Camping on the St. Lawrence; Or, On the Trail of the Early Discoverers

by Quincy Allen

  CHAPTER XIV.

  ETHAN TELLS OF THE "JUMPERS."

  With the coming of the morning the little brass cannon in the camp onPine Tree Island woke the echoes, and likewise the boys, who had notleft their tent when Jock had gone forth to greet the sunrise. Therewas no sleep to be had, however, after the summons, and soon all,except Bob, were dressed and waiting for the coming of Ethan.

  That worthy was soon discovered, though he and Tom came in thesailboat instead of the skiff which they used on ordinary occasions,and the sight recalled to Ben the "secret" which had been referred toon the preceding evening.

  "What's to be done to-day, Jock?" inquired Bert, as he stopped towatch the approaching craft which was speeding swiftly toward themunder the strong breeze.

  "You'll have to wait till Ethan comes and tells us," answered Jock."It's never safe to reckon without your host, you know."

  Ethan and Tom soon landed, and questions of the future were soonignored in the immediate prospect of breakfast. Bob also had to bearoused, and as that was a task which required the combined efforts ofhis friends, by the time it was successfully accomplished breakfastwas waiting, and all speedily seated themselves before the rude littletable.

  "I'm thinkin'," said Ethan, "that it would be a good day for a tripdown the river. The wind's good this mornin', and if you boys want totry it, I don't know as we'll find a better day."

  "That's the thing," said Ben, enthusiastically. "How far down do yougo, Ethan?"

  "Oh, that'll depend," replied the boatman, who was usually as averseto giving a decided expression of his opinion as any lawyer might havebeen. "We can go as far as we want to, if not farther, and then if wehaven't gone far enough we can go farther, I take it."

  "Precisely," laughed Bert. "Thank you, Ethan."

  "Ye haven't anything to thank me for," replied the boatman, soberly."I was jest givin' you my opinion, that's all."

  "That's what I was grateful for," said Bert. "Ethan, do the peopledown here ever laugh?"

  "Laugh? I s'pose so. I don't jest know what ye mean."

  "Oh, nothing much; but I've noticed how sober everybody was. We'veseen a good many, but I don't believe I ever heard one of them give areal good hearty laugh. I didn't know but they'd forgotten how."

  "I guess they don't spend no time grinnin', if that's what ye mean,"replied Ethan, evidently stirred by the apparent reflection upon thepeople of the region. "I don't know as they have the regulationsnicker some o' the city folks puts on. I've sometimes suspicionedthat they put on that grin o' theirs first thing in the mornin', alongwith their clothes. They say, 'how de do,' 'how de do,' an' smile an'smile jest as if they'd got to do it, same's as they'd take a dose o'pickery. I don't see no sense in it, for my part."

  "There's comes a big steamer!" exclaimed Ben, suddenly pointing upthe river as he spoke. "Good-by, fellows! I'm off!"

  "It's a liner," said Ethan, soberly, pausing to look at the boat,which was larger than any other on the St. Lawrence, and which wasleaving a long trail of thick black smoke behind it as it approached.

  "What's a liner?" inquired Bert.

  "Don't ye know what a liner is? It's a line boat."

  "But what is a line boat, Ethan?" persisted Bert.

  "It's a boat that goes regularly to Montreal," said Tom. "That's whatpa means. It gets along here purty early in the morning."

  "What's that young un up to now?" exclaimed Ethan, abruptly. The boysall turned at his words, and saw that Ben had run down to the bank andlaunched one of the canoes. He leaped on board and, steadying himselfcarefully, was already paddling out upon the river as if he had goneto meet the huge steamer.

  "He's goin' to take the breakers, the pesky little reptile," saidEthan, evidently annoyed by the recklessness of Ben. "I should thinkhe'd had enough o' canoein' in rough water for one day."

  Ben, however, was too far out by this time to be recalled; and as theboatman probably thought all attempts to summon him would be useless,he wisely held his peace and stood upon the bank with the boyswatching the movements of the reckless lad. The great steamer camesteadily and swiftly forward, and Ben almost as swiftly advanced tomeet it. He was plying his paddle rapidly, and the canoe almost seemedto leap over the water. A long line of rolling waves were upturned bythe steamer in its course, and stretched away like a furrow left by aploughman.

  Ben rested a moment as the great vessel came abreast of him and then,quickly dipping his paddle deep into the water, sent the light canoestraight for the tossing waves. No one on the bank spoke as theybreathlessly watched their companion, and it was evident that they allexpected to see him overturned in the boisterous water.

