WRECKED ON LABRADOR,

-N

WINFRID AY STEARNS,

AUTHOR OP "NEW ENGLAND BIRD LIFE," "LABRADOR," ETC.

NEW YORK:

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., 13 ASTOR PLACE.

Copyright,

BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL Jfc Co. 1888.

TYPOGRAPHY BY J. 8. GUSHING & Co., BOSTON.

INTRODUCTION.

adventures of the Benton Family in their two -*- trips to Labrador are based upon personal expe- riences.

The story is, in large measure, a transcript of the writer's own diary ; but the characters described would never be identified, since, in most cases, their individu- alities are taken and combined from many people whom he met in his numerous visits to that region, covering a period of thirteen years.

The intention has been to present in a simple and natural way to young readers some knowledge of a com- paratively unknown land, and yet the one first visited and peopled on the New Continent, the claim to its dis- covery having been disputed by the English, French, Welsh, Irish, Icelanders, and Norsemen.

The customs and habits in " the Labrador " are de- cidedly archaic remnants of the life of nearly three cen- turies ago ; that is, the manners and customs of the people living in Labrador at the present time are quite similar to those which obtained in England and France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The majority of the early inhabitants were French fishermen.

iv INTRODUCTION.

Another thought has actuated the writer. It is that of interesting the young of both sexes in the study of natural history. To them he would say: "Do not w;iit to discover a new region before collecting specimens for forming a museum of natural history. Begin at once ! Begin anywhere ! Your own door-yards will furnish you wonders which you had not previously even suspected. First learn Jiow to collect and study, and your interest will soon awaken for further investigations in a field practically limitless in the enticing pleasures by which it allures you toward nature, and from nature to nature's God."

W. A. S.

CAMBRIDGEPOBT, May 10, 1888.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I.

CHAPTBB PAGB

I. THE ADVERTISEMENT 1

II. OFF FOR LABRADOR 13

III. ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX 30

IV. How A REVOLVER CAUSED IMMENSE COMMOTION . . 51 V. FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR 75

VI. FIRST DAY ON SHORE 89

VII. COLLECTING SPECIMENS 103

VIII. AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN 117

IX. HOW THE BOYS PRESERVED THEIR SPECIMENS . . . 134

X. SUNDAY 149

XI. HOW THE BOYS DREDGED ON THE TRIP " DOWN ALONG " 164

XII. WHAT MR. MURPHY AND THE BOYS LEARNED ABOUT

CODFISH. — A CURLEW HUNT 179

XIII. WHAT MR. FURNESS AND THE BOYS LEARNED ABOUT

SEALS 194

XIV. HOMEWARD BOUND 209

PART II.

I. THE SHIPWRECK 224

II. AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY 237

III. UNLOADING THE WRECK , 251

IV. A BIG HAUL 266

VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

t II MTKB !•.*«. P. V. HOW THE BOYS MADE A FOGGY DAY A VERY PLEAS- ANT ONE 280

VI. How THE FOGGY WEATHER CLEARED AT LAST, BOTH

INDOORS AND OUT 292

VII. THE BOYS EXPLORE THE COUNTRY, AND FIND A

CAVE 300

VIII. EXPLORING THE CAVE, AND WHAT WAS FOUND

THERE 321

IX. RETURNING HOME, MR. TAYLOR GIVES THE BOYS

SOME BITS OF INTERESTING INFORMATION . . . 335

X. FISHING FOR COD 350

XI. CAST AWAY UPON AN ISLAND 365

XII. THE RESCUE, AND A BIG DINNER 381

XIII. A PICNIC 396

XIV. A TRIP "DOWN ALONG" 409

XV. BEATING ABOUT THE BUSH 422

XVI. THE RETURN, THE UP TRIP, AND A NEW AND TER- RIBLY EXCITING SCENE 435

XVII. THE ARRIVAL 448

XVIII. THE CONCLUSION . . 460

WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

PART I.

CHAPTER I.

THE ADVERTISEMENT.

""YTTIFE!"

V V « Well, John."

" I wonder what this means ? "

" I must certainly know to what you refer, in order to answer your question with any degree of intelligence."

" H'm, yes ! " said Mr. Benton, as he looked up from the paper which he was busy reading — at the same time lifting his coffee-cup from the table, and taking a slow, steady, and apparently satisfactory drink at its contents. " H'm, yes ! Read it yourself, read it yourself, — aloud." And Mr. Benton passed the paper over to his wife, while he proceeded to the more solid enjoyment of the remain- ing contents of his coffee-cup and the small end of a brown roll, thickly spread with fresh, home-made butter.

Mrs. Benton, thus apostrophized, carefully adjusted her spectacles and proceeded as follows :

"OFF FOR LABRADOR.

The fast-sailing schooner, North Star, will leave Rowe's Wharf, Boston, on Wednesday, July 19th, (three weeks from date,) for a

2 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

summer's cruise in this new and most fascinating region, for tlte purpose of shooting, fishing, exploring, and pleasuring. The trip will occupy eight weeks, and excursionists are expected to provide themselves with all things needful before leaving, so as to prevent til-lay at any of the vessel's stopping places. A special circular will be sent to all who apply, telling just what to get and where to get it. Come! to the region of seals, ducks, gulls, trout, salmon, and icebergs.

Write at once for particulars to, or call on,

R. U. READY, 17 Noland Wharf, Boston, Mass."

Mrs. Benton folded the paper carefully and laid it upon the table ; then she glanced over the rims of her specta- cles in the direction of Mr. Benton — just as that gentle- man, having finished his coffee and replaced the cup in its saucer, adjusted his eyeglasses, and beamed towards his partner opposite.

" H'm, yes, h'm-m-m ! "

Just what Mr. Benton's reflections were will appear later ; Mrs. Beuton, however, understood them fully.

The scene of the above conversation was a pleasant, old-fashioned house, a few miles out, "in the country," from Boston, and within an easy walk of the railroad station. It had a large lawn about it ; it was some dis- tance from the road ; and it was surrounded by hedges, and trees, and bushes of every sort. The dining-room was enlivened by the view of a small pond from one window, and of the broad lawn from the other. The table was occupied at the time of which we are writing, by Mr. and Mrs. Benton alone. These two, however, were not the only members of the Benton family. There were, besides, John, Allie, and Freddie — May and Eva.

Freddie, the youngest boy, was a smart lad of eleven ; Allie, thirteen, though rather lazy, was, nevertheless, the

THE ADVERTISEMENT. 3

pet at home and the oracle among the boys of the neigh- borhood ; John, the eldest, twenty years of age, was a shrewd young fellow and, in some respects, the head of the household — to whom the father intrusted many responsibilities. John and Freddie, strange to say, were boon companions. Of the daughters, Eva was the youngest, being scarcely yet seven, while May was fifteen, and a great favorite among the young fellows of her acquaintance.

Such were the names and ages of the Benton children. Let us look at some of their personalities :

John was a capital fellow — he was just entering col- lege, and had, so far, proved himself first in every study which he had undertaken; he was particularly partial to the sciences. Allie, though the home child, seemed characteristically lazy. He spent most of his time in his workshop, having fitted up a fine one in the rear part of his father's large barn. Here he spent the greater part of the day, as John said, "foolin' away his time buildin' 'Jack-houses,'" or drawing imitations of what apparently seemed to John some "house that Jack built." Freddie and John were the best of friends and told each other all their secrets. When John was away Freddie occupied his time in taking long tramps, with his gun for his companion and a pocket full of fish hooks and lines ; the woods and fields were full of birds, the streams of fishes, — and there was abundance of bait under the boards and stones which lined the water's edge. Yet he was full of fun, too ; always around when there were any " good times " going on. So it came to be almost a saying, with the whole family, that where- ever you saw Freddie you "never knew where to find him next." " There never was a better brother in this

4 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

world ! " May said, and " May ought to know ! " so Eva thought. Now Eva, who stayed home most of the time, did nothing and almost thought nothing without first consulting her oracle, May. May was, naturally, chief head of the younger portion of the family. Her nature was warm, but impulsive, quick, and authoritative. She helped her mother considerably in the care of the house- hold, in spite of her age ; and this, of itself, gave her the conceit to be belle of the surrounding neighborhood.

These were the children of Mr. and Mrs. Benton, and a "happier, merrier, better-natured and upright set o' youngsters there never was." This was the verdict of Mary, the cook, who had lived with the family some twenty odd years, and, therefore, felt herself capable of judging.

Mary was a large, fat, and jolly servant-maid — nearly forty years of age, and " perfectly devoted to the family."

We can better understand, now, why it was Mr. Ben- ton, after seeing the paragraph referred to in the paper, looked over to his wife and nodded his head so furiously, winked so violently, and, clearing his throat, h'm-m-m-ed and oh-oh-ed with such apparent satisfaction. Did he anticipate a surprise to anybody or any number of bodies ? We shall see later on.

Mr. Benton himself was a stout, thick-set, middle-aged gentleman, with gray hair, and small, but pleasant look- ing, gray eyes. Though on occasions he betrayed a rather nervous temperament, yet, generally, he was of a very placid disposition and a characteristic, sagacious business manager. Mrs. Benton, his wife, was tall, and decidedly nervous, both in manner and disposition, es- pecially if in the least irritated ; though a very efficient housekeeper.

THE ADVERTISEMENT. 5

On the present occasion, after Mrs. Benton had not frowned, when Mr. Benton's eyes met hers ; and when the latter h'm-m-ed at the table-cloth, to his own apparent satisfaction ; both arose and retired to the library, where they remained together for a few moments, in earnest conversation ; at the end of that time they departed ; the one, going to the closet, donned a travelling duster, and, taking his umbrella in his hand, started for the door, simply saying, " Well, my dear, then I may not be home to dinner," — he left the house and walked rapidly in the direction of the railroad station. Mrs. Benton returned immediately to her work of arranging the dishes, and, but for an occasional " humph," or a " well, I sup- pose so," no one could have imagined the weighty prob- lems which she was turning over in her mind.

In a few minutes Mr. Benton had reached the railroad station and stood, with others on the platform, awaiting the train. This soon arrived, with a whiz and a crash that was enough to fairly make one deaf, and off jumped the conductor, shouting out, at the top of his voice :

" Express for Boston ! This train does not stop again until it reaches Boston."

Some of the passengers bustled out into the station to wait for the accommodation which would leave them at some way-station, but the most of them, among whom was Mr. Benton, were on their way to the great city ; so the seats were quickly all filled, and the train soon in motion again.

Mr. Benton was a little nervous, in spite of himself and his efforts to look and appear in his usual calm and collected manner. He had found a comfortable seat, near the window, and now took out his paper, which he had brought with him, and carefully adjusting his eye-

6 WRECKED ON LABRADOR,

glasses, he began to turn the paper in every direction but the right one, — apparently with the desire to rr;ul it, and to read something special in it, for which he seemed to be eagerly searching.

After a great deal of trouble the right place was at last found and Mr. Benton began to read :

" Off for Labrador. The fast schooner North Star, etc., — " " Let me see, again ! " exclaimed Mr. Benton to himself: "will leave Rowe's Wharf — , July 19th; etc. Write for particulars to, or call on, R. U. Ready, 17 Nolaiid Wharf, Boston, Mass."

After studying the paragraph for some fifteen minutes, Mr. Benton took a pencil from his pocket, made a memo- randum upon the margin of his paper, folded it so that the writing should appear upon the outside edge, and, replacing the pencil, tucked the paper into the upper left-hand pocket of his duster, with a " h'm-m-m-m ! " that caused his next neighbor fairly to jump, and every- body in the car, close enough to hear it, to look up in surprise.

The train was quite full. The air was close and stifling. Most of the gentlemen sat, with their windows open, reading, eating oranges or bananas, or trying to nap away the time with their caps over their eyes, and their heads and bodies in every conceivable position. — Mr. Benton sat up very straight, and then turned and gazed for a moment down the car ; then he turned back and, settling himself into as comfortable an attitude as he could, tried to nap like the others. But it was no use ! To-day, for a wonder, he had really too much on his mind to sleep or do anything but wait for the coming and going of the tedious minutes — until he should get the irritating business over with, satisfactorily.

THE ADVERTISEMENT. 7

At last the car door opened and the conductor came in for the tickets ; five minutes afterwards it opened again, and the brakeman shouted out, with a voice that wakened everybody in the ca,r :

" Boston, Boston ! All out ! "

Everybody started up with a grand rush for the door, and, in a minute more, the car had stopped at the depot, and all were on the move for their various destinations. Mr. Benton fairly steamed towards a horse car, which he saw in the distance and which had a long, green stripe upon it, and the sign " Atlantic Avenue " painted upon a white board above it. After considerable effort he suc- ceeded in attracting the driver's attention, who stopped the car. Mr. Benton got on, and was soon seated — mopping his face with a huge bandana, while being carried swiftly towards " 17 Noland Wharf."

After a few moments the car stopped, before a long, low building, in which were a large crowd of men — all busily engaged in eating, either a late breakfast or an early dinner, — and Mr. Benton got off. Then he fol- lowed the sidewalk for a few rods until he came to a high, triangular-shaped brick building, which had a side entrance near the main street. Here he entered and ascended a flight of rickety, wooden steps, in a dark, narrow passage-way, to the second story. Then he turned into a very dirty, dingy entry, which he trav- ersed, and knocked at a door, half wood and half glass, at its farther end.

In good keeping with all this dirt and dinginess was the apparition which responded to the knock, almost immediately, from a regular spider's nest of a little room which was not a bit cleaner than its surroundings.

When he saw Mr. Benton he opened his eyes very

8 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

wide, and stared at him for about a minute without speak- ing ; then he rubbed his eyes and stared again. — After much maneuvering he reached out a short arm, with a very full but flabby hand, at its extremity and said :

" Oh ! how do you do ? "

"Very well, thank you," said Mr. Benton. "Is this Mr. Ready ? "

" Oh ! yes ! Walk right in ! " said the little man. " Take a cheer ! "

" My name, sir, is Benton, and I came to see you about your advertisement in the Boston paper this morning."

" Oh, certainly," said Mr. Ready, for it was indeed he, " walk right in and take a seat."

Mr. Benton walked in, and while so doing he had a chance to look at Mr. Ready a little closer, and see what kind of a man he was.

He was short, rather fat, and of a sort of leathery texture and appearance. He had frowsy, grayish hair, and scanty whiskers on his face. He appeared to be about forty years old, but he might have been sixty. He was dressed in black, but his clothes were so soiled that there was a decided gray appearance to the suit.

" Oh ! " said Mr. Ready, after he had inspected the visitor from head to foot, much as one examines a tree. " Take a cheer, do ! Plenty of 'em here, if you can only find a whole one."

As he said this, Mr. Ready beamed all over his coun- tenance and passed a rickety chair for Mr. Benton to sit upon. — The latter, seeing a wooden settee in the rear of the room, next to the wall, and thinking it looked safer than the chair presented, went to it and sat down.

" Yes, very fine day," said Mr. Benton as he removed his hat.

THE ADVERTISEMENT. 9

" Oh," said Mr. Keady. " So you saw the paper, did you ? "

"Yes," said Mr. Benton, "and that is what I came to inquire about. Now give me all the information about the place that you can, for I have three sons, two of whom, if not all, I am thinking of sending away for a good time this summer, if everything appears favorable. Mind, I say, only if everything appears favorable." And Mr. Benton trotted his knee most violently.

" Oh, yes ! " said Mr. Ready, very eagerly, nodding his head much as if he were angling and had caught sight of a very big trout which he had determined should not escape him. " You never was there yourself ? "

" Oh, no ! " said Mr. Benton ; " I know nothing about the place. Your circular this morning set me thinking that perhaps the boys might like to go ! ah — a — if every- thing appeared favorable, you know;" and Mr. v Benton nodded his head, and trotted his knee again, as if he also were angling, but with a very different sort of a tackle, however. "You've been there before, I sup- pose ? "

During this conversation Mr. Ready had subsided into a large office chair, and was sitting in a pensive attitude, with his hands placed flat to each other resting on his closed knees; but upon being addressed, he suddenly brightened up, and exclaimed :

" Oh, yes ! seven or eight times. I lived down there for three years ! "

" Did you, indeed ? Well, you must know the place pretty well, then."

" Oh, yes ! That was about 1870, and since that time I've been ' down along,' as they call it," — here Mr. Ready chuckled, and shut up his eyes to laugh — " nearly every

10 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

year, and two or three parties have been down with me almost every time. I take a little party with me most always, you know, — and they all enjoy it, and want to go again. You see it is a new region for them, and it is something that they have never seen before, and they enjoy it; they have a good time, and are always glad they went."

As Mr. Ready said this he rubbed his hands, smiled with his eyes shut again, and, hitching his chair up until he was quite near Mr. Benton, he reached forward, and in a most mysterious manner tapped Mr. Benton's arm and said :

" Now, see here, sir ! You send your boys along with me, and — and — " here Mr. Ready looked all about him, apparently to see if anybody else was listening, "and you go with 'um ! " As he said this he gave Mr. Ben- ton's arm a severe pinch, and retreated to an upright attitude with as much silent energy as if he had solved a most difficult problem and as if to say, " well, what do you think of that .' "

Mr. Benton did not resent the good-natured familiarity and laughed, as did Mr. Ready also.

" Oh, I'm too busy, / can't go ! "

" Why not ? "

"Wh? h'm — h'm! why, I'd like to, really! I'd like to ! What do you do there ? "

"Do?" said Mr. Ready, "do? why everything, every- thing, nothing ! Fish for trout, and shoot birds. Plenty fish ! plenty birds. Do ? we eat, drink, and sleep ; smoke and enjoy life, as we sail, sail, sail ! Or lay to, and crowd around the galley stove in rain or fog and tell stories. Do ? why we do anything or nothing, — ac- cordin' ! "

THE ADVERTISEMENT. 11

As Mr. Ready said this he looked all around him again, and gesticulated with his left hand (with the fingers spread somewhat apart) in the air, much like a sailor trying to see which way the wind blows by holding that member up against the breeze ; so that he really looked quite enthusiastic, in spite of the little dark stairway, the dingy passage and door, and the small, dirty room.

The fish had dared to sniff at the bait ; he had turned to smell of it ; it had smelled nice, and he had nibbled,

— more, had swallowed the bait, hook and all — and was now at the end of the line — dangling !

" When do you start ? " asked Mr. Benton.

" On or about July 19th. The vessel will probably be ready to sail on that very day," replied Mr. Eeady.

" Where do you start from ? "

" From Rowe's Wharf, at high tide, in the afternoon."

" What are your terms ? "

At the mention of the word terms, though outwardly Mr. Ready was calm enough, he felt much as a horse or mule who suddenly pricks up both ears while eyeing in- tently some object before him. Then he 'approached Mr. Benton very closely, and almost whispered, so low was his voice, as if he were really afraid to tell it out loud : " One hundred and fifty for one, two hundred and fifty for two, and fifty more for the small boy, and," — here he looked up, and all around him cautiously for a moment

— then, giving Mr. Benton a slight dig in the arm with his forefinger, aloud, "give me what you like for your- self ! »

At the mention of the latter portion of the terms Mr. Benton smiled, Mr. Ready fairly laughed, and both nod- ded good-humoredly at each other for several seconds, and Mr. Benton arose to go.

