CHAPTER XXI.
THE BOYS AND THE WIDOW.
Monday morning Charlie went over with the boys to the main land.
“I know the first thing I’ll have to do,” said John, as they neared theshore; “wash these fish and put them on the flakes.”
“We’ll help you,” said Charlie; “it’s a short job for all three of us;and you know we’ve promised to help Uncle Isaac dig potatoes one day,because he shot the arrow into the milk-pail; and to help him cut andhaul some wood to Mrs. Yelf. Then these fish are to be taken to her.”
“I calculate to do my part of it,” replied John.
“So do I,” said Fred.
“I should like to know,” said Charlie, “when he wants us to come,before I go back. I am going over to see.”
Charlie had other reasons for wishing to see Uncle Isaac, which he keptto himself.
When they were building the ark, Uncle Isaac had taken much pains toteach him to hew. Charlie knew there was a great deal of small timberin the barn frame--braces, purlins, and sleepers--that he could hew aswell as anybody; and, now that he had a little money, was very anxiousto have a broad-axe of his own, that he might help hew the barn frame.Uncle Isaac told him there was a vessel going to Salem with timber, andhe would send by the captain, who was a relative of his, and get onefor him, and then grind it for him, and put in a good white-oak handle,and bend it just right. The handle of a broad-axe is bent, that theperson who uses it may strike close to the timber without hitting hisknuckles. He could not then tell the precise day when he should wantthem, but he would get John to hang a white cloth out of the garretwindow, as a signal, to come the next morning, or, if that was stormy,the first fair day.
Charlie and Ben had been so fully occupied during the summer, theyhad not caught a single fish to dry for winter; so Charlie now busiedhimself in fishing, while Ben continued to hew the timber for the barn,which was to be very large.
Every time Charlie went out fishing, he comforted himself with thethought of what a good time he would have when he got his new sail, andhis canoe painted, which he did not intend to do till he hauled herup for the winter. He met with no squalls this autumn, for when theweather looked at all unsettled he could work with Ben in the woods,and fall down the large pines for him to hew, which he dearly loved todo; and, as it took a long time to hew out a large stick of timber, hehad ample time to cut them down and trim them out. He also, after thetimber was hewn, hauled it on to the spot, except the largest sticks,which were left to be hauled on the snow.
A cat never watched more narrowly for a mouse than our Charlie forthe white cloth in Captain Rhines’s garret window; but day after daypassed, and no signal rewarded his anxious watch.
“Mother,” said he, after more than ten days had elapsed, “perhaps UncleIsaac has forgotten his promise, and he and the other boys have dug thepotatoes.”
“Charlie, what time is it high water to-morrow?”
“Nine o’clock, mother.”
“But perhaps the tide will forget to come up.”
“O, mother! that’s impossible.”
“Well, when the tide forgets to flow, Uncle Isaac will forget hispromise.”
The next day, as Charlie was coming home from fishing, about twoo’clock, he thought there was something white in Captain Rhines’swindow. The moment he landed, he scampered to the house to look throughthe glass. Sure enough, there was the signal.
“John meant you should see it,” said Sally, “for he has got hismother’s great table-cloth that father Rhines bought in Europe.”
“That means for me to come over in the morning, if it’s fair weather;if not, the first pleasant day.”
“You had better go to-night; perhaps it may blow hard to-morrow, and bea fair day, too.”
“I will, mother, as soon as I split and salt my fish.”
“I’ll salt them; you split them, and start right off, and you’ll getover there to supper. I’ll have a luncheon for you by the time you getthem split.”
The boys found that Uncle Isaac had his potatoes so nearly dug, that,with their help, he finished them in a day, thus completing hisharvest. He now had leisure to haul the widow’s wood.
The next day the boys went over and dug her potatoes, and threshed somebeans and peas, which she had pulled and dried herself. In the meantime Uncle Isaac, and two more of the neighbors, went and chopped somewood, and the next day hauled it to her. The tears of gratitude and joystreamed down the old lady’s cheeks at the kindness of her neighbors.The only remaining work to be done, was to take the fish, which werein Captain Rhines’s shed, nicely cured, to Mrs. Yelf. The boys feltbashful about carrying them, and wanted Uncle Isaac to do it.