  Soon Ben could be seen as he entered the wake of the steamer, thecanoe was lifted high for a moment and then disappeared from sight.Again it rose and seemed almost to stand upright, but it rode the wavesuccessfully and again went down into the trough of the sea. So upand down, tossed like a leaf on the stream, the little canoe held toits course, and it soon became apparent that Ben was master of thesituation.

  "He done it," remarked Ethan, forcefully if not grammatically, and asigh of relief escaped from his companions as they perceived that Benwas safe.

  Jock quickly turned, and the brass cannon belched forth its salute tothe passing vessel. The delight of the boys was great when they saw alittle cloud of steam shoot upward from the steamer and the heavywhistle acknowledged the salutation. Some of the passengers on thedeck waved their handkerchiefs, and not to be outdone Bert seized thetablecloth from the table, from which the dishes already had beencleared, and waved it in response to the salutes from the deck.

  There was another cloud of fluttering handkerchiefs waved at them fromthe deck, and then the great steamer passed on its way to the largestof Canadian cities.

  Ben by this time had returned to the camp, and as he landed and liftedthe canoe to its place on the bank, Ethan said sharply to him:--

  "That was a foolish risk to take, boy. What did ye do it for?"

  "Oh, I wanted to see how it seemed to take those breakers," was thereply. "Besides, I thought it was a good time to put my ability to thetest."

  "Ye haven't got no ability," replied Ethan, gruffly. "It was a foolishtrick; and if ye'd been spilled and got drowned, I'd had the blame ofit."

  "I knew you were close by, Ethan," protested Ben. "I couldn't drownwhen you were in camp. I just had to do it, you see, for I wasn'tgoing to let that canoe get the better of me. I'm going to learn howto manage one while I'm here if I get tipped over a dozen times."

  "Ye ought to be careful, though," said Ethan, evidently mollified byBen's words of praise. "I didn't believe a city fellow would have somuch grit."

  "You don't know us yet," replied Ben, with a laugh.

  Ethan said nothing more, and at once gave his attention to fitting outthe sailboat. This task was soon completed, and the eager boys atonce took their places on board.

  "Have you got everything we shall want?" inquired Jock, before theyset sail.

  "I don't know whether I've got everything ye want, but I've goteverything ye need," said Ethan.

  "Got those 'p'is'n things'?" inquired Ben, soberly.

  "Yes, I've got the pies an' things," replied Ethan, shortly. "Now, ifye've got no further speeches to make, we'll cast off."

  The boat was soon free from the dock, and, as the sail filled, itbegan to move swiftly over the river. There was a strong breeze, andaided by the swift current the boat drew rapidly away from the island.Ethan held the tiller, and when, after he had satisfied himself thatnothing had been neglected, he at last took his seat, and gazed abouthim with a smile of contentment upon his sunburned face.

  "This is something like it, boys!" exclaimed Ben, as he looked abouthim over the great river.

  The wooded islands, the glistening waters of the river, the strongbreeze, and, above all, the swift motion of the boat, lent anadditional delight to those who were on board.

  Camps, not unlike their own, were passed; cottages, on the piazzas ofwh
ich groups of people could be seen; the beautiful St. Lawrenceskiffs, in which were men starting forth on an errand like that whichhad taken our boys a few days before to Goose Bay, were noted, and allwere enthusiastically greeted. Occasionally some beautiful steam-yachtwould meet them on its way up the river, and in response to their hailwould toot forth its salute. Altogether, the scene and experience wereso novel and inspiring that the boys all felt the exhilaration, andtheir delight was unbounded.

  "Do ye see that island over there?" inquired Ethan, pointing as hespoke to one which lay between them and the shore.

  The boys all glanced in the direction, and then the boatman said,"They had a fracas there in the Civil War with the bounty jumpers."

  "Bounty jumpers? What are they?" said Ben, innocently.

  Ethan gave him a look which was almost one of contempt, and then said,"I thought you was goin' to college."

  "I am," said Ben; "but I don't go because I know it all, but because Idon't. If I knew as much as you do, Ethan, perhaps I shouldn't go."

  "Ye don't know much for a fact," replied Ethan, soberly. "I s'poseye'll be studyin' Latin and Greek and lots o' such 'tarnal nonsensewhen ye git there. If there was a six-year-old boy 'round here thatdidn't know what a bounty jumper was, I'd send him to the 'sylum, Iwould, for a fact. Have ye found out how many teeth a cow has on herupper jaw yet?"

