father’s money to stand in his shoes.”

“Perhaps your father would have something to say about that. But Bob was a great fellow; no mistake about that. Do you think he’ll have to give up going to college with us?”

“I don’t know; I hope not. His mother’s a widow, you know, and since his father died, I think they’ve had a hard time of it. If it was any other fellow I’d say right off he couldn’t go. But Bob’s different, you see. He didn’t have any money and couldn’t do lots of the things the others did, but he was the most popular fellow in all the school, for all that. So I somehow don’t give up hope that he’ll go with us in the[Pg 4] fall, after all. Everything seems to turn his way.”

“Don’t you believe it. It’s the other way around, I’m telling you. He just turns everything his way.”

“Well, I don’t care how you put it if he’ll only join us in the camp. I say, Jock, how did you happen to hit on this plan? It’s great, that’s what it is.”

“Oh, I didn’t hit on it at all, it was my father. You see, he spent the first vacation he’s had in ten years last summer down at the Thousand Islands. We all had such a good time that we wanted to go again this summer; but he couldn’t get away, and my mother wouldn’t go without him, so they finally compromised on me. At first they thought they’d send me down to Alexandria Bay and Round Island to one of the hotels, and for fear that I’d get lonesome they were going to select some fine man who was well up in Latin and Greek to go along with me, just for company, you see.”

“Yes, I see,” laughed his companion. “They were going to get a tutor for you, were they?”

“Yes, that’s what some people call it, I believe. But when I astonished the family[Pg 5] by passing my entrance exams., they didn’t know what to do, so at my own suggestion my father hired a camp on Pine Tree Island, and the result is that you and the other fellows are to benefit by my brilliant labors. You ought to be grateful; but this is a cold, cold world, and I’m not building my hopes too high. The trouble is, I know you.”

“Oh, we’ll do the dutiful act and put in all the flourishes,” said his friend, with a laugh. “But say, Jock, is it really true about the fishing and canoeing and all that sort of thing that they tell about there?”

“True? well, I should say it was! You won’t need but one look at the river to make you think you’ve found the best spot on earth. Fishing, fishing? why, let me tell you.”

“No, no! please don’t. I can’t bear too much, you must remember.”

“Fishing?” resumed Jock, unmindful of his friend’s banter, “why, one morning last summer I got up before breakfast—”

“Impossible!” interrupted his friend. “I can stand your fish stories; but that—that is too much for me.”

“One morning I got up early, as I was telling you,” resumed Jock.

[Pg 6]

“I believe you did make some remarks upon that subject.”

“Keep still! Well, I got up before light—”

“What, what?”

“And went out with my boatman. We caught thirty of the biggest bass you ever saw—”

“Ever saw or ever expect to see,” broke in his friend.

“And we were just going ashore to cook our dinner—”

“But when and where did you have breakfast? You’ve got ahead of your story. Tell me about the breakfast. I haven’t recovered from the shock of thinking of you as being up before that was ready.”

“And just before we landed, I was beginning to reel in my line. I had out about a hundred and fifty feet, when all at once—”

“What, what? Oh, don’t keep me in this suspense, I can’t bear it,” again interrupted his irreverent friend, striking an attitude of eager attention as he spoke.

“I had a strike that almost yanked my rod out of my hand.”

“Ah, yes, I see, your hook had caught on the bottom.”

[Pg 7]

Jock flung a book at the head of his friend and then laughingly said: “Well, you just wait till we get into camp, that’s all I can say. If you don’t tell bigger stories then than I can now, it will be because language has failed you.”

“I usually fail in language; my marks are apt to be below par. But I must be going now, Jock. You say the train leaves the Grand Central at nine to-night?”

“Yes. You’d better get your ticket and check your trunk early. There’s likely to be a crowd at this time of the year.”

“I’ll be there. Got your ticket, Jock?”

“Me? Yes. I’ve got a pass for Bob and myself, or rather my father got one for us.”

“That’s the way in this world,” said his friend, with mock solemnity. “Here you are the son of a railroad magnate and just rolling in lucre, and you don’t have to buy a ticket like common mortals. No, you have a pass and all the conductors and porters stand off and look at you as if you were the King of Crœsus or some other thing, and we poor little sons of lawyers have to march up to the ticket-office and plank down good, hard-earned straight cash for our little pieces of pasteboards.”