12 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

" Oh, ah ! " said Mr. Ready. " This way, a moment. You might like to see how we go ! "

At this both went to the farther end of the room, and Mr. Ready took down a long rolled up chart, which he opened, and said :

" Ah, yes ! Here it is ! We start from Boston, so " (pointing with his finger to the place, and following along as he spoke) ; " touch at Halifax, then to Canso, and pass through the Gut, as it is called, stopping at Port Mulgrave in the center of the Gut on the left, where letters can be received and sent, and so on to Magdalen Islands, where we will stop a day or two ; pass Bird Rock, when we will lay to, and shoot a few gannets; then strike the Labrador coast, along which we will go, stopping here and there to shoot birds and to fish, till we get ready to start for home. We shall be gone for about six or eight weeks, altogether. — Are you going ? "

" Yes," said Mr. Benton, " but write to me if you think of anything more ; here is my address. Good day."

" Oh, certainly ! Good day ! I'll write." And the door closed. Mr. Benton to hurry to catch the train for home, and Mr. Ready to light his pipe and reflect.

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 13

CHAPTER II.

OFF FOR LABRADOR.

't

, isn't this perfectly splendid ? " " It's just glorious ! "

" Doesn't she sail like a duck out of water ! "

" Who, what, sails like a duck out of water ? " queried a tall, lank, but good-humored-looking individual, who, with his hands in his overcoat pockets, seemed trying to screw himself into the smallest possible compass, as if half-frozen, as he walked up to a group of three boys who had uttered the above exclamations. Before any of them could reply, a slightly fleshy gentleman, of middle age, called out, rather unnautically :

" Oh, Allie, — my boy ! What did you tell me that bird was we just now passed on the lew of the vessel."

" That was a petrel, father ! " replied Allie Benton, for it was he.

"Allie is very fond of birds, Mr. Taylor. He knows the name of nearly every one that he sees."

" Indeed ! " replied Mr. Taylor, the tall, lank individ- ual referred to, and who was, with the rest, "Off for Labrador," in the double capacity of tutor and companion for Mr. Benton's boys.

" Yes, sir ! he once shot seven kinds, of an afternoon, and could tell the names of all of them, sir; of all of them. Let me see, Allie, we have seen gulls, hawks, and — and — a blue-leg."

"Yellow-leg, father."

14 WRECKED ON LA BRA LOR.

" Yellow-leg ? oh, yes ! Yellow-leg."

" We are getting very scientific, Mr. Taylor, very scien- tific; we mean to know something about these things, one of these days."

Just at this point the conversation was interrupted by Freddie, who sang out, in a loud, clear voice :

"Oh, father! father! look quick, there's a whale, — there she is ; there she blows ; see — see — quick ; do you see her ? "

" Yes, yes ! where did you say ? " exclaimed Mr. Ben- ton, as he hastily returned and began scanning the water in every direction but the right one. " H'm, yes ! "

" There she blows, again ; look, quick, on the other side of the bow, now," said Fred.

"Certainly," said Mr. Beuton, turning in the reverse direction, and of course again away from the object in question. At this moment the whale came so near the vessel that the noise of its spouting was distinctly audible to every one on deck, and, directed by the sound, Mr. Benton turned in the right direction in time to see the falling water as the huge animal's back disappeared be- neath the waves. — " There it is, in very truth, my boys, and I hope that it will not come any nearer to us."

" Why not, father ! " exclaimed Freddie. " Surely it would do no hurt to such a large vessel as ours."

" And, father," chimed in Allie, " I think it would be real fun, if he would come up right close to the ship and spout, then we could see him, and watch him."

Here the voice of John broke in upon the party, who were gathered just in front of the foremast of the vessel.

" I see five spouting at once ! Three on the port and two on the larboard side."

"Why, John!" exclaimed Mr. Taylor; "taking the

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 15

liberty of correcting you, the port and larboard side are the same. You mean the starboard and port."

By this time the whales had either disappeared en- tirely or were so far away in the distance as to be scarcely perceptible. Freddie had disappeared too. Mr. Benton looked all around for him, and not seeing him anywhere called him loudly by name. A very faint sound proceeded, seemingly, from the skies, and all hands looking upward saw Freddie, already nearly half-way up the rigging.

" Here I am ! who called me ? " replied the voice.

"Come down here, at once!" shouted Mr. Benton. " You are in a very dangerous position."

Mr. Benton then gazed very anxiously at his son to see him descend ; while the other boys looked on in ad- miration and envy to see him so far above them, and in a position so peculiar, — so safe to a seaman.

Freddie did not wish to disobey his father, so he looked with longing, impatient eyes at the foretop, to which position he aspired, and with an "oh, dear!" began to descend. He reached the deck in safety, though severely rebuked both by his father and Mr. Taylor for attempt- ing so rash a feat so soon after leaving home. Strangely he seemed to care less for the rebuke, however, than the applauding eyes of his brothers, who, as yet, had either not dared or not cared to attempt the climb.

All the boys now went to the bow of the schooner to watch the water as it dashed from the prow of the ves- sel; and the rainbows formed by the sun, as it shone through the sparkling foam, while Mr. Benton and Mr. Taylor retired to their easy steamer chairs just behind the vessel's mainmast and at the rear of the cabin.

" By the way, sir ! how happened you to attempt this voyage ? " asked Mr. Taylor, when once comfortably seated.

1H IV RECK ED ON LABRADOR.

" Well, sir ! " responded Mr. Benton, " I hardly know myself. I saw Mr. Ready's advertisement, and made, a special visit to his office, and came away so pleased with his representations, and with Mr. Ready himself, that I altered my plans, decided to go myself, got the boys ready, and here we are, sir ! "

" You certainly displayed great energy in }rour prepa- rations."

"Well, the thing seemed feasible, and I seldom do things by halves, sir ! Mr. Taylor, you will observe that I seldom do things by halves ! "

As if to illustrate what he had said, the vessel gave a tremendous lurch at that very moment, and Mr. Benton, arm-chair and all, fell sideways with a crash, on deck, while a cloud of spray dashed over the vessel, as if to wash him overboard through the scuppers.

Mr. Taylor was too much of a gentleman to laugh at anybody else's misfortune, but he inwardly smiled at the simile and its illustration as he helped Mr. Benton to his feet, and to shake the water from his clothes.

A few moments served to set matters right, however. Mr. Benton changed his coat and hat, after which the chair was wiped with a towel, and things were soon in order again. Mr. Benton moved his chair nearer to the mainmast that he might lay hold of one of the bitts of the pin-rail, in case of another encounter with the rolling waves, and for a time both parties remained silent. At length Mr. Taylor broke the silence.

" Let me see ! " he said, " I believe we have as yet hardly ascertained who one's companions are, on the trip ; supposing, sir, you lend me your pencil for a moment, and I will put their names down upon this envelope, so that we may see just who we have."

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 17

" Certainly, most certainly, here it is ! "

" Thank you, sir ! Now let me see. — Here are Mr. Benton and his three sons, John, Allie, and Freddie ; Mr. Keady, and his son, Jack ; Mr. Murphy, Mr. Josephs, who is also a professor in a college ; and my- self. Let me see, is this all ? Ah, no ; I have forgotten one other gentleman whose name I have not yet ascer- tained. Besides these there are the cook Max, the cap- tain and crew. This makes sixteen in all."

" Ah, indeed ! " said Mr. Benton ; " I think it a very pleasant party."

" It certainly seems so, thus far."

" Yes ! I believe that we are all well pleased that our first day is drawing to so satisfactory a close."

"Indeed, sir! we may well congratulate ourselves upon the fact."

" Let me see ! we have made some fifty miles since we started this morning, I suppose."

"It cannot be far from that. The breeze has been steady, and we are now and have been going at about the rate of six knots an hour. We left the city at ten o'clock, and it is now six."

" Is it, indeed ! I was not aware that it was really so late."

"As it is now Wednesday, I suppose that we shall reach Halifax by Sunday at this rate."

"How far is Halifax?"

"Well, the captain tells us that it is about three hun- dred and fifty miles."

" We can then pass a quiet Sunday on shore," said Mr. Benton.

" Yes indeed, sir, but are we not getting ahead rather fast ? "

18 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

"Very true ! but tell me, Mr. Taylor, what is that small hen-coop of a house, just behind the foremast there ? "

" That is what we call the galley, sir."

"The galley?"

" Yes, sir. It is the cook-house, and that is the cook, Max, just going into it with a bucket of water in his hand. — A very accommodating fellow he seems to be. Mr. Ready tells me that he has been with him, — this makes the third time."

" We hope so, certainly ; and will soon have an oppor- tunity to test his good qualities, as it is nearly supper time."

At this moment the conversation was interrupted by Mr. Ready himself, who was seen balancing himself, as the vessel rolled gently about from side to side, as he attempted to walk along the deck to where Mr. Benton and Mr. Taylor were stationed. He soon reached and addressed them :

" Which would you gentlemen prefer : to have your Slipper in the cabin, on the table, or to have it served, sailor-fashion, here in the air on deck? You can take your stools to the gang-way, and place your dishes on the roof of the cabin and eat there very comfortably and very pleasantly ; or you can have it served on the table inside the galley, — though you might find it rather close there, that is all."

"Ah; just what suits you will suit us, Mr. Ready," said Mr. Benton. " Your suggestion is an excellent one, sir ; and we will take our stools and eat from the deck ; I, for one, do not feel like going into the cabin while it is so pleasant out here, and much less like eating there."

At that moment a clear, ringing voice was heard all over the deck :

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 1

" Supper, gentlemens ! "

The words were no more than uttered than a loud tramping and hustling were heard as the three boys and as many grown men, — little better than boys, in fact, — came hurrying towards the galley door : where the good- natured Max stood, smiling good-humoredly as he passed up the plates of a steaming hot liquid that quickly pene- trated the air with its fragrance, and announced itself as genuine bean soup.

" Beady for your supper, gentlemens ? "

There was no need of any reply. The cook stood at the galley door, with a smile on his round, good-natured face, and a huge ladle in one hand while he passed out plates of steaming soup or piles of pilot biscuits with the other.

" Will any of you gentlemens have anything more ? " he was continually asking.

After the soup came plates of biscuits and butter, and canned corned beef cut into tempting slices : with each of which was a cup of most delicious coffee, just off the fire and smoking hot.

Max fairly outdid himself. And even Mr. Benton, who was used to the very best of food, had no cause to complain of either quantity or qiiality.

After all had eaten, Max gathered the dishes together and began to wash them, while each wandered about deck as best suited him.

Mr. Benton and Mr. Taylor were soon again seated in their chairs, the former with a huge lap robe thrown over his knees, and the latter, with his legs crossed, indulging in what he pleasantly termed: "the comfort- able folly of a paper cigar."

Mr. Murphy was seated on the top of the forecastle,

20 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

industriously puffing away at a huge meerschaum pipe, and sending volumes of blue smoke into the face of the captain, whose head was just seen above the door with a short, dirty clay pipe in his mouth. The two seemed to be in very earnest conversation, and, as fre- quent looks from both were directed towards the sky and on all sides of the ship, one could very easily imagine that they were talking over the signs of the weather, as in fact they really were.

" Fair wind to-night, captain ! "

" Yes, I suppose ! "

" Shall you keep her on this tack all night ? "

" Yes, I suppose ! "

" Do you take your trick at the wheel ? "

" Oh yes, I suppose ! "

At this moment a merry, childish voice whispered :

" Did you ever get drunk ? Yes, I suppose."

It was Allie's voice, and was not intended for any- body's ears but his brothers ; but though uttered so low both the captain and Mr. Murphy heard it. The latter could not help smiling. The former turned his head, and his face scowled for a moment, but only for a mo- ment, for he saw who it was, and the uselessness of getting out of temper with the good-humored though mischief-loving boy, as he took his pipe from his mouth and said, as he disappeared from the steps :

"I'll make you drunk, if I catch you, you young tommy cod."

With darkness came a strong west wind, which made the North Star scud through the water.

" How fast are we going now, captain ? " asked Mr. Taylor, of the former, as he appeared on deck on his way to speak to the man at the wheel.

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 21

"Oh, about seven knots," replied the captain. "If the wind holds out we'll be a good ways from Boston by morning."

" That's good," answered Mr. Taylor, as he was disap- pearing down the companion-way, "the farther the better."

When he reached the cabin he found Mr. Benton and the other gentlemen already hard at work arranging things for the night.

The cabin of the North Star was a compactly arranged little room, and very comfortable, withal. It was rather small for eight persons, though fully as large as the size of the vessel would allow — being about ten feet square. The bunks or berths were arranged on either side, while, on the right, the compartments were separated from the rest of the room and from each other by a partition and doors. There was a few feet of space, in these rooms, between the partitions and the berths, and, as they had sliding-doors, the parties could shut themselves in and feel as free and safe as if in a real ship's cabin. The berths were placed one above the other, and were simple, wide, low, box-like structures, like all ships' berths. There was a small closet, with washing arrangements and other necessities, just at the left of the companion- way, in an upper corner of which was a box containing the compass and a lamp for illuminating the face of the compass by night. Out of this closet led another small, dark cuddy, where the vessel's stores — not provisions — were kept. Just at the right of the companion-way, and between it and the first tier of bunks, was space for an- other storage closet, for the lighter and better articles of the men's luggage.

Mr. Taylor found, upon entering the cabin, that each

22 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

berth had a neat white card, with the name of the person on it who was to occupy it. The first berth left, upon entering, was marked for Mr. Ready and his son. That below was assigned to the gentleman whose name he had been unable, until now, to ascertain. The name on the card read, " Mr. R. T. A. Furness."

On the same side, and adjoining, was placed Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Murphy. On the opposite side of the cabin, and in the further stateroom was Mr. Benton above, and two of his sons beneath; and in the other stateroom Mr. Taylor above and Mr. Benton's other son below. Thus the whole party were happily disposed for the trip.

The cabin table and floor were both covered with bags and boxes, bundles and parcels of all descriptions. Guns and fishing tackle were piled in the corners of the cabin, and great-coats, blankets, and pillows lay about promis- cuously in every direction.

In one corner, a long-handled fish-net reached nearly to the ceiling, while in the opposite one a big pile of boxes was nearly covered up with several rubber over- coats, and on the floor beside them several pair of rubber boots lay heaped together regardless of owners.

Under the table was a big seaman's chest, which was the joint property of Mr. Ready and his son.

Over the table, just above each end, was a brass lamp, such as sailors use, made so as to swing to the motion of the vessel, and always keep in an upright position.

Between the lamps was a curious, old-fashioned round- faced clock, the wood-work of which was eight-sided, beneath which was an aneroid barometer. Between this and the lamp on the right-hand side was a thermometer, and in a similar position to the left a small almanac

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 23

and pilot or guide book. Above all these was a neatly rolled chart, hung in a pair of tape loops ; and below this, in smaller loops, a pair of dividers, a pencil, and a black parallel ruler for measuring directions upon the chart.

Just above the table, and below all these articles upon the wall, was a small, shallow closet or locker, running, with double doors, the whole width of the cabin. In these were shelves, loops, and braces for containing all sorts of small stores and articles necessary for the com- forts of the voyage, — such as medicines, pens and ink, various bottles and glasses, small jars of rare and deli- cate preserves and extracts for sickness, with a large assortment of useful little articles intended for emergen- cies, so frequent upon a trip of this kind. Mr. Heady kept the key to these lockers, as he did to the storage closet next to the companion-way ; but both were ready for use at a moment's notice.

Besides the articles described there was a rocker and a number of small wooden stands.

Thus the general arrangement of the interior of the cabin of the North Star was about as comfortable as it was possible to make it.

It showed, evidently, that the captain was a thorough seaman, and had things about as well provided as he could make them ; while the additional touches of Mr. Eeady were apparent at a glance ; and we could easily see that everything possible had been prepared for the comfort of the passengers ; but not only the comfort of the passengers seemed provided for, but their luxury also ; for, besides the half dozen of small stools was a rocking-chair, and also a sort of a ship's easy-chair.

Most of the articles described were apparent at a

24 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

glance to one coming into the cabin door, and Mr. Taylor spoke his approval, after a moment's inspection, to Mr. Furness, who was busily engaged in preparing his bunk in the opposite corner of the cabin.

" Things look quite snug here, Mr. Furness, don't you think so ? " said Mr. Taylor.

As Mr. • Furness's head was at that moment some three feet inside his bunk, and a small portion of his legs alone visible, his hearing apparatus was then not very acute.

A moment later, the remainder of his body and his head appearing, the question was repeated.

" Things look quite snug here, Mr. Furness, don't you think so ? "

" Oh, were you calling my name ? "

" Yes, and asking how you liked the appearance of our new quarters."

"Ah, very well, indeed. I think we shall soon be quite shipshape. I was trying to arrange my bunk and see which end to put the pillow on."

"I should imagine that there would be wind blowing on your head with your head nearest the door."

"I am inclined to that opinion myself, and shall try it so, at least for to-night. By the way, it would be a good idea if somebody would wind up our clock, which I see has run down."

" If I could find the key I would do so myself," said Mr. Taylor.

A few minutes' hunt soon revealed the missing article, and when the clock had been wound and set it was found to want six minutes of eight o'clock.

" There, that does look more shipshape ! "

Just then the clatter and tramping of sundry pairs of feet were heard coming down the companion-way, with a

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 25

stamping well calculated to strike terror into the heart of all lovers of quiet and good order, and in a moment more the door opened and the three boys rushed into the cabin.

" Oh, Mr. Taylor, where is our bunk ? "

Three voices crying out for the same thing at the same time, are often apt to produce a slight confusion, but in the present case the chief question soon resolved itself into the fact that, as there were only two bunks for three to sleep in, it was at once obvious that two must sleep in one bunk.

John and Freddie at once settled this point of apparent controversy; as usual, by giving their brother the high bunk, and submitting themselves to be the pair who should double.

In about an hour's time, all were in order, with the exception of that of Mr. Murphy.

The boys declared that Mr. Murphy was still sitting on the top of the forecastle smoking his pipe.

As Allie said this the door opened and in walked Mr. Murphy, with his pipe in his hand, and beamed genially on Allie, showing that he had heard at least part of the remark made.

Mr. Murphy then put his pipe into his mouth and began to smoke vigorously.

" All those who vote no smoking in the cabin, please raise their hands," shouted out a voice which all soon saw came from no other than the professor.

Mr. Murphy turned and made an ugly scowl, but showed no signs of removing his pipe, — if anything, he smoked all the harder.

As no one responded to Mr. Jacobs's vote, Mr. Murphy continued to exhale the fragrant, with a great deal of

26 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

satisfaction expressed in the quiet gleam of triumph that shone in his eye.

He was too discreet, however, to say anything, and a moment later he took his pipe out of his mouth and quitted smoking for the time being.

All things were now tight and trim, and ready for the night.

Mr. Benton sat in his rocking-chair close to the table, with his eye-glasses on his nose, reading the morning's paper, which, until this time, he had found no opportunity of looking at.

He would occasionally glance over the top of his glasses at the general proceedings about him, but would always end with a "h'm-m-m" as he resumed his reading.

For a long time no one spoke.

John, however, ventured the remark that they were at last all fairly at sea.

No one seemed to care to dispute him, or argue a fact so apparent, and the remark passed unheeded.

As it was by no means dark overhead, a suggestion from one of the boys to the effect, " let's go on deck," took like wild-fire, and the four children rushed together for the steps.

A careless movement on the part of young Freddie, jostled Jack against Mr. Murphy, which knocked his pipe out of his mouth and to the floor.

The boys disappeared up the companion-way so quickly that no one saw who did it.

Mr. Murphy stooped to pick up his pipe, and as he did so he muttered something about unmannerly young dogs, that, for some reason or other, attracted the attention and strange to say the ire of Mr. Benton, who immediately spoke up quite sharply.

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 27

" Unmannerly young dogs, sir, is it ? Unmannerly young dogs ? It seems to me that if some grown per- sons," — here Mr. Benton laid great stress upon the word grown — "were more mannerly they would have less cause to complain of those younger than them- selves."