  "Not yet," laughed Ben, good-naturedly. "What's that got to do withbounty jumpers?"

  "A bounty jumper," began Ethan, ignoring the question, "was a man whatjumped his bounty."

  "How far did he jump? What made him jump, anyway, Ethan?" said Bob.

  "He jumped straight into Canada, and then he jumped back again."

  "Was he any relation to the wise man who jumped into the bramble bush?Ever hear that story, Ethan? It's a good one. Jock knows it, and he'lltell it to you if you want him to," said Bob.

  "Tell us about the bounty jumpers," interrupted Jock, quickly.

  "Well," began Ethan, slowly, "you know, they was a-offerin' a bountyof a thousand dollars to every man who'd enlist."

  "When?" interrupted Bob. "Was it during the War of 1812?"

  "No. 'Twas in the secesh war, that's when it was."

  "You weren't here when the War of 1812 broke out, were you, Ethan?"inquired Bob, soberly.

  Ignoring the laugh which followed, Ethan went on: "They wanted menputty bad in the Civil War, and so they offered a thousand dollars toevery one who'd enlist. Well, lots enlisted; and then, after they'dgot their money, they'd leave the army and put straight for thisriver, and git over into Canada. Then they'd cross over the bordersomewhere, and enlist somewhere else, take another thousand dollarsand light out for Canada again. 'Twas a payin' job in those days; paidbetter'n drivin' a horse-car down to the city. There were regular'bounty brokers,' as they were called, to help these rascals, andfinally the government sent some provost marshals up here to look outfor these fellows, and one of the liveliest tilts happened right bythat island.

  "There was a camp o' the jumpers on that island, and they had come tobe as bold as ye please. There was so many on 'em that they feltpretty secure like, and besides, the wife o' one o' the men lived in alittle house right on the shore. She used to go to school with me an'your pa," he added, turning to Jock as he spoke, "and he'd know hername in a minute if I should tell ye what it was. Well, she used tocome out and wave a white cloth at the camp, and then her husband, orsome other fellow, would come ashore an' get what she cooked up for'em.

  "One of the marshals found out the trick an' he made up his mind he'dget some o' these fellows; so one day he came down to the house, andas he wasn't dressed up like a soldier, jest wore ordinary clotheslike yours or mine," he explained as he glanced at the boys, not oneof whom changed the expression upon his face as he was addressed, "andso, though the woman was pretty suspicious, she didn't think he was onthe lookout. Pretty quick she went out o' the house and waved thecloth, for she probably thought the men were gettin' hungry, and thena boat left the camp, and when it came pretty close to the shore themarshal, who was a-peekin' out o' the window, saw the very man hewanted most of all--this woman's husband.

  "He waited till the boat was close in, and then he rushed out andyelled to the man to give himself up, and to strengthen his argumentpulled out a pistol. The man was scared like at first, but the womanwasn't a mite, an' she jest yelled out, 'Don't ye do it, Bill; don'tye do it.' At that the marshal began to make his pistol pop, an' hefired all six o' the cartridges, an' never once touched the man or theboat, either."

  "Is every man hereabouts as good a shot as that?" drawled Bob.

  "I'm thinkin' they shoot as well as they do anywhere," replied Ethan.

  "Well, some o' the marshal's friends came up, an' they went into thehouse to make themselves to home. They waited all night, an' aneighbor came in an' told them the jumpers was fixin' to come ashoreand shoot every one of 'em. Jest then they heard a drum an' fife overin the camp, and they fixed up the house to stand a siege. Theybarricaded the doors and windows, and waited for deserters, an'likewise for the mornin'.

  "The mornin' came, but the jumpers didn't; an' as the camp was toostrong to be attacked, the marshal an' his friends cleared out aforenoon and left the region. But that scrape happened right over there bythat island. I could tell ye a whole lot more o' stories o' thejumpers, but I've got to look out for this boat now, or ye'll all begoin' down to the bottom instead of down the river."

  As Ethan spoke, he quickly rose and began to give some sharpdirections to Tom. Apparently they were needed, for the boat wasmoving with wonderful speed now. As the boys looked over into theriver they could see that the swiftness of the current had greatlyincreased. The waters ran like those in a mill-race, and it almostseemed as if the boat had been lifted by some unseen and mighty hand,and thrown forward with incredible swiftness. No one, save Ethan,spoke, and the white faces of the boys indicated that the alarm whichthey thought their boatman had displayed was shared by them all.