woods, precipices, mists, and ocean waves.—the party divided, and each half departs to seek its separate fortune.—pat shows how to go in a straight line.—pat and the porcupine.—in chase after pat.—disappearance of pat.—a lost pat.—wanderings in search of the lost.
they stood for a while confounded.
before them nothing could be seen but the impenetrable fog. the water beneath was not visible, but the surf sent up its boom, and they knew that they were somewhere on the shore of the bay of fundy.
but where?
“this is certainly a most extraordinary thing!” cried the doctor, at last.
the others said nothing, but by their silence assented to the truth of this undeniable statement.
“one thing is evident.” said the doctor again, “and that is, that this is not the old french fort. in fact, i begin to doubt whether there is any old french fort here at all. they surely would never have been mad enough to build any kind of a fort in these abominable woods.”
to this, again, the boys made no reply. the assertion seemed so self-evident that it appeared like the utterance of actual fact.
“it is a conviction,” resumed the doctor, “that has been growing stronger and stronger ever since we left the ‘barrens,’ and i now accept it without reserve. but at the same time, boys, i confess that i haven’t the smallest idea where we are.”
“we must be somewhere on the coast between scott’s bay and hall’s harbor,” said bruce.
“perfectly true,” said the doctor; “but where on that coast? as some ten or fifteen miles lie between those two places, we have an almost unlimited latitude for conjecture.”
nothing was said for some time. all looked along the coast line in both directions, to see if anything were visible. nothing, however, could be seen. the dense fog concealed everything from view.
“well,” said the doctor, “we shall have to do something; that’s evident. now, you’re all very tired, and so am i. let us sit here and rest, and debate which way we had better turn.”
they all sat down on the slope, and, looking at their watches, they found that it was half past two o’clock.
“we haven’t much time to lose; that’s plain,” said the doctor, as he looked at his watch. “let us try, first of all, to find out where we are. in the first place, i think, all things considered, that we came in a pretty straight line. i tried to guide myself by the tree-tops as i went, and i think our course was as straight as possible.”
the boys all thought so, too.
“yes,” said the doctor, “i’m quite positive about that. it was in my mind all the time to keep a perfectly straight course. if it hadn’t been for that, our way would have been easier. but i had decided on the position of the old french fort, and had marked it on my map. so, on starting, i took my bearings, and kept on by the trees, keeping as straight a course as possible. you observed how attentive i was to that. that was the reason why i had so few words of encouragement for my patient young friends who were toiling after me, and for whom i felt exceedingly sorry all the time.”
“o, doctor,” said bart, “we’re all right,—we only hope that you will stand it.”
“well, let us keep up our spirits,” said the doctor, cheerily, “and we’ll come out all right yet. so, you see, we may consider that our course has been a fair one. and now i will make a rough map of our position.”
saying this, the doctor took his memorandum-book and drew his “rough map.” he marked a rough outline for the coast between scott’s bay and hall’s harbor. then he drew the roads which ran from each of these places across the north mountain to cornwallis; and finally he traced a straight line from the place where they had started, in the direction which he supposed that they had gone. the result was, that he made their present position close by hall’s harbor. after finishing this, he handed it to the boys, who inspected it very closely.
“well,” said the doctor, “what do you think of it?”
they were silent for some time. at length bruce spoke.
“the only thing against it, sir,” said he, “is, that our course may not have been so perfectly straight.”
“but then,” said the doctor, “i took particular care, and always kept several trees in line before me, so as to go straight.”
“still, sir,” said bruce, “travelling in the woods is a very peculiar thing. i’ve done it often. i’ve lived for weeks in the woods, camping out; and it’s always been my experience that a man can’t go straight, unless he has a compass, or at least some general landmarks. an indian might, perhaps; but i’m sure i couldn’t.”
the doctor seemed quite impressed by this.
“well, bruce,” said he, “i know you have had far more experience in the woods than i can pretend to, and i should like very much to get your opinion without reserve.”
“you see, sir,” said bruce, “everybody has a tendency, in the woods, to lean to the right. it’s the same, i’ve heard, on the western prairies. i don’t pretend to know the cause of it. i only know it’s so. this makes one go in a kind of curved line, so that if one wanders long enough he’ll perform a sort of circle. i know once, in cape breton, i actually came back to the place i started from, and all the time i thought i was miles away. i took great pains, too, to walk straight; and it was a better country than this. now we’ve been working our way through all kinds of places. we’ve been in thick underbrush, where, for my part, i don’t see how it was possible to keep a straight course. we’ve had to go round rocks and fallen trees. after breaking a straight course by making such a circuit, however small, it seems to me almost impossible to take it up again. a slight mistake at the outset makes a great difference by the time you get to the journey’s end.”
“well,” said the doctor, “where do you think we may be? point out on the map the place.”
“i can’t do that,” said bruce, “of course. i can only say that i think we’ve been, as usual, swerving to the right; and if so, we are now really much nearer to scott’s bay than we are to hall’s harbor.”
the doctor now sat thinking for some time.