[Pg 8]

“You are to be pitied,” replied Jock. “I heard my father say the other day the reason the railroads couldn’t make any money was because the lawyers got in first, and the roads had to take what little they left.”

“Did he say that?”

“Yes, for a fact.”

“This moment I return to my ancestral domicile and demand of my stern parent the portion which falleth to me. He has kept his possession of such vast wealth concealed from his family. I go to make him disgorge.”

“Don’t forget the train leaves at nine,” warned Jock. “I’ve got the sleeping-car tickets, or at least I’ve got a section and a berth. That’ll be enough if Bob shouldn’t come, and if he does, why, two of us will have to double up, that’s all.”

Jock watched his friend as he ran down the stairway, and then turned back into his own room and continued his preparations for the proposed journey. Fishing tackle was rearranged, a gun was placed carefully in its case, and many details looked after which only a light-hearted lad, eager for a new experience, knew how to provide.

[Pg 9]

And certainly Josiah Cope apparently had everything to add to his happiness. His home was one of wealth, and all that father or mother could do had been done for him. He was an eager-hearted lad, as full of good impulses as one could well be, and as he moved busily about in his room it was not difficult to understand why he was such a universal favorite among his mates. His face had that expression of frankness and good-will which somehow draws to itself all who behold it, whether they will or no; and the devotion with which his mother watched over him was, in a measure, shared by his schoolboy friends, for there was something about him which appealed to their desire to protect and shield him from ruder blasts which others might endure more readily.

Not that Jock (for so his friends had shortened the somewhat homely name which the lad was the fifth in direct descent to bear) was in the least effeminate, but his slight figure, his dark eyes and somewhat delicate features, left one with the impression that he was not over-rugged. Whatever others might think, his mother was most decidedly of that opinion, and perhaps[Pg 10] not without reason; for she had seen his brothers and sisters enter the home only to remain for a few brief years and then go out forever, and Jock, she frequently declared, was her all. If she meant all she had left, she was correct, and certainly the love he received in his home might easily have been shared with many, and then no one would have complained of receiving too small a portion.

But Jock had somehow survived the perilous treatment and apparently was as popular among his mates as he was in his home. And unknown to him it was the loving fears of his mother that had led to the experiment of a summer camp among the Thousand Islands in the hope that the breath of the great river and the outdoor life would bring a little more color into the cheeks that were too pale for a well-grown lad of seventeen to have.

The decision once made, the next move was to select his companions. This was not a difficult problem, and soon the choicest three of his friends in the academy from which Jock had just graduated, and with whom he hoped to go up to college in the coming autumn, were invited to join him,—[Pg 11]an invitation quickly and eagerly accepted by all save Robert Darnell, the “Bob” of the preceding conversation, and the reasons which led him to hesitate have already been referred to.

Still all hoped that the sturdy Bob, the quiet self-contained lad, the leader of his class in scholarship, and easily the best bat in school, could come from his home in the country and join them.

Albert, or “Bert,” Bliss, who had been having the conversation we have already reported, was a short sturdy lad, always ready for a good time, his curly hair and laughing blue eyes causing one to laugh whenever he saw him, so irresistible was the contagion of his overflowing spirits.

The fourth member of the proposed party, Benjamin, or “Ben,” Dallett, was in many ways the opposite of Albert, and in school parlance they had sometimes been known as the “Siamese twins,” or “The Long and the Short of it.” Certainly they were much together, and just as certainly was Ben as much too tall as his friend was too short.

All of the boys save Bob had their abode in New York and had come from homes of[Pg 12] wealth, but in their presence Bob almost never thought of his own deprivations, or only when it was impossible for him to engage in some of the enterprises of his friends, and certain it is that the envy to which Ben had given expression, if there was such a feeling manifest among the four friends, was much more of the sterling worth and quiet powers of Bob than of the possessions of the others. At all events, they had become fast friends, and, bound together by such ties as can only be found in school and college, would be certain to have a good time if once they should be together in the camp on the selected island in the St. Lawrence River.

The evening had come, and the three boys had eagerly been watching in the great station for the arrival of their friend. As yet he had not appeared, and when the gong sounded its warning, reluctantly they grasped their various belongings and, holding their tickets in their teeth, passed through the gate and boarded their train.

