CHAPTER X.
THE SURPRISE PARTY.
Wednesday morning the axes were flying merrily, as Ben and his crewwere busy at their timber, when they were startled by a tremendouscheer, and, to their utter amazement, beheld thirty-five men, inmilitary order, emerging from the woods, led on by Seth Warren, witha three-cornered cap, in which were the tail feathers of a turkey,with a skein of yarn for a sash, and shouldering an adze. Each man wasarmed,--some with broad-axes, others narrow-axes, saws, augers, andother tools.
When Seth had marched his men up in front of the cellar, he commandedthem to stand at ease.
It is impossible adequately to describe the amazement of the party onthe island. Joe stood leaning on his axe, with his mouth wide open;Uncle Isaac held his hat before him with both hands, as if for ashield; while Ben, who had, under the first impulse, started forwardto meet Seth, unable to get any farther, stood with both hands in hispockets, the picture of astonishment and doubt.
“Now, Ben,” exclaimed Seth, with a magnificent flourish of his hand,and very much at his ease, while his eyes were dancing in his head withsuppressed glee, as he noticed the completeness of the surprise, “didyou suppose there were never to be any more ‘bees,’ and that folkswan’t going to help each other any more, because you are going to bemarried, and have got through with it? I tell you, you’ve learnt us thetrade, and we’ve come to practise, and help the fellow that has set usso good an example--ain’t we, boys?”
Seth’s speech was received with a cheer. Poor Ben, feeling that he mustsay something, and not knowing what to say, presented a most ludicrouspicture. His great body swayed to and fro; he stood first on one footand then on the other, to the great delight of his friends, who were inhigh glee at this evidence of the thoroughness of the surprise.
At length the great creature, who would have faced a battery withoutwinking, blurted out, “Neighbors, I--’m--sure, I don’t know what I’vedone to deserve all this kindness,” and burst into tears.
“Don’t know what you’ve done?” replied Seth, anxious to cover Ben’sconfusion; “_I_ should like to know what you _haven’t_ done. Who raiseda scout, and built Uncle Joe Elwell a barn, after his’n was struck bylightning?”
“Who,” said John Lapham, “got in the widow Perry’s harvest, and cut allher winter’s wood, after her husband was killed stoning a well?”
“Ah!” exclaimed John Strout, the skipper of the Perseverance, “who wasit took care of me when I had the smallpox in Jacmel, and everybodyelse, even my own relation, run away from me?”
“Well,” replied Ben, whose modesty revolted at such a display of hisvirtues, “I didn’t do any more than my duty.”
“That’s just what we’re going to do,” replied Seth.
“And that’s where you’re right,” said Uncle Isaac, putting on his hat.“Come on, boys; if you’re so anxious to work, I’ll give you enough ofit to start the grease out of you.”
“Let you alone for that, uncle,” said a voice from the crowd.
“Who’s that? As I’m alive it’s my nephew, Sam Atkins. Where did youdrop from, Sam?”
“Why, you see, uncle, we were waiting for timber at Newburyport, thatis to come in a vessel; and as Jacob Colcord was coming down in hisschooner, I thought it would be a good time to make a visit home.”
“You couldn’t have done a better thing; you’re just the boy I want.Now, Master Hunt, if you’ll be good enough to line these timbers forthese boys to hew, I’ll be doing something else.”
Sam Atkins, who was well assured his uncle would not overlook hiscapabilities, sat on a log whittling. After he had set all the rest towork, Uncle Isaac came to him, and laying his hand upon his shoulder,said, “Sam, I’ve got a nice job for you; I want you to frame the roof;you’ll find tools in my tool-chest. There are the rafters, and theywill have the ridge-pole and purlins hewed by the time you will wantthem.”
As soon as a good number of sticks were hewed, they began to roll themup, while Uncle Isaac, Joe Griffin, and two of the ship carpenters,cut the dovetails. By twelve o’clock they had the timber for the wallshewed, and the walls raised to the chamber, and the beams and sleepersfor the chamber floor hewed, and Sam and his crew had the roof framed.
In order to make the surprise to Ben complete, they had anchored theschooner behind the woods, on the north-east end of the island; butthey now brought her round, and anchored her in the cove, and broughtashore their provisions--jugs of coffee all made, with the sweeteningboiled in; cheese and doughnuts, bread and butter, beef, pork, andlamb, all cooked, which the girls had provided; and a good deal moreraw, which they meant to have the fun of cooking themselves.
They laid some boards on logs, and thus made their tables.
After dinner, they lay on the grass and talked and laughed, while theolder ones smoked, and had a jolly good time.
At length Uncle Isaac said, putting his pipe in his waistcoat pocket,“Boys, do you calculate on having a frolic in the house to-night?”
“Yes, we do,” replied a score of voices.
“Then it’s high time you were laying the chamber floor.”
“You old drive,” said Joe, speaking thick, with the ribs of a sheepbetween his teeth, “didn’t you know old Captain Hurry is dead? castaway, going down to Make Haste? Can’t you give a feller time to eat?That’s been the way ever since I’ve been here, boys. I’m getting quitethin.”
“He don’t show it much,” said Uncle Isaac, pointing to Joe’s fatcheeks; “he has had an hour and a half, and eaten almost a whole sheep.”
As nothing was planed except the edges of the floor boards, and whatwas absolutely necessary to make the joints, the work went on “smoking.”
“Ah,” said Uncle Isaac, stopping to draw a long breath, while the sweatdropped from the end of his nose on to the axe handle, “that’s the timeof day, my bullies; all strings are drawing now.”
In a short time Joe sung out that the floor beams were all laid, crosssleepers in, and they wanted something to do to keep them from freezing.
“Well, lay the rough floor, and be quick about it; the boards are alljointed, and we shall be at your heels with the upper one.”
By the time Joe and his crew had laid half of the loose floor, the shipcarpenters began to lay the other one over it, and they finished nearlyat the same time.
There were two courses of logs above the floor beams, so that the housewas a story and a half in height. The logs being hewn on two sides,then smoothed with an adze, the window frames fitted close, the wallstwo feet or more in thickness, and very few windows, the house wasalmost as tight as though it grew there.
“Hand that timber right up here,” shouted Uncle Isaac, from the chamberfloor, “and clap the roof on. That’ll be enough for one day; there’sreason in all things.”
As there were half a dozen men to a rafter, the timber went up in a fewmoments.