Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

There was no question now as to the route which they should take. Pat had been walking in a direction the very opposite of that in which Phil had been going, but he had no desire now to persist in it. Then he felt himself to be a victim of one of the most cruel fates that can befall mankind, and was seeking to fly from it, anywhere, no matter where. Now, however, thanks to Phil, and to Naaman, he felt himself to be a victim no longer, and was anxious to get back to the place where Bart was or might be. He felt also a kind of pride arising from the fact that he had been the first one to find Phil; and the pride was quite as strong as it would have been if he had found Phil by his own actual efforts. The circumstances under which their meeting had taken place he dismissed from his mind, and chose rather to dwell upon the fact that his confidence in Phil’s ability to take care of himself had been completely vindicated. So now, on that morning, as they renewed their walk, there remained in Pat’s mind not a vestige of his foolish fears; but instead of them there was a sense of triumph, a consciousness of superior merit, and a sweet anticipation of the glory that would now be his, as he brought back Phil in safety.

Their frugal repast did not occupy many minutes, and the sun had not yet risen when they started. They were eager to go on, and so they walked at a rapid pace. The road was a very primitive one, and had they been in a carriage, their progress would have been rough and slow; but on foot they were able to avoid the deep ruts and numerous irregularities, and make a very good progress indeed. After about an hour, they came within sight of a harbor. They had been for some time out of sight of the sea, and this prospect filled them with the hope that they were not very far from Tracadie. To Pat, the sight of the harbor gave very strong recollections of that place. The water was very smooth, and seemed like a lake. A long, narrow strip of land separated the harbor from the outer sea, and the general appearance of the place was very much like that of the “leper wather” in which Pat had bathed. As they advanced towards it, the sun rose; and as the glorious orb ascended from the ocean, their whole sight was filled with the splendor of his appearance.

Looking now upon the scene before them, they saw at last the signs of man. On the shore was a small cottage, and near the shore, in the harbor, was a small schooner. These were both only a short distance away, and to these they hastened. On reaching the cottage they went up to it, but to their great disappointment found that it was deserted and in ruins. The door was gone, and it seemed as though it had not been inhabited for some time.

“We’ve got to go on further,” said Pat. “There must be more houses further on.”

“I wish we could find out where we are,” said Phil. “I wonder if any one is on board of that schooner.”

Saying this, he cast longing eyes upon the schooner before mentioned. It was anchored in front of the cottage, not far away from the shore. It was a small vessel, and somewhat shabby, and behind it there was a boat floating in the water.

“It looks as if there was some one on board,” said Pat. “They’ve got the boat there!”

“I wish I could go and ask them where we are,” said Phil; and saying this, he walked towards the beach.

As he did so he saw a boat upon the beach. It was old and dilapidated, like the house to which it seemed to belong. No sooner had he seen it, than he was struck by the thought that he might manage to get to the schooner by means of this; so he began to examine it very narrowly. It was very clumsily constructed, and looked more like a box than a boat; but it was strong, and though dilapidated, it still looked as though it might float for the short distance that separated the schooner from the shore.

“I’ll try it,” said Phil.