CHAPTER V -- Concerning Certain American Trees
As Mike Murphy approached the landing he saw the second canoe drawn upthe beach, which was proof that his friends had returned from theirexcursion to the western end of the lake. The bright light from the mainroom of the clubhouse showed that the Boy Scouts were gathered there andhe decided to go in.
The night was so mild that no fire burned on the broad hearth, but thesuspended lamp filled the apartment with a soft illumination whichserved almost as well as midday. Jack Crandall, the hero of the brokenleg, sat in his invalid chair in front of the fireplace and at his sidewas Uncle Elk. Jack had been listening to the reports of his youngfriends who had been investigating trees, but were mostly interested inbird lore. The comments which Jack made on the written notes as read tohim showed that he was the best informed of any of the Scouts concerningbirds. He cleared up many doubts and answered questions so intelligentlythat the venerable Instructor in Woodcraft complimented him.
Mike came through the open door so silently that none of the boysnoticed him. No chair being available, he sat down on the floor, as themajority had already done. He was near the entrance and aimed to avoidobservation, but as Uncle Elk from his position faced him it wasprobable he noticed the lad, as did Jack Crandall, who also fronted thatdirection.
The reports and the comments thereon having been finished, the old manwas speaking:
"To make satisfactory progress in acquiring knowledge," said he in hislow, musical voice to which all listened with alert interest, "you mustdo so systematically. In our tramp through the woods the other day wepicked up a good deal of information, but it was haphazard. We talked oftrees as we came across them, but it was fragmentary and ten times asmuch was left unlearned as was learned. I am glad to know that yourScout Master has followed the right course in directing your study ofour native trees, not alone in Maine but as far north as Canada,westward to the Rockies and down to the northern boundaries of theSouthern States. The subject is too vast for us to cover in one eveningor in a dozen evenings. Let us rather summarize. We shall put our witstogether and see how many families we can name, without giving thedifferent species under each. The first is the magnolia family, of whichthere are four varieties, while under the custard apple there is butone, the papaw. Now let me hear from you."
Nearly an hour was spent during which scarcely a boy in the room keptsilent. The pleased old man nodded his head and finally raised his handfor quiet.
"I believe you have mentioned about all. Now, while Isaac jots down thenames at the table, let's try to evolve something like order therefrom.Are you ready?"
Isaac Rothstein nodded and held his lead pencil over the paper. Here isthe list upon which all finally agreed:
Magnolia, custard-apple, linden, rue, ailantus, holly, staff-tree,buckthorn, rose, pea, sumach, maple, horse chestnut, heath, honeysuckle,dogwood, ginseng, witch hazel, ebony, olive, begonia, laurel, mulberry,elm, plane-tree, walnut, birch, beech, willow, pine, yew and oak.
"None of you has seen all of these," continued the old man, "but I hopeyou will have the opportunity of studying their peculiarities sometime.To illustrate what a rich treat is before you, we shall give a fewminutes' attention to the oak family, concerning which you may think Ihad considerable to say the other day. Let me show you how much was leftunsaid.
"Most persons think of the oak as a slow grower. This is true of two orthree species but not of the family. The majority need a hundred yearsto attain perfection and they rarely bear acorns until twenty years old.The acorn requires no protection in order to mature, and those that arenot eaten by wild animals or trodden under foot do their work well. The_quercus_ is one of the longest-lived trees."
"What is the greatest age that they attain, Uncle Elk?" asked ScoutMaster Hall, one of the most interested in the audience.
"It is impossible to say, but there is little doubt that many of themflourish for a thousand years. There are vigorous oaks to-day in Englandthat were old in the time of William the Conqueror. The famous White Oakof Hartford, in which Captain Wadsworth hid the charter two hundred andtwenty-five years ago, was several centuries old at the time, and it wasnot until the summer of 1856 that a windstorm brought it to the ground.While it is one of the most valuable of the family, the white oak is indanger of extinction, because of its value as timber and on account ofthe sweetness of its nuts, which makes it a favorite with wild creaturesthat will not eat the bitter acorns of other oaks. You know the whiteoak is so called because of the color of its bark, which however isgenerally an ashen gray. Can any of you tell me the name of the oak thatis fifty feet or slightly more in height, grows in Texas, has afine-checked bark nearly the color of the white oak, with an awkwardform and has shoots along the whole length of its branches, with theleaves coarse and rough on both sides? I shall not wait for you to guessthe name, which is the post oak.
"The bur oak grows to a height of a hundred and fifty feet and rangessouth to Texas and from the foothills of the Rockies to the Atlanticcoast, being most abundant in Kansas and Nebraska. One of J. FenimoreCooper's most pleasing tales is 'The Oak Openings,' a name applied tothe scattered forests of Minnesota. Now, you may know that the cork ofcommerce is the outer bark of an oak growing in southern Europe. The buroak seems to be striving to produce the same thing and probably willsucceed after awhile.
"The chestnut oak sometimes reaches a height of a hundred feet, but thetrunk divides into large limbs a few feet above the ground. It is foundin this State, westward through Ohio and as far south as Kentucky. Ithas many features in common with the yellow oak, whose range is somewhatdifferent.
