CHAPTER XXIV
Two boys turned loose on a present-day farm can find enough interestingthings to do to fill a book much larger than this. For me to go into thedetails of that week's visit to Avon Dale would preclude any possiblechance of your hearing the end of this story. And there are still manythings that need telling.
But though no great or grave adventure befell the two boys while theystayed at the plantation, you may imagine the days they spent together.Back of the farm buildings lay the fields, all up and down the riverbank for miles. And back of the fields, crowding close to the edge ofthe plowed ground, the big trees of an age-old forest rose. The greatwild woods ran straight back from the plantation for five hundred miles,broken only by rivers and the steep slopes of the Alleghanies, as yethardly heard of by white men. Giant oaks, ashes and tulip trees mingledwith the pine and hemlock growth. The hillsides where the sun shonethrough were thick with rhododendron and laurel. And all through thissylvan paradise the upper branches and the underbrush teemed with wildlife. Squirrels, partridges and occasional turkeys offered frequentmarks for the long muzzle-loading rifles, while a thousand little songbirds flitted constantly through the leaves. Jeremy had never seen suchhunting in his colder northern country. The game was bigger and moredangerous in New England, but never had he found it so plentiful. As theboys were both good marksmen, a great rivalry sprang up between them.They scorned any but the hardest shots--the bright eye of a squirrelabove a hickory limb fifty yards off or the downy form of a wood pigeonpreening in a tree top. Though a good deal of powder and lead was spentin the process, they were shooting like old leather-stocking hunters bythe end of the week.
The last two days had to be spent indoors, for a heavy autumn rain thatcame one night held over persistently and drenched the valley with asullen, steady pour. Little muddy rivulets swept down across the fieldsand joined the already swollen current of the Brandywine. On the morningwhen they started back, the river was running high and fast and yellowalong the low banks, but a bright sun shone, and a fresh breeze out ofthe west promised fair weather.
The horses were left at the plantation. They took their guns and a day'sprovisions and carried a long, narrow-beamed canoe down to the shore. Itwas a dugout, quite unlike the graceful birch affairs that Jeremy hadseen among the Penobscots, but serviceable and seaworthy enough.
Job, happy to be on the water once more, took the stern paddle, Bobknelt in the bow, and Jeremy squatted amidships with the blankets andguns. With a cry of farewell to the kindly folk on the bank, they shovedout and shot away down the swift river.
It was exciting work. The stream had overflowed its banks for many yardsand the brown water swirled in eddies among the trees. To keep the canoein the main channel required judgment and good steering. Job provedequal to the occasion and though with their paddling the swiftness ofthe current gave the craft a speed of over ten miles an hour, he broughther down without mishap into a wide-spreading cove. They rested,drifting slowly across the slack water. "This can't be far fromCantwell's," Bob was saying, when Jeremy gave a startled exclamation,and pointed toward the shore, some fifty yards away. A little girl in agray frock stood on the bank, her arms full of golden rod and asters.She had not seen the canoe, for she was looking behind her up the bank.At that instant there was a crashing in the brush and a big buck deerstepped out upon the shore, tossing his gleaming antlers to which a fewshreds of summer "velvet" still clung. He was not twenty feet from thegirl, who faced him, perfectly still, the flowers dropping one by onefrom her apron.
It was the rutting season and the buck was in a fighting mood. But hewas puzzled by this small motionless antagonist. He hesitated a baresecond before launching his wicked charge. Then as he bellowed hisdefiance there came a loud report. The buck's haunches wavered, thenstraightened with a jerk, as he made a great leap up the bank and felldead. From Jeremy's long-barrelled gun a wisp of smoke floated away.Betty Cantwell sat down very suddenly and seemed about to cry, but asthe canoe shot up to the shore she was smiling once more. They took heraboard and started down stream again. A few hundred yards brought themto the edge of the Cantwell clearing, where Bob hailed the negroesworking in the field and gave them orders for bringing down the deadbuck.
At the landing John Cantwell was waiting in some anxiety, for the soundof Jeremy's shot had reached him at the house. Bob told the story,somewhat to Jeremy's embarrassment, for nothing was spared in thetelling. The Quaker thanked him with great earnestness and reproved hisdaughter gently for straying beyond the plantation.
After another of those famous dinners Job and the boys returned to theircraft, for there were many miles to make before night. As Jeremy tookup the bow paddle he waved to Betty on the bank, and thrilled withhappiness at the shy smile she gave him. Once again they were in thecurrent, shooting downstream toward tidewater.
It was mid-afternoon when they crossed the Brandywine bar and paddledpast the docks of Wilmington. Outside in the Delaware there was a choppysea that made their progress slower, and the sun had set when the slimlittle craft ran in for the beach above New Castle. The voyagersshouldered their packs and made their way up the High Street to thebrick house.
When the greetings were over and the boys were changing their clothesbefore coming down for supper, Clarke Curtis entered their room. "Lads,"he said, "I'd advise you to go early to bed tonight. You'll need a longrest, for in the morning you start overland for New York." At Bob'sexclamation of surprise he went on to explain that the _Indian Queen_had weighed anchor two days before for that port, and as there was noother ship leaving the Delaware soon, he wished the boys to board her atNew York for the voyage to New England. Both youngsters were overjoyedat the prospect of an early start. Bob, who had been promised that hecould accompany his chum, was hilarious over the news, while Jeremy wastoo happy to speak.
Later, as they were packing their belongings for the trip, Job Howlandcame in. He, too, looked excited. "Jeremy, boy," he said, "I'd haveliked to go north with you, but something else has come my way. Mr.Curtis bought a new schooner, the _Tiger_, last week, and she's beingfitted out now for a coast trader. He offered me the chance to commandher!"
"Three cheers!" shouted Bob. "Then New Castle will be your home port,and I'll see you after every voyage!"
The three comrades chatted of their prospects a while and shortly wentto bed.