“I should like to catch myself doing it! you caught and cured them, andrun some risk in doing it, and ought to, and shall have, the credit ofit.”
“We will haul them over, and carry them into the house,” said John,“and do all the work, but you go to the door and give them to her.”
“And let her thank me for them? I shan’t do any such thing; you must goyourselves, like men; it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but something tobe proud of; anybody would think you’d been stealing.”
Unable to prevail with Uncle Isaac, they put the fish in the cart, andset out. When in sight of the house they stopped for consultation.
“You go to the door and knock, Fred,” said John.
“I’m sure I can’t; I never spoke to her in my life. It’s your place togo; it’s your cart and oxen.”
“You go, Charlie, that’s a good fellow.”
“O, I don’t think I’m the one to go at all, John. I’m a stranger inthese parts, and don’t know her, nor the ways of the people here.”
John, ordinarily so resolute, and the leader in all enterprises,blushed like a girl, and seemed quite frightened.
“What shall I say?” he inquired of his companions, who were by no meansbackward in telling him what to say, as long as they had not to say itthemselves.
“You get out! you make it too long; I can’t say half of that.”
John went to the door and knocked, while the others hid behind thecart. The old lady knew John right well; he had been there on many anerrand of mercy, sent by his mother.
“Fred Williams, Charlie Bell, and me, he stammered out, have broughtyou some dry fish; we expect they are first rate, because Uncle Isaacslack-salted them, and told us how to cure them.”
Now, Mrs. Yelf was very deaf, and as John, being diffident, spoke lowand quick, she heard nothing distinctly but the name of Uncle Isaac,and took it for granted that he had given her the fish. After showingthe boys where to put them, she expressed her most unbounded gratitudeto Uncle Isaac, begging the boys to thank him for her; thanked them forbringing them, and would not let them go till they had eaten a custardpie and some seed cakes.
“I should know Mr. Williams’s son, for I can see his father’s looks inhim; but this other youngster quite beats me. Dear me, how young folksdo grow out of old people’s knowledge!”
“This,” said John, “is Charlie Bell; he’s an English boy, and liveswith our Ben on Elm Island.”
“I remember now hearing Hannah Murch tell about him; she said he wasa nice, steady boy, and that Ben and Sally set great store by him. Helooks like a good boy.”
“He’s a real smart boy, too,” said John (giving Fred a punch under thetable); “he catches all the fish they eat, and a good many to sell, andhas made lots of baskets, and sent them to the West Indies by father.”
“Yes,” broke in Fred (who was by no means slow to take a hint), “andcut down an awful great pine, and made the canoe that we came over in,out of it.”
Under this cross-fire Charlie’s face grew red as a fire-coal, and hewas glad to escape from his tormentors by leaving the house.
When Uncle Isaac found what turn matters had taken, he was thoroughlyvexed, and went directly to explain, and set the affair right. The goodlady was no less troubled to find what a blunder she had made, andset off fo
r Captain Rhines’s, to thank John in person, and ask him toapologize for her to the others.
John and Fred went home, but Uncle Isaac insisted upon Charlie’sstaying with him all night. After supper he produced Charlie’sbroad-axe, with a good white-oak handle, and nicely ground; he alsogave him an excellent whetstone, which he told him came from the Gut ofCanso. Charlie had now a favorable opportunity to consult him about amatter that had occupied his thoughts from the moment he found himselfin possession of a little money.
“Uncle Isaac,” said he, “mother hasn’t got any crane; all the way shehangs her pot over the fire is by a birch withe, with a chain at theend; and sometimes it burns off above the chain: the other day itbroke, and liked to have scalded the baby to death. I want to get her acrane,--hooks and trammels all complete,--and put it in the fireplacebefore she knows anything of it.”
“The first thing to be considered is, whether you ought to spend yourmoney in this way; if you spend all you earn, you will never haveanything.”
“Don’t think that I don’t know the value of money,--misery has taughtme that; but what would have become of me if mother had not taken mein? for it was all her doings. When the island is paid for, I shallbegin to look out for myself. Will anybody have to send to Boston toget one?”
“Send to Boston! Peter Brock, the blacksmith, can make it.”
“And what will it all cost--hooks and trammels?”
