Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

This letter created the wildest outburst of joy that is possible to the effervescing spirits of enthusiastic boys. It came at the very time when the holidays were beginning to grow a little dull; when all its first pleasures had been exhausted, and no new ones remained. Coming thus, it brought the prospect of new excitement, and met with but one response. Bart eagerly appealed to his father, and received his permission to meet his friends. Then followed long discussions as to their journey to the Bay de Chaleur; and first and most important among the preliminaries of their journey was the necessity of preparing Solomon for what was proposed.

Solomon!

But where was Solomon?

Shortly after their arrival, he had taken his departure, and had not been seen since. Bart, however, knew where he had gone, and supposed that he might be there yet; so he proposed that they should all drive off in search of Solomon early on the following day.

There soon arose a difficulty, however, which interfered with this. The place was fifteen miles away, and Mr. Damer would not trust the horse to Bart alone. If the servant drove, there would not be room for them all, and so one, at least, would have to stay behind. Pat and Phil each offered to stay; and as it would be lonely for only one to remain, it was finally decided that both should stay, while Bart went off alone to search after the Grand Panjandrum.

This arrangement was the very thing that was most satisfactory to Phil and Pat; and thus chance threw into their way the very opportunity for which they had been waiting so eagerly and impatiently.

Early on the following morning Bart started, while Phil and Pat waited a little while, in order to have a convenient time for setting forth upon their own enterprise. The sky was clear, and the sun was bright overhead; but half way down the harbor there were heavy fog clouds, which increased until all the distance was concealed from view. But as these fogs belonged to the bay, and did not affect the land, they had no anxiety about their excursion, since it was to take place on the river.

They waited leisurely about the house for an hour after breakfast, and at length left without saying anything to anybody, and went at once to the Falls. As they came in sight of the river, they looked with eager eyes over its surface to see whether the time was a suitable one for their enterprise. Their first glance was highly satisfactory. As far as they could judge, it seemed the very best time that there could be to make the attempt. The water was quite smooth, and the stream was moving along rather slowly. Upon reaching the suspension bridge, they stood still and looked down. As they stood there, they saw several wood boats approaching them from the upper part of the river. They came along slowly, and with as little motion of any kind as though they were in the placid waters farther up. The two boys watched them as they passed under the bridge, and then followed them with their eyes as they half sailed, half drifted, onward to the harbor.

This sight greatly encouraged them, and there seemed now not the slightest doubt of the perfect feasibility of their enterprise. Without any further delay, therefore, they at once set out for the place where the boat was kept that Pat had engaged.

The Falls are about a quarter of a mile above the suspension bridge. At this place, as has been said, the river contracts, and is hemmed in be-between the projecting precipice of a rocky promontory on one side, and a small, shaggy, wooded island on the other. Between these it pours its flood, which alternates between the swift influx of the sea-water at high tide, and the Swift, thunderous outpour of low tide, when the river flings itself in wrath and foam down a declivity of rocks that form its bed. Above this place there is a wide expanse, and on the upper side of the promontory is a cove which affords an excellent shelter for boats, rafts, and schooners. It was in this cove that their boat was kept, and towards this they now directed their steps as fast as possible.