CHAPTER XIX.
A MOONLIGHT SAIL.
The alarm of the boys was in nowise decreased when they were unable todiscover a trace of the missing Ben. The clear water enabled them tolook far down into the depths, but only the rocks upon the bottom ofthe river could be seen. Their alarm had become consternation now, andthey glanced into each other's faces with an expression of fear, whichwas increased by the shouts of the girls on the dock and the calls ofthose who were still on the yacht.
As the boys changed the course of the skiff, Bert suddenly exclaimed,"Look at that, will you? See that canoe!"
The canoe in which Ben had capsized had been left to itself and wassteadily drifting toward the shore of the island. Suddenly it waslifted from the water, and the long form of Ben appeared as he carriedthe little craft upon his shoulders, his head still remainingconcealed beneath the boat.
Not heeding the shout which greeted his welcome appearance, Ben wadedashore, and after depositing his burden upon the bank, turned andquietly faced his companions.
His solemn manner, his dripping clothing, and above all the reliefwhich all felt at his escape caused the shouts to be renewed; but Benslowly approached the group of girls and said, "Miss Bessie, I'm readyto try it again. Shall we take the same course?"
"No, sir!" exclaimed that young lady. "You've frightened us almost todeath, and I'll not be responsible for your safety any more."
"But I was safe, perfectly safe," replied Ben, soberly. "I'm at homein the water, every time."
"It's a pity you're not more at home on it, then," replied Bessie,with a nervous little laugh. "How did you escape? Where were you?"
"Who, me? Why, I swam up under the canoe, it sheltered my delicateface from the sun, you see, and I just pushed it ashore."
The others had landed by this time, and although the boys joined inthe laughter, Ben could see that Mr. Clarke was annoyed by the trickhe had played.
"Go up to the house," said Mr. Clarke, quietly, "and I'll get you achange of clothing. But you ought never to play such a prank as thatagain. It's altogether too serious a matter. This water is so coldthat it is very easy for a man to be taken with a cramp in it, andsink before any aid could come to him. Don't do it again."
Ben, somewhat chagrined, made no reply, and followed Mr. Clarke to thehouse. When he reappeared he found his friends seated on the broadpiazza, and they hailed his coming with shrieks of laughter, for Benonce more had been compelled to don the garments of their host, and asthey were much too small for him, the sight he presented was ludicrousin the extreme.
"I think, Mr. Dallett," said one of the girls, "that you ought to buythat suit of Mr. Clarke. You don't know how becoming it is to you."
"No, I don't believe I do know," replied Ben, ruefully, glancing downat his wrists, which protruded several inches below his sleeves. "I'mnot just sure whether I wouldn't have felt better to have stayed outthere in the river."
"A trifle too short and a shaving too lean, But a _nice_ young man as ever was seen,"
murmured Bob.
Even Ben, and Mr. Clarke, who had now joined the group, were compelledto join in the laugh which followed, and soon the good nature of allwas apparently restored, Ben himself adding to the fun by thenonchalance with which he paraded in his "uniform" before the admiringgaze of the assembly.
After dinner had been served, the group returned to the piazza andseated themselves in the chairs, evidently at peace among themselvesand with all the world. The cottage, as has been said, was situated ona high bluff, and from it a view could be obtained of the majesticriver for miles in either direction. The bracing air, the sparklingwater, the sight of passing yachts and of swiftly moving canoes, alllent an additional charm to the occasion, and for two hours theyremained there, enjoying themselves as only light-hearted young peoplecan.
At last Mr. Clarke proposed that they should take a trip with him inthe yacht, and as they eagerly hailed the invitation, all, includingMr. and Mrs. Clarke, were soon seated on board. There they sang songsand told stories and commented upon the constantly changing scene ofbeauty into which they moved. Darting in and out among the islands thefleet little yacht, skilfully handled by the pilot and engineer,daintily seemed to pick its way, as if it too shared in the delight ofthe company. Beautiful cottages, palaces they seemed to the boys, werepassed, and quaint little spots, dotted by tents or rude huts, whithersome humble family had come for an outing, were frequently seen.Fishing parties were discovered among the bays, and parties ofcampers, living much as did our boys in their camp on Pine TreeIsland, were passed; and when at last the yacht turned homeward, allwere ready to declare that never before had they had so enjoyable anafternoon.
To the proposition of the boys that they should return to their camp,a strong objection was offered by Mrs. Clarke, who declared that theymust remain for supper; and we may be sure no great amount of urgingwas required to make them yield.
"I'll take you back to camp this evening," said Mr. Clarke, when theyall resumed their seats on the piazza.
"I thought I'd go back in my canoe," suggested Ben, who was clad inhis proper garments now. "I want the practice, you see."
"No, sir!" said Mr. Clarke, sharply. "You are to go back with us. I'llnot be responsible for your safety in that shell of yours."
Ben made no reply, and soon was sharing in the enjoyment of the party.The sun was now low in the western sky, and as its departing beamsfell across the waters it made them glow like a veritable lake offire. The wind had all died away, and the surface of the river wasalmost like glass. A scene of greater beauty or of more indescribablepeace and calm they never before had seen.
But the laughter which came from the piazza of Mr. Clarke's cottage,and the enjoyment of the assembly there, were not to be checked evenby the solemn stillness of the river.
"One would never think," said Mr. Clarke, when a break of a momentcame, "that this peaceful river was ever the scene of bloodshed."
"Bob, here, knows all about that," said Bert. "He puts us to sleepevery night with his stories of the early discoverers. We almost feelas if we were on their trail."