Charlie was delighted to find that it came within his means. He saidnothing to Uncle Isaac of the Indian relics, meaning to show them tohim when he came on the island, but told him about the paint.
“The Indians used to get it there,” said Uncle Isaac, “to paint theirfaces red, when they went on the war-path.”
“It isn’t red--it’s yellow.”
“But if you heat it, it will become red.”
“It will?”
“Yes. Put a little in a skillet, and heat it gradually, so as not toscorch it, and it will turn red.”
“How glad I am! now I can have _two_ colors--red and yellow--to paintmy canoe. Don’t tell John--will you? I want to astonish him.”
“He won’t ask me; he isn’t such an inquiring, thinking, contrivingcritter as you are. You can have another color--black.”
“Yes; if I could send to Salem and buy lampblack.”
“You can make it right on the island.”
“Make it?”
“Yes; it’s nothing but ‘sut.’ Get a whole lot of pitch wood, and burnit in some tight thing, so as to keep in the smoke; the black willstick to the sides, and you can scrape it off, as good lampblack as youcan buy, and better than half of it.”
“We have got plenty of oil,--hake, cod, and seal.”
“I wouldn’t use _that_; it is almost impossible to make it dry; you canget linseed oil at the store.”
Wonderfully delighted with this discovery, Charlie borrowed a jug,procured his oil, some cloth to make a sail for his canoe, and wentback determined to create a sensation both at home and abroad. He hidthe oil in his house, and kept all the knowledge he had obtained asecret in his own breast.
How he astonished John and Fred, when he appeared out in hiscanoe,--how he was astonished himself by obtaining, in a mostunexpected manner, three more colors, with many more adventures, weshall inform our readers in the next volume. They will also want toknow how it fared with Captain Rhines and the Ark; and whether Ben wasbenefited or ruined by his great speculation; and how Charlie came outwith his baskets, turnips, and chickens.
AMERICAN BOYS’ SERIES
The books selected for this series are all thoroughly American, bysuch favorite American authors of boys’ books as Oliver Optic, ElijahKellogg, Prof. James DeMille, and others, now made for the first timeat a largely reduced price, in order to bring them within the reach ofall. Each volume complete in itself.
UNIFORM CLOTH BINDING ILLUSTRATED NEW AND ATTRACTIVE DIES Price per volume $1.00
1. ADRIFT IN THE ICE FIELDS By Capt. Chas. W. Hall
2. ALL ABOARD or Life on the Lake By Oliver Optic
3. ARK OF ELM ISLAND By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
4. ARTHUR BROWN THE YOUNG CAPTAIN By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
5. BOAT CLUB, THE, or the Bunkers of Rippleton By Oliver Optic
6. BOY FARMERS OF ELM ISLAND, THE By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
7. BOYS OF GRAND PRÉ SCHOOL By Prof. James DeMille
8. “B. O. W. C.”, THE By Prof. James DeMille
9. BROUGHT TO THE FRONT or the Young Defenders By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
10. BURYING THE HATCHET or the Young Brave of the Delawares By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
11. CAST AWAY IN THE COLD By Dr. Isaac I. Hayes
12. CHARLIE BELL THE WAIF OF ELM ISLAND By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
13. CHILD OF THE ISLAND GLEN By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
14. CROSSING THE QUICKSANDS By Samuel W. Cozzens
15. CRUISE OF THE CASCO By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
16. FIRE IN THE WOODS By Prof. James DeMille
17. FISHER BOYS OF PLEASANT COVE By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
18. FOREST GLEN or the Mohawk’s Friendship By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
19. GOOD OLD TIMES By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
20. HARD-SCRABBLE OF ELM ISLAND By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
21. HASTE OR WASTE or the Young Pilot of Lake Champlain By Oliver Optic
22. HOPE AND HAVE By Oliver Optic
23. IN SCHOOL AND OUT or the Conquest of Richard Grant By Oliver Optic
24. JOHN GODSOE’S LEGACY By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
25. JUST HIS LUCK By Oliver Optic
26. LION BEN OF ELM ISLAND By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
27. LITTLE BY LITTLE or the Cruise of the Flyaway By Oliver Optic
28. LIVE OAK BOYS or the Adventures of Richard Constable Afloat and Ashore By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
29. LOST IN THE FOG By Prof. James DeMille
