Forests of Maine Part 17

"Does she leak, cousin Forester?" asked Marco.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"No," said Forester, "I presume not. This water all comes from the rain."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Marco, "for I don't want to go to sea in a leaky s.h.i.+p."

There was a great basket of provisions on the beach, by the side of Marco, while these preparations were making, for they were resolved not to expose themselves, a second time, to the danger of famine. When all was ready, the bush, the basket and the paddles were put on board, and our adventurers, after gliding smoothly through the water to the outlet of the cove, doubled one of the rocky points of land, and pushed boldly out upon the waters of the pond.

CHAPTER XII.

A VOYAGE ON THE POND.

As the boat moved on, propelled by the paddles, which Forester and the man who accompanied them were plying, Marco sat upon a thwart, and gazed upon the picturesque and romantic scene around him. The sh.o.r.es of the lake, or pond, formed many beautiful points and promontories, with deep bays between them. There were a great many islands too, scattered over its surface. Marco wanted to land upon some of these, but Forester thought that they had better make the best of their way towards their destined port.

Marco contented himself, therefore, with gazing on the changing scenery, as they pa.s.sed, in succession, one island and promontory after another.

The whole country was covered with forests, except that here and there was an opening, with the house and barn of a settler in the middle of it. Smokes were rising, too, in various directions, where new clearings were in progress. There was one in particular, on the side of a distant hill, which rose in such dense white volumes as especially to attract Marco's attention.

When Marco had admired these objects long enough, he leaned a little over the side of the boat, and began to look down into the water. The water was not deep, and the bottom was smooth and sandy. They glided rapidly along over these sands. Marco's leaning caused the boat to incline a little to one side; but Forester, instead of asking him not to lean over so, just moved himself a little in the contrary direction, and thus restored the equilibrium.

"There, Forester," said Marco, suddenly raising himself, "I forgot one thing."

"What is that?" said Forester.

"I forgot my piece of wood to make a box of."

"I am very sorry," said Forester. "But then you can get another piece, perhaps, before we get to the end of our journey."

"But I wanted a piece from that very hut, so as to make the box a souvenir of our having got lost in the woods," said Marco.

"Yes," rejoined Forester, "that would have been very pleasant,--but, perhaps, we shall meet with some other odd adventure, which will be as good as being lost in the woods."

"I don't think being lost in the woods is anything very good," said Marco.

"It is not a very good thing at the time, but the recollection of such adventures and dangers is always pleasant afterwards. You see you specially want a souvenir of it.

"But, Marco," continued Forester, "I have thought of something which will be, perhaps, better than a box. At any rate, it will be more convenient to make."

"What is it?" said Marco.

"A little press for pressing flowers," replied Forester.

"How could I make it?" asked Marco.

"Have two pieces of pine wood, planed out thin," said Forester. "They might be varnished, and that would make them look very neat and pretty."

"How large must they be?" asked Marco.

"Oh, about as large," replied Forester, "as the covers of a small book.

Just large enough to make it convenient to carry in the pocket. Then you must have some pieces of soft paper, of the same size and shape, to put between them. You must also have a piece of cord or braid, or something of that kind, to tie around them, to keep them together. Then, when you are travelling, if you find any pretty flower, you can put it into this press, and put the press in your pocket. Thus, the press will not only be a souvenir itself, but it will procure for you a great many other souvenirs."

"That's an excellent plan," said Marco. "I like it very much. That will be better than a box."

"It will be easier to make, at any rate," replied Forester. "Any joiner can plane out and square the boards for you."

"Yes," said Marco. "I mean to get a piece of pine to make them of, the first time I find any."

Marco had an opportunity to get a piece of pine suitable for this purpose, and, at the same time, a souvenir itself of an adventure, sooner than he antic.i.p.ated; for, after having paddled many miles, towards noon a breeze sprung up, which, though really not against them, r.e.t.a.r.ded them somewhat, as it tended to drive them out of their course.

Their intention had been to have stopped upon the water, about noon, to eat their dinner; but, as this breeze would prevent the boat from remaining at rest, they concluded to land upon an island, which was near where they were at the time, and take their dinner there. Marco was particularly pleased with this plan, as it would enable him to build a fire, and he always wanted to build a fire on such occasions, whether there was anything to be cooked by it or not.

The island was rocky, and it was covered with trees. On the sheltered side of it there was a beach, where the party landed. Although this beach was somewhat protected from the wind, still the waves which rolled in kept the water in a state of agitation. They, however, landed here, running the head of the boat upon the sand.

