Accordingly he was sent to scrub the deck, while Blixey washed the dishes, and the captain looked after the tow. A bustling little tug-boat had already made fast to a fleet of empty canal-boats, Rosencamp’s among the number, and was hauling them up the stream.
Rondout was now awake. The island in the bay was a scene of great activity. The clang of heavy machinery and the rasping noise of coal sliding on iron surfaces filled the air. Boats were moving in all directions. There were a hundred people on the wharf, and twice a hundred, many of them women and little children on the decks of the moored canal-boats.
Up the stream the scene became picturesque. On each side were precipitous hills, wooded to the river’s edge, their green heights reflected in the still water at their feet. There were cement mines to be seen, and old white-faced mansions; and half-way up the boat passed under a lofty iron bridge across which dashed a railway train.
Notwithstanding the dulness of the sky and the occasional falling of raindrops, Joe enjoyed the ride very much. At Eddyville the first lock, a tide-lock, bars the way, and here the horses and mules are kept.
“Do you see that stable over there?” said the captain to Joe. “My hosses is there. You go an’ git ’em. Ask for Cap’n Bill’s hosses.”
Joe did as he was told. After some good-natured chaffing on the part of the stable-keeper, the raw-boned worn-out horses were turned over to him, and the boy appeared on the tow-path leading them.
Joe was told that these animals were named Jack and Jill. Jack had fallen down the bank from the tow-path to the river one day, and Jill had come tumbling after. Whatever their names had been before, this incident had definitely renamed them.
The horses were fastened to the tow-line, and the tow-line was attached to the timber-head of the boat. Joe was duly installed as driver.
His duties were not at all light. He had to walk all the way, and to keep the horses going at a good pace, which in itself was no easy task. He must keep on the inside of the tow-path, so that his boat should pass over the tow-lines of the loaded boats they met, and must pull up sharply when a lock was reached.