Whether Mr. Benton referred to the fact that Mr. Murphy had resumed his smoking in the cabin, or that at that moment, in picking up his pipe, he had uncon- sciously stepped between Mr. Benton and the light, will remain a mystery, for the one was too much surprised to ask, as the other was, apparently, too angry for the moment to give an explanation.

Mr. Murphy's pipe not being materially damaged, he picked it up, carefully wiped it with his handkerchief, and consigned it to a small case which he replaced in his pocket.

At this moment one of the boys on deck called down for all below to come up and see the phosphorescence in the water.

Mr. Benton and Mr. Ready remained below, while the rest hastened to obey the summons.

Once on deck they could see the large dashes and sparkles of fire as it shone in the spray thrown up by the vessel's prow. Large patches, often a foot in diameter, whirled round and round in the eddying currents, and dashed by on either side. The spray was alive with starry particles, and even the long, luminous wake of the vessel shone like an immense electric sea serpent.

The professor immediately began a long explanation of the causes of various kinds of phosphorescence, and of this particular variety. He said that it was produced by the countless myriads of the young of the jelly fishes,

28 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

that swarmed in these waters, and were known to the scientists by the name of hydroids. It was known, he said, that hydroids were young jelly fishes, and that both young and old were more or less luminous at times. That they were covered with rows of fine hair like feel- ers, called cilia, and that the body of the animal had the power of giving off under certain conditions, a certain gas, chemically known as carburetted hydrogen, that was luminous upon reaching the air. Some of these particles, he said, doubtless became luminous in the water to a cer- tain degree, owing to the air which the water itself al- ways contained.

While the professor was explaining this to those on deck, one of the boys had lowered the bucket and brought it on deck literally full of living particles of fire.

Taken to the galley, where the cook was still engaged in wiping the remains of his dirty dishes, the flare of the lamp revealed a host of tiny, gelatinous bodies, with one or two very good-sized jelly fishes.

Upon placing these in the hand and taking them to a dark corner, and then suddenly replacing them into the water, sparks of fire were given off similar to those seen so abundantly over the side of the vessel.

"Well, gentlemens," said Max, during a pause in the proceedings, " what do you want for your breakfasts ? "

" Come, Max, give us some oatmeal," said Mr. Jacobs.

" Beefsteak and baked potatoes ! " exclaimed Allie.

"Well, geutlemens," laughed Max, "if you had fur- nished a register we could have done it."

Max was a Frenchman, and though he spoke English very well, yet he often got words strangely mixed, as on this occasion.

" Refrigerator, Max," said Mr. Jacobs.

OFF FOR LABRADOR. 29

" Yes, sir ; if we had a refrigerator on board we could take with us a great many things that we could not otherwise get."

" You ought to have one," said Allie ; " if only to take my beefsteak in."

" We will give you something, in the morning, that is better than beefsteak," said Max.

" Tell us what it is ! " chimed in Freddie.

" You waits until the morning, young fellow, and finds out then," replied Max.

Both of the boys tried in vain to discover what it was that they were to have that was better than beefsteak.

One guessed one thing, and another another thing ; but no one could tell that Max had four fine spring chickens nicely hidden away for them next day. Nor would any kind of inducements get it out of him, so the boys left off questioning.

Max continued hard at work in the galley for a long time. He made a huge pan full of nice, white bread, and set it in the corner to rise ; then he made a kettle full of hasty pudding, so that it might be ready to fry in the morning. After that he put away all the dishes, washed up everywhere and everything, and, shutting the doors of the galley, with a " good nights, gentlemen ; my work is done for the nights, and I'll go to bed," descended into the forecastle.

It was now quite still on deck, and, as there was no longer anything to keep them up, all returned again to the cabin, and soon after they too went to bed.

Thus ended the first day on board the North Star, bound for Labrador.

30 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

CHAPTER III.

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX.

THE morning of the third day opened fair and pleas- ant, but with little wind. At seven o'clock the cap- tain hove the log, and it was found that, altogether, the vessel had made a little over three hundred miles, thus leaving about fifty miles more to be traversed be- fore reaching Halifax.

The morning of the fourth, Freddie Benton, as usual, was the first to arise and hurry on deck. The scene that presented itself to his eyes contained such a variety of objects, and differed so materially from what he had seen when he retired at night, or rather the noon before, that at first he gazed at it in the dazed state of one who is suddenly struck sun or snow blind. But Freddie was not one to remain in such a condition long, so he rubbed his eyes, blew his nose with his handkerchief, and, rub- bing his eyes again, put to the man at the wheel the very natural inquiry of :

" Say ! where are we ? "

The man at the wheel, who was all this time snugly sitting near the stern of the vessel, and not at the wheel at all, laughed heartily and did not reply.

" Say," shouted Freddie, " where are we ? "

" In Boston, again," said the man.

" Boston," said Freddie, " how did we get there ? "

" Drifted there in the night," replied the man.

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 31

" Why ! this ain't Boston ! " Freddie answered.

" No ; this is Newfoundland," again said the man.

" Oh ! Allie ! Come up here quick, we are in New- foundland. Come, hurry up ! "

A moment later and Allie, too, appeared at the head of the companion-way, and going through with the same process as his brother had, he gazed at the scene in blank amazement.

" Why, Freddie ! this isn't Newfoundland, this is Halifax."

"Halifax?"

" Yes ! "

" Hooray — hoo-ray ! Hal-i-f ax ! " shouted Freddie, in his loudest tones. " Get up, all hands ! Get up ! We are in Hal-i-fax ! "

All was in commotion in a moment. At first no one would believe it. Everybody was up, and hastening to dress themselves that they might go on shore. Mr. Murphy alone remained in his bunk, apparently undis- turbed by the excitement around him.

In ten minutes after Freddie had sounded the alarm, everybody else in the cabin had shown their heads above the hatch to have a glimpse at the scene. Each party, having taken a glimpse long enough to see that there were houses near, and that it must be the veritable Hali- fax itself, would immediately pop below again, to make room for somebody else, and begin a most frantic flurry, preparatory to dressing, that they might get breakfast ashore.

One would really have imagined that it was Sunday, and that the party were preparing to go to church. Mr. Benton and the boys dressed themselves, — the former looked as if he were going to a very fashionable ball ; the

32 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

latter, each with their sailor's blouses, caps, and large trowsers, were really quite appropriately and comfort- ably attired.

Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Taylor put on their very best, and occupied the main cabin, in washing and dressing, for so long a time that Mr. Ready, and the others who were waiting for them so that all might go ashore to- gether, grew really quite impatient. Mr. Benton, alone, ventured a slight remonstrance.

" How long do those gentlemen in the cabin intend to delay us ? " said he to Mr. Ready.

"I don't know, I'm sure," replied Mr. Ready. " There's always some delay at the last moment."

" We are coming right away," shouted out Mr. Taylor from below, who had heard every word that had been said on deck.

" All right," exclaimed Mr. Ready, we are going now as soon as we can."

When the two gentlemen came on deck there was a tremendous sensation, especially among the boys. Mr. Jacobs was dressed in an elegant brown suit, and had collar and cuffs on, attached to a white shirt which shone conspicuously in front ; his shoes were polished in a way that would have astounded a city bootblack ; and with a large East India palm leaf hat crowning the summit of his head. Mr. Taylor was dressed in a someAvhat similar manner.

Somebody whispered, very audibly, something that sounded very much like either dude or dudes, but it was difficult to tell which. Mr. Ready and Jack, with Mr. Furness, brought up the rear, and, when all had stepped into the boat, the captain and the mate got in also and rowed them ashore.

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 33

As it was now about seven o'clock there was an hour before breakfast, so each, party dispersed to enjoy them- selves as they pleased until eight, when all were to meet again at the hotel, whither Mr. Ready had gone to order breakfast, and beefsteak breakfast at that, for nine, to be on the table promptly at eight.

While waiting for the expected hour to arrive Mr. Benton and the boys, in fact all the others, Mr. Ready excepted, went to the office to obtain the mail. — :This was an old-fashioned governmental-looking sort of a building, of dingy stone work, and built on the slope of a hill. — The interior much resembled the exterior, and the office part was in a dark corner at the left of the entrance.

The windows were closed, when the party entered, and so they were obliged to wait a considerable time for their letters. The three boys ranged themselves on the top of a s,team register and waited patiently their turn. The rest of the party, preferring to wait outside, went into the street again to stroll around and see the sights.

After about half an hour the stamp window opened, and at the same time the mail opened also. The boys got their letters and, as it was nearly eight, started off for the hotel. When they arrived there breakfast was ready and waiting. As nearly all were there, they sat down at once and began to eat.

It was a fair meal, and it was surprising to see the way the beefsteak and baked potatoes, the hot rolls and coffee, and all the other good things disappeared. The waiters were kept flying around continually bringing new supplies, and all went on as merry as possible. The waiters were extremely polite, one of them even brought Mr. Benton his coffee in a tumbler, and poured his por-

34 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

ter into a cup. Then seeing his mistake he took them both away and even forgot to return them till Mr. Ben- ton asked for his coffee ; then it was so cold he had to get another cup and another bottle of porter, because the other by this time had lost all its foam.

At last the breakfast was finished, and all hands, the men with their cigars, went out to view the town and see whatever there was of interest to be seen.

Finding it much the cheaper way, a bus was hired, and the party went around to the citadel, and all over that ; down the street to the point ; back again and through the most important places until they were fairly tired, and had seen all of interest that they cared about. As this occupied nearly all of the morning, after lunch the party took the ferry and went across the bay to the other side. — About four in the afternoon they returne^ and wandered about the streets, visiting all the stores and places of importance, each enjoying himself hugely.

Mr. Benton and the boys then separated from the others and might have been seen in a large store that was stocked full of guns, fishing-tackle, and every kind of game appur- tenance, eagerly employed in picking out fishing gear, and also powder and shot for the guns. Each of the boys got a fish pole and a reel, with a nice grass line of fifty yards, and several dozen fly hooks, besides an assortment of plain, and plain snelled hooks. Besides these Mr. Benton purchased several dozen common, cheap lines and a box of assorted hooks for all sorts of fishing. He did not get any cod lines, as the captain had informed him that there were already a number of them on board. In the shot department Mr. Bentcii purchased four bags of shot : one of number twelves, two of number eight, and one of a larger size of number BB for big gulls. A keg

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 35

of powder was added to the bill ; and a couple of rolls of caps, containing a thousand in each roll, of Ely's single waterproof make, were also purchased. — Then a large quantity of cut wads, a considerable number of small nicknacks and useful articles of one thing and another, among which was a patent gun cleaner, completed the list. As each of the boys had a gun, and as they were all muzzle loaders, the ammunition for one answered for all.

At length the outfit here was complete. Then Mr. Benton paid for them all, and ordered them sent on board the vessel.

By this time it was nearly dark, so all hands started for the hotel, where they were to have dinner. One by one the various members of the party straggled in until, by seven o'clock, all were present. Then came dinner. After dinner the gentlemen sat and smoked and rested, till they were aroused by Mr. Ready, who came to say that as there was a good breeze the captain thought they had better get under way and sail, unless the gentlemen wished to remain all night on shore at the hotel.

A vote being taken, strange to say, all were in favor of staying but Mr. Benton and Mr. Ready ; these gentle- men argued that it was better to sail in the night, and as there was a good breeze, more would be accomplished by starting at once ; the vote having been taken, however, the gentlemen very willingly gave up their wishes in the matter, and so it was agreed to remain that night in Hali- fax, and start early the next morning, if the wind was good. With this agreement, and the further provision that all hands be on board at eight o'clock the next morning, if the wind* was fair Mr. Ready started for the vessel to let the captain know of the agreement.

36 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

As most of the stores were closed by this time, and as all hands were very tired, one by one each sought his room, and by nine o'clock nearly everybody was in bed and asleep.

Prompt at the appointed time, the next morning, all hands were on board ; a few moments later the sails were set, the anchor hove, and the North Star, with her canvas filled with the genial breeze that came from the southwest, gallantly bent herself to the pressure of wind and glided like a white winged gull, down the bay and out of Halifax harbor into the sea. •

"Well, captain," said Mr. Taylor, coming up to the captain, who was pacing the deck just forward of the traveller ; " what is our next stopping place ? "

" Oh, we'll stop at Canso, I guess."

"I suppose you mean the place they call Port Mul- berry, or something of the kind."

" Yes ! Port Mulgrave is on one side, and Port Hawkes- bury on the other."

"Is Port Mulgrave the place where we will get our letters ? "

" Yes, if you told them to write to you there."

"Ah, Mr. Murphy, I am very glad to see you about once more. I hope your efforts last evening, and yester- day, were not too much for you." (Mr. Murphy had suf- fered considerably from seasickness.)

" Oh, no, thank you ! I am very well this morning, and considerably improved. I think that I shall be able to enjoy the day, now, as well as anybody ; but what are the Benton boys doing ? Let us go and watch them ! "

The three boys were sitting down on the hatchway be- fore a very large box, from which they were industriously striving to remove the cover, with a screwdriver and a

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 37

hammer. The box was about four feet long and four wide, while it was about fourteen inches deep. It was made of very hard wood, and while there were hinges upon one side of it and a couple of staples and a padlock upon the other, the whole cover had been securely fastened down by means of screws.

John, producing a key, unlocked and took off the pad- lock, then, when all the screws had been extracted, the cover was opened and the contents exposed.

It was, in fact, a carefully arranged box, containing the apparatus for' collecting specimens of Natural His- tory. It had been prepared for the boys by a scientific friend who had taken great interest in them, and who had given them much good advice and a great many val- uable hints upon Natural History in general, and espe- cially in collecting specimens in that branch. No one felt more the importance of this branch of science to the boys than John ; and no one was more interested in the work, for the mere pleasure of it in itself, than Allie and Freddie, — though the latter knew very little about it. John had said, laughingly, that " no one knew less about bugs, shells, and that kind of truck, than Freddie," yet Freddie, when he told John that he " need not look for any more gun-wads from him," of which he had made a great many for his brother, and received much commen- dation — decidedly had the best of it.

" Well, boys ! what are you up to now ? " said Mr. Taylor, as he and Mr. Murphy approached where the boys were at work.

" Unpacking our box, sir ! "

"What have you got there, and where did you get it?"

" It was put up for us by a friend at home. We do

38 W KECK ED ON LABRADOR,

not yet know ourselves what is in it. Won't you stay and see us inspect it ? "

" Why yes, we should like to do so very much ; shouldn't we, Mr. Murphy ? "

Mr. .Murphy nodded his head affirmatively, and con- tinued to smoke his pipe in silence.

"Ah! here comes Mr. Jacobs. I suppose you know that he-is a professor in this very branch. He will know all about these things. If you ask him perhaps he will come and help you. Help you with good advice, if in no other way."

" Wait, Allie, and I will go and ask him," said John.

In a moment more John returned with Mr. Jacobs, who was only too glad to help the boys all that was in his power — and who entered very heartily into their schemes.

As it was a pleasant day, and not too hot, they all sat right down, where they were, and prepared to complete the work of investigating the box.

" I suppose you know what the box contains, and something about the use of these various articles, John."

" No, sir ! we know very little about them. We had a few written instructions from our friend who got them for us, and I have seen a few of them used before, but we know very little about collecting in the salt-water."

" Never mind about written instructions. You'll learn more in half an hour's good solid work, than by all the instructions you can have on paper. Come! hurry off that cover, and let us see what there is in there ; you have excited my curiosity."

Thus admonished, John and Allie took off the cover of the box, and began to examine the contents.

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 39

" Now, if you will take them all out, and place them here, in order, on the hatchway, we can easily see what you have, and then we can put them back again after- wards. Ah ! there comes the dredge."

The dredge was a narrow frame-work of iron, about two feet long and eight inches wide, each piece three inches deep and with the front edges lengthways, thin, sharp, and bent slightly outward so that when resting on the bottom, and drawn along by the rope, it scooped the ground like a knife, the material thus scooped going inside of the frame-work. From the middle of the side bars, were two iron arms that came together above the center of the dredge, and through a ring in each of which the dredge rope was fastened. Around the bottom of the iron frame-work were a large number of small holes, by which the netting and all the canvas of the dredge was fastened. The instrument, as John took it out, was already completed and ready for use. The net was of very fine meshes and very deep, and it was sewed to the inside of the frame-work to prevent the rough wear and tear of the handling process. On the outside of the dredge was a large, quadrangular piece of thick canvas, sewed into the same holes as was the net, on each of the longest sides of the iron, the canvas coming just beyond the bottom of the net. All of this was of course to be seen at a glance. Mr. Jacobs explained that the canvas was to prevent the net itself from being torn to pieces by being dragged on the bottom of the water over sharp stones and sharp, angular growths of nullipore, so abun- dant everywhere in shallow water. In a corner of the partition from which the dredge had been taken were two large leaden weights of about ten pounds each, and in another corner were three nets, one of the same size

40 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

as that which was in the dredge which they had before them, and two of a smaller size.

" Ah ! " exclaimed Mr. Jacobs. " You have two dredges here ; let us find the other one."

The other one was readily found, — being the first article next in order in the box. It was of a pattern similar to that of the larger dredge, and made for use in shallow water. Its length was only fourteen inches. Beneath it were two small leads of five pounds each. This smaller dredge was also all ready for use.

" Where are your ropes ? " asked Mr. Jacobs.

" I say, Freddie, won't you go into the cubby, down in the galley, and bring those two coils of new rope ? "

Freddie hastened off, and soon reappeared tugging away at two huge coils of rope, which he had got as far as the deck, and which he was trying to get the rest of the way. Allie, seeing him, hastened to his help, and soon the coils were brought.

Mr. Jacobs then took the end of the larger coil, — which proved to be of fine manilla rope and about three- quarters of an inch in diameter, and fastened it to one of the rings of the dredge. He then took a piece of the smaller coil, and fastening one end of it to the other ring, tied the other end to the main rope. This, "he explained, was so that should the iron be caught on a rock, the smaller rope would break before the dredge itself, thus saving the dredge in many cases where it might other- wise be lost. The weight was fastened to the rope six feet in front of the dredge, and Mr. Jacobs pronounced it all ready to be used.

Both dredges having been " rigged," and set one side, the boys turned their attention to the next article in the box. This was no other than a board resting upon two

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 41

side pieces of wood. Upon seeing it the boys at first imagined that they had arrived at the bottom of the par- tition; but a second glance showed that it came out quite easily, being arranged so that the heavy dredge iron would not injure the more fragile articles beneath. These consisted of a large, oblong sieve of quite' fine meshes, which the professor explained was for sifting the material brought up from the bottom, by the dredges ; and a fine large dip net, with a long, jointed handle. These latter articles were all packed in carefully with cloth, which, upon inspection, proved to be what is com- monly known as strainer cloth, and which, Mr. Jacobs said, was for doing specimens up in previously to placing them in alcohol.

The middle partition of the box contained three large copper cans, with large inside mouths, fastened by screws, filled with alcohol for preserving fishes, crus- taceas, and other large marine animals. One of the cans was double the size of the other two, and had the mark eight upon it ; the others were each marked four, and contained eight and four gallons of alcohol apiece.

The third partition of the box was next examined. It contained about a dozen jars, four quart and eight two- quart jars, all filled with alcohol ready for use. They had the top or mouth of the jar of the same dimensions as the bottom, and were, so Mr. Jacobs told the boys, what were called butter jars. Then there were two large two-quart common preserving cans, and four small quarts of the same make.

