Raftmates: A Story of the Great River Page 3

  CHAPTER II.

  WINN ASSUMES A RESPONSIBILITY.

  It was during one of these conversations with the boy's mother thatMajor Caspar decided to take Winn with him on his raft voyage down theMississippi.

  "If I find a good chance to place the boy in a first-class school inone of the large cities after the voyage is ended I shall do so," saidthe Major. "It is only fair, though, that he should have a chance tosee and learn something of the world first. After all, there isnothing equal to travel as an educator. I honestly believe that thewar did more in four years towards educating this nation by stirringits people up and moving large bodies of them to sections remote fromtheir homes than all our colleges have in fifty."

  "But you mean that Winn shall go to college, of course?" said Mrs.Caspar, a little anxiously.

  "If he wants to, and shows a real liking for study," was the reply;"but not unless he does. College is by no means the only place where aboy can receive a liberal education. He may acquire just as good a onein practical life if he is thoroughly interested in what he is doingand has an ambition to excel. I believe Winn to be both ambitious andpersevering; but he is impulsive, easily influenced, and impatient ofcontrol. He has no idea of that implicit obedience to orders that isat the foundation of success in civil life as well as in the army; and,above all, he is possessed of such an inordinate self-conceit that ifit is not speedily curbed by one or more severe lessons, it may leadhim into serious trouble."

  "Oh, John!" expostulated the mother. "Do you realize that you aresaying these horrid things about our own boy--our Winn?"

  "Indeed I do, dear," answered the Major, smiling; "and it is because heis our boy, whom I love better than myself, that I am analyzing hischaracter so carefully. He has the making of a splendid fellow in him,together with certain traits that might easily prove his ruin."

  "Well," replied Mrs. Caspar, in a resigned tone, "perhaps it will dohim good to go away and be alone with you for a while. It is very hardto realize, though, that my little Winn is sixteen years old and almosta man. But, John, you won't let him run any risks, or get into anydanger, will you?"

  "Not knowingly, my dear, you may rest assured," answered the Major.But he smiled as he thought how impossible it was to keep boys fromrunning risks and getting into all sorts of dangerous positions.

  So it was decided that Winn should form one of the crew of the_Venture_ whenever the raft should be ready to start on its longvoyage; and ever since learning tins decision the boy had been in afever of impatience to be off. So full was he of anticipationsconcerning the proposed journey that he could talk and think of nothingelse. Thus, after a month of tiresome delay, he was in such anuncomfortable frame of mind that it was a positive trial to have himabout the house. For this reason he was encouraged to spend much ofhis time aboard the raft, and was even allowed to eat and sleep therewhenever he chose. At length he reached the point of almostquarrelling with his sister, whom he loved so dearly; but he had hardlyplunged into the woods, after leaving her on the raft, before heregretted his unkind words and heartily wished them unsaid. Hehesitated and half turned back, but his "pride," as he would havecalled it, though it was really nothing but cowardice, was too strongto permit him to humble himself just yet. So, feeling very unhappy, hetramped moodily on through the woods, full of bitter thoughts, angrywith himself and all the world. Yet if any one had asked him what itwas all about, he could not have told.

  Winn took a long circuit through the silent forest, and by the time heagain reached the river-bank, coming out just above the mill, he hadwalked himself tired, but into quite a cheerful frame of mind. Themill was shut down for the night, its workers had gone home, and not asound broke the evening stillness. The boy sat on a pile of slabs fora few minutes, resting, and watching the glowing splendor of sunset asreflected in the waters of the stream at his feet. At length hestarted up and was about to go to the house, where, as he had decided,his very first act would be to ask Elta's forgiveness. The house stoodsome distance from the river-bank, and was hidden from it by the treesof a young apple orchard. As Winn rose to his feet and cast alingering glance at the wonderful beauty of the water, he noticed afamiliar black object floating amid its splendor of crimsons and gold.

  "I wonder how that log got out of the boom?" he said, half aloud."Why, there's another--and another! The boom must be broken."