“there’s a great deal in what you say, bruce,” said he, at length, “and i’m very glad you’ve given your opinion. at the same time i feel quite confident that, if i have swerved to the right, it cannot have been to any great extent. the care which i took was so extreme, that my calculations cannot be much out of the way. i dare say i may have lost my course a little while going through the thick underbrush, but i’m convinced that i found it again pretty correctly. now i will mark out a new track on the map, and make allowance for any deviation from a true course.”
saying this, the doctor traced a new line, which curved slightly to the right, and made their present position somewhat farther away from hall’s harbor than the former conjecture had made it. still this new estimate made them much nearer to hall’s harbor than to scott’s bay.
he showed this to bruce, and asked him what he thought of it.
“well, sir,” said bruce, “i will only say that if i had headed the party, with all my care, i should be very much farther to the right than you make it.”
“so you think that we are now nearer to scott’s bay than to hall’s harbor?”
“very much nearer, sir,” said bruce.
the doctor said no more, but sat for a long time silently regarding his map.
“well,” said he, at last, “it seems to me to be a fair question. you, bruce, have had very much experience in the woods; but then i rely on my own correctness. on the whole, i think it would be better for us now to divide ourselves into two parties. one party could go in the direction of hall’s harbor, the other towards scott’s bay. as you are an old hand in the woods, bruce, i consider you quite fit to head one party, and try scott’s bay. for my part, i will take another party, and make for hall’s harbor. what do you say to that?”
“o, no, sir,” said bruce; “we won’t leave you. we’ll stay with you, and follow you wherever you go.”
the doctor laughed.
“o, nonsense!” said he. “if we were wandering in the forests of the amazon valley, we might then make it a matter of duty to stand by one another; but these woods are only a small affair. by going in any direction, we must emerge from them before very long. even if we were overtaken by the darkness, it would be no great hardship to pass the night here. we could make comfortable beds out of spruce boughs and fern. to tell the truth, roughing it in the bush has rather an attraction for me than otherwise; and i know your weakness, boys, in that respect. besides, in two hours, at the very farthest, we’re sure to come out somewhere. if i thought that there was any danger, i would not think of separating you, but would guard you as carefully as possible. the most that can happen is some little inconvenience. so, bruce, you may consider yourself the commander of the scott’s bay party. who will be your followers?”
“i,” said bart, whose hesitation had been driven away by the doctor’s words.
“i,” said arthur.
“and i,” said tom. “and i,” said phil.
“bedad, thin, an it’s mesilf that’ll jine that same,” said pat, who preferred the comparative freedom that he would enjoy under bruce to the restraint which he felt with the doctor. for the doctor, who, with the other boys, was a great favorite, and had won all their hearts by that boyish enthusiasm which age could never extinguish in him, and by his evident fellow-feeling and sympathy with them in all their joys and sorrows, was not so well known to pat, and, in spite of his kindness to the poor irish boy, still remained an object of grateful affection certainly, but yet one of extreme awe. so pat elected to go with bruce.
the other boys preferred taking their chance with the doctor. these were jiggins, bogud, sammy, johnny, and billymack. thus the party was about equally divided,—five going under the command of bruce, and five under the command of the doctor. by the time these arrangements were completed it was three o’clock. they all felt refreshed by their rest, and inspirited also by the prospect of getting onward out of the woods into some road, or some settlement.
“if i reach hall’s harbor,” said the doctor, “i will get horses, and drive at once to where we left our wagons. if you get to the scott’s bay road, go back to that place and wait for me.”
with these words the doctor and his party set off in one direction, while bruce started away with his followers in another. as the trees were farther apart near the edge of the cliff, he walked along here for some time; but at last finding that the line was irregular, and coming to a place where it ran out into a kind of promontory, he kept on, seeking only to find the easiest place for walking. for a long time he tried to keep in a line with what he supposed to be the direction of the coast; but at length he found himself away from it altogether. he then turned, determined to regain it, but found the way so difficult that he gave it up.
“the fact is, boys,” said he, “our only chance was to keep stolidly along the edge of the cliff, and follow all its windings. we’ve lost it now. there are two things for us to do—either to get back to the cliff again at all hazards, or to keep on through the woods as we are going now. one is the safer way, but the other is easier.”
“o, bother the cliff,” said bart; “we’re doing very well. i don’t care, for my part, whether we’re lost or not. i’d just as soon camp out. the only trouble is, we haven’t anything to eat. we’ve eaten all our sandwiches. and then these miserable spades. i don’t see why they couldn’t have taken them. but no—jiggins and bogud insisted on taking the hammer and the basket, and they call that a fair division!”
“i’m of bart’s opinion,” said arthur. “i say, let’s go where it is easiest, and trust to luck. and let’s all take care of our right legs, and not let them drag us into a circle.”
“no, that won’t do,” said bruce; “if you try to guard against turning to the right, you’ll be sure to turn too much to the left. it’s impossible to go straight unless you’re an indian. best to walk as straight as you can, and occasionally change your course so as to correct any deviation.”