In the farther corner of the box were two boxes placed one above the other. — One of these contained a variety of two, four, six, and eight ounce bottles, with large

42 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

mouths and corks, for collecting smaller specimens. The other box had a small partition in it, dividing the box into halves, one half containing small homoeopathic vials of all sizes, and the other an assortment of pill boxes ; two of which, being marked upon the outside, were found to contain a quantity of tags, made of stout cardboard with strings on them, which might be used for labeling specimens with. A third box, much larger than the others, contained parchment labels, for a similar purpose. In one corner of the box was a ball of fine, stout, red twine for doing up bundles and tying around specimens done up in the cloth before being put into the cans or bottles.

"Well! " said the professor, when the inspection was completed, " your friend certainly understood how to fit you out for work on sea animals."

" I should say so ! " exclaimed John and Allie in the same breath.

" It is funny," said John, " he did not know about it until a few days before we sailed, and then the box did not arrive until a short time before we started."

" Yes ! " cried Freddie. " Don't you remember, Allie, that the box came in the same wagon that Mr. Jacobs and the trunks came on."

Just as Mr. Jacobs performed the very unprofessor- like act of turning to Mr. Taylor and winking very hard, Freddie's eye caught him in the act.

"Oh, John!" cried Freddie, "Mr. Jacobs knows all about it ; see, he is winking to Mr. Taylor, and I believe he and Mr. Chalmers " (Mr. Chalmers being the scientific friend who had helped the boys in their work) " knew all about it, long ago ! "

* Yes ! I'm sure they must have," said Allie. " He

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 43

don't deny it ! See him wink at Mr. Taylor ! I don't care, I think you are awfully good," said Allie.

" Thank you for your good opinion, my boy," Mr. Jacobs replied. " I'll do all I can to keep you busy this trip. I don't think you'll have much time to be idle; but let me see the net ! "

Mr. Jacobs then took the net, screwed together the handle, which was of five joints, each piece with a nice brass ferule and screw, and then the brass ring of the net.

" There ! that is as fine a net as you can get anywhere. We got that at Bradford & Anthony's," said Mr. Jacobs. " Ah-a- 1 mean it is as good a one as any that you could get at Bradford & Anthony's," Mr. Jacobs observed, cor- recting himself.

None of the boys noticed the remark, but Mr. Taylor winked with the professor at the blunder, and Mr. Mur- phy began to laugh so hard that everybody looked up in surprise to see what was the matter ; while Mr. Murphy was obliged to cough very hard, and then to put his pipe into his mouth and smoke vigorously for some time be- fore he could regain his equanimity.

"Now, Allie," said Mr. Jacobs, "go to Max and bor- row a pail ; a large wooden one, if you can get it. Tell him that you are only going to put sea water and sea- weeds and that like into it."

Allie was off in a moment, and soon returned with the pail.

"That's all right. Now fill it with water from the draw bucket."

Allie did as he was told, and soon had the pail full of fresh, clean sea water. Meanwhile Mr. Jacobs had been leaning over the side of the vessel, intently watching the

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water and the several small particles of seaweed that were continually passing. Presently he made a lunge, and captured a large, tangled mass of weed that came passing by. This he quickly transferred to the pail, and, with the precaution to the boys of " don't touch it yet," proceeded to capture several more smaller pieces, and finally another large mass of weeds which, with that al- ready taken, nearly filled the pail.

"Now, boys," said the professor, "let's see what we have got."

All hands crowded about the pail, while Freddie was dispatched for two tin basins from the cook, and the professor began to pick over the seaweed in the pail. While they were thus occupied Jack Ready took the draw bucket and filling it with water, watched his chances, and soon had a second pailful of seaweed.

"That's good," said the professor, "keep us supplied with it."

Just then Jack saw a great mass of weed approaching, so he ran and got a great tub, which was standing near the galley, and began filling that. Netful after netful came up, and soon Jack had this heaping to the top with weed.

" Let us stop," said the professor, " and get all we can, assort it, and then see what we have got."

To do this, the weeds in the water pail were emptied into the tub, as were those in the bucket also, and the pail filled with fresh water. Then the seaweed was taken, piece by piece, and shaken into the water, to free it from any small animals that might be on it, and after- wards looked over carefully for anything that might be adhering to it. In this way the water pail was soon fairly alive with all sorts of small crustaceans, water

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 45

fleas, small fishes that had become entangled in the masses, many species of very pretty shells, and not a few very delicate and pretty seaweeds. The professor, also, laid aside a number of immense clusters of barna- cles, and also several pieces of board with curiously shaped conical pieces of shell-like formation upon them, which the professor said were also barnacles, but of a different species.

Still the fishing went on. The tub was filled with weed and emptied a number of times. The boys were kept busy nearly all the morning, and by noon two large pails were filled with all sort and variety of animal life. A third pail contained several jelly fishes, and smaller animals of a similar kind that had been captured by the net ; and thus, by dinner time, the boys had three pails full of material for a fine study of sea life, which the professor readily agreed to help them to look over and examine, as well as to bottle, in the afternoon.

It was with some difficulty that the boys could be per- suaded to leave their work even long enough for dinner. Max was obliged to shout to them several times that din- ner was ready, before they seemed to be aware that he was speaking to them or even that he was speaking at all. The cry of fresh roast mutton had no attractions, and the addition of plum pudding and molasses was en- tirely unheeded. At length the case became so desper- ate that Max was obliged to threaten them with the entire loss of their dinner if they did not come at once.

"I will give you just five minutes more to get your dinner in, boys ; and if you are not here in that time, you gets no dinner to-day," said Max, somewhat vexed at the delay.

The last words, " no dinner to-day," were too much to

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be resisted, and soon the boys were as interested in dis- cussing the merits of roast mutton and plum pudding, as they had been a few moments before of sea animals and jelly fish.

After dinner the boys and Mr. Jacobs gathered around the pails again, and began to work over their specimens.

"What are these great long-necked, funny looking white things ? " asked Allie, taking up a large bunch of seaweed, from which hung some thirty or forty objects of different sizes, with long stems of necks, and large triangular shaped heads.

"Those are barnacles. They are animals that live in the salt water in the way you see them here, and are of the variety known as goosenecks, on account of their long stems and peculiar bird-like heads. They were known in Europe in very early times, and there is an old story," continued Mr. Jacobs, "that they grew on trees, and that the inside, where you see the animal and fringed feet, was the young of the goose. The people believed that the young goose was hatched from these plants, and that they then fell off into the water, where they lived and grew to be full-grown geese, when they flew away in flocks. This story was believed by well-informed and even prominent men in different parts of the world for a long time."

" Yes, but did you not call these barnacles ? " asked Fred- die, taking up one of the boards with the shell-like cones upon it. "They are not the same ! "

" No, those that you have in your hand are a different species from the long-necked ones. They are also of a different genus. The one has a hard shell-like covering of lime, while the other has nothing except what we call a naked covering. They both grow in large colonies of

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 47

single animals, however. The long-necked species grows as you see it, and is not nearly as often found as the other, which grows almost everywhere, on rocks, boards, or anywhere it can find a place to fasten itself upon. You will often, at the seashore, see the rocks along the beach covered with this shell-like variety for miles ; in fact, they are always more or less common on any sea beach, while the others are generally found attached to floating objects, a distance from land, at sea."'

"How many species of barnacles are there, Mr. Ja- cobs ? " asked Allie.

" Oh ! there are a great many. Nearly every country has several varieties. There are about our New England coast and its adjacent waters some three or four species only, but a great many rare forms have been found, and some of them in a very curious way," continued Mr. Jacobs.

" Do tell us about them, sir," urged John.

" I am afraid you have not reached that point in your education," laughed Mr. Jacobs, " where you will appre- ciate, without the specimens, or fully understand the connection; but," he added, "there are several other species that have been taken on the coast, that are com- mon in warmer climates. Some that came here on the bottom of ships from tropical seas, where they had fas- tened themselves to the vessels. Some have been found living in rivers, miles from the sea; others have been dredged from the bottom of the water, many fathoms in depth. One curious species has been found attached to the sides or bellies of whales. These, as the kinds found on ships' bottoms, may live here or may not. It cannot be told yet for a certainty. The objects to which they are attached being living or moving, and able to readily

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go from one sea to another, or one climate to another, it would be difficult to say whether they lived here in any other situations or not."

"But are there no more than three or four kinds of these curious animals that are at all common on our coast ? " continued John.

" That is about all of this half mollusk and half crab."

" What are mollusks ? " asked Freddie.

" Mollusks ? " said Mr. Jacobs. " Why, they are the animals of one of the great classes into which all ani- mals of the animal kingdom are divided. They are what you often call shell-fish, with a great many other kinds that you probably never either saw or heard of."

" And are the crabs mollusks ? " said Allie.

" No, they belong to the old group of what we used to call articulates."

" Well, then," put in Freddie, " how can they be half mollusks and half articulates ? Do they connect the two groups, or are there others like them that make another group, as you call it ? "

" Now you are getting into the fine points," laughed Mr. Jacobs. " You would have your hands full if you should attempt to follow the matter out : for the present it is enough to know that the barnacle belongs to the class of the cirripedia, which is a division of the articu- lates ; thus the animals come nearer to the crabs, of which they are really a relation, than to the mollusks."

" Oh, dear ! " exclaimed John, " why can't we under- stand all about these things now ! "

" You are not the only person who has ever made a similar wish ; but let us put these two fine bunches into one of the jars."

Mr. Jacobs then took a small piece of cloth, placed the

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX. 49

bunches carefully in it, wrote a label upon one of the pieces of parchment, which he inclosed in the package also, and carefully did the package up and tied it with a piece of the red string. Then he fastened a small tag to the outside of the parcel, and placing a number upon it, dropped it into one of the two-quart jars. Then he took a small note book, that one of the boys pro- cured from his trunk, and copied the number and label into it.

Having shown the boys how to work, Mr. Jacobs now left them to attend to some work of his own. The boys then proceeded to arrange the specimens that they had caught into similar bundles, all of which were done up carefully, and labeled fully, before being thrown into the alcohol. Having found something to occupy their atten- tion, all the rest of the afternoon was occupied in a way similar to that of the morning. Tubful after tubful of seaweed was taken and examined. Several large schools of very small fishes, which Mr. Jacobs told them were of the genus called stickleback, were found, and quite a number of other interesting things were taken. One jar was devoted to the small and curious seaweeds which came into the net, many of which were exceedingly delicate, and of these there seemed to be a number of dis- tinct varieties. All were carefully preserved.

By night the boys had three two-quart jars full to the very top of fishes, shells, and a large assortment of vari- ous sea animals. These they intended to take home and assort, and study at their leisure. John was especially interested in the large numbers of fleas and water lice, with a few worms that had been found. In fact, the whole find was in every respect satisfactory to all parties, and Mr. Jacobs praised the boys highly for their indus-

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try, and the boys were themselves no less pleased at the results of their work.

" Oh, Mr. Jacobs," said Allie, " I think it is really too bad that you cannot live with us all the time, and teach us about these things. Father is awful rich, you know, and we could go where we liked and do whatever you said, and have things fixed up to suit us, and, oh ! how pleasant it would be."

Mr. Jacobs looked at the boy for a moment, and smiled sadly as he turned away, only to encounter Mr. Benton's eyes, who had been standing near him, unperceived, and had heard the whole of his son's remark.

" Smart boys, Mr. Jacobs ! " said Mr. Benton.

" Yes, sir ! They are young yet, sir ! "

Mr. Benton appeared not to notice the remark, for he turned, a moment after, and retired to the cabin.

As it was now getting dark, the boys put away their things, and shut and locked their box for the night.

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 51

CHAPTER IV.

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED IMMENSE COMMOTION.

r I TEN days out. The North Star lay almost motionless -*- upon the bosom of a mirrored patch of water in the center of the mighty and usually tempestuous Gulf of St. Lawrence.

But to our story.

Among the crew of the North Star was a small cabin boy. He was a greenhorn, having been taken on board for the first time, on the beginning of this trip. He was familiarly called Tod, though his real name was no other than Thomas Thompson. How either the first or the last part of his name, or both together, in any way were converted into Tod, is a mystery. Possibly he was fond of the article for which Tod might be an abbreviation ; possibly it might have been a contraction of toad, — for he certainly was as ugly-looking as one of those animals. However it came about, this young, green, awkward, homely, uncertain, if not positively disagreeable and dis- honest individual, had been taken on board to assist the cook. Max had become disgusted with him the first day out, and he had been consigned to the forecastle to do sailor's duty as a green hand.

It did not seem to make the slightest difference with Tod as to what people said to him or did with him. He was the same ugly, uncomfortable looking darky that he appeared the first hour he came aboard. He was always

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about and in everybody's way, or he sulked, and remained hidden in the forecastle among the boxes and barrels for days at a time. No one seemed to have any influence with him, and even the captain and crew let him as thor- oughly alone as it was in their power to do.

Tod was, in fact, as thorough a young imp of darkness as it was possible to make one ; yet, strange to say. Tod could be as pleasant and agreeable — nay, affable — as he could be disagreeable and ugly.

One morning, quite early, all hands were below asleep, and the captain himself had the wheel. While his back was turned for a moment, looking at the log, which he had just hauled in, he heard a step, then a sound of some one running or walking fast yet cautiously behind him. As he turned he caught sight of Tod just retreating be- hind the galley.

" Here, you young black sculpin, what are you doing ? Where have you been ? "

Tod was by this time so far away that he either had not heard the captain call to him, or, if he did, had, for motives of his own, deemed it best to get out of the way as quickly as possible. It was, however, true that a mo- ment after the captain had called him Tod had disap- peared, and in another moment both Tod and the circum- stance of his curious appearance and disappearance had passed from his mind.

An hour later and Fred and Allie were leaning over the bow of the vessel watching the motionless water, and the boundless glassy surface of the sea that spread in every direction.

Suddenly, —

" Good morning, boys."

Both boys turned instantly, and encountered the

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 53

round, good-humored face of Mr. Murphy, with his ever- present meerschaum in his mouth, intently watching them.

" Good morning, sir ! " exclaimed Allie. " We were watching the water. I think it is perfectly grand. How I wish that Eva and May could be here and see it!"

" And mamma, too," chimed in Freddie.

" Yes, indeed, mamma and all ; how they would enjoy it, sir ! " said Allie.

" Indeed they would, my boys. You must write them all about it, and send the letters at Halifax."

" Oh, yes, sir, we mean to. John is writing a journal for mamma, Allie for May, and I am writing for Eva."

" Yes ! and Mr. Murphy, the best of it all is that neither of us are going to tell the other what he is writ- ing about, so that they will all be different. Won't that be fine ? "

" A capital plan, boys ; whose idea was that ? "

" Oh, that was Eva's," said Freddie. " She made us promise to do it before we came away. John and Allie have their journal all written up, but I haven't had time to touch mine yet; but I guess I'll make it up, some- how."

Freddie gave a deep sigh, as he said this, as though the idea was almost too much for him.

Mr. Murphy smiled as he turned and began to pace the deck, at the same moment Mr. Benton's head, then his shoulders, and finally his full form, appeared above the companion-way. Mr. Benton allowed his eyes to roam over the scene about him, and, meeting everywhere with boundless sea, fixed them upon Mr. Murphy. For a moment a scowl clouded Mr. Benton's brow, then, as

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if the situation gleamed upon his troubled senses, he exclaimed :

"H'm-m-m, ah — a — a, good day, sir, good day, sir! fine morning, fine morning."

" Ah ! good morning, sir," said Mr. Murphy. " I hope you rested well last night, sir."

"As well as could be expected, under the circum- stances, sir," replied Mr. Benton, "though I did not get to sleep for some time, sir, owing to the fact that the light in the cabin was kept burning until the most outrageous hour of several minutes after ten o'clock, sir."

This was a home thrust at Mr. Murphy, who had sat up until nearly half-past ten o'clock, reading Cooper's " Red Rover," when Mr. Ready had said that the lights must be out at ten o'clock.

Both gentlemen scowled at each other ominously, for a moment. What the result might have been no one could have told, had not Max's cherry voice ended all seeming hostility, for the present, at least, by its :

" Breakfast, gentlemens ! all ready."

After the others had all finished, Max himself sat down to a large plateful of beefsteak, which he finished in grand style. Then, while the crew were eating in the forecastle, he took out his pipe and prepared for a smoke. Jack Ready came along just then, and broke in :

" Having a breathing spell, cook ? "

"Yes! I must take a few minutes as well as you. You have your time all the time. I must have mine some of the time. I can't work always."

" You do more work than any of the rest of us."

" I guess I do as much as any of you ! "

Just at that moment voices were heard in loud alter-

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 55

cation, and Allie Benton was seen to step forward and point at Jack Ready.

" He's the one that took it. I saw him in your state- room, this morning, when there was no one in the cabin but me, and when he heard me make a noise in my room he hurried off and went on deck."

Hearing the noise, both Jack and the cook came out of the galley to see what it was all about. As Jack ap- peared, Allie stepped up to him and said :

" See here, Jack Ready, you give my brother Freddie back his revolver."

Jack looked wicked for a minute, and was about to make an angry reply, but, seeing his father coming along, he simply said :

"I haven't got Fred's revolver. I did not know he had one."

" Yes you did, and you took it ; you just give it back," returned Allie, now flushed.

" I tell you I haven't got it. I didn't know he had one."

"What were you doing in Fred's stateroom this morning ? "

"I wasn't in Fred's stateroom this morning."

" I thought you would deny it. I was in my room and there was no one else in the cabin, and you came down. Then you stood in this room for a moment and finally went into Fred's room, and I heard you in there turning things around and stepping around, as if you were look- ing at the things in there. Just then I coughed, and you put something you had in your hand down in a hurry and stepped out softly and then went up the stairs on deck. A few moments afterward, Freddie came down for his revolver, that he had left, right out in plain sight, on'his shelf, and he couldn't find it. He looked every-

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where, but it was gone. Now, you must have taken it."

" I say I didn't take it. I did go into the cabin this morning, but I didn't go into anybody's room. I was in the wash-room."

"I don't believe it."

"What's the trouble, boys? What's the trouble?" said Mr. Ready, who just then came up to the crowd.

" He's accused me of stealing, father," said Jack, point- ing to Allie Benton.

" Accused you of stealing, my boy ? Well, / never knew you to steal so much as a penny, for seventeen years ; I believe you are seventeen years old next Friday."

"He says that I stole his brother Fred's revolver."

" And you did, and you better give it back," said Allie.

" There ! you hear him, father ? "

" Hold on, now ; steady. We'll have this thing looked into. If he has, he shall give it back again and take the consequences. If he hain't he shan't be accused unjustly. I won't say that I have before known persons to take things and lay it off on other people, but," said Mr. Ready, " I will say," here Mr. Ready's face flushed, " I've known such things to occur."

"Do you mean to imply that I'd steal my brother's revolver, and then lie about it, and lay it off on some- body else ? "

" Who says you have been lying ? " said Mr. Benton, who just then came along, and heard only the last words.

"Nobody has said so, but I want my pistol," chimed in Freddie, for the first time.

" Here comes Mr. Jacobs," said John, who had hither- to stood by, but said nothing. "Oh, Mr. Jacobs, will you act as judge ? "

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 57

" Act as judge ? What for ? "

" Courtmartial, Mr. Jacobs ! " exclaimed Mr. Heady ; "we want a courtmartial, and we want you to act as judge. We are, all of us, thieves, robbers, liars, and villains ; and we mean to institute a courtmartial, and try all hands. You are to be the judge, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Furness the lawyers on either side. All the others are more or less interested parties and shall act as wit- nesses and spectators."

Mr. Jacobs entered into the scheme with much interest, as did Mr. Murphy and Mr. Furness.

Mr. Murphy was to act as lawyer for Mr. and Jack Ready, — as Mr. Benton would not let him act for his boys ; while Mr. Furness acted for the boys, Allie and Fred. John and Mr. Benton were spectators. The only witnesses, outside of the parties, were the captain and one of the sailors, who saw Jack go into the cabin and come out again.

