CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
IN the series of books denominated the “Elm Island Stories” (commencingat the period when the old “Continental Congress,” which had fought thewar of the revolution, was superseded by the Federal Government, andrunning through successive years) were introduced certain charactersin whom our juvenile readers became so much interested, that they haveassured us they could not abruptly surrender their acquaintance, atleast not without some slight knowledge of their future prospects,especially as we were compelled to conclude our tale when most of themwere on the very threshold of manhood. Desiring to gratify, and, atthe same time, render them somewhat familiar with the history andprogress of their native land in those snapping times included betweenthe outbreak of the French revolution and the embargo, so prolific ingain and adventure to those possessing the enterprise, and daring toprofit by them, and during which American commerce took such mightystrides, we must of necessity, at the commencement of this volume, makesome slight reference to persons and places previously described. Forthe benefit of those who have not read the former series, we introducea brief sketch, referring those who may desire more accurate knowledgeto those books.
Our old acquaintances can pursue, with this chapter, the course we usedto adopt, when compelled to read one of Buckminster’s sermons aloud tothe family, after having been twice to meeting, brought home the textsand heads of the sermon, and to Sabbath school—_skip_, skipped all wedared to, skipped all we could.
The scene of the “Elm Island Stories” is laid in eastern Maine, when itwas little better than a forest, save a rim of clearings and incipienttowns along the sea-shore.
Captain Rhines, who lived on the shore at a place named from him andhis ancestors Rhineville, but then a plantation unincorporated, was anoble specimen of a sea captain—shrewd, kindly, self-made, of a daringnature, controlled by clear, cool judgment.
His son Ben, possessing all the sterling qualities of his father, isa giant in strength, and in the very prime of life. Though in generalof most even temper, and only by long provocations excited to wrath,yet, when thoroughly roused, he was terrible; hence his name, _LionBen_. Becoming enamoured of Sally Hadlock, who will only marry him oncondition that he relinquishes the sea, he buys Elm Island, situatedamong the breakers, six miles from the main land, and inaccessible atsome periods by reason of the surf; fertile as to soil, and coveredwith a heavy growth of timber. With nothing to depend upon but theirhands, and obliged to mortgage the island at the outset, this resolutepair sit down among the woods to achieve independence. He is greatlyassisted in all his plans and purposes by Uncle Isaac Murch, a man inmiddle life, who, in boyhood, was captured by the Penobscot Indians,and adopted into their tribe—a most shrewd, resolute, genial being,with very strong attachment to youth, their unfailing friend and allyin every good purpose.
While Lion Ben is cutting off the spars and raising crops to pay forthe island, some plunderers from the British Provinces, seeing butone house on the island, and supposing they had but little resistanceto encounter, landed and insulted Ben’s wife. She flies to herhusband, who is at work near by in the woods, who encounters andnearly kills the intruders. Among them is an English orphan boy, bythe name of Charlie Bell, who had shipped with them as cook, beingignorant of their character. He remains, and is adopted by Lion Ben.He turns out to be a boy of most excellent principle, of remarkablemechanical genius, and learns the trade of a ship carpenter; makesthe acquaintance of Captain Rhines’s youngest boy, John, and of FredWilliams, the miller’s son.
Fred is a boy naturally smart, and inclined to mischief. By associatingwith a miserable wretch by the name of Pete Clash, an importation fromthe Provinces, and another by the name of Godsoe, a home production,he is led into evil courses. These boys, while in the woods one day,plotting mischief against Uncle Isaac, being surprised by John Rhines,and finding that he will expose them, attempt to flog him; but heis rescued by his dog Tige, who tears Pete and Fred, injuring Fredso severely that he is at the point of death, which brings him toreflection and reform.
Pete Clash, attempting to meddle with Uncle Isaac’s fish flakes,is caught by the old hunter in a wolf trap, and so threatened andfrightened by him, that he leaves the place, together with Godsoe.John, Fred, and Charlie now became fast friends, and Uncle Isaac theirmutual friend and adviser.
John Rhines becomes a blacksmith, Fred works with his father in themill. Charlie and John accumulate money by labor and ventures sentto the West Indies, and set up Fred in trade. These three boys, withanother by the name of Isaac Murch, a protégé of Captain Rhines,_undertake_ to build a vessel, and _do_ build her, and send her to theFrench West Indies, calling her the Hard-scrabble, in commemoration ofthe desperate nature of the undertaking. She arrives at Martinique at alucky moment, and pays for herself, and more too. They afterwards buildanother called the Casco, of larger dimensions, of which Isaac Murchbecomes the master, surrendering the Hard-scrabble to another captain.Joe Griffin, to whom reference is made, is a friend of Lion Ben, amighty man with an axe, a great wrestler, and kind-hearted, but a mostinveterate practical joker.
Walter Griffin, a younger brother of Joe, inheriting all the grit ofthis rugged race, enters the store of Fred Williams as a clerk; but theGriffin blood rebels under the monotony and constraint, and he takes tothe water. Peterson, the black pilot, was for many years addicted tointemperance. During that period some roguish boys got him into a storewhen intoxicated, poured molasses on his head, then applied flour,alternating the layers, till his head was as large as a half bushel;for many years after which he was known by the nickname of Flour, but,having become a sober and industrious man, has accumulated property, isrespected by the whole community, and the nickname is forgotten.
The period at which this series commences is after the Frenchrevolution, when the star of Nelson was rising above the horizon, andNapoleon Bonaparte, a colonel of the artillery, was planting batteriesat Toulon, and giving the English blockading fleet a taste of hisquality.
These young men are now in possession of capital. John Rhines isliving at home with his father; Fred is engaged in trade, and justmarried to a daughter of Captain Rhines. Charlie Bell is living on afarm in a most beautiful spot, called “Pleasant Cove,” upon which hechanced to stumble one lovely night in summer while sailing, becameenraptured with and bought it, married another daughter of the captain,and settled down on it in a log house, while it was a forest, has onechild, now a babe, and having built the Casco on his own shore, hopesto be able to cultivate the soil (an occupation he dearly loves), andto carry out those ideas of taste and beauty which in childhood he hadgathered from the vales and ancestral homes of his native land.