*CHAPTER XXII.*
*TENTS DOWN.*
The boat was due at four, and the tents were to be down and ready at thelanding. So as soon as dinner was over every one went to work.
Jonas made a great rattling of pots, pans, and plates, as he packed themaway in barrels and boxes.
"No more use for them until next summer, and there's no knowin' who ofus will be alive to use 'em then!" exclaimed Jonas, with a wise shake ofthe head.
"That's so," said Friday solemnly.
"'Tain't noways likely that the same crowd will get together again.Somebody'll be missing. They are a fine set o' fellows, take 'em allaround. Some o' them are as good as you'd find anywhere.--Here, Freit,lend a hand on this 'ere box. No, roll that barrel down to the beach;I'll see to this."
While they were thus engaged, the boys were packing their valises, andtrying to decide what to take and what to leave.
"I've got rocks enough to stock a cabinet, and only one valise, that wasfull when I came," said Joe, kneeling before said valise, with his armsfull of "specimens."
"To ballast a ship, you'd better say," added Ben, laughing. "What doyou want that rubbish for?" and he pulled over the precious collectionin a contemptuous way.
"Hands off, Vandal! Avaunt! You'll smash that infant star-fish!" criedJoe. "I've tramped miles and risked my neck getting these together, andnow you call them rubbish! Avaunt, I say!"
"Tents down!" called Mr. Andrews, passing along, and seeing some of thetents still standing.
"Yes, sir," answered Joe, placing the "rubbish," as Ben called it, in anold jacket, and tying the bundle with fish-line. "There, I'm all right;I'll take this in my hands. There'll be room enough in my trunk when weget back to school."
Ben laughed, and said, "You'll have your labour for your pains. You'llthrow the whole lot over the back-yard fence, or your mother or sisterswill for you, before many weeks."
"Nay, nay! You haven't half looked at the things; or, worse still, areno judge, boy. Mr. Bernard said they were good specimens."
"All right--carry them home; but if your folks are like mine the thingswill disappear. I got a lot of snakes once, the prettiest fellows youever saw, and had them in a wire box; but no one would go near my roomto clear it up, and because I wouldn't throw them away, my sisters hireda fellow to drop the box in the pond. Wasn't I angry?"
"That's different; I don't much blame them," said Joe. "Nobody willbother my collection. There, my luggage is ready."
"So is mine," said Ralph, who had been sitting on his valise outside,listening to the conversation. "Where's Dave?"
"Oh, he went to the shore long ago. There he stands with his spy-glass,watching for the steamboat, as if it would be the most welcome sight inthe world; and he doesn't want to leave any more than we do.--Now, downwith the tent! Pull up those stakes, boys. Mine are up. Down shegoes! Let's write our names on the canvas; perhaps we shall get thesame tent next year."
"Oh, doesn't the place look forsaken?" groaned Joe, as he saw the tents,one after another, rolled up and carried by the boys to the beach, wherethe baggage was piled.
"I see the smoke!" cried Dave.
A chorus of groans from the crowd answered this announcement.
"Hush, raven! don't croak. Don't bring your bad news here. Get downfrom your watch-tower, and let's have a game of leap-frog, and forgetthe steamboat," said Ned.
There were boys enough answering this summons to make the leapingprocess long and tiresome; and by the time a dozen boys had gone thelength of the row, they were glad to unbend their backs and throwthemselves on the grass to rest.
Nearer and nearer came the boat, and no spy-glass was needed to tell theparty that it was coming for them. Straight toward the island itsteamed, and it was only a question of minutes when the motion wouldcease and the anchor drop.
Another chorus of groans from the waiting crowd was the only greetingextended even when the band began to play. Unmindful of the coolreception, the boat swung around as near to the rocks as possible, andthe great wheels ceased to revolve.
"All ready there!" shouted the captain, hat in hand.
"All ready," was the answer.