  Yes, the boom of logs, chained together end to end and stretchedcompletely across the creek to hold in check the thousands of saw-logsthat filled the stream farther than the eye could see, had parted nearthe opposite bank. The end thus loosened had swung down-stream alittle way, and there caught on a snag formed of a huge, half-submergedroot. It might hold on there indefinitely, or it might get loose atany moment, swing wide open, and set free the imprisoned wealth of logsbehind it. As it was, they were beginning to slip through the narrowopening, and those that had attracted Winn's attention were slidingdownstream as stealthily as so many escaped convicts.

  The boy's first impulse was to run towards the house, calling hisfather and the mill-hands as he went. His second, and the one uponwhich he acted, was to mend the broken boom and capture the truant logshimself. "There is no need of troubling father, and I can do it alonebetter than any number of those clumsy mill-hands," he thought."Besides, there is no time to spare; for if the boom once lets go ofthat snag, we shall lose half the logs behind it."

  Thus thinking, Winn ran around the mill and sprang aboard the raft thatlay just below it. Glancing about for a stout rope, his eye lighted onthe line by which the raft was made fast to a tree. "The very thing!"he exclaimed. "While it's aground here the raft doesn't need a cableany more than I need a check-rein, and I told father so. He said therewasn't any harm in taking a precaution, and that the water might riseunexpectedly. As if there was a chance of it! There hasn't been anyrain for two months, and isn't likely to be any for another yet tocome."

  While these thoughts were spinning through the boy's brain, he wascasting loose the cable at both ends and stowing it in his own littledugout that was moored to the outer side of the raft. Then with strongdeep strokes he paddled swiftly upstream towards the broken boom.After fifteen minutes of hard work he had secured one end of the cableto that part of the boom resting against the snag, carried the other toand around a tree on the bank, back again to the boom, and then to theinshore end of the broken chain. Thus he not only secured the boomagainst opening any wider, but closed the exit already made.

  "Winn secured one end of the cable to that part of theboom resting against the snag."]

  "That's as good a job as any of them could have done," he remarked tohimself, regarding his work through the gathering gloom with greatsatisfaction. "Now for the fellows that got away."

  It was a much harder task to capture and tow back those three truantlogs than it had been to repair the boom. It was such hard work, andthe darkness added so much to its difficulties, that almost any otherboy would have given it up in despair, and allowed the three logs toescape. But Winn Caspar was not inclined to give up anything he hadonce undertaken. Having determined to do a certain thing, he wouldstick to it "like a dog to a root," as one of the mill-hands had saidof him. So those logs had to go back inside of that boom, because Winnhad made up his mind that they should; but they went so reluctantly,and gave him so much trouble, that it was long after dark and somehours past supper-time before the job was completed.

  When Winn at length returned to the raft he was wet, tired, and hungry,though very proud of his accomplished task. He was shivering too, nowthat his violent exertions were ended, for the sky had become overcast,and a chill wind was moaning through the pine-trees.

  "I wonder if I can't find something to eat here?" he said to himself."I'm good and hungry, that's a fact, and they must have had supper upat the house long ago." Entering the "shanty," and feeling carefullyabout, the boy at length found matches and lighted a lamp.

  Hello! There was plenty to eat; in fact, there
was a regular spread atone end of the table, with plate, cup and saucer, knife, fork, andnapkin, all neatly arranged as though he were expected. "What does itmean?" thought Winn; and then his eye fell on a bit of folded paperlying in the plate. It was a note which read as follows:

  "DEAR BROTHER,--As you didn't come home to supper, I thought perhapsyou were going to spend the night on the raft, and so brought yoursdown here. You can heat the tea on the stove. I'm awfully sorry Isaid anything to make you feel badly. Please forget it, and forgiveyour loving sister,----ELTA."

  "Bless her dear heart!" cried the boy. "She is the best sister in theworld. The idea of her asking my forgiveness, when it is I who shouldask hers. And I will ask it, too, the very minute I see her; for Ishall never be happy until we have kissed and made up, as we used tosay when we were young ones. I guess, though, I'll eat the supper shehas brought me first. And that's a good idea about heating the tea,too. I can get dry by the stove at the same time. I'll have a chanceto see Elta before bedtime, and she'd feel badly if I didn't eat hersupper anyway."

  All of which goes to show how very little we know of what even theimmediate future may bring forth, and that if we put off for a singlehour doing that which ought to be done at once, what a likelihood thereis that we may never have a chance to do it.