CHAPTER XV.
A FOREST SHIP YARD.
Day light had no sooner shown itself the next morning than Sam startedaway from the camp on a tour of observation. He was a fine lookingfellow as he strode through the woods, straight as an arrow, broadshouldered, brawny, with legs that seemed all the more shapely forbeing clothed in closely fitting trowsers that were thrust into hislong boot legs. Two of his companions watched him walk away in theearly light.
"What a splendid fellow he is, outside and inside!" said Bob Sharp,half to himself and half to Jake Elliott, who stood by the fire. Jakesaid nothing and Bob was left to guess for himself what impressiontheir stalwart young leader had made upon that moody youth. MeantimeSam had disappeared in the forest. He walked on for a little way whenhe came to a creek, a small one ordinarily, scarcely more than acrooked brook, but swollen now to considerable size.
"This may do," he said to himself. "At all events it leads to theriver, and I may as well explore it as I go."
Accordingly he followed the stream. Mile after mile he walked, throughbottom lands that were well nigh impassable now, never losing sight ofthe creek until he reached its point of junction with the river. Itwas still raining, but Sam persisted in the work of exploration untilhe knew the country thoroughly which lay between his camp and theriver. Then he returned, not weary with his four hours' walking, butvery decidedly hungry.
Luckily, Bob Sharp's enthusiastic admiration for his leader had takena very prosaic and practical turn. It was Bob's turn to preparebreakfast, and a hare was to be cooked. The boys wanted it cut up andfried, but Bob remained firm.
"No, siree," he said, "Captain Sam's gone off to look out for us,without waiting for his breakfast, and when he comes back he's tohave roast rabbit for breakfast, and his pick of the pieces at that.If any of you boys want fried victuals you may go and kill your ownrabbits and fry them for yourselves, or you may cook your bacon. Ikilled this game myself, and nobody shall eat a mouthful of it tillCaptain Sam carves it."
The boys were hungry, but they agreed with Bob, when he thusperemptorily suggested the propriety of awaiting their young leader'sreturn, and so when Sam got back, about ten o'clock, he found a hungrycompany and a beautifully roasted hare awaiting him, the latterhanging by a string to a branch of an over-hanging tree immediately infront of the fire.
After remonstrating with the boys in a good natured way, for delayingtheir breakfast so long, Sam carved, as Bob had put it; that is to sayhe held the hare by a hind leg, while another boy held it by a foreleg, and with their jack knives they quickly divided it into pieces,using the skillet for a platter.
The boys were not so hungry that they could forget their curiosity asto the result of Sam's exploration.
"Where are we, Sam?"
"Did you find the river?"
"Is it close by?"
These and half a dozen similar questions were asked in rapidsuccession.
"One thing at a time," said Sam, "or, better still, listen and I'lltell you all about it without waiting to be questioned."
"All right, any way to get the news out of you," said Billy Bowlegs.
"Well then," said Sam, "to begin with, we're not very near the river.It's about five miles away, as nearly as I can judge."
Billy Bowlegs's countenance fell.
"Then we can't make the canoe here after all our work to build ahouse."
"I didn't say that, Billy. On the contrary, I think we must make ithere, as there is no fit place for a camp nearer the river than this.Beside, the river will be out of its banks pretty soon if the raincontinues, and will overflow all the low grounds."
"Then we've got to carry the canoe five miles! We can't do it, that'sall," said Jake Elliott, who had not spoken before.
Sam looked at Jake rather sternly, and was about to make him a sharpanswer, but changed his mind and said instead:--
"You and Billy are in too big a hurry to draw conclusions, Jake. Billybegins by assuming that because the river is five miles away we can'tmake the canoe here, and you jump to the conclusion that if we make ithere we must carry it five miles. The fact is, you're both wrong. Wecan make it here, and we needn't carry it five miles, or one mile, orhalf a mile."
"How's that?" asked Tom.
"Now _you're_ in a hurry, are you Tom? I was just about to explain andonly stopped to swallow, but before I could do it you pushed aquestion in between my teeth."