When everybody was ready, all hands went into the cabin to prepare for the trial.

After talking the matter over, outside with Mr. Mur- phy and Mr. Furness, Mr. Jacobs sat and pondered for a long time. Finally he spoke :

" I don't see, Mr. Furness, how this matter is coming out exactly."

"It seems a curiously mixed up affair," replied the latter.

"It does, indeed. I cannot well doubt Mr. Eeady's assertion about his son, and Jack says so positively, and with such an appearance of sincerity, that he not only did not take the revolver, but that he did not know that any of the boys had one, that it makes, virtually, a case of circumstantial evidence, alone, of the word of one

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against the word of the other. I hardly see my way clear, as to how to proceed in the matter."

" If you will allow me a word, Mr. Jacobs," said Mr. Murphy, who possibly spoke with a slight air of a pos- sible coming triumph over his adversary expressed in his eyes, " it seems to me to be a question of veracity between the two boys, as far as I can judge, if, as Allie says, he saw young Eeady in the cabin. Now, I do not wish to seem too hasty in a matter of such real importance," he added by way of apology, as if he felt that he might possibly have appeared too eager in the matter, "but I must do the best for my client, that I can," he added in a half-subdued tone, as if talking to himself.

"Well," said Mr. Jacobs, "I shall try to act strictly on the merits of the case at any rate."

Upon this they descended into the cabin, and took seats with the rest.

Mr. Jacobs then called all to order, and made a brief speech, in which he set forth the case as well as he was able, and ended by hoping that all would tell the whole truth the same as if they were in a regular court, so that the innocent might not suffer for the guilty, and that, if possible, the missing article might be found and restored to its owner. The witnesses were then called.

The first was Freddie Benton. He testified to having taken the revolver out of the bag and, having cleaned it nicely, placed it on the shelf of his cabin, where he kept his brush and comb, and a variety of useful articles, ready for use whenever they might be wanted. This, he said, he had done the night before, when he took out his other articles and placed them upon the same shelf. — He said that the revolver was one of the Smith and

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 59

Wesson make, a seven shooter, 22 calibre, and about four inch barrel. It had a rosewood handle, and was painted blue-black. Fred also said that when he got up in the morning he found the revolver gone.

Mr. Furness then cross-questioned him very carefully, and for a long time, though very little new was brought out, it appeared that Mr. Furness had several ideas in his head that, by the twinkling of his small grayish eyes, he evidently intended to make use of later.

Allie Benton was then called.

He testified that he was in his stateroom about half- past six in the morning, and that no one else was there besides him. That soon after he had heard somebody come down into the cabin, and, looking through a crack in the door he had seen Jack Ready, standing in the middle of the cabin and apparently looking around him to see if anybody else was there. A few moments after- wards he heard him rummaging among things in the wash-room, and that he seemed to be taking up things and putting them down again. That he, Allie, had stifled a cough, and that immediately the rattling of things stopped, and through the same crack he saw Jack going up the companion-way. Soon after that Freddie had come down for his revolver and could not find it. Such was the substance of Allie's evidence.

Next the captain and mate were called. The captain testified that he had seen Jack enter the cabin, and come out of it again with something in his hand that he has- tened to thrust into his pocket when he saw him, the cap- tain, looking at him.

But the worst of the testimony was yet to come. The mate being called, said that that morning he had seen Jack open his trunk and take out and put in a revolver,

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that, as much as he could see of it, resembled exactly the description of the one said to have been taken.

Here was indeed some important testimony. Every one looked aghast. The more so, as no cross-question- ing could change a single statement of the mate's. Even Mr. Murphy's twinkling eyes grew solemn. Mr. Furness alone seemed indifferent, but, as a cool lawyer, seemed to say, "Very good, it only proves my case."

The defense now came to the stand. — Jack Ready seemed to understand that the case was against him, and that very little that he could say would have any effect. He told his story, however, in a confident way, and maintained to the last his innocence. He said that he went down into the cabin, and, as the vessel rolled somewhat, he stood there for a few moments to get his balance, and had then gone to the wash-room for his father to see if he had left his hair-brush. He found the hair-brush, put it in his pocket, and returned it to his father.

Mr. Ready testified to the fact of sending Jack for the brush, and of his returning with it. This was all that could be said for the defense.

Had it not been for the testimony of the mate, the case would have stood in favor of Jack ; since the other side had presented nothing but the circumstantial evi- dence of the boys and the captain against the real evi- dence of Mr. Ready and his son.

Now there was another side to the case that as yet had not appeared. The sharp eyes of Mr. Furness had detected what for a moment everybody else had forgot- ten, and a word from him caused everybody to start.

" Mr. Judge," said Mr. Furness, " the statement of the mate, to my mind, leaves no room for hesitation in insti-

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 61

tuting a search warrant for this revolver in Jack Ready's trunk. I will myself, in company with Mr. Murphy, proceed to perform this unpleasant duty, if your judge- ship shall grant the required permission."

" Very good, sir ! " said Mr. Jacobs. — "I appoint Mr. Murphy and Mr. Furness a committee of two to search Mr. Ready's trunk ; and send Mr. Ready himself, with them to assist in the search. Please retire, gentlemen, and return as soon as you can."

If a sensation had been made by the statement of the mate, a still greater one was aroused by the return of the search party. Mr. Murphy was leading or rather hold- ing Jack by the arm, while Mr. Furness, very sober in- deed, held in his hands a revolver which, upon seeing, Freddie instantly claimed to be his. To say that sur- prise and amazement was upon every face, would be putting it mild indeed. — Even Mr. Murphy and Mr. Ready were appalled. Jack alone maintained a per- fectly straight-forward countenance, though there was a red spot in the center of both of his cheeks.

"Gentlemen!" said Mr. Furness, "this thing has got to be more serious than was even for a moment anticipated by any of us, I believe. Once more I call upon Mr. Jack Ready to explain what this all means. A free and frank confession now will save a great deal of trouble."

" I can only say, sir, as I have said before, I did not take his revolver. I did not even know that he had one. The one you found in my trunk is mine. I brought it from home and have had it a long time. My brother could prove what I say if he was here, and it has his initial F. for Fred, marked with a pin point on the handle."

Sure enough, turning the revolver over, the letter F.

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appeared scratched on the nickled piece at the butt of the handle.

" This is very strange," said Mr. Jacobs ; " the strang- est case that I ever knew. — I hope that some one of our lawyers will be able to clear up the mystery."

" Your honor," said Mr. Murphy, rising, " I see that the mark on the butt of the revolver is an old one. I make a scratch like this," suiting the action to the word, "and it leaves a fresh, clean mark; the letter F. here traced is old, worn, and quite dingy. It would have been impossible to have made it this morning, as its freshness would be evidence. As you will all admit, this is a point in our favor. You will also see that the handle of this revolver is rubbed and worn, as is also the barrel, while the one lost was new. — We also find in this young man's trunk five boxes of cartridges. Here is one of them. I would ask my opponent to pro- duce a box of those used in the revolver belonging to young Benton, that we may compare them. There may be a difference in the labels."

Mr. Furness then spoke to Freddie Benton, who left the circle, and, going to his stateroom, soon returned from it with a box of cartridges which he handed to Mr. Fur- ness who, in turn, passed it across the table to Mr. Mur- phy, who took it and for a few moments studied the labels on each box. He then turned to Mr. Jacobs and said :

"Now, sir, I see by these labels, as you all can see for yourselves, that they are of two different kinds and made by two different firms. All of the boxes in Mr. Ready's trunk are of the same kind as the one I hold in my hand, and young Benton can tell us how many boxes of car- tridges he brought with him, and if they were all of the kind he handed us, and that I hold in my hand."

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 63

" You can answer this question, Freddie, if you will," said Mr. Furness.

" Oh, yes, sir ! " exclaimed Freddie. " They were all the same, and we brought down twenty boxes."

A smile went around the group, at this burst of youth- ful enthusiasm, but it calmed down the next minute as Mr. Murphy continued :

"You will then see, for my second point, that there may be two revolvers on board, as there are two kinds, and two separate packs, of cartridges. My client has a set of cartridges of his own, distinct from those of his accuser; and why may he not have a revolver of his own, also ? I think, for my first point, I have shown, without any doubt, that he has, and that this, as he says, and as I have shown, is, in reality, what he has said it was, his own private property. It is clear, then, that the lost revolver has not been found.~ What has my brother, Mr. Furness, to say on his side ? "

" Gentlemen ! " said Mr. Furness, " though we have settled one point, is not our evidence, circumstantial though it be, still stronger against the prisoner? We may say that this is his own property, but can we let him off from the whole charge simply upon this lack of evidence ? We cannot say that he took the revolver, nor can we tell the motive that might have induced him, even having one of his own, so very similar, to possess another one ; yet will the facts just presented justify us in clearing him entirely of such a charge, with such strong circumstantial evidence against him ? I think not, sir; and shall ask for time for still further inquiry into this matter."

After Mr. Furness had spoken, Mr. Jacobs arose, and said : " Gentlemen, I thank the brothers for their care-

64 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

ful conduct of this, I confess, very trying and curious case. In all my connection with the courts, — which has been but very little, by the way " — here the judge smiled somewhat at the assembled people — "I have not met with such a strange assembly of facts and ap- parent, if not real, contradictions. I confess myself incompetent to rightly decide upon a question that has developed so many really personal points. It seems clear to my mind that as yet we are not upon the right scent, so to speak, and that we have not found the true solution to this most puzzling question yet. Since you have decided unanimously to leave the decision of this matter with me, and agreed to abide by my decision, I will decide this : Mr. Eeady has been found to possess a revolver which Master Freddie Benton claimed to be his. The evidence proves conclusively that the weapon is the private and exclusive property of Mr. Jack Eeady, and not the missing article of Master Freddie, whose youth- ful enthusiasm has, in this case, evidently, carried him too far. I will, therefore, declare Mr. Jack Heady as ' not guilty ' in this particular direction."

A loud sound of applause, from both sides, told that they were equally satisfied with the verdict rendered. After quiet was resumed, Mr. Jacobs continued :

" It does not seem to me that Mr. Jack Ready has perfectly vindicated himself until the revolver has been found. I do not believe that, in reality, anybody, after this, is willing to believe him wilfully guilty of theft, with concealment. We will, therefore, let the whole affair drop, simply urging everybody, and especially Jack himself, to do all in their power to find and restore the missing article. Everybody, even Mr. Jack himself, will see that he must of necessity rest under a certain

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 65

cloud, even with this vindication of his character, until the lost revolver is returned. Thus deciding the case, I do herewith adjourn this court."

" Three cheers for the judge," shouted Allie, stepping forward.

They were given with a will.

"Now, Jack," said Allie, stepping up to Jack, who had remained in the corner for the last hour in perfect silence, "forgive me, for saying what I did, for I now do not believe you took it ; do we, Freddie ?

"No, Jack; we do not," responded Freddie, "and I move that we take a vote." Freddie then raised his voice and exclaimed loudly : " All those who really be- lieve Jack Ready guilty of taking my revolver please raise their hands ! " Silence ensued for a moment, dur- ing which, time not a hand was raised. " All those who believe him not guilty please raise their hands." Every hand went up in a moment, and the boys themselves even raised both their hands.

" Is there anybody opposed to an unanimous vote ? " said Mr. Eeady.

" No ! No ! " came from all hands.

At this moment Jack stepped up, and said, " I thank you all very much for the good opinion of me. I did not take the revolver, and I will do all in my power to discover where the article is."

Mr. Murphy, at this, went right up to Jack, and fairly hugged him, from mere joy. Jack needed all the sym- pathy he could get. The two red spots had spread them- selves all over his face, and one could see that he had been crying, during the time that he had been waiting in the corner for the result of the trial.

At this moment a clear, pleasant, youthful voice, that

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everybody recognized at once as that of Freddie Ben- ton's, was heard on the deck, singing :

" The sun will be shining to-morrow, Although it be cloudy to-day."

It was an old song, but it came in so well, and seemed such a pleasant ending to the scenes of the day, that the sunshine seemed already to have penetrated everybody, and set all in harmony with the youthful singer. The smile went around. It broadened into a laugh, and be- fore anybody seemed to realize it, all were merry once more ; and the trial was, for the time at least, entirely forgotten.

Troubles seldom come singly. We are no sooner out of one than we are into another. The monotony as well as the pleasures of life are constantly interrupted by events which cause us more or less trouble. The dwell- ers in the North Star, thus happily relieved from one trouble, had little time in which to congratulate them- selves, before a new and unexpected interruption threat- ened to disturb the harmony of the scene.

In the midst of the quiet succeeding the events just recorded, those on deck were suddenly alarmed by a sound resembling that of a gun, apparently issuing from the hold of the vessel, and beneath the feet of those who were on deck. A moment later, and a small black form was seen issuing from the forecastle, shouting at the top of its voice, and wildly gesticulating as it reached the main deck of the vessel. It was no other than the form of Tod.

When Tod reached the deck, he stood still for a moment, gazing about him vacantly; but only for a moment. Then, as if gathering himself together, he

A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 67

made one frantic plunge, and landed in a heap in the corner between the galley, the foremast, and the traveler of the fore staysail. At the same time he threw up both of his hands and began to scream in a most lusty man- ner.

A black man or boy can, at any time, use his voice with the power of several ordinary white men of his own size. Tod proved, on this particular occasion, no exception to this rule. Scream followed scream in quick succession.

Max, the cook, was the first upon the scene, and Mr. Ready — ever ready, as his name implied — was second to him.

" What's the matter ? " crie'd Mr. Ready.

"What's the matter now ? " chimed in Max.

No response ; while a pair of black hands beat wildly the air ; while the darky himself made no attempt either to arise or to leave off his cries.

The cook and Mr. Eeady easily picked Tod up, and after some difficulty, got him to sit upon one of the stools, of which a number were lying about the deck. It was then, only, that they perceived that his left hand was covered with blood, and that the forefinger had been cut or shot off, near the palm of the hand, and was hanging by a mere thread to its socket, while blood was pouring down everywhere on his shirt and trowsers.

Max rushed off immediately for a basin of water; Jack Ready was dispatched for a sponge, and some rags for bandages, from Mr. Ready's trunk; and Mr. Jacobs hastened for a box of salve with which to dress the wound.

These were all brought, and the nimble fingers of Mr. Jacobs were soon at work washing the wound.

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After all the blood had been removed from Tod's face and hands, and the finger itself attended to, Mr. Jacobs replaced the finger, which was not so badly cut into as it had at first appeared, and sewed it on again with a few stitches from a needle and thread, that had been pre- pared and handed him by Mr. Ready, and the wound covered over with the salve. Then he wound a rag care- fully over the finger, taking care to place some lint over the salve, and secured the cloth by winding it over the hand and around the wrist.

Tod had cried pitifully most of the time that the operation was being performed. He had howled at first ; but, finding himself — for the first time in his life per- haps — in the hands of men and gently instead of rudely handled, he had quieted down amazingly under the skillful treatment and soothing influence of his acting physician — Mr. Jacobs.

After the howling had finished, the crying had in a measure ceased, and the hand bandaged to the satisfac- tion of both parties, Tod was brought forward and placed in one of the easy chairs belonging to some of the parties, when he was cautioned to stay still, and not to use or even stir his hand under any emergency what- ever. In order to make the charge still more effective, to the great surprise of Tod himself, as well as every- body else, Mr. Ready was soon seen making his way from the galley, with a huge piece of bread and butter, with a slight tinge of molasses upon it, straight for him.

Tod's eyes widened perceptibly as he saw the feast approaching. At first he evidently doubted his senses, which told him that it was for him, and Mr. Ready had to repeat, rather testily it seemed, for the third time, "Come, take it, won't you ? hurry up."

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 69

Whether it was the somewhat rough tone, which had in it the sort of a command that he had been in the habit of hearing used to him, that started Tod, or whether it was the tempting bait that was too much for him to longer withstand, is hard to tell; but with a grand, convulsive clutch, Tod seized the slice, and, pres- ently, all else was oblivion to him.

The next thing to do, after seeing the finger attended to, was to find out the particulars of this strange occur- rence.

Mr. Keady and Mr. Jacobs descended into the fore- castle and made a careful examination there of every part of the hold, but could find nothing there save smoke, but there was plenty of that.

Through the confined nature of the hold, the smoke was retained a much longer time than it would other- wise have been. None of the crew had been in the fore- castle at the time of the explosion or firing, whichever it were best to call it, and therefore no one could explain fully the affair, but Tod himself.

Coining on deck again Mr. Ready and Jack took off the hatch, and immediately a dense volume of smoke issued from below.

The thought that there must be fire in the hold again sent down Mr. Ready, who, with Jack, carefully exam- ined every nook and corner, but could find nothing but smoke, apparently from some pistol or gun.

Coming on deck again Mr. Ready approached Tod, and said, as gently as he could :

" Well, my boy, what were you doing ? How did it all happen ? Tell me all about it ! "

Tod, seeing Mr. Ready approach, had begun a most comical mixture of a howl and a cry. In moving he had

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given his hand a hit upon the arm of the chair, that had produced the latter ; while the sight of a huge billet of wood, that Mr. Ready held unconsciously in his hand, and which he had taken up with the intention of passing to the cook, had induced the former.

Quiet having been restored, the question was again put.

" Tell us now, my boy, how it all happened."

The only answer was a blank silence, while the eyes of the boy were lowered, and his face seemed to express an ominous sulk : ominous in that it foreboded ill as to a satisfactory answer to the question, now of so much im- portance.

" Come ! can't you tell me how you hurt yourself ? "

Still no answer.

" Mr. Ready," cried the cook, " where's my wood ? "

" Oh, here it is ; " and Mr. Ready turned and started for the galley, to hand Max the wood.

"I don't see how this thing happened," said Mr. Ready to Max. " I can't get a word out of the boy."

"You leave him to me, now," said Max, laughing. " You leave him to me ; and when I tell him that he can have no supper till he tells me all about it, you will see what you will see ; " and Max fairly held himself as he laughed at the idea. " I always brings them around that way, if I can't any other." Max added.

Mr. Ready laughed at this, and said :

"Well, take your own way, I can't do anything with him,"

Thus Tod was left to himself for several hours. Every one marveled why he kept his place for so long a time, but there he remained, no one taking apparently any notice of him, and he of no one. The cook, alone,

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION. 71

laughed to himself. For once this small black boy, Master Tod, had met with his master. The cook had very quietly lashed him into his chair while he was asleep.

" Ah," said the cook, " for once, my duck, I have you, this time, at least."

About two hours afterwards, while all hands were in the cabin, a renewed series of cries were heard, and Mr. Eeady, as usual, rushed on deck to see what was up.

Tod had awakened to find himself fast, bound in a chair, with dark clouds above him, and supperless. No wonder that he howled. That was just what Max wanted, and, hearing the alarm, he was soon on deck.

" Ah, my fine bird," said Max, " I have you at last. All belayed, taut and hearty. I have you where the squirrel had the nut — right in the feeth. I have you where the mouse had the cheese — right in the stomach. We will now see if the squirrel cracks the nut or the cheese makes the mouse sick."

With this soliloquy Max approached Tod.

" Well, my fine fellow, do you want your supper ? "

On seeing Max approach, Tod had stopped the noise he had been making, but, on hearing the question, he began howling and struggling again.

" You'll not get any that way, sir. Now see ! Keep quiet ! It is for your own good that we have done this. If you are not careful you will hit your finger, and then you will be obliged to have it, and maybe your whole hand, cut off. How would you like that ? Hey ? "

No answer followed this plain talk.