There was a large tree lying here, with its top in the water, and b.u.t.t-end upon the beach. It was a tree which some settler had cut down at some place near the sh.o.r.e of the pond, and when the water was high it had been washed off, and, after drifting about the pond for some time, it had got lodged upon this beach, where it remained in the position in which our adventurers found it. It had been lying there for more than a year, and the branches which were out of the water were dead and dry.

The foliage had long since disappeared.

The boatman brought the boat up alongside of this tree, so that Forester and Marco stepped out upon the trunk, and walked to the land. The boatman then tied the boat to one of the dead branches of the tree, and, taking the basket of provisions and the hatchet, they all walked along, in search of a place for their dinner.

They found a sheltered and pleasant place, at a little distance, under the trees. Marco soon struck a light, and began to build a fire. He found it somewhat difficult, however, to procure dry wood enough for the fire, until, at last, he thought of the branches of the tree to which the boat was fastened. He accordingly went to the place and began to cut them off.

The boat was somewhat in the way while he was doing this, and he thought he would move it. He could fasten it just as well, he thought, by a stake driven into the sand. He therefore cut off one of the branches, and, after squaring one end and sharpening the other, he drove it down as well as he could into the sand. He then fastened the boat to this stake, thus removing it from the tree, and clearing the way so that he could conveniently cut off the branches.

This was not, however, a very wise operation, for it is very difficult to drive a stake securely into sand. Sand, even when wet, has so little tenacity that it yields to the slightest force, and the stake soon began to work loose, by the motion of the boat, agitated by the waves; and, in fact, before Marco had finished carrying away the branches, the stake was entirely loosened from its bed, and was just ready to topple over.

As the boat continued to pull upon it, this way and that, as it was agitated by the fluctuation of the water, it soon drew it down, and the boat, being now entirely at liberty, began to move slowly off from the sh.o.r.e. It soon drifted out where it was more fully exposed to the action of the wind, when it began to move much faster. And thus, while our party of voyagers were eating their dinner, seated on a flat rock, by the side of a good fire, in fancied security, their boat was quietly drifting away, thus apparently cutting them off from all communication with the main land.

Marco made the discovery that the boat was gone, just after finis.h.i.+ng his dinner, and he immediately gave the alarm. Forester and the boatman came at once to the spot. They could just see the boat, half a mile distant, under a ledge of rocks, which formed the sh.o.r.e in that place.

This was the third time, on this journey, that Marco had found himself isolated in circ.u.mstances of difficulty and danger, and cut off, apparently, from all convenient means of retreat; and, at first, he thought that this was the worst and the most dangerous of the three. In fact, he did not see in what possible way they could escape.

"What shall we do?" asked Forester.

"We must make a raft, somehow or other," said the boatman. "If I had a log, I could go after the boat on that."

"Won't this tree answer for a log?" asked Marco.

The boatman looked at the tree. He said that, if he had an axe, he thought he could cut off the top, and roll the trunk into the water; but it would take him a long time, he said, to hack it off with the hatchet.

There seemed to be, however, no alternative; so he set himself at work, and in due time he cut off the stem of the tree, just where it entered the water. They all three then took levers, which the boatman made with his hatchet, and, by making great exertion, they got the log out of the sand, and rolled it round into the water, where it floated. The man then cut a long pole, and, mounting upon the log, he pushed himself out over the surface of the water.

Forester and Marco watched his progress with great interest. Marco thought that he would certainly roll off the log, but he seemed to stand and to walk upon it, perfectly at his ease. He would advance to the forward end of the log, and then, planting the foot of his pole in the sand on the bottom, he would push, walking along as the log advanced, until he came to the stern end of the log, when he would draw out his pole, and walk back again. In this way he propelled the log until the water became too deep for his pole to reach the bottom, and then he ceased these efforts, and, standing upright, he left himself to be driven along slowly by the wind.

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Forester and Marco saw plainly that he would be gone for some time, and they amused themselves, during his absence, in wandering about the sh.o.r.es of the island. In one place, Marco found, upon a rock a little above the water, a slab of pine wood, which was bleached by the sun and rain. It had drifted down, the summer before, from some stream emptying into the pond. In the winter it had been frozen into the ice, and, when the ice broke up on the following spring, the cake to which the slab was attached, had been crowded up upon the sh.o.r.e, where the slab had been left when the ice melted.