The small boats belonging to the school were already laden with baggage,and the boys began to row across with the load. The larger boatsbelonging to the steamer were soon plying to and fro, carrying the campoutfit. This occupied a long time, and then the boys reluctantlyfollowed.
John and Jerry with their father were there to see them off and hear themusic. The last boatful of boys had come up the side of the steamer,and the last boat had been hoisted on board.
"Are we all here?" asked Mr. Bernard, looking anxiously around over thecrowd under his care.
"He ought to count us," suggested Dave. "Perhaps some of the fellowsare hid under the bushes."
Jonas and Freitag were the last on board, and they gave the assurancethat "nothin' nor nobody wasn't left behind."
The whistle sounded; the escaping steam was turned down to work again;the water foamed, and the wheels were in motion.
Here was another chance to cheer, and what schoolboy would allow such anopportunity to be wasted? So cheers were given and caps waved by theparty on deck and the three people on the shore. The band played "Home,Sweet Home," and the steamboat bore them toward the Cape.
"Alas, and alack! and is it over?" sighed Joe, as he looked longinglyback at the receding shores of the island. "And you had so little ofthe fun, Ralph."
"I don't know," answered Ralph. "It is a question whether you enjoyedmore in the whole fortnight than Ben and I did in these two days. Justthe pleasure of getting back among you all and being friends with Mr.Bernard would have been treat enough for me, after my experience."
"And for me too," interposed Ben soberly--"to say nothing of the goodtimes fishing, swimming, rowing, and tramping about through the woodsand over the shore. If you enjoyed it any more than I did, I don't knowhow you managed to bear it, Joe."
It was a sun-burned, rugged-looking set of boys that landed at the Cape,and, with valises in hand, started across the fields to the Academy,talking, as they sauntered along, of the good times they had enjoyed.They were to spend one night there, and get their worldly possessions inreadiness to take, or to leave till another term.
"Ben Carver, are you the same fellow that stole out of this room with mea fortnight ago?" asked Ralph, as they entered their room together andshut the door.
"Am I, or am I not? Sure enough. Only a fortnight ago! Think of it!Why, I feel as if it were years ago. We little thought we would be backhere now, and feeling as comfortable as we do, when we stole down thestairs that night, and went across the fields to hide from Mr. Bernard."
"Yes, from him and every one else. I wanted never to see Joe or any ofthe boys again--never!"
"May I come in?" said Joe's voice at the door.
"Come."
"We are to have the hall all to ourselves this evening, and talk overour camp life--all speaking at once, if we want to."
"And we shall want to," said Ben.
"Very likely," laughed Joe. "We generally do. Mr. Bernard says if wecan't think of anything to say he will come in and help us. We told himhe would be welcome, but that he probably wouldn't be able to get a wordin."
"Not the least chance."
"Come on; there's the bell! Supper, and after that the jollification inthe hall. Then we'll pack and say good-bye to the old Academy, and eachother too, until next September."
"Remember you are going home with me," said Ralph as they ran down thestairs, and slackened their pace to enter the dining-room less likewhirlwinds.
"Remember? Ah, yes; I remember that. Isn't it odd to be sittinginstead of standing at the table, and using napkins and glasses? I likethe camp tables best, though, as it is."
After supper, the boys gathered in the hall, and talked over their lifein camp. Even the dark, foggy days, that seem
ed so uncomfortable at thetime, were spoken of now with pleasure.
Mr. Bernard came later in the evening, and after joining in themerry-making a while, and listening to the stories of the boys, he saidsome pleasant good-bye words, thanking them that they had given solittle trouble; and then leaving them all in the hands of the GreatMaster, and asking him to be their friend and helper in all the future,he shook hands with each one, with an added "God bless you" for Ralph,and said good-bye.
We cannot follow these boys to their homes, pleasant as that would be,so we will join in the general farewell that sounded on every hand asthe boys went back to their friends.
THE END.
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