" Now I tell you," said Max, " you are old enough to know that you must keep still and not hurt your hand; do you know that ? "

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Tod, fully reduced to his senses by nature and an intense gnawing in his stomach, sulked out a faint yes.

"Well, now," continued the cook, "listen: I will let you go, and will give you a good hot supper, but you must give me answer. How did you hurt yourself ? "

Still no reply.

" Will you answer my question ? "

No response.

" Very good, you get no supper to-night, my lad."

As Max turned to go, Tod began to struggle again, and to shout out, " I want my supper ! "

" Ah ! my fine bird, you can sing, can you ? "

" I want my supper ; let me go ! "

" But you cannot fly, because your wings are clipped, my fine plover."

" Ah, Max ! hadli't you better give him his supper ? and then perhaps he will tell you afterwards."

" No, sir ! I have him now, and he understands it. When he tells me what I have asked him, then he can have his supper hot," said Max.

Max laid great emphasis on the word hot ; and Tod, hearing it, squirmed visibly, as it had been intended that he should.

" I want my supper," squirmed out Tod.

" You can have it when you tell me what I want to know," said Max, " as I told you."

Tod watched Max as he neared the forecastle, and saw that a great struggle was going on within him. He did not wish to tell how he had got hurt, for some reason known apparently only to himself ; and yet he did not wish to lose his supper. Max's emphasis upon the word hot had evidently done the work, for, just as Max placed his foot on the forecastle step, Tod called out :

HOW A REVOLVER CAUSED COMMOTION- 73

" I'll never do so again. I'll give it back. I want my supper."

Max turned slowly, and seemed to consider for a mo- ment just how to act. He had evidently gained a point, and how best to follow it out did not at first appear clear to him. He adopted the best course, however, and so sung out :

" All right, my hearty ; your hot supper is ready for you."

While Max was approaching Tod, the latter was busy fumbling in his pocket with his whole hand, and when quite up to him, Tod, taking something out of his pocket, handed it to the cook.

" I took it," said Tod, " but I'll never do so again. It went off by accident and blowed my finger off."

"I should think it did," said Max. ."It was a good job for you that it had not taken your hand or your head off. Now come and get your supper."

Tod, released, followed the cook to the galley, where Max had saved a plateful of hot chowder, and a hot cup of tea, with plenty of bread and butter. While Tod was busy at this Max started for the cabin.

Max entered the cabin. Everybody looked up to see who was coming. Max came right up to the table, and then said :

"Gentlemen, I think I have found the revolver that Master Freddie lost this morning. Isn't this it ? " At the same time he placed the revolver on the table, telling them how he had induced Tod to give it to him.

" Yes, indeed," said the captain, who looked into the cabin at that moment from his wheel, "I saw him come out of the cabin this morning early, but had forgotten

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all about it until just now. He took the pistol. I know it now."

" Ah ! h'm-m-m ! Mr. Taylor," said a voice, that there was no difficulty in distinguishing as that of Mr. Benton's ; " it strikes ine as very remarkable, the way that things will occasionally, sir ; I say occasionally, turn out, sir. I was very confident that my boy had not stolen his own brother's revolver, as Mr. Ready almost insinuated this morning, sir ! I say, sir, this morning."

A loud burst of laughter from all hands quite startled Mr. Benton, who, turning around, scowled ominously as he said rather crossly :

" I see nothing to laugh at, sirs, at the fact of any- body's calling my boy a-a-a — "

But the laughter succeeding drowned the rest of the sentence, while Mr. Benton arose, and said, somewhat angrily :

" Boys, go to bed ! go to bed, boys ! I shall go imme- diately ! "

Suiting the action to the word, Mr. Benton retired. From the recesses of his stateroom he called faintly :

"John! John! the boys will retire when you do, of course."

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 75

CHAPTER V.

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR.

" TTTKLL, captain, where do you make our position ? "

V V asked Mr. Benton of the captain, the next morn- ing, whom he suddenly came upon in the cabin as he was consulting his chart, and measuring distances on it with the dividers.

"We see land off to the westward," replied the cap- tain.

" Do you know what it is ? "

" No ; but Mr. Ready thinks that it is Mecatina."

" I suppose that he ought to know. I believe that he has been down the coast some seventeen times, I think he told me."

" Yes, I suppose so."

" Well, can you tell me who else knows anything about the region around here ? "

" Mr. Taylor has made the trip four or five times, and Mr. Furness several times. Mr. Taylor knows more about it than anybody else, unless it is Mr. Furness."

" The latter gentleman seems to be quite a seafaring man."

" Yes ; he was down here a whole year, and he knows all the harbors up and down the coast when once we reach ' the Labrador.' "

" It is much easier to tell the places when you are near them, than when at a distance, as we are at the present

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time," said Mr. Furness, who just then joined the group and the conversation. " From the very faint line of coast, visible in the distance west of us, I imagine that we are much farther down the coast than Mecatina."

" Then yesterday we must have been off the eastern point of Anticosti," said Mr. Taylor, who at this moment also joined the group.

"Yes; so I should judge," laughed Mr. Keady, com- ing down the companion-way, at the same time scratching his head and winking his eyes at the group, all of whom had turned at sound of his voice. " We can't tell much where we are till we get there."

All hands laughed heartily at this witty sally, and turned their eyes once more to the chart.

"Here is Mecatina," said Mr. Ready, pointing to that place on the chart. " You see that there are two islands, and a headland on shore. The headland is seven hun- dred feet high, and the islands are called Big Mecatina and Little Mecatina. Every time I've been down here, before, we have struck either this headland or the high- est of the islands. You are sure to know it, because it's the highest land anywhere about,- save the Bradore hills, and these are mountains, down here."

" How high are they ? " asked Mr. Benton.

" Oh, they vary from eleven to twelve hundred feet. There are three of them."

" The highest was laid down by the Coast Survey as twelve hundred and sixty-four feet," said Mr. Furness.

" And the next highest, eleven hundred and thirty-five feet," laughed Mr. Taylor, "since you are so particular as to height."

"And the intervening stretch of land reaches to the sea-level, Mr. Speaker," broke in Mr. Eeady.

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 77

Just at that moment Allie came into the cabin to tell the captain that he was wanted, and the chart was rolled up, and put away in the hanging braces, for the time, while all followed the captain on deck.

" What a pleasant day it is, papa," shouted Freddie, as he saw his father come on deck. " See, there is the loom of land over there, the mate says."

" Yes, my boy ; and after our varied experiences, it is very satisfactory and pleasing intelligence," returned his father.

" Will you tell me what is the time ? " said Max, com- ing forward at that moment, of Allie, who was just com- ing up the companion-way.

" It was just half-past seven o'clock when I was down in the cabin, a few moments ago."

"Thank you, sir. Gentlemen, your breakfast will be ready in about five minutes," said Max, as he disappeared into the galley.

At this pleasing intelligence the gentlemen proceeded to wash and arrange themselves for that most important ceremony.

" How clear and beautiful the atmosphere is ! I say, Mr. Jacobs, do you not admire the fine weather this morning ? "

" Ah, Mr. Taylor, is that you ? "

The two gentlemen met at the wash dish, as they ex- changed greetings, and, as each began by taking off his coat, then rolling up his sleeves, and unbuttoning his shirt collar, and laying one side his hat, a bystander, not seeing the wash basin, would have concluded that these warlike preparations portended an immediate combat of a most deadly character.

" I readily yield the first wash to you," said Mr. Taylor.

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" Yes ; but if you had gone ahead, and washed your- self, you would have finished by this time."

" But as I have not even begun, but must go into the cabin for my soap, I shall leave you and the wash dish to consult each other's tastes while I am gone."

"Which we are in no way bashful about doing," re- marked Mr. Jacobs, as he submerged his face in the basin of clear, cold water.

Fifteen minutes later, and the whole party were ar- ranged in festal order once more, waiting impatiently for the breakfast to be passed.

" Well, gentlemen," exclaimed Mr. Ready, as he sud- denly steamed out of the galley door, " the bill of fare is oatmeal, or fried mush and molasses, ham and eggs, eggs dropped or boiled, hot or cold biscuits and butter, and coffee. We can't give you any more, because we haven't got it."

" I don't knoAv what we want any better than that — "

" If he will only hurry up and give us that ! " chimed in a voice, not easily mistaken as that of Master Freddie.

" Oh, yes ; you are the youngest, and get helped last," said Mr. Eeady, " that's a fact."

The laugh went around, and Freddie subsided immedi- ately. A moment iater, and all were eagerly engaged in the process of eating breakfast.

" What a beautiful day it is," said Mr. Taylor to Mr. Benton, a little while after breakfast, as the two gentle- men met on the gangway.

" Very fine day, sir ; remarkable weather. It is quite satisfactory to have such fine weather."

" Some difference, sir, I admit. They say that there is the loom of land in the distance. I suppose that is it,"

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 79

said Mr. Benton, pointing to a heavy cloud bank in the south.

Mr. Taylor smiled, but made no other remark than that it would be " clearer by and by."

Mr. Ready was seen, forward, pacing the deck, and evi- dently watching, with eagle eye, the merest outline of land to be seen in the distance. Seeing Mr. Taylor and Mr. Benton talking, he joined them.

" We'll get on land again, soon," said Mr. Ready.

" Shall we follow the coast up or down, Mr. Ready ? "

" Oh, down, sir. We shall probably touch at Mecatina first, and then follow the coast down as far as Belle Isle, Mr. Taylor."

"Belle Isle is a most interesting place to go to, Mr. Ready," said Mr. Benton. "I have long wished to go there, just to see the place — just to see the place, sir."

" One can tell that we are near land by the number of birds," remarked Mr. Taylor.

At that moment a large flock of birds flew past the ves- sel. Allie, who happened to see them, shouted out at once :

" Oh, there they are ! See them ! What are they ? Tell me, somebody, do ! "

" Those are auks, my boy," said Mr. Ready.

" Oh, no ; those are not hawks."

" No, no ; auks, not hawks."

" What are auks ? " asked Allie.

" They belong to the lowest order of the water birds, and are very rare in any other part of the globe than in regions similar to those we are in at the present," said Mr. Jacobs.

" Tell us some more about them, said Freddie Benton, who was also standing near, and had heard what had been said.

80 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

" I will give you a nut to crack," replied the professor. "The true water birds of North America are divided into four orders. Of these, the last or lowest are called the pygopodes, or the diving birds. The auks comprise the lowest family of the order, and thus, as I told you before, they are among the lowest of our birds. That is, they are the least perfectly developed. The wings, as you will find, are shut, and incapable of long-continued flight; the tail is small; and the legs set upon the re- mote part of the body, so that they seldom fly far, and live exclusively in the water, being unable to walk on land. Now the classes and families of birds are made up generally from some characteristic peculiar to the whole group. Can you tell me, then, why, and the meaning of the name I have given you of pygopodes ? "

"I can tell you one name, but not the other. The last part is from a Greek word meaning feet."

"Yes, very good; but the other word is one that means situated on the rear or rump of the body, and is given to the class because their feet are situated so far on the hinder part of the body, that the bird can with great difficulty walk or even step when on land. But you will get a fair chance to study these same birds later on, when you have shot some of them, and can compare them and study their peculiarities. Are not those the outlines of high hills, that I see in the distance^ on the left, Mr. Eeady ? "

" They are ; they are the Mecatina highlands we spoke of, some time ago. That is the first land that we usually sight on the Labrador coast. When we get there we know where we are."

" Shall we go anywhere near it, or shall we go farther down before making a stopping place ? "

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 81

" The good Lord willing, we shall stop at the very first stopping place that we can find."

" Well, that is good news, now, really. One can really gain a great deal of courage, with such a prospect as that in view."

"I think, professor," said Mr. Furness, "that I shall go into a new line of investigation."

" Do you, indeed ! I hope that it is something inter- esting."

" I am going into the business of collecting sea-weeds. I'm going to see how many kinds I can get."

"That's a good idea, and, if I remember aright, Mr. Taylor is a botanist."

Though Mr. Taylor laughed at the sally, for he had, in his trunk at that moment, a good-sized tin botany case, with a press of wire sides, — a new invention by which it was claimed that the flowers were dried more easily and quickly while being pressed — and a large quantity of drying paper. He had come prepared to make a large and extensive collection, with a view of studying care- fully the flora of the country.

" Let us see," said Mr. Jacobs, " we have in our party an ornithologist and oologist, that is one who is making a study of birds and their eggs ; and algologist, one who is making a study of algse or sea-weeds ; an ichthyologist, or one who is studying fishes ; and several who are study- ing sea animals, and collecting the same. All those ani- mals brought up with the dredge, pass under the name of marine invertebrates, and among them are all sorts of animals, and a great variety of animal life."

"Tell me, Mr. Jacobs, why you call them inverte- brates," said Allie Benton ; " our teacher told us that we couldn't divide animals into vertebrates and invertebrates,

82 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

because there was an animal that was half one and half the other, and would have to be put into a division of its own if you did. He called the thing a something that meant some Greek word, and something about some animal, but I don't remember what the name was."

Mr. Jacobs smiled as he assisted Allie's memory with the name of amphioxus, and added :

" You need not be afraid that the divisions you have mentioned will become old and unreliable for some years. We are a long ways from developing a man or boy an amoeba."

" What is an amoeba ? "

" I see that you will presently have me involved in a discussion as to 'first causes,'" laughed the professor. " The amoeba is an animal of the lowest or nearly the lowest class, and is simply a mass of substance, like that of the white of an egg, and called protoplasm, containing a nucleus which the protoplasm surrounds. It is among the first forms of animal matter, and is a most curious animal to observe, in a small trough of water, under the microscope. Now you must let me off on further expla- nation, as you are getting along too fast."

" Why too fast, sir ? " asked Allie.

" We teach natural history differently from what we do the languages or philosophy ; we study the animals themselves, and tell of the specimens as we have them directly before us to illustrate with, as far as possible ; but see, we are approaching the land."

The vessel was, indeed, by this time, fast approaching the island towards which she was headed, and was now about ten miles away. The land as yet appeared only as a high headland, sloping down upon either side, and with other high lands behind it and low islands in front

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 83

of it. On dashed the vessel through the waves, and there was not a passenger who did not seem heartily pleased to be so near land, no matter of how rocky an outline.

" Harrington harbor, ahoy ! " shouted Mr. Eeady, from the other side of the galley.

"Is that Harrington harbor that we see, then, where that gap in the hills is ? " asked Mr. Taylor, who was standing near.

" Yes, sir," exclaimed Mr. Ready, in a most emphatic way, "that is Harrington outer harbor, and we shall be there in about an hour, if the wind holds."

"We will hope, sincerely, that the wind will hold, then," said Mr. Taylor, laughing.

" Yes, indeed," added Allie, " I want to get ashore and find some of those auks' and gulls' eggs that Jack has been telling us about."

" You'll find plenty of them there, no fear, my boy," said Mr. Eeady.

" What other kinds can I find ? Tell me ; tell me all the kinds that will be there."

"Well, let me see. There will be ducks' eggs, eider ducks, any amount of them; then on the top of the island you will find two or three kinds of gulls' eggs."

"What kinds?"

" There is the common herring gull, then there is a species that they call here the fresh water gull, but which your book calls, I believe, the ice gull ; and there is the great black-backed gull. The largest of all, and the fellow that has the large black back and legs, while all the rest is white — they call him the coffin-carrier."

"Then what about the auks, you told us about day before yesterday ? " Allie continued.

84 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

" Oh, yes," said Mr. Ready. " The razor-billed auk is one species, and the other is called the foolish guillemot. Another is called the black guillemot or sea pigeon, the people call it simply the pigeon, and you might see a few puffins."

"Is that all?"

" Yes ; I don't think of any more that you are sure of getting. You will probably get all of those I have men- tioned, if you work hard for them. There are several islands, near where we are going ; and we are just in sea- son to get some birds' eggs. We can lay in a stock to eat, too."

" What ! do these birds you have been speaking of, lay eggs that are fit to eat ? " asked Mr. Taylor.

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Ready, "we eat all of them, and they are first rate, too."

" Can you get enough of them, for all to have one ? "

" Oh, mercy sakes, yes. Why, one year we stopped here and filled a barrel. We had them all the rest of the voyage, until we reached the Magdaline Islands, on our way home."

" Well, do you think we can get a mess this time ? "

" Oh, yes ; we will have enough to satisfy all of you, if there are any there," said Mr. Ready, as he disap- peared down the forecastle.

The boys were delighted at the prospect of rambling, unlimited, over the islands, and coming home with bas- kets literally full of birds' eggs, and great was the re- joicing at the idea. All three of them started at once for their box of apparatus for blowing eggs, so as to have it in readiness, against the time when they should return laden with the expected spoils. John easily found it in one corner of his trunk, and soon returned with several

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 85

egg drills and small blow pipes, to the apparent delight of Freddie, who was dancing about the deck like a young savage. After awhile Jack Ready joined them, and all four retired to one corner of the vessel to talk over their plans.

" Now, Jack," said John, " you have been here before, haven't you ? "

" Oh, yes ; wait until we get to the island, and then we will all go ashore, and you come with me, and we will see what we can get. Have you got any stout wire ? "

" I can find a piece, I guess," said Freddie.

In a moment Freddie returned with about a foot of stout iron wire he had found in the cabin, and gave it to Jack.

"Now," said Jack, "we will make something that will get the eggs for you."

Jack then got a long stick, which he whittled down to a roundish shape, then on one end he cut two channels or grooves, into which he inserted the two ends of the wire, bent double. These he tied down tightly with a piece of stout twine. Then he bent the end of the wire into the form of a hook.

"There," said he, "now you can hook up the eggs, from the crevices, until you have as many as you want."

"Why do birds lay in the crevices, instead of out in the open grass or sand ? " asked Freddie.

"I don't know that," said Jack, "but they do. They lay way under the rocks, and down in holes where you couldn't even reach them, if you did not have one of these instruments that I have just fixed. Each bird lays one egg only, and yet you will sometimes find a nook, among the rocks, where the birds and the eggs are as thick as if each bird laid twenty. I have found forty to fifty eggs at a time in one place."

86 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

" Why, are they as thick as that ? " put in John.

" Yes, you will soon get your baskets full."

" Do they all lay in among the rocks ? "

" Oh, no ; the ducks lay right out among the grass, and the gulls lay the same, but nearer to the top of the islands. Then all the auks lay under the rocks, and over the island anywhere, but mostly where the rocks are."

" Don't they make any nest ? " asked Freddie.

"No, the auks do not; they lay right out on the open earth or rock. The gulls and ducks make a nest. The gulls pile up a little heap of grass and grass stems about the edges of the nest, but put very little or noth- ing inside for the middle, so that the eggs that they lay often rest on the bare rock. They lay four eggs. The duck's nest is one mass of fluffy down. They pick the feathers from their own breast, to make the nest with, and then lay about four eggs and sit on them. The eggs fill up the hollow, on the breast, that has been made by pulling the feathers out."

" But don't the auks set on their eggs ? "

" Not that I know of. I never knew of their doing so. Generally they lay their eggs, and then let the sun hatch them out."

" And do they never set on their own eggs ? That seems singular enough."

" The people on the coast think that they don't. Some people say that they do. At any rate, you will see eggs lying around everywhere, and you can never find a bird on one of them. These auks are half fish, anyway."

" Yes ; and there is a curious thing," said Mr. Heady, coming up at that moment, " the people who won't eat

FIRST SIGHT OF LABRADOR. 87

meat on Friday will eat these birds, because they say that they are more water than land animals, and more fish than animal."

" That is remarkable," said Mr. Benton, who had just walked up to where the boys were sitting, to see what they were about.

