Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

Phil’s story was soon told; for, as he was a modest boy, he did not dwell upon his own adventures to anything like the extent which I have done; and so they learned that their meeting was purely accidental, and that Phil had been lost, and had found Pat, who had been lost also, and that these two lost ones had stumbled upon them here, in Tracadie lagoon.

All of which elicited wonder, and laughter, and shouts, and no end of eager questions, and excited exclamations. In the midst of this Tom rushed off, and by way of giving proper expression to the feelings which agitated them all, he brought forth the flag of the B. O. W. C. from the cabin of the Antelope, where, strangely enough, it had been left since their last voyage; and in a few minutes he had hoisted it aloft, where it fluttered, and floated, and waved triumphantly in the fresh morning breeze.

And now Phil thought of Pat, and mentioned that he was upon the shore; whereupon Bruce rushed to the boat to go for him. As he leaped in, Phil and the others looked towards the place where Pat had been standing, and saw a wagon and two persons, a boy and a man, talking with Pat.

Now, you know, that very morning Bart had left along with the priest, on his way to the north, to carry on his search after Phil. It was early when they left, but as the road was rough, their progress was not particularly rapid. Still they did make some progress, and in process of time they reached the place where the schooner lay anchored. This schooner excited Bart’s attention, for there was something in her general appearance that was strangely familiar. As they drew nearer they saw a number of figures on the deck, running to and fro, and giving all possible signs of the greatest possible excitement. Suddenly, in the midst of this, he saw a flag ascend, and float in the breeze. It was dark in color, and of a nondescript character, and at first its emblazonment was not distinctly visible. Soon, however, he came near enough to see it. Then the whole thing was disclosed.

It was the well-known flag—his flag—the flag that had waved over the most memorable events of his life—the flag of the B. O. W. C.!

The thing was astonishing, yet not incomprehensible. He saw that the Antelope had probably been cruising about these waters on her way to Shippegan. He saw that he had come upon her in an amazing manner; but what seemed incomprehensible was the excitement on her deck. What was the cause, and what did it mean? It could not be that they had recognized him, and had done this in honor of his arrival. No; it must be something else.

He said nothing to the priest, but sat filled with excitement, waiting till they should come near. In this way they approached the old house, and beside the shore he saw a figure dancing, jumping, yelling, shouting, waving his cap, and indulging in a thousand fantastic gestures.

This figure was Pat.

The wagon stopped, and Bart jumped out, followed by the priest. In a few minutes Bart understood all. First of all, Phil had been found; secondly, he was on board the schooner, and the excitement was about him; and thirdly, Pat claimed the honor of discovering Phil.

In the midst of this a boat approached the shore, and soon Bruce Rawdon stood before them, giving them an uproarious welcome. The arrival of Bart had given a new turn to the excitement of the occasion, and they all went off to the schooner, accompanied by the priest, who entered most heartily into the spirit of the joyous scene.