"The dwarf chinkapin, or scrub chestnut oak, is a shrub rarely more thana dozen feet high and grows on sandy or rocky soil. We do not meet withit north of Massachusetts. In Missouri and Kansas, it acquiresdimensions more like a tree.
"The swamp white oak grows to a height of more than a hundred feet, andis fond of the borders of swamps. The top is narrow and round and thebranches pendulous. You know about the red oak, which is a rapid growerand ranges from this State to Georgia and westward to Kansas, butattains its finest development north of the Ohio.
"To continue, I should add the names of the scarlet oak, the black andthe yellow oak, the pin oak, the swamp Spanish, the bear, the scrub, theblack jack, the barren, the shingle, the laurel, and the willow.
"You have noticed that I have done little more than mention the names ofthe different species. You have learned very little, for it is necessarythat you should know the range of each, the height to which it grows,the characteristics of the bark, the wood, the leaves, the flowers andacorns. In conclusion, I shall say that the willow oak is one of themost interesting of trees. Its leaves resemble those of the willow, asdo the straight slender shoots. It grows on the wet borders of swamps,but keeps away from the sea coast. Its acorns are very small, with akernel so bitter that you would never bite into it a second time.
"My object this evening," said Uncle Elk, "has been rather to awaken adesire on your part to study systematically our common American treesthan to give you actual information. Let us dismiss the subject, for indropping a matter of that kind we should follow the rule in eating,which is to stop before the appetite is cloyed. Suppose to-morrow nightwe have a little talk about American birds."
There was general nodding of heads and the old man rose to his feet. Hewas so pleased with his listeners that he said:
"If we get through that subject in time, I'll promise to tell you astory, provided you would like to hear one from me."
He could be seen smiling behind his abundant gray beard.
"Boys will be boys always. Nothing suits them better than a story. So Ishall bid you good night for the present, hoping nothing will interferewith our meeting again to-morrow evening."
"The better plan," suggested Scout Master Hall, "is for you to takesupper with us, for I foresee that there will be much for you to tellus. We don't want to miss the talk about birds, and I am as eager as theboys
to hear your story, which I know will be a good one."
All crowded around the Instructor in Woodcraft, shaking hands, thankinghim and urging him so warmly to accept the invitation that he could notrefuse. The last one with whom he clasped hands was Jack Crandall, whostraightened up in his easy chair and declared he was receiving morebenefit than a dozen doctors could impart.
Mike Murphy had risen to his feet at the close of the old man's talk,but kept his place by the door until Uncle Elk came opposite. A nod ofthe hermit's head told Mike that he wished to speak with him alone. Thesignal was observed by several who stayed behind as the two passed outand down the porch to the beach. Uncle Elk did not speak until they werebeyond the hearing of the others. Then he halted and looked into theface of the youth.
"Well, Michael, what word do you bring me?"
"I told the docther what ye said and he is agreeable. He will not cometo the bungalow in the evening unless we signal for him, which the samedoesn't seem to be likely."
"That is what I wanted to know, and I thank you for your service. Well,my son, did you learn anything to-night?"
The youth was not sure of the scope of the question.
"If ye ask whither I larned anything from your words to the byes, I maysay I picked up a good deal more than I iver knowed, which wasn't much."
"I refer to what you did after leaving the home of Dr. Spellman andpaddling to the upper side of the lake."
"Did ye obsarve me?" asked the astonished Mike.
"How could I help it, when I passed within a few feet of you in my ownboat?"
"I didn't notice it whin I came ashore."
"I landed a little way up the beach, where my boat now awaits me. Youhaven't told me whether you learned anything through your scouting."
"I saan no one but yersilf, but I heerd them two tramps laughing oversomething and I smelled the cigar that one of them was smoking."
"No, you didn't."
"I don't catch yer maaning, Uncle Elk," said the mystified Mike; "Isartinly sniffed a cigar and heerd two men chuckling to thimsilves."
"I haven't denied that, but they were not the tramps you have in mind."
"How can ye know the same for sartin?"
"I went to that spot on the shore to meet those men; they are oldacquaintances and the name of neither is Biggs nor Hutt."
"Who are they?"
"It would be useless to name them, since they are strangers to you."
"Why didn't ye stay and inthrodooce me?"
"I may do so one of these days, but I gave you a chance to find outthings for yourself."
"And mighty little I larned," remarked Mike disgustedly; "if ye don'tmind, would ye tell me what the mischief scared thim two tramps to theextint that they jumped out of the canoe they had stole and took a bathin Gosling Lake?"
Uncle Elk was distinctly heard to chuckle.
"I had a talk with my two friends regarding the incident and I don'twonder that they laughed even after I had left them."
"I faal like laughing mesilf, Uncle Elk, and if ye'll give me the samecause I'll laugh so hard that it will wake the docther's daughter ont'other side of the lake."
"Have patience, Michael, and don't think I am trifling with you, but Iam under a promise not to reveal this little secret until I havepermission. Good night."
Mike stood gazing after the old man until he passed from sight in theobscurity and he heard him launching his canoe. Then the youth strolledthoughtfully back.
"I'm getting mixed," he muttered with a sigh, "as Jerry Lanagan saidwhin they run him through a thrashing machine."