"Yes," continued Mr. Ready, "and these same men will eat seal meat, for the same reason."

"Will they, indeed!"

" Yes ; they call it all fish."

"That is a good excuse for getting over the difficulty."

" It is something like taking a nip of liquor every day for medicine, and then saying that they have not broken their temperance pledge," laughed Mr. Ready.

"I should say so," remarked Mr. Benton. "Well, boys," continued he, " what are you at now ? "

" Oh, father ; Jack is telling us all about the birds that he says we will find on the island, and we are going to get our baskets full of birds' eggs," answered Freddie.

" Baskets full of birds' eggs ! " said Mr. Benton. " I'll give you a penny apiece for all the eggs over a dozen that you find. You'll find more rocks than eggs."

"Oh, Mr. Taylor," called Allie. "Come here quick, do."

When Mr. Taylor had arrived, and heard what they were talking about, he laughed heartily. " The boys will get nearer five hundred than five," said he.

Mr. Benton, as usual, was obstinate in favor of his own opinion; and, taking out his pocketbook, he care- fully extracted a crisp, new five dollar note, which he handed to Mr. Taylor.

" There ! " exclaimed Mr. Benton, " that is for the

88 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

boys, in case they find the five hundred eggs you tell about."

Then Mr. Benton laughed, the boys clapped their hands, and all joined in the merriment.

FIRST DA Y ON SHORE. 89

CHAPTER VI.

FIKST DAY ON SHORE.

" ~j FERE we are at Labrador ! " called out Mr. Ready, -J — L as the vessel slowly approached a long point of low land, which ran down into the sea from a high hill- like island. " All hands on deck to go ashore ! "

As he said this, all hands crowded forward to watch the scene, while the vessel continued to glide onward toward its destined port.

" Steady ! " shouted the captain, to the • man at the wheel. " Sheer her off a little ! don't let her run on that breaker ahead ! "

" Aye, aye ! " answered the man.

" Keep her steady, now ! "

" Which opening shall I head for ? " shouted the man. " The smaller one right ahead, or the larger one at the left?"

" Head her for the small one."

"There is a breaker just inside the large one," said Mr. Ready. " We could not get in there if we did try to go that way."

" All right ! steady she is," said the man.

Just then the vessel came abreast of the point, and opened up a large, spacious harbor, enclosed on all sides by land, either islands or headlands, one could not at first tell which. The captain then went aft and took the wheel himself, while he sent the man forward to loose

90 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

the anchor. This did not take long, and when it had been accomplished the captain called out again : " All hands stand by to tack ship!"

The vessel was now so far beyond the point, that, by tacking, she could easily reach the middle of the harbor, or stand on till it had come close to shore, as the pilot said that there was plenty of water on the lee shore.

The rattling of ropes, and the usual hurry and bustle of the men, as well as the flapping of the sails, accom- panied the captain's order.

"Let go," shouted the captain, and the jib springing to the other side of the vessel was made fast. Then the foresail and the mainsail jumped around two or three times, and finally settled into their proper posi- tion, as they filled, and the vessel, under the fresh im- pulse, fairly cut the water as it steamed towards the further point of the harbor.

"Stand by your anchor!" once more shouted the cap- tain, as the little schooner dashed the spray from its prow, in its straining to reach the point.

" Haul down your jib ! " A few seconds later : — " Down with your foresail ! " and a few seconds more : " Let go your anchor ! " and the chains tore through the horse-pipes, with a rattling and a clanking loud enough to deafen any one within gunshot of the vessel.

" Hooray for Labrador ! " shouted Mr. Ready, waving his cap vigorously.

" Lower away the boats ; let's go ashore."

At that the sailors sprang to the boats, and soon had them lowered and alongside.

The vessel, as it came along, had aroused from their nests and roosting places hosts of birds, of all kinds.

FIRST DAY ON SHORE. 91

They flew in clouds about the islands, near which the schooner had been anchored. They were everywhere, filling the air, the earth, and the waters. Upon first entering the harbor but few had been seen; but they were all there. — There were literally thousands of them. They flew through the air like arrows. — They crossed and re-crossed the vessel, flying above and below the rigging, and all about on every side. The water, at a little distance from the schooner, was literally alive with birds, and the ground of the island seemed planted with them. Every rock or point of land was covered with them, and they looked, perched there on their little black legs, like so many sentinels.

" Don't they look like ministers ? " cried Freddie.

Allie laughed heartily ; but Mr. Ready, who happened to be standing near, said :

" They call these same birds priests, so I am told, in the South arctic regions."

"They are waiting for the gulls to come to confes- sional, I guess."

"It will be a cold day, when the gulls confess to them," said Allie.

" I guess the gulls would make them confess," chimed in Freddie. " See ! see ! there is a great, big, immense fellow, with a great black back, flying around up there in the sky with all those other gulls. See ! he is diving after that smaller gull, that has just caught a fish ; he has made him drop the fish, and now he has caught it himself, — say, Allie ; he has caught it himself before it could drop."

"Which one, Freddie?"

" Ah ! he is way off, now. I can't see him myself," said Freddie, " they are so thick."

92 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

" Look at the gulls up in the air ! " cried Jack, who just then came along.

" Oh, Mr. Ready ! " exclaimed John, as the former passed over the rail into the boat, " can't we stay here all day to-morrow ? "

" Why, yes, indeed ! " answered Mr. Ready, " I guess we are all willing to do that, after the shaking up we had last night. For my part, I doubt if we get away for two or three days ; but we cannot tell positively just at present."

" Oh, Freddie ! " fairly screamed Allie. " See that old duck, with all those little ones. There she is, way down by the point, in the little cove, way up by the grass. See ! see ! there must be ten or twenty of them. No ! there is only three ; yes, four of them. Ain't they pretty ! "

" Can't we get some of them alive ? "

" How I wish we could ! "

'•' We'll try it anyway, if Mr. Ready will let us."

"What's that you want to do, my boy?" said Mr. Ready from the boat, who had heard his name called.

"Oh, I don't know," said Freddie. "I guess I want to stop and think." And he sat down on the deck house perfectly exhausted. " I say, Allie ! I guess I won't read Mayne Reid's Cliff-Climbers to-night. I don't be- lieve what he says, because I don't think that he had ever been there himself ; and how could he know that it was true, if he had never been there ? "

" I say, papa ! did anybody ever write a story about Labrador ? "

" Not that I know of," replied Mr. Benton.

" Well, I wish somebody had, and that I could read it beforehand. I think it would be ever so nice to know

FIKST DAY ON SHORE. 93

something beforehand about the things and places that we are going to see ! "

As Mr. Benton got into the boat, Mr. Ready re- marked : " I think, Mr. Benton, there will be three tired boys to-night."

" Yes, yes ! if they don't get used up before night comes on. That's all I'm afraid of — they are good boys, though."

"Yes, indeed, sir ! I never saw better."

" All hands on board ! " shouted Mr. Taylor.

" I think that we won't take our cans and collecting boxes, to-night," said Mr. Eeady, as the boys started for the cabin to get their collecting apparatus. "We will have all day to-morrow to work in ; and now we will go over to the other side of the point and see Mr. Mclntyre, who has just built him a nice new house, and fishing establishment, on the inside of the cove. We'll get some fresh milk, and get a rest for an hour or so."

The boys looked a little disappointed, for the moment, but soon brightened up, and put away their boxes and got into the boat without a word.

A minute later, and both boats were pulling for the place indicated.

Mr. Mclntyre had seen the masts of the North Star, as she rode cosily at anchor, with the stars and stripes at the main top, and was on the landing ready to receive his visitors.

" Well, well ! " said Mr. Mclntyre. — " Who have we here ? " as the genial face of Mr. Eeady, at the bow of the boat, approached the wharf.

"An old hand," laughed Mr. Eeady. "You have changed quarters, since we were here last ! "

94 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

" Oh yes ! Had a good year with fish, last season, so I thought I'd fix up a little."

" I should think you had fixed up a little," said Mr. Ready, stepping on to the wharf, and looking about him in surprise. "When I was here last year, you had an old, broken down wharf, and an old, broken down house on it, that you used to call the ' pig-sty,' " laughed Mr. Ready.

" Well, yes ! " said Mr. Mclntyre ; " and the whole place was about as like one as you could make it."

"Now, /should say," said Mr. Ready, "that the pig had been dressed I " Mr. Ready laughed as he said this, and nudged Mr. Mclntyre in the side ; then Mr. Mc- lntyre laughed, and said : " Yes ! and you have come just in time to have some served to you and your friends. By the way, why don't you introduce them to me ? "

"Oh! I forgot. This is Mr. Benton and his three boys, and these gentlemen — Mr. Taylor, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Furness, and Mr. Murphy. This is my son, Jack, whom you know."

"Welcome, gentlemen!" Mr. Mclntyre replied, cor- dially. " Come up to the hut. It will cover you all, I guess, and that's about all."

"Yes ! and I suppose your wife and two chil- dren—"

" Three, if you please, Mr. Ready," and Mr. Mclntyre tapped Mr. Ready on the shoulder, lightly, with his fingers.

" Ah, yes ! certainly ! " replied Mr. Ready, looking very much surprised, — " three children will be there to welcome us."

" Yes, yes ! Walk up to the house, gentlemen ! "

FIRST DAY ON SHORE. 95

Mr. Mclntyre then led the way to the house, and all the party followed.

The house was small, but cosy looking, and neatly painted white, while the sills and doors were red. It was a story and a half high, and attached to it was a smaller house or room, used as a kitchen. A neat little porch ran from the house door to the end of the smaller room, and the latter had a large door-like window, that opened almost to the foot of the porch. At a little dis- tance to the right was a small shed or barn, where Mr. Mclntyre kept two cows and a billy goat, and a young bull. A very small garden was also visible, from be- hind the barn; and a huge pile of wood, stacked up like an Indian's wigwam, was between the barn and the house. •

" Well ! " said Mr. Heady, " you really are somebody, with all these fine things. Why, here's Mrs. Mclntyre, I do declare ! "

Mrs. Mclntyre was a rather short, but fat and good- natured looking lady, of about forty years, and much different from her tall, full-bearded, yet genial husband.

" I declare ! Why, Mr. Ready, how do you do ? What a long time since you were here last ! "

" Yes ! so I thought I would come down and see you. You've got fixed up considerably since we were down here."

" Well, yes ! And that's the reason that I can give you all so much more pleasant a reception than last year. You see the fishing turned out well, and — but, walk into the house, gentlemen."

" These are passengers who came down here to see the coast," put in Mr. Keady, who then introduced all to Mrs. as he had done at the landing to Mr. Mclntyre.

})») WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

"Walk into the parlor, gentlemen!" said Mrs. Mcln tyre, as she led the way.

The parlor was a small, but pleasant little room, quite nicely furnished, for so small an establishment, and one situated so far out of the world. It contained many con- veniences, and even luxuries. There was a sofa, an easy chair, a rocking-chair, and several little articles of con- venience besides. In one corner of the room was a small organ, open, and with one of the Moody and Sankey hymn-books on it. In the opposite corner was a small table with several fancy things upon it, and a number of books. On the mantel were several articles of use and some curiosities, and over it hung a large chromo of a sea view, with huge cliffs on either side, the moon shining through the clouds, and a ship under full sail going in a most remarkable manner, and sails filled with a wind blowing dead ahead.

It took but a few moments to see all of these things, and to find, further, that the walls were papered with real wall paper, of a neat pattern; that the windows had curtains of a bluish shade and with gilt pattern, and that everything had a pleasant and home-like ap- pearance, even to the neat, clean, white floor, covered with home-made rugs.

"It is comfortably, but not expensively furnished, sirs!" said Mrs. Mclntyre. "And now, if you will excuse me, I will go and prepare supper for you ! Oh yes, sir ! we always do it for strangers, and you'll not deny us the privilege ! "

The latter remark had been called forth by an attempt on the part of Mr. Benton to say no, or something else equally negative.

" Ah, certainly ! " observed Mr. Ready. " We can go

FIRST DAY ON SHORE. 97

aboard for supper, just as well, and it will save you a great deal of extra trouble."

"Now, gentlemen! we shall leave you for about half an hour to take care of yourselves. You can go out of doors or stay in the house, whichever you see fit. Here, Mason ! show the gentlemen around the place."

A tall, strapping boy, of about fifteen, appeared at the door, and bowed an awkward sort of a bow, as he entered and said : " If you'll come with me out here, I'll show you the cows ! "

" Mason ! " screamed his mother, " can't you go out of the front door ? "

"The beer barrel's out here," replied Mason, disap- pearing through the door.

"If you follow him, he'll show you," Mr. Mclntyre said faintly, as the door closed, and the party followed Mason through the side door into a sort of wood-shed or large back-room, that extended the whole width of both the large and small house, and appeared to be a sort of wash-room and wood-shed combined.

Mason was standing at a huge barrel, set upon a small wooden table, holding the faucet in one hand and a mug in the other, into which latter article a brownish liquid was running with a light froth accumulating, gradually, on the top. When the mug was full, he handed it to Mr. Benton who took a suspicious look at the contents, before drinking.

" Drink it, sir ! we all does ! " said Mason.

Mr. Benton put the cup to his lips to take a new taste, prepared to pass it around to the next one immediately after; but, somehow, after he had taken the first sip he stood holding the cup to his lips for a minute. When he took it down he smacked his lips and actually

98 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

laughed aloud. Mason filled the mug again and passed it on until every one had tried it. Then, strange to say, Mr. Benton thought that he would try another mugful, and so — on it passed again. Then they all went out to the barn and saw the cows and the goat ; into the garden and saw the young potatoes, cab- bage, lettuce, and turnip heads ; out to the spring and saw where they got their water, — from a spring that ran down the hillside ; then back into the house, and another stop at the beer barrel ; and so on to the parlor again.

" What do you make your beer of ? " said Mr. Benton.

" Of spruce steeped in water, and molasses, and water, and rise it with some of the last mixing," replied Mason. " We drink it in place of water."

" What a sweet, fresh taste it has."

" Yes, sir ! we makes it fresh every day ! "

" Supper is ready, sirs ! will ye please comes out and takes tea?"

Mr. Ready, leading the way, all went into the room opposite, where a good fire was brightly burning, — for it was now quite chilly out ; and sat down to a large well-filled table. A large platter containing salt-codfish, roasted in the oven, on a piece of clean brown paper, occupied the center of the table, with a bowl of pork gravy, with small, crispy pieces of fried pork in it, sat close by ; two heaping plates of warm biscuits, and a large plate of home-made butter were also not far off ; while a huge dish or tureen, heaping full of large, variously colored and spotted eggs, presented a curious appearance.

When all were seated (grace having been asked, while all were standing about the table), the tea was poured

FIRST DAY ON SHORE. 99

out and real cream, and white sugar, put into each cup. The biscuits and butter were passed; the codfish and pork scraps ; and soon all were busily engaged in testing the quality of Mrs. Mclntyre's good cheer. The boys, and some of the grown folks also, had mugs of rich milk. Huge inroads were made into the biscuits and butter, and slowly the platter of codfish became more and more empty. Then the pile of eggs began gradually to diminish, and Allie looked with longing eyes at each one, as its thick, but handsomely marked shell was cracked and peeled off of its curious skim-milk-looking white inside.

" Never mind, Freddie ! we'll get plenty to-morrow ; " he whispered to his brother.

" Plenty of what, did you say ? " said Mr. Benton.

Allie looked rather foolish, and turned a little red, as he answered, "Eggs."

" Bless your heart ! " said Mrs. Mclntyre. " You can get them by the barrelful, to-morrow, if you want them. Mason will go all over the island with you and show you all about it."

" Jack," began Allie.

" Sh-sh- " whispered Jack.

" Come, pass me some butter ! "

"Oh!" said Jack, evidently relieved that Allie was not going to say anything about his previous offer to show them around, now that Mason was going to perform that duty.

Thus the meal went on, article after article disappear- ing, until nearly all had vanished. After the meal, grace was then said, all standing.

"If yous waits in the parlor awhile, wes'ill clear the table, then yous can sit in here by the fire," said Mrs.

100 IV KECK ED ON LABRADOR.

Mclntyre ; so all retired to the parlor again, while Mary, who had been rocking cradle meanwhile, came in and sat down by the organ and began to play. Gradually the playing, which though not perfect, was quite good, came to be more and more familiar, until, before anybody realized it, all had assembled close around the organ and were singing, to the best of their powers, from the well- known pages of Moody and Sankey, No. 2. About half an hour later Mr. Mclntyre came into the room, called Mary and told her that her mother wanted her, and announced that he could accommodate with rooms all those who would stay on shore and sleep at his house. Mr. Benton expressed great surprise that the house would hold so many; but Mr. Mclntyre declared that there was " plenty of room for all."

Mr. Ready and Jack declined to stay, saying that they must go back to the ship ; but Mrs. Mclntyre refused to hear anything of the kind, so Mason was sent over, in the dory, to tell the captain and cook not to expect the party on board "before dinner to-morrow," at any rate. About nine o'clock Mary came in with a light in her hands "to show the gentlemen their rooms," as Jack declared that he heard her mother tell her, and all fol- lowed up a narrow flight of crooked stairs, to their chambers. Mr. Benton and his sons were turned into one room with two beds in it ; the four gentlemen into a similar room upon the opposite side, opening out of which was a small single room, which was allotted to Mr. Ready and his son. The rooms were small, but cosily furnished, and the beds clean and soft. The ticks and pillows were of feathers, and there was plenty of clothing. Each room also had a table on which was a candle burning, in a small horn candlestick.

FIRST DAY ON SHORE. 101

" Well, gentlemen ! " said Mary ; " I wishes you all good evening," and down stairs she went, leaving the company for the night.

The room that the four gentlemen had was a corner room and overlooked the harbor, so that now, from a nearly cloudless sky, the moon and stars shone down most beautifully upon the quiet scene below. The air was rather chilly, but not really cold, and Mr. Murphy, going to the southwest window, which was in a sort of an alcove, and somewhat screened from the rest of the room, opened it, and, lighting his pipe, sat smoking and enjoying the scene. For a long while he sat and smoked in silence, — watching the sky, as some mere fleck of a cloud would cross it, perhaps for a moment obscuring the disk of the moon, or the light of some star ; watching the water, which reflected, even at that distance, the ripples playing upon its surface. There was the broad bay to which the island sloped gradually at the left, and another island with a small passage between it and still another and much higher one. Over the crest of the hill, at the right, were the tall cliffs of a third, and not far off could be seen the top- mast of a vessel from which fluttered a small, neat flag : it was the stars and stripes of the North Star. There it fluttered and rippled, like the surface of the water over which it waved, — still Mr. Murphy smoked on in placid enjoyment, unmindful of the fact that it was gradually growing colder in the room.

"Well, Mr. Murphy," said Mr Furness, "if you really wish to sleep out-of-doors, nobody will object, provided we are not obliged to do so."

No response followed this mild suggestion, but Mr. Murphy very quietly drew his head inside of the win-

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dow, knocked the ashes out of his pipe on the sill, and, with a sigh — or possibly a very deep breath — arose and shut the window. In a short time all were quietly sleep- ing, and the silence of night had settled upon every person and every thing.

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 103

CHAPTER VII.

COLLECTING SPECIMENS.

THE following morning, all hands were up and about at a very early hour. Luckily the weather was fine, thus giving them a capital chance to walk out and take the air before breakfast.

The boys were up earlier than the gentlemen, and, with Jack and Mason, were off, almost by daylight, to take a look around the island. Mrs. Mclntyre and her daughter were busy preparing breakfast for their guests, while Mr. Mclntyre was just outside the porch, chopping wood for the fire.

