CHAPTER SEVEN
IN WHICH JOSIAH PROPOSES TO DANCE AND MR. POMPER MAKES AN ADVANCE
The day wuz a tegus one to me, borne down as I wuz by the constrainin’ atmosphere of a onwelcome and onlawful attachment. And it took all the principle I had by me to git up even a emotion of pity for the one-eyed watcher, whose only recreation seemin’ly durin’ that long, long day wuz to watch our party as clost as any cat ever watched a rat hole, and to kinder hang round us. Faith kep’ pretty clost to me all day and seemed to take a good deal of comfort watchin’ the entrancin’ scenery round us.
Oh what beautiful sights! What enchantin’ views of the water; or, if the light struck it jest right, the long, blue, undilating plain, dotted with gold points of light. Islands with the virgin forest stretchin’ down to the edge of the water, and cool green shadders layin’ on the velvet and mossy sward as you could see as 104 you looked into the green aisles. And all sorts of trees with different foliage, some loose and feathery, some with shinin’ leaves, glitterin’ where the rain had washed ’em the night before; some towerin’ up towards the heavens, shakin’ their heads at the sun; some droopin’ down as if weighted with their wealth of branches and green leaves; anon a tree covered with flowers, and then some evergreens, and anon one that had ketched in its brilliant leaves the red hectic of autumn fever and blazed out in crimson and yeller. And then a hull lot of evergreens standin’ up straight and tall by the water’s edge, and as fur back as you could see, but sort o’ reachin’ out their green arms towards the river. And them on the edge, lookin’ down into the clear depths and seein’ there another island, a shadow island layin’ beautiful and serene with nothin’ disturbin’ its beauty but the shinin’ ripples wavin’ the fairy branches below, like the soft wind rustlin’ the tree tops overhead.
So we sailed on by hamlet and town, rounded tree-crowned promontores, swep’ out into broader vistas stretchin’ out like a lake, anon goin’ by a big island lookin’ like the shore of the mainland, goin’ right up aginst it seemin’ly, as if the boat must strike it and git onto wheels 105 and travel as a wagon if it calculated to proceed onwards at all. But jest as we would think in a nautical way: “Land ahoy! land ahoy! oh, heave out and walk afoot,” jest as these nautical terms would be passin’ through our alarmed foretops, the boat would turn its prow slowly but graceful, round to a port-the-helm, or starboard ditto, and we would glide out through a narrow way onbeknown to us, onto a long, glassy road layin’ fair and serene ahead.
Then more islands, then more narrer channels, then more broad ones. By Fiddler’s Elbow, named Heaven knows for what purpose, for no fiddle nor no elbow wuz in sight, nothin’ but island and water and rock all crowned with green verdure. Mebby it dates back to the time we read of when the stars sung together, and if stars sing, why shouldn’t islands dance, and if islands dance it stands to reason they must have a fiddle and one on ’em must fiddle. I do not say this is so, but throw out this scientific theory as one of singular interest to the antiquarian and historian of the Thousand Islands.
Anon we entered the Lost Channel, agin the antiquarian sperit is rousted up as we inquire, 106 “When wuz it lost? and how long? And when wuz it found agin, and who found it?” Way back in the dawn of creation, did the dimplin’ channel git kinder restive and try to run off by itself, and flow round and act? Or did the big leap down Niagara skair it so that it run away and never stopped runnin’ until it got all confused and light-headed among these countless islands, and wandered away and got lost and by the side of itself?
Deep antiquarian conundrums; stern geological interests! In grapplin’ with ’em I leaned over the taff-rail of the boat and looked way down into the blue green depths, seekin’ a answer. But the shinin’ waves on top seemed to glitter mockin’ly and fur down, down in the green waves, there seemed to look back a sort of a pityin’ gleam that said to me: