Lost in the Fog

James De Mille

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• Publié par: ibbo
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 31
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost in the Fog, by James De Mille This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Lost in the Fog Author: James De Mille Posting Date: August 11, 2009 [EBook #4506] Release Date: October, 2003 First Posted: January 27, 2002 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST IN THE FOG *** Produced by Charles Aldarondo. HTML version by Al Haines. LOST IN THE FOG by JAMES DE MILLE 1870 I II III XI XII XIII XXI XXII IV XIV V XV VI VII VIII IX X XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX I. Old Acquaintances gather around old Scenes.—Antelope, ahoy!—How are you, Solomon?—Round-about Plan of a round about Voyage.—The Doctor warns, rebukes, and remonstrates, but, alas! in vain.—It must be done.—Beginning of a highly eventful Voyage. It was a beautiful morning, in the month of July, when a crowd of boys assembled on the wharf of Grand Pre. The tide was high, the turbid waters of Mud Creek flowed around, a fresh breeze blew, and if any craft was going to sea she could not have found a better time. The crowd consisted chiefly of boys, though a few men were mingled with them. These boys were from Grand Pre School, and are all old acquaintances. There was the stalwart frame of Bruce, the Roman face of Arthur, the bright eyes of Bart, the slender frame of Phil, and the earnest glance of Tom. There, too, was Pat's merry smile, and the stolid look of Bogud, and the meditative solemnity of Jiggins, not to speak of others whose names need not be mentioned. Amid the crowd the face of Captain Corbet was conspicuous, and the dark visage of Solomon, while that of the mate was distinguishable in the distance. To all these the good schooner Antelope formed the centre of attraction, and also of action. It was on board of her that the chief bustle took place, and towards her that all eyes were turned. The good schooner Antelope had made several voyages during the past few months, and now presented herself to the eye of the spectator not much changed from her former self. A fine fresh coat of coal tar had but recently ornamented her fair exterior, while a coat of whitewash inside the hold had done much to drive away the odor of the fragrant potato. Rigging and sails had been repaired as well as circumstances would permit, and in the opinion of her gallant captain she was eminently seaworthy. On the present occasion things bore the appearance of a voyage. Trunks were passed on board and put below, together with coats, cloaks, bedding, and baskets of provisions. The deck was strewn about with the multifarious requisites of a ship's company. The Antelope, at that time, seemed in part an emigrant vessel, with a dash of the yacht and the coasting schooner. In the midst of all this, two gentlemen worked their way through the crowd to the edge of the wharf. "Well, boys," said one, "well, captain, what's the meaning of all this?" Captain Corbet started at this, and looked up from a desperate effort to secure the end of one of the sails. "Why, Dr. Porter!" said he; "why, doctor!—how d'ye do?—and Mr. Long, too! —why, railly!" The boys also stopped their work, and looked towards their teachers with a little uneasiness. "What's all this?" said Dr. Porter, looking around with a smile; "are you getting up another expedition?" "Wal, no," said Captain Corbet, "not 'xactly; fact is, we're kine o' goin to take a vyge deoun the bay." "Down the bay?" "Yes. You see the boys kine o' want to go home by water, rayther than by land." "By water! Home by water!" repeated Mr. Long, doubtfully. "Yes," said Captain Corbet; "an bein as the schewner was in good repair, an corked, an coal-tarred, an whitewashed up fust rate, I kine o' thought it would redound to our mootooil benefit if we went off on sich a excursion,—bein pleasanter, cheaper, comfortabler, an every way preferable to a land tower." "Hem," said Dr. Porter, looking uneasily about. "I don't altogether like it. Boys, what does it all mean?" Thus appealed to, Bart became spokesman for the boys. "Why, sir," said he, "we thought we'd like to go home by water—that's all." "Go home by water!" repeated the doctor once more, with a curious smile. "Yes, sir." "What? by the Bay of Fundy?" "Yes, sir." "Who are going?" "Well, sir, there are only a few of us. Bruce, and Arthur, and Tom, and Phil, and Pat, besides myself." "Bruce and Arthur?" said the doctor; "are they going home by the Bay of Fundy?" "Yes, sir," said Bart, with a smile. "I don't see how they can get to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Prince Edward's Island from the Bay of Fundy," said the doctor, "without going round Nova Scotia, and that will be a journey of many hundred miles." "O, no, sir," said Bruce; "we are going first to Moncton." "O, is that the idea?" "Yes, sir." "And where will you go from Moncton?" "To Shediac, and then home." "And are you going to Newfoundland by that route, Tom?" asked the doctor. "Yes, sir," said Tom, gravely. "From Shediac?" "Yes, sir." "I never knew before that there were vessels going from Shediac to Newfoundland." "O, I'm going to Prince Edward's Island first, sir, with Bruce and Arthur," said Tom. "I'll find my way home from there." The doctor smiled. "I'm afraid you'll find it a long journey before you reach home. Won't your friends be anxious?" "O, no, sir. I wrote that I wanted to visit Bruce and Arthur, and they gave me leave." "And you, Phil, are you going home by the Antelope?" "Yes, sir." "You are going exactly in a straight line away from it." "Am I, sir?" "Of course you are. This isn't the way to Chester." "Well, sir, you see I'm going to visit Bart at St. John." "O, I understand. And that is your plan, then?" "Yes, sir," said Bart. "Pat is going too." "Where are you going first?" "First, sir, we will sail to the Petitcodiac River, and go up it as far as Moncton, where Bruce, and Arthur, and Tom will leave us." "And then?" "Then we will go to St. John, where Phil, and Pat, and I will leave her. Solomon, too, will leave her there." "Solomon!" cried the doctor. "What! Solomon! Is Solomon going? Why, what can I do without Solomon? Here! Hallo!—Solomon! What in the world's the meaning of all this?" Thus summoned, Solomon came forth from the cabin, into which he had dived at the first appearance of the doctor. His eyes were downcast, his face was demure, his attitude and manner were abject. "Solomon," said the doctor, "what's this I hear? Are you going to St. John?" "Ony temp'ly, sah—jist a leetle visit, sah," said Solomon, very humbly, stealing looks at the boys from his downcast eyes. "But what makes you go off this way without asking, or letting me know?" "Did I, sah?" said Solomon, rolling his eyes up as though horrified at his own wickedness; "the sakes now! Declar, I clean forgot it." "What are you going away for?" "Why, sah, for de good oh my helf. Docta vises sea vyge; sides, I got frens in St. John, an business dar, what muss be tended to." "Well, well," said the doctor, "I suppose if you want to go you'll find reasons enough; but at the same time you ought to have let me known before." "Darsn't, sah," said Solomon. "Why not?" "Fraid you'd not let me go," said Solomon, with a broad grin, that instantly was suppressed by a demure cough. "Nonsense," said the doctor; and then turning away, he spoke a few words apart with Mr. Long. "Well, boys," said the doctor, at last, "this project of yours doesn't seem to me to be altogether safe, and I don't like to trust you in this way without anybody as a responsible guardian." Bart smiled. "O, sir," said he, "you need not be at all uneasy. All of us are accustomed to take care of ourselves; and besides, if you wanted a responsible guardian for us, what better one could be found than Captain Corbet?" The doctor and Mr. Long both shook their heads. Evidently neither of them attached any great importance to Captain Corbet's guardianship. "Did you tell your father how you were going?" asked the doctor, after a few further words with Mr. Long. "O, yes, sir; and he told me I might go. What's more, he promised to charter a schooner for me to cruise about with Phil and Pat after I arrived home." "And we got permission, too," said Bruce. "Indeed!" said the doctor. "That changes the appearance of things. I was afraid that it was a whim of your own. And now, one thing more,—how are you off for provisions? " "Wal, sir," said Captain Corbet, "I've made my calculations, an I think I've got enough. What I might fail in, the boys and Solomon have made up." "How is it, Solomon?" asked the doctor. Solomon grinned. "You sleep in the hold, I see," continued the doctor. "Yes, sir," said Bruce. "It's whitewashed, and quite sweet now. We'll only be on board two or three days at the farthest, and so it really doesn't much matter how we go." board two or three days at the farthest, and so it really doesn't much matter how we go." "Well, boys, I have no more to say; only take care of yourselves." With these words the doctor and Mr. Long bade them good by, and then walked away. The other boys, however, stood on the wharf waiting to see the vessel off. They themselves were all going to start for home in a few minutes, and were only waiting for the departure of the Antelope. This could not now be long delayed. The tide was high. The wind fresh and fair. The luggage, and provisions, and stores were all on board. Captain Corbet was at the helm. All was ready. At length the word was given, the lines were cast off; and the Antelope moved slowly round, and left the wharf amid the cheers of the boys. Farther and farther it moved away, then down the tortuous channel of Mud Creek, until at last the broad expanse of Minas Basin received them. For this voyage the preparations had been complete. It had first been thought