The scene, outside of the house, was one of serenity. The sun was shedding his beams upon the earth and rippling water, on the bosom of which the North Star rode placidly, or coquetted with an occasional billow as it surged through the narrow opening, into the harbor, from the sea outside, which, though not heavy, was somewhat ruffled by the slight wind blowing from the southwest.

Though the men portion of the guests were supposed to have opened their eyes and rolled over in their beds, and to be indulging in that delicious of all restful sleep, — a second morning nap — not all were thus employed. A glance at one of the windows would have revealed the calm, genial face of Mr. Murphy, with his inseparable meerschaum, gazing at the scene, and quite in apparent harmony with it.

An hour later, and men, boys, and all, were once more

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gathered around Mrs. Mclntyre's genial board, where they were soon busily engaged with fresh roast cod, hot biscuits, tea and coffee, with rich cream, — besides milk for those who wished. The gentlemen took their time, and fully enjoyed every moment with the abundance of good cheer provided for them ; the boys hurried through with their portion of the meal, and soon struck off, with Jack Ready and Mason, for the North Star.

" Come, boys," said Mason, " hurry up and get into the boat, while I untie the painter."

One after another, the boys fairly tumbled into the boat, while Jack reached for the oars, and Allie began to bail out the water that had soaked into it during the night. A moment later and Mason had thrown the painter into the boat, and, taking the extra oar, was soon with Jack pulling away from the land.

"Let's go to the North Star first," said Jack, "and get our things."

As this seemed to be the sentiment of all hands, the boat's 'head was turned toward the vessel. A short row sufficed to reach it, and the boys scrambled over the side in such haste that they fairly took Max by surprise, as he was coming up the forecastle.

" Savages ! " screamed Freddie, at the top of his voice. " On deck to repel boarders ! "

"All right," Max's pleasant voice laughingly replied, " I'll begin by repelling you." And grasping two of the boys by the shoulder with each hand, and forcing them against the third, pushed all three clear across the deck, in spite of their resistance, and pinned them in the corner of the lee scupper.

" There now," cried Max, laughing heartily, " I repel three of them."

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 105

The boys laughed in spite of themselves.

" We surrender," cried Jack.

" All right, gentlemens," said Max, " if you surrenders, you can come aboard."

"My gracious, Allie," said John; "I'd no idea Max was so strong ! He is so small I almost thought I could lick him myself."

"Hurry up," sounded a voice from the boat's side; and a wave brought Mason's head on a level with the vessel's gunwale.

In a moment the collecting gun was aboard, and the boys followed soon after. Hastily stowing a few hard- tack into the boat's cuddy, for a luncheon, in case of necessity, the oars were resumed, and the boat headed for one of a small group of islands just visible outside of the harbor.

Allie had his gun, with plenty of powder and shot; Jack had his revolver, which had been arranged so as to fasten to a false butt or handle, thus appearing like a small rifle ; John carried two pails for eggs ; and Freddie the egg hook with another pail, and a small can for flowers. Thus fitted out, the boys rowed for the island. They had not rowed far before Mason suddenly dropped his oar, and, seizing his gun, rushed to the bow of the boat ; a moment, and bang went the gun.

" Have you got him ? " shouted Freddie.

"Yes, I've got him, I think."

" What is it ? "

" It's a pigeon," said Mason.

" What's a pigeon, Mason ? " said Freddie ; but, as Mason was now busy aiming again, Jack answered :

"It's a pigeon, or black guillemot, and they are the quickest birds to dive there are, next to an old ssa duck ;

106 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

see, there he is again. Mason did not hit him the first time, and now he is going to try again."

Before Jack had finished speaking, bang went the gun again, and this time Mason dropped his gun, and, picking up the oar, began to row furiously.

" Lay in to it, Jack ; there she is ; we'll get her. I say, Allie ; you stand in the bow ready to pick her up."

Away sped the boat in the new direction, and in a few moments Allie had picked up the dead bird, and laid" it on the thwart of the boat, so the blood and water would drop from its plumage. This had hardly been accom- plished before Mason cried out:

" Say, Allie ; isn't your gun loaded ? There's another bird, just ahead. See it ? "

" Where ? Yes ; here's the gun," answered Allie.

" Try it yourself," said Mason. " Hurry up."

Allie, only too eager to try his luck, reached for his gun, and stood waiting for a shot.

" There he is ! Shoot as he dips his bill to feed," said Mason.

Allie took a quick aim and fired.

"There," said Jack, "killed him first shot."

A moment more and this second specimen was lying with the first, and the boat sped on. As no more birds appeared near by, Allie loaded his barrel again, and then loaded Mason's two barrels, that both guns might be in readiness for the next occasion. This soon arrived, for at that instant a huge gull soared directly over the boat, and Jack, catching up Mason's gun, fired at it. The huge bird, doubling up its wrings, and turning over and over several times, shot downward like an arrow. The boys ducked their heads, by a natural impulse, as the gull landed, with a thwack, in the very center of the boat.

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 107

"Phew-ew!" whistled Freddie, "I thought he'd hit me, sure ! "

It seemed rather strange, but everybody confessed to having the same feeling. Mason picked up the bird and said :

" It's a fresh water gull."

" That's what we call a glaucus or ice gull," said Allie.

"And this," said Mason, seizing his gun and discharg- ing the remaining loaded barrel at a bird which was flying close to the water, just across the bow of the boat, " is an eider duck, and a male at that."

It was, indeed, a beautiful bird, with a mixture of dark and white plumage ; but what excited the boys' admiration the most was the beautiful white puffy cheeks, tinged with pea green ; but there was no time to examine it carefully, for its mate soon flew by, and Allie successfully brought her down with his left barrel, which still remained loaded. Thus the boys loaded and fired, again and again, until they reached the island with every available dry space in their boat crowded with dead birds, all laid out carefully, that the blood might drip from mouth and plumage, and that their feathers might dry, so that Allie — who was already quite an adept at taxidermy — might skin them, previous to tak- ing them home and stuffing them for his collection.

After much excitement and a great many attempts the boat reached the island; Mason then drew her around into a small cove, formed by the curving of some large bowlders, where she would not rock, ana moored her. All hands jumped 011 shore, with their bag, cans, and pails, and deposited them on the beach, in a bunch of grass, just above high water mark. As the island was not very large, and rather high and

108 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

rocky, making it difficult traveling with so many arti- cles, it was decided first to go egging, then ascend to the higher part of the island, collecting flowers and other specimens ; so off all hands started, with pails and egg hook, — while the birds flew about in countless thousands, above, and around them.

Mason was already down on his hands and knees, dig- ging into a huge cleft of the rocks, from which he had just hauled out, by the legs, three birds, and was after the fourth, while two or three times as many eggs lay within reach close by. John had started to help him, but had fallen upon a large nest of most beautiful light down, full of eider duck eggs ; this he was trying to take home as it was, so he stowed it into the bottom of his pail and threw some grass over it, before putting in anything else ; but John did not stop here. A little distance far- ther was another nest, but of a far different character from that of the first, being small, of fine grass stems, and deeply set into a hollow in the center of a clump of grass, and containing five longish eggs, spotted or rather blotched with light brown spots, some of which were of a faint lilac tint. While John was examining the prize, Mason came by.

" Well, now you have got a prize . That is one of our little white-headed sparrows," he said.

At that instant a small bird, apparently the owner of the nest, flew by and lighted close to where the boys were. John could see that it was a small sparrow-like bird, with alternate white and black stripes down its head.

"Why, that is what Allie calls the white-crowned sparrow," he said. " It lives here in Labrador, and is one of the most common of small birds."

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 109

" You ought to hear it sing," said Mason.

Just then Allie's gun was heard, and a moment later Allie himself came running to where Mason and John were, with a tremendously large bird in his hands, strug- gling fiercely the while.

"I shot him all myself, boys," he shouted.

"Well, you've got an old saddler now," said Mason. " Bring it here, let's kill him first."

The wounded bird was soon put out of its misery, and then laid down and stretched out upon the grass. It was an immense bird of the gull tribe, and had an entirely white plumage, excepting that the back and wings above were pure bluish black. It measured some- what over four feet from tip to tip, and was the most beautiful specimen they had yet seen.

" Oh, what a beauty ! " and Allie fairly danced with pleasure, as he viewed the magnificent bird. " I'll stuff him for Eva," said he.

" Yes ; and she can take the old house off from her paper-rack, and you can mount him on that," added John. " But what has Freddie got ? See, here he comes."

On came Freddie, with a huge object dangling upon a stick over his shoulder.

"See what I've got, boys," he shouted, at the same time displaying the object, by lifting the stick from his shoulder. " See him ; there's more here, too."

" Why, it's a lobster ; as sure as I'm alive," and Jack, who spoke, whistled a little snatch of a most curious song, which he said meant " a dozen more at low tide."

At this all hands laughed heartily, and then, taking up their burdens, hastened to deposit them in the boat. Jack emptied his bucket, which was full of eggs, in the

110 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

bailing bucket of the boat ; John placed his nests in the cuddy, and Allie placed his bird on a thwart with the others ; then he carefully plugged their mouths and nos- trils with cotton, wiped the blood and water from them, and left them to dry. All hands now started off once more, for eggs, and soon the pails were filled with every variety that could be found upon the island. Several very perfect sets of eider ducks' eggs, with their beauti- ful downy nests, were kept separate from the others, as were also those of several gulls, of each of the three species found on the island : the herring gull ; the glau- cus, ice, or burgomaster gull; and the great black backed gull, or coffin-carrier. Several sets of pigeon or black guillemots' eggs were found ; and in the grass near a little pond were discovered the nest and eggs of a " shell bird," as Mason called it, or shell drake. Thus loaded, with their buckets full of all sorts of varieties of eggs, the boys once more started for the boat, where they left their burdens, and then, with botany can and collect- ing bottles, started to see what fresh specimens they could secure.

" I declare," said John, sitting down on top of a large, flat stone, " I'm tired already."

" I guess we all are," added Allie. " I'm as tired as if I'd been tramping all day, or digging a railroad, and I don't believe it is anywhere near noon yet."

John looked at his watch, and reported it as " only a quarter of eleven."

" Let's have a lunch," said Mason.

" What have we got to eat ? " asked Allie.

" Oh, you boys make a fire, and I'll quickly get you enough to eat."

The boys set to in a hurry, even Freddie helping to

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. Ill

collect wood for the fire. . For this purpose each followed the line of the shore for drift-wood — there being appar- ently no other on the island — and soon all were return- ing with enough to boil the can — the can being nothing else than the tin bailing bucket of the boat, full of salt water.

" Now where are the matches ? " asked Mason. Every- body looked at everybody else in perfect amazement. Of course nobody had any.

Mason went to the boat again, and, after fumbling for some time in the cuddy, produced a small match safe, wrapped in oil-cloth, to keep it waterproof, from which he extracted several, and then re-wrapping the bundle, put it back in the cuddy.

" All right, boys ; here's for the fire ! " shouted Mason.

In a moment a good blazing fire was crackling and curling up towards the sky, or rather towards the bot- tom of the tin bailing bucket, which was filled with water, containing half a dozen auks' eggs, and tied to a stick, the two ends of which Allie and Freddie were holding.

" Oh, my ; how hot it is ! " cried Allie. " John, come and take my end for a few minutes, do."

" And Jack, come and take mine, will you ? " put in Freddie.

A moment later, and both John and Jack were as eagerly crying for Allie and Freddie to come and take the stick again. So it continued until the pot boiled, and the eggs were " hard enough to cut," as Mason said.

The boys had no butter or salt for their eggs, but they tasted "just as good as if there were all the fixings on them that we ever have," said Freddie.

" Yes, and a great deal better," added Mason.

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" What is it about fames bene condensum est ? " asked Allie.

" Oh, dear," laughed John, " if you ever go to college, Allie, I guess you'll take the Latin prize. Condimentum est, you mean."

" Oh, yes, that's it ; ' fames bene condimentum est,' or beans are a famous condiment," Allie replied.

" Where are the beans ? " asked Freddie, very inno- cently, looking up from his egg.

" You don't know beans, I guess," said Jack.

" How do you like your eggs ? " asked Mason.

"They're splendid; I wish we had some more, and that it was dinner time," said Allie.

" You can have as many of them as you like ; they are all around you," and Mason laughed heartily at his own sally.

It now became necessary for the boys to start, if they expected to do any further exploring before noon, or rather before afternoon, as, in these latitudes, it was observed that the greatest heat, during the day, was not directly at noon, but at some time between one and two o'clock. The reason for this, the boys had, as yet, failed to ascertain ; since the professor, whom they had asked, had put them off with a " hunt it out for yourselves in your physical geographies." Jack Ready, when the boys were talking the matter over between them, insisted that it must have been so arranged to give the Esquimaux the proper time between breakfast and dinner, since they got up so late mornings. Freddie said that he guessed that the reason was, that they were so far north that the sun didn't get time to get there by noon.

While the boys were thus chatting on about the mys- terious reasons for the difference in temperature between

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 113

the different latitudes, they were gathering together their collecting implements, and they now started on with re- newed zeal.

" What are all these little things on the rocks ? " asked Freddie. " See ; they are old and broken. Here is a fresh one, just broken ; but all the insides are gone."

" The gulls leave them," said Jack.

" Gulls ! " exclaimed Allie. " How do they do that ? "

"Why, they eat them," said Mason. "They dive down, from a great height, and pick them up, then fly away up in the air with them, and then let them drop ; the distance is so great that the shell is broken ; then the gull alights and eats the contents."

" How strange ! " exclaimed all the boys.

At that moment a large gull arose from near where the boys were, and flew lazily off.

" Come, let's see where he came from," cried Allie ; and off they were in a minute to the spot.

" Here's one that that gull had just been eating," con- tinued Allie.

Sure enough, there were the remnants of a large, fresh animal that the gull had evidently just been feed- ing upon.

" What are they, anyway ? " said Allie.

" They are called echini, or sea urchin," replied John, acting for once as a professor, " because the Latin echi- nus means a hedgehog. When rolled up, with all its spines bristling out, it looks like one of these animals."

The specimen was of a green color, covered completely, save a small spot beneath, with long, sharp spines. The boys saved two or three fine large specimens, and then continued their search.

Meanwhile, the botany can was fast being filled with

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plants, and John had filled a small can with seaweeds of various kinds, which he intended mounting and arranging on cards, when he should reach home.

Just then a sharp, shrill screech announced that Jack had fired his revolver at something.

" Oh, come quick ! " he cried : " I've hit him ! Where's the boat ? "

" You've hit what ? " said Mason, who happened to be near by.

" A seal ! " replied Jack.

"I don't believe that you hurt him much," laughed Mason.

" Yes, I did ; I sunk him."

"No doubt about that," again laughed Mason. "See, there he is laughing at you."

At that moment the seal raised his head from the water, this time somewhat nearer in towards shore, and showing a sleek black head, with eyes almost human, turned it slowly from side to side as he surveyed the prospect on either side of him.

" Keep perfectly still, now," whispered Mason. " There he dives. Follow me and do as I do."

Mason ran along the shore to a ledge of rocks, quite near to the water, and then crouched behind it. Then, telling the boys to be cautious and only to show the tops of their heads, he got up and threw himself at full length upon the rock. A moment more and the seal reappeared. Then Mason began a queer sort of a noise, resembling a deep hollow sounding of the word wow-wow-wow, uttered several times, somewhat like the barking of a dog. The seal took a long look and ducked his head again ; in a minute he reappeared, this time several rods nearer the boys. In this way the animal was fairly tolled almost

COLLECTING SPECIMENS. 115

up to a large rock, just a little way from shore, in the water.

"Now," whispered Mason, "if I had a good rifle I might kill him."

Arriving here, the seal took a long look about him, and then dived again.

"All up now," cried Mason, springing up.

" Where's he gone to ? " said all the boys at once.

" Way out to sea, with a long dive," replied Mason.

True enough. About ten minutes after, and the seal's head could just be distinguished way out in the distance, half a mile at sea. Jack fired a parting shot at him, and afterwards was heartily laughed at for having " sunk a seal " with a small twenty-two bore revolver.

As it was now noon in earnest, the boys returned to the boat, made a fire, drew out the luncheon, cooked more eggs, and sat down to a regular feast.

Tke boys had hardly sat down, before Mason grasped Allie's shot-gun, and started off for a point of rocks near the water, a little distance off. A moment later a sharp crack was heard, and he came running back to the boat, and, calling to Allie to jump in, he hastily pushed off and then got in himself. Taking an oar, he sculled the boat around the point, and soon picked up two dead ducks, which he had shot from a small flock which he had seen about to pass that way when he ran away with Allie's gun.

" Hurrah, boys ! " shouted Allie, from the point. " Put on more wood ; roast duck for dinner."

He was answered by a cheer, and soon the fire was roaring and crackling in a great style.

Before the boat had reached shore, Allie had thrown the ducks to Jack, and he and Freddie had them picked

WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

and cleaned in a trice. Mason then spitted them, and hung them over the fire to roast, and soon they were sputtering away almost equal to the spruce fire beneath them.

"This is what I call fun," said John, warming his hands over the genial blaze. " It beats Robinson Crusoe all hollow."

"Yes, we can get home if we want to, and he couldn't." put in Freddie.

AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 117

CHAPTER VIII.

AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN.

THE island on which the boys were encamped was not large, though it was rather high. It stood some distance out to sea, from the main coast ; yet it was con- nected at low tide, by a sand bar, to a rocky point of land that stretched out, with a similar bar, to meet it. A simple, small channel of water only divided the two bars of sand. On the north and west side of the island the low beach was almost clear sand, sloping gradually. Above, the sand was overgrown with grasses and a few flowers. Still farther up came a huge mass of rocks, piled hither and thither, in all possible confu- sion. On the right, a high eminence presented almost perpendicular cliffs, on the south, to the very water's edge. At dead-low tide, the boys could wade around this, but only then.

On the southeast and east the land sloped to the water, but was everywhere rocks, with little or no sand ; these rocks extended a long distance into the water, in several distinct reefs. Between these points of rocks were channels of deep water. From the west these ridges of rock grew gradually, each higher than the other, till they finally ran into the rocky shore, close in toward the island, on the northeast.

The boys had established themselves by a large angu- lar rock, just north and at the base of the highest portion

118 WRECKED ON LABRADOR.

of the island. Here they had made their fire, and here they were seated, quietly enjoying their noon meal, quite uninterruptedly.

" Well, boys ! " exclaimed Jack ; " have you done enough for to-day ? "

" Done enough ! Why, Jack, we haven't but just begun ! " said Allie. " I heard Freddie say something, only a minute ago, about beginning all over again; didn't you, Freddie ? "

" I said that I would like to begin all over again. It's like reading a nice book. I always like to read it two or three times."

" Perhaps you do," said Jack ; " but I always like to take another, and then find that the last was better than the first. So now I'd like best to find some new excite- ment."

"I'd just like to see a herd of seal, as Mason tells about," said John.

" While you are all expressing your opinions," Mason added, " I'll express mine by going to work under these rocks, and seeing how many lobsters I can find under- neath them. I'd like to take home a good mess, first rate ! "

" What ! find lobsters under these rocks ? " asked Freddie ; " how do you do it ? "

" I'll soon show you how."

And Mason went to the boat again, took from the cuddy a large cod hook and some stout twine, and re- turned to the rocks. Then he walked along the shore, for quite a distance, until he had found a large, slender pole ; this too he returned with, then he sat down, and, with his knife, whittled a groove in the small end of the pole, on the side. Placing the hook in this groove, the

AN UNEXPECTED SPECIMEN. 119

point away from the rest of the stick, he proceeded, by means of the twine, to lash it firmly to the stick.

" Here,