Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

But, amid all these objects of interest, one stands forth preeminent, and that is the river. After flowing for many a mile through every variety of scenery, it at length approaches its termination, where, within the space of a few miles, it gathers together the extremes of the grand and the beautiful. Here it expands into a broad lake, and receives into itself, by a wide mouth, another tributary river; after which it contracts into narrow dimensions, and winds its way between rocky precipices till it reaches the suburbs of the city. Here it expands once more, and then, flowing onward a little farther, it comes to a place where towering cliffs rise abrupt, giving signs of some primeval convulsion of nature, which has rent the solid rock asunder to open a pathway for the waters. Here, through a narrow and gloomy gorge, it rushes onward, past rocky shores and between small islands, and at length, with a majestic curve, sweeps into the harbor, and thence into the bay.

Now, the surface of that bay is forever changing, as the mighty tides ebb and flow, and the difference between the extremes of its elevation is great. At low tide all the river pours in foam and fury through this gorge, forming what is called the Falls; at high tide, on the contrary, the outer waters run swiftly up the river with resistless sweep; while between the two there is a time when the waters are so still that the most fragile boat can pass with perfect safety in any direction.

The scene is magnificent. At the beginning of the Falls the river grows narrow, showing two rocky islets on one side, and a promontory on the other. Then, after widening again, it once more contracts, and lowering cliffs of solid rock arise on either side. Across this abyss a suspension bridge has been flung, from which there is a view full of grandeur. Here at high tide the river may be seen rushing up; at low tide it may be seen pouring down with the fury of a cataract; while at intermediate tide may be seen steamers, and schooners, and scows, and timber-rafts, and sail-boats, and row-boats, all passing through in perfect safety.

After exhausting the possibilities of the place, Phil and Pat both settled down upon the Falls as the one grand distinguishing feature of the city, at least in their estimation. Bart’s house was not very far away, and so they used to come here often; sometimes sitting on the suspension bridge, and watching the flood below, or the vessels passing underneath, or the foam of the thunderous cataract; at other times scaling the sides of the precipice, and working their way down to the edge of the river, so as to look up from thence and watch the suspension bridge overhead, with the people and carriages that passed to and fro. Thus the whole immediate vicinity of the Falls became at length perfectly familiar to them, and there was not a single spot worth seeing which they had not thoroughly explored.

When I say this, I must make an exception. There were some spots which yet baffled them. These were two islands which lay in the channel of the river, and, when the flood poured down, received its shock upon their rocky borders. These islands lay out of the reach of the boys, and for that reason became particularly attractive to them. An island is always an object of unutterable fascination to a boy; but these became still more fascinating, for the reason that they seemed to be more inaccessible than was generally the case. At the same time they were very provokingly near. From one shore the distance was so slight that it seemed almost possible to jump across. But the possibility was only apparent; the island was in reality inaccessible, except by boat, at certain times of tide, and so Phil and Pat only found themselves tantalized by the sight of an object apparently so near, yet in reality so remote.

Each of the boys began at length to be filled with a consuming desire to reach the islands, and each soon began to think over some plan by which their purpose might be effected. Of the two, Pat was the more eager; in fact, if it had not been for him, it is not at all likely that Phil would ever have felt the desire so strongly; but Pat seemed to be completely carried away by this one feeling; and his excitement was gradually communicated to Phil, till at last one was as eager as the other to reach those inviting shores.

As for Bart, he was in a different position altogether. He had been taken there once, and consequently knew all about them; and thus there was no mystery to attract him. In the second place, his father had forbidden him, most positively and most solemnly, from ever having anything whatever to do with any boat above the Falls. The prohibition was one which was so final, that the idea of disobeying it never for one moment entered into his head; and when Pat had mentioned his wish to visit the islands, he had refused so positively, and had warned him against it so earnestly, that Pat from that moment never alluded to it again in his presence. In this matter Phil was influenced by Pat, rather than by Bart; that is to say, he listened rather to Pat’s enthusiastic descriptions of those mysterious islands than to the somewhat unsatisfactory warning which Bart had given; and the only result of that warning was, that he and Pat began to devise in secret some plan by which they might achieve their desire.

The result of this was, that Pat volunteered to go forth and make some inquiries about boats. There were plenty of boats above the Falls, and it was easy enough to procure one. The only difficulty was, that people might not be willing to let one to inexperienced boys. But Pat was fully a match for this emergency. He was ready with any amount of professions as to his ability to manage any boat; and indeed in such professions he was not deceitful, for he could handle an oar as well as any boy of his age. And so his offer was accepted very readily by Phil; and the consequence was, that Pat took occasion to make his search, and made it with such success that he at length found a boat every way adapted to their purpose. He did this, too, quite unknown to Bart.

This must not be considered as a violation of confidence, or anything of that sort; for Pat was, after all, not capable of direct deceit. The fact was, he regarded Bart’s objection as due to his father’s command, and that command he did not consider as at all binding either upon himself or upon Phil. He did not suppose that there was any actual danger, nor did he stop to think that Mr. Darner’s prohibition might be founded upon wise precautions and a knowledge of the perils of the place; for, as a matter of fact, though this fact was unknown to Pat, the Falls are sufficiently dangerous to cause the loss of one life per year on an average, besides many accidents which do not result in an actual loss of life; and it was this knowledge of the dangers attendant upon boating in these waters which had led to Mr. Darner’s prohibition.

Thus Pat went innocently and confidently to work, and obtained a boat; and Phil entered with the utmost eagerness into Pat’s plan. Bart’s strong objections and earnest warnings had, however, produced sufficient effect upon them to make them anxious to keep their plan a secret from him, and to carry it into execution at some time when he might not be with them. But this was not very easy, for Bart was always with one or both of them; and so, even after they had found a boat, it still seemed as difficult as ever to make use of it.