"So you are, for it's all historic ground," replied Mr. Clarke; "but Iwasn't thinking of the discoveries just then, but rather of thestruggle along the border here in the War of 1812, and of thepirates."
"Pirates?" exclaimed Miss Bessie, quickly. "Why, you never told usthere were any pirates here. I shall be afraid to go out in my canoeagain--unless I have Mr. Dallett along to protect me," she added.
Ignoring the laugh which followed, her father said, "Well, there werepirates here, for you can't call them by any other name. There arenone here now, of course, but in what was poetically called 'ThePatriot War,' it wasn't the same peaceful St. Lawrence that we see."
As all appeared to be interested in his words, Mr. Clarke continued."This patriot war, so called, occurred along about 1837-40. It reallywas an attempt to revolutionize Canada by a lot of desperadoes, orpirates, as I call them, who were filled with hatred as bitter as itwas unreasonable against our sister country, and the worst leader ofthem all was a William Johnston, or Bill Johnston, as he was morefamiliarly known by his neighbors along the St. Lawrence River. Helived near here, you see.
"In December, 1837, a band of disguised men from Canada set fire tothe steamer Caroline out near Niagara Falls, and aroused greatexcitement all along the border. The next month Congress appropriated$625,000 for the protection of the northern frontier, and called forvolunteers. On the very same day a circular was issued over here atWatertown, signed by six prominent men, asking for money and help forthe so-called refugees from Canada. The signers professed to belaw-abiding citizens and all that, and _perhaps_ they were, thoughthere were serious doubts about the matter then and since.
"In most of the villages secret organizations had been formed,known as Hunter Lodges, and they were making plans for raising moneyand men to invade Canada. Indeed, they had their preparations all madefor crossing on the ice as soon as the river
here was frozen over, andfalling upon Kingston.
"One night in February the arsenal at Watertown was broken into andfour hundred stands of arms were stolen by men who were thought to beengaged in the proposed movement. Some of the things were afterwardrecovered, and a reward was offered for the capture of the men.
"Matters were made worse by the fact that the arsenals atElizabethtown and Batavia were also broken into at about the sametime. The very next day after the affair at Watertown, men began toarrive at Clayton, which used to be called French Creek, and it issaid that there were four thousand stands of arms there, five hundredlong pikes, and twenty barrels of cartridges; but what they lacked wasmen, for, though nominally there were a good many there, there werefew if any real _men_ among them, as you can readily imagine.
"There was no discipline, and less order, and when, at last, lessthan two hundred of the rascals crossed over to Wolf Island, they weremore like a mob than an army. The Kingston people were badlyfrightened, though they had slight cause to be alarmed, and they sentover a force of sixteen hundred soldiers to meet the 'invading army';but when they arrived at the island, the 'army' had pretty much meltedaway. Still the country was pretty thoroughly stirred up, and forceswere stationed at Cape Vincent, Clayton, and other places to maintainorder. Congress also took further action, and most of the peoplethought the troubles were ended.
"But in the last of May, 1838, the steamer _Sir Robert Peel_ wasplundered and burned over here at Wells Island. She was a large boat,I understand, and some hundred and sixty feet long. She started fromBrockville, and there were threats made before she set sail that shewould have trouble, but no attention was paid to them. The passengerswere all asleep when she arrived at Wells Island, and the crew weretaking on wood, when a band of men, disguised as Indians, andrejoicing in such fictitious names as Tecumseh, Judge Lynch, Bolivar,Captain Crocket, and I don't know what all, rushed out of the woods,and, yelling, 'Remember the _Caroline_,' drove away the crew andpassengers, and taking the steamer out into the channel, set it onfire.
"First they had seized the money on board and such valuables as theycould find, you may be sure.
"Of course there was a great stir then in the country. This BillJohnston I mentioned a little while ago was one of the leaders, andboth the Canadian governments and our own offered big rewards for himand the other men. I believe Governor Marcy placed the reward for thearrest of Johnston at $500 and $250 was offered for some of theothers, while some were thought to be worth only $100 each. The Earlof Durham did better still, for he promised to give L1000 for theconviction of any of the parties engaged in the outrage. Some of themwere arrested and tried over at Watertown, but it was almostimpossible to convict them, and the jury brought in a verdict of 'notguilty.'"
"Was Johnston captured then?" inquired Jock.
"He was captured, but not then. He was taken later, but not until someother stirring events had occurred, and even then it didn't do muchgood. But I'll have to reserve the other parts of the story of the St.Lawrence pirates until your next visit, for if I'm going to take youback to camp, we must be starting."
When the boys went down to the dock they found that the girls alsowere to accompany them. Ben's canoe was taken on board, and then theparty started on one of the most enjoyable experiences on the greatriver--a moonlight sail among the islands.
The time passed rapidly, and when they came out into the channel neartheir camp they discovered one of the great river steamers beforethem. To the eager request of Miss Bessie "to take the breakers," Mr.Clarke reluctantly consented, and the little yacht was headed for thewaves which could be seen in the wake of the steamer.
The conversation ceased as the yacht approached. Ben had taken hisseat in the bow, and the girls were huddled together amidships, halfdreading and yet eager for the exciting experience.
Nearer and nearer came the little craft, and soon it was lifted highon the crest of the waves. Down it went into the trough of the sea androse again as the swell lifted it. On the third attempt, however, itfailed to respond as promptly as it had done before, and instead ofrising on the crest of the billow it struck it fairly in the midst,and in a moment a great flood of water fell upon the yacht and sweptover its entire length.