“why not walk zigzag?” said phil.
“or backwards?” said tom. “i’ll tell you,” said pat, “what we’d ort till do. let’s howld a sthraight powl before ourselves, an follow it. that’ll be sure till take us sthraight.”
a roar of laughter greeted this proposal.
“very well, pat; get your pole and try it,” said bart.
“‘deed an i jist will,” said pat; and seeing a young, slender maple near by, he cut it down with his knife, lopped off the young twigs, and thus formed a long, slender, straight pole. taking this in his hand, he gravely put himself at the head of the party. then he held out the pole. “there,” said he; “isn’t this powl sthraight?”
“of course it is,” said they.
“then sure, an if we go by it, we must go sthraight, too,” said pat. and saying this, he started off, holding the pole before him.
the boys followed in great glee, almost bursting with laughter, while pat led them on with his pole, with an expression of ineffable satisfaction, holding the pole straight before him.
so they went on, and bruce, out of pure enjoyment of the thing, let pat lead wherever he wished.
at last pat gave a wild yell, leaped forward, and slashed violently with his pole at something.
the hoys crowded up.
the something at which pat had struck had got under some fern leaves, and was not visible. but pat slashed away bravely in all directions. suddenly there came running out a queer little animal, all covered with sharp spines. it did not run very fast, and bart, who carried a spade, could easily have killed it. but he did not. he stood, still, and let it run close by him. pat had lost sight of it for a moment, and was looking in all directions for it, when suddenly he caught sight of it. with a wild yell he rushed after it, swinging his pole and slashing it madly against the ground. the little animal dodged under some blueberry bushes; and while pat was slashing at these, it escaped and ran into a hollow tree which lay on the ground. into this pat poked his pole; but as he poked it in at one end, the little animal ran out from the other, and hurried away as fast as his little legs would carry him.
again pat caught sight of him, and gave chase.
meanwhile the other boys had not interfered. they left it all to pat. they also felt a sort of sympathy with the poor little creature, and gave it all their best wishes in its efforts to escape. phil, as well as bart, might have despatched it with the spade that he happened just then to be carrying; but he would not: so the little thing ran off, and pat followed after it, turning and winding in all directions. the boys then went off after pat, so as to keep him in sight; but before long they lost him altogether. they went forward to the last place where they had seen him, and began to shout for him.
there was no answer, however.
they shouted again and again, and waited a long time for some response. they began to be anxious about him. where had he gone? he was chasing that little animal, and in the excitement of the chase had forgotten everything. it was getting late, and there was no time now for chasing anything. they ought to be moving on, and trying to get to scott’s bay. but they could not do so till they had found pat.
they wandered along, calling in every possible kind of way, and waiting, after every call, to see if there would be any response. but no response came. they kept on in the way in which they supposed pat had gone, and shouted, and screamed, and halloed, and yelled, and whistled, and made every noise that could be made. but their utmost efforts proved of no avail; and all their shouts excited no response, except the echoes that reverberated through the long, dim forest aisles.
at length they gave up.
“well, what are we to do now?” said bruce.
“pat’s off—that’s certain,” said bart; “and how we can find him again is more than i can tell.”
“there isn’t any danger, of course. he’ll work his way along; but still he belongs to our party, and i don’t like the idea of leaving him.”
“we’d better keep on quietly, as we were going,” said arthur. “there’s no use for us to stand still. this seems to be the direction in which he was going.”
“yes,” said tom; “let’s go on. we haven’t any time to lose. it’s six o’clock now.”
they went on.
they hadn’t the faintest idea now where they were. whatever general notion of their course they had kept up, while first following pat, had now been altogether lost. his chase after the little animal had been a very eccentric one, and they had faced in several different directions while pursuing him. the monotonous woods gave no sign by which they might learn their course. they could not find their way now even to the place where pat had been seized with his strange frenzy. the fact is, they were utterly and hopelessly lost.
“it seems to me,” said arthur, “that we’re going to hall’s harbor.”
“no,” said phil; “we’re steering straight for cornwallis.”
“not a bit of it,” said tom. “we’re going to scott’s bay.”
“it’s my opinion,” said bart, “that we’re on our way to the cliff; and as its getting dark, we’d better be careful. bruce, if you get to the cliff first, and fall over in the dark, just let us know before you go down. i wouldn’t care so much in fine, bright weather, but i have a prejudice against tumbling over cliffs on a foggy night.”
“you needn’t trouble yourself,” said bruce.
“we’ll never come near a cliff, or anything else. i know all about it. we’re wandering in a circle. we’ll camp in the woods to-night, and to-morrow night, after wandering all day, we’ll get back to the same place. i move, therefore, that we stop now in this place, and build a good, solid camp, that will serve for a shelter every night after our circular wanderings.”
“well,” said bart, “we won’t begin just yet. i want to get to the cliff.”
“i want to get to scott’s bay,” said tom.
“i’m determined,” said phil, “to get to cornwallis.”
“pooh!” said arthur. “every one of us will sleep to-night in hall’s harbor. come along, boys.”
