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

by Everett T. Tomlinson

Sunday morning dawned clear and beautiful. When Ethan came over to the camp to prepare breakfast, the river lay like a sheet of glass before the vision of the boys. The twittering of the birds was the only sound to break in upon the stillness. The summer sunshine covered all things in its softened light, and as far as the eye could see the hush of a solemn silence seemed to have driven away all other effects. Even Ethan’s manner was more subdued than on other days, and when our boys obeyed his call to breakfast, they also were in a measure under the spell of the perfect summer day.

Sentiment did not interfere with appetite, however, and ample justice was done to the boatman’s labors; and though he referred to his desire, when he was ready to depart for home, to carry the boys himself to the Bay to attend service, his offer was once more refused.

About an hour before the time when the service was to be held, the boys placed the two canoes in the water again, and with Jock and Bob in one, and their two friends in the other, they began to paddle. The light little crafts sped swiftly over the water, and keeping well together, not long afterward began to approach Alexandria Bay.

To them all it seemed like a novel way of attending church, but they soon discovered that they were not the only ones to come in that manner. Sailboats and skiffs, canoes and steam-yachts, could be seen in various directions, and though these were not numerous, it was evident that they were all bent on an errand similar to their own.

The boys were paddling more slowly now, as they came near the dock, and the two canoes were within a few yards of each other. Not an accident had occurred, and the confidence of the young campers had been largely increased by their success. They halted a moment to determine where was the best place to land, when Ben glanced up at an approaching yacht, and discovered his friends who had welcomed him to their cottage when he had escaped from the storm. His own presence was discovered by them at the same moment, and the girls crowded together near the rail, waving their handkerchiefs and calling to him, as they perceived that he had seen them.

Eager to return the salutation, Ben took his paddle in one hand, and with the other tried politely to lift his cap. But alas for human efforts! His movement suddenly destroyed the equilibrium of the treacherous canoe, and as it tipped dangerously to one side, Bert, who was taken unaware by the movement, strove to restore the balance; but unfortunately he leaned to the same side to which Ben turned, and in a moment the canoe was capsized, and the occupants sent speedily into the water.

A cry of alarm and dismay escaped the lips of the girls on the yacht, and the few men standing at the time upon the dock echoed it. Startled by the shout, Jock glanced up, and to his consternation discovered his friends struggling in the water. In his efforts to turn about his own canoe, he too destroyed its balance, and instantly both he and Bob were also thrown into the river.

The second accident increased the confusion and alarm, both on the yacht and on the dock; but in a moment two skiffs were manned, the struggling lads were drawn from the water, and the canoes as speedily seized and restored.

When it was seen that the boys were all safely landed, the yacht came in alongside the dock, and as the girls sprang lightly from the boat and beheld the dripping, woe-begone lads before them, they burst into a hearty laugh, in which the boys themselves, in spite of their confusion, were compelled to join.

“Good morning, Mr. Dallett,” said Miss Bessie, to Ben. “What made you go into the water? Did you think we wouldn’t recognize you unless you came before us in wet clothes?”