The Boys of Grand Pré School / Illustrated

by James De Mille

The doctor hadn’t the least idea where he was!

The moment that thought arose, every act of the doctor’s confirmed it. His silence was a very remarkable thing. Usually he was genial and lively; and such was his flow of spirits, that he could always throw an air of joyousness around an occasion like this. Usually he was full of pleasant and encouraging words. He had, by nature, a rare aptitude for winning the affection and confidence of boys by throwing himself into their feelings. With all his attainments, he had in him much of that fresh, brave, frank, joyous, hilarious temper which we call “boyish;” and his own free and frank nature, his generous enthusiasm, his disdain for all that was base, his exultation in all that was noble and pure, all combined to win the reverential affection of “his boys,” as he called them.

But now he had been silent for hours. During all that weary march he had spoken no word of encouragement. His pleasant, cheery voice, which might have lightened half their toil, had not been heard. His face was anxious, his gaze abstracted. What in the world could be the cause of this? This was the question that came to all; and all felt that one thing, and one thing only, could in any way account for this.

The doctor had lost his way!

Such was the general conclusion.

But what was to be done? None of them could direct him aright. All were alike in the dark as to their possible position. The sky was not visible. There were no landmarks by which to be guided. Even the sight of the sun would have been a guide; but the sun was now shut out from their view by a dense veil of ever-increasing fog.

The doctor remained for a long time lost in his own thoughts, and this time of rest was precious to the overworn boys. They talked in low tones with one another as to where they might be. None could throw any light on this question. Every one had a different opinion. None could even suggest any reliable way of finding out what they wished to know. But at any rate the time of rest was precious to them all; and when at length the doctor called to them to start once more, they followed him with new vigor in their limbs.

The doctor now crossed the “Barrens,” and changed his direction somewhat to the right. They entered the woods again, and once more encountered the old struggle against swamps, and ferns, and underbrush, and tangled roots, and fallen trees. The journey this time seemed harder than before. The boys began to feel their exhaustion more keenly. They exchanged words of despondency, and declared to one another that they could not hold out much longer. Their progress was much slower than it had formerly been, for the doctor himself began to feel the effects of such unusual and such excessive exertion. He led them forward, therefore, quite slowly, and stopped to rest at times.

What made it worse for the boys was the fact that all this time they had to carry the shovels and other things. There were four of these, viz., two spades, one hammer, and one basket. These the boys carried by turns; but the trouble of carrying them under such circumstances was intolerable. Sometimes they proposed to one another to drop them; but this proposal was not carried out. They still bore them on, and exchanged their burdens more rapidly as they grew more weary.

At last the woods grew thinner, the ground dryer, and the trees smaller. The walking was much easier. The necessity of such very violent exertion was taken off.