“It isn’t time yet,” said Bert. “He won’t come till the train begins to move.”

[Pg 13]

“I’m afraid he isn’t coming at all,” replied Jock, as he arranged his various parcels in the section, all the time keeping a careful lookout for the appearance of the missing Bob in the doorway of the car.

[Pg 14]

CHAPTER II. THE JOURNEY.

The train was now increasing its speed and swept swiftly past the city blocks, and then with a groan darted into the long tunnel. The rumble became a roar, and as the boys were convinced that the missing Bob had been left behind, they glanced about the car at their travelling companions.

Apparently every berth had been taken, and it was evident from the fishing rods that could be seen that many besides themselves had started for the great river. There were young people and old, and little children who already were rubbing their sleepy eyes, unable to remain awake longer, in spite of the noise of the fast-flying cars and the roar of the train in the tunnel.

Soon the sounds changed, and all knew that they had passed through the underground way, and the scattered lights of the streets could be seen again. As the boys[Pg 15] turned once more to glance behind them, Jock emitted a shout; for there, standing quietly in the aisle, was the missing member of the band, Bob Darnell himself.

“Where did you come from, Bob?” shouted Jock, delightedly, as he grasped his friend’s hand. “We thought we’d lost you.”

“It’s mighty easy to get lost in this town of yours. Who would want to live in such a place?” replied Bob, quietly.

“But where were you? How did you get aboard? We waited and waited for you, but you didn’t come. Tell us about it,” exclaimed the eager boys, as they made room for their friend to take the vacant seat.

“You might have known I’d be here. You needn’t have wasted your precious thoughts on me.”

“I know it, Bob, but I don’t see how you got here,” said Jock.

“You city chaps don’t understand, and you never will,” replied Bob. “You always rush around as if you hadn’t a minute to spare. What’s the good of it, I’d like to know?”

“Not much good, if we could only be as sure of being on time as you are, Bob,” said[Pg 16] Bert. “Why don’t you tell us how you did it?”

“There isn’t anything to tell. My train got in about an hour ago, and I went up on Madison Avenue to Jock’s house. They told me he’d gone to the station with you fellows, and they all seemed to be very much excited about it, too. All they could say to me was: ‘Hurry up. Make haste, or you’ll be left.’ Queer folks, these New Yorkers.”

“Well, you did almost get left, didn’t you?”

“Left? Not a bit of it. It’s true they had closed the door, and the gateman didn’t want to let me pass, especially when I didn’t have any ticket. But after a little argument he relented, and I went down to the platform. There I had a tussle with the porter, for he was just getting aboard the train, and had taken in his steps. He, too, wanted to see my ticket, but I didn’t have time to stop and talk much with him, so I just climbed in after him. I found I was on the last car, so I had to travel all through the train to find you. You ought not to have made me do that, fellows; it’s too much of an exertion,” he added regretfully.

The boys all laughed, and their evident[Pg 17] unconsciousness of the presence of the others in the car, and their light-hearted and merry voices, soon drew the attention of their travelling companions. Old men glanced at them with a softened expression on their countenances, as if the sight of young life and care-free lads reminded them of days in their own lives now far away and dim in the years that were gone. Old ladies watched them and smiled, without understanding what it was that made their eyes light up as they listened to the contagious laughter of the happy-hearted boys. Little children came tottering and staggering down the swaying aisle, and stopped before them, peering wonderingly at the band as if they knew they must be having a good time, and would like to join in it themselves. Jock passed pieces of candy to the little ones, and the enjoyment of the boys became keener as they watched the children thrust the sweetmeats into their mouths, and then go staggering back to their mothers, and, climbing into their

laps, point gleefully to the group which had treated them so well.

Indeed, the very presence of the boys seemed to create a different atmosphere in the car, and in whatever direction they[Pg 18] looked, they were sure to be met with smiling glances. Certainly, thoughts of possible evil days to come did not disturb them; the burdens of life were all for others, and as far as our four friends were concerned, life itself was colored with a halo of the brightness which not only was theirs by right, but was increased by the anticipation of days that were soon to come in the camp on Pine Tree Island.

“I haven’t bothered my head much about the details of this thing,” said Bob, “but I’d like to know how much work we’ve got to do to-morrow.”