30. MISSION OF BLACK RIFLE or On the Trail By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
31. NOW OR NEVER or the Adventures of Bobby Bright By Oliver Optic
32. POOR AND PROUD or the Fortunes of Kate Redburn By Oliver Optic
33. RICH AND HUMBLE or the Mission of Bertha Grant By Oliver Optic
34. SOPHOMORES OF RADCLIFFE or James Trafton and His Boston Friends By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
35. SOWED BY THE WIND or the Poor Boy’s Fortune By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
36. SPARK OF GENIUS or the College Life of James Trafton By Elijah Kellogg
37. STOUT HEART or the Student from Over the Sea By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
38. STRONG ARM AND A MOTHER’S BLESSING By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
39. TREASURE OF THE SEA By Prof. James DeMille
40. TRY AGAIN or the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West By Oliver Optic
41. TURNING OF THE TIDE or Radcliffe Rich and his Patients By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
42. UNSEEN HAND or James Renfew and His Boy Helpers By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
43. WATCH AND WAIT or the Young Fugitives By Oliver Optic
44. WHISPERING PINE or the Graduates of Radcliffe By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
45. WINNING HIS SPURS or Henry Morton’s First Trial By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
46. WOLF RUN or the Boys of the Wilderness By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
47. WORK AND WIN or Noddy Newman on a Cruise By Oliver Optic
48. YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
49. YOUNG SHIPBUILDERS OF ELM ISLAND By Rev. Elijah Kellogg
50. YOUNG TRAIL HUNTERS By Samuel W. Cozzens
LEE and SHEPARD Publishers Boston
_AMERICAN BOYS’ SERIES_
ADDED IN 1900
In 1899 we increased this immensely popular series of choicecopyrighted books by representative American writers for the young tofifty titles. In 1900 we added the ten following well-known books,making an important addition to an alre
ady strong list:
51. =Field and Forest= or The Fortunes of a Farmer By Oliver Optic
52. =Outward Bound= or Young America Afloat By Oliver Optic
53. =The Soldier Boy= or Tom Somers in the Army By Oliver Optic
54. =The Starry Flag= or The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann By Oliver Optic
55. =Through by Daylight= or The Young Engineer of the Lake Shore Railroad By Oliver Optic
56. =Cruises with Captain Bob around the Kitchen Fire= By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)
57. =The Double-Runner Club= or The Lively Boys of Rivertown By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)
58. =Ike Partington and His Friends= or The Humors of a Human Boy By B. P. Shillaber (Mrs. Partington)
59. =Locke Amsden the Schoolmaster= By Judge D. P. Thompson
60. =The Rangers= By Judge D. P. Thompson
ADDED IN 1901
This year we still further increase this list, which has becomestandard throughout the country, by adding the ever-popular “GreenMountain Boys” and four volumes of “Oliver Optic,” “All Over the WorldLibrary,” especially timely books in view of the present interest inAsiatic matters.
61. =The Green Mountain Boys= By Judge D. P. Thompson
62. =A Missing Million= or The Adventures of Louis Belgrave By Oliver Optic
63. =A Millionaire at Sixteen= or The Cruise of the “Guardian Mother” By Oliver Optic
64. =A Young Knight Errant= or Cruising in the West Indies By Oliver Optic
65. =Strange Sights Abroad= or Adventures in European Waters By Oliver Optic
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston
Transcriber’s Note
Punctuation has been standardised.
Some words were obscured in the original publication on pages 277 and278--these have been changed according to the earlier 1868 publicationby the same publisher as follows:
Page 277 If I should go alone (alone obscured)
Page 278 beach, which, after Hannah (beach obscured)
Otherwise, spelling has been retained as published except as follows:
Page 15 held him as in a vice _changed to_ held him as in a vise
Page 104 cutting a man’s head of _changed to_ cutting a man’s head off
Page 147 if you heave her too _changed to_ if you heave her to
Page 242 out of your gripe _changed to_ out of your grip Page 267 Is’nt this good? _changed to_ Isn’t this good?
Page 326 20. HARDSCRABBLE OF ELM ISLAND _changed to_ 20. HARD-SCRABBLE OF ELM ISLAND
Number 32 in the list of books or the Fortunes or _changed to_ or the Fortunes of
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