"SILENCE!" roared Billy Bowlegs, "the court cannot be heard." Billy'sfather was sheriff of his county, and Billy had often heard him makemore noise in commanding silence in the court room than the room fullof people were making by requiring the caution.
Silence succeeding the laughter which Billy's unfilial mimicry hadprovoked, Sam resumed his explanation.
"There's a creek down there about a hundred yards, which runs into theriver. It is a small affair, but is pretty well up now, and my plan isto make the canoe here and paddle her down the creek to the riverwhile the water is high."
"Hurrah! now for work!" shouted the boys, who by this time hadfinished their breakfast.
"Where's your timber, Sam?" asked Tom, bringing in the axes and adzeout of the tent.
Sam had taken pains to select a proper tree for his purpose, agigantic poplar more than three feet in diameter, which lay near thecreek, where it had fallen several years before.
When the boys saw it, they looked at Sam in astonishment.
"Why, Sam, you don't mean to work that great big thing into a dug-out,do you?" asked Sid Russell.
"Why not, Sid?" asked Sam.
"Why, its bigger'n a dozen dug-outs."
"Yes, that is true, but we're not going to make an ordinary canoe.We're going to cut out something as nearly like a yawl, or a ship'slaunch as possible. She is to be sixteen feet long, and three and aquarter feet wide amidships."
Sam had learned a good deal about boats during his boyhood inBaltimore.
"Whew! what do you want such a whopper for?"
"Well, in the first place such a boat will be of use to us down atPensacola, where we couldn't use an ordinary canoe at all. You see I'mgoing to shape her like a sea boat, partly by cutting away, and partlyby pinning a keel to her."
"What'll you pin it on with?" asked Tom.
"With pins, of course; wooden ones."
"What'll you bore the holes with?"
"With my bit of iron, heated red hot."
"That's so. So you can."
"But, Sam," said Sid.
"Well?"
"You said that was in the first place; what's the next?"
"In the next place, we'll need such a boat in running down theriver."
"Why?"
"Because there'll be no fit camping places in the low grounds, even ifthe water isn't over the banks, and so we must stay in the boat nightand day, which would be rather an uncomfortable thing to do in alittle round bottomed dug-out, that would turn over if a fellownodded. Beside that I'm anxious to make all the time I can and when weleave here I mean to push ahead night and day without stopping."
"How'll we manage without eatin' or sleepin'?" asked Jake Elliott, whoseemed somehow to be interested chiefly in discovering what appearedto him to be insurmountable obstacles in the way of the execution ofSam's plans.
"I have no thought," answered Sam, "of trying to do without eithereating or sleeping."
"Where'll we eat," asked Jake, "ef we don't stop nowhere?"
"In the boat, of course."
"Yes, but where'll we cook?"
"Here," answered Sam.
"Before we start?"
"Yes, certainly. We'll kill some game, cook it at night and eat itcold on the way with cold bread. That will save our bacon to cook fishwith down at Pensacola."
"Well, but how about sleeping?"
"That is one of my reasons for making so large a boat. We can sleep inher very comfortably, one staying awake to steer and paddle, all of ustaking turns at it."
This plan was eagerly welcomed by the boys, who speedily fell
to workupon the log under Sam's direction. The poplar was very easily worked,and the boys were all of them skilled in the use of the axes.Relieving each other at the work, they did not permit it to cease fora moment, and in half an hour the trunk of the tree was severed in twoplaces, giving them a log of the desired length to work on.
Then began the work of hewing it into shape, and this admitted of fourboys working at once, two with the axes, one with the adze and onewith the hatchet. When night came the log had already assumed theshape of a rude boat, turned bottom up, and Sam was more thansatisfied with the progress made. His comrades were enthusiastic,however, and insisted upon building a bonfire and working for an houror two by its light, after supper. They could not work at shaping itby such a light, but they turned it over and hewed the side which wasto be dug out, down to a level with its future gunwales. The next daythey began work early, and when they quitted it at night their taskwas done. The boat was a rude affair but reasonably well shaped,broad, so that she drew very little water considering her weight, andwith a keel which kept her perfectly steady in the water.