CHAPTER XVIII.

AN UNEXPECTED RACE.

The other boys by this time had joined the group, and so crestfallen were they all when they discovered how insignificant was their nocturnal visitor, that Ethan quickly said,--

"A hedgehog will make a big scratching sometimes. I've known 'em when I've been logging to git up on the shanty in the night, and from the noise they made, I'd been willing to declare a bear was after us. It was perfectly natural, boys, for ye to be skeered."

Breakfast provided a speedy diversion, and after securing some of the quills of their victim they cast the body into the river, and turned to their repast. It was decided, in view of the visit they were to make that day at "The Rocks," that they would not venture far from camp; but about an hour later Jock called the attention of his companions to a spectacle on the river.

About a half-mile in front of the camp they beheld a tug moving down the stream, dragging behind it several huge loads, which, although they were not boats, still somehow resembled them. They rested low upon the water, and men could be seen moving about over them.

"What's that, Ethan?" demanded Bert, as he beheld the strange procession.

"That?" replied the boatman, pausing in his task and looking in the direction indicated by the lad. "Them's logs."

"Logs? I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"I mean what I say. They're rafts made out o' logs. They come from up Ottawa way. Ye see, the lumbermen cut the logs in the winter and float 'em down the stream, and a good many on 'em is sawed up over there, but not all. They make rafts out of a part, and haul 'em down the river to Montreal, or some other town."

"But what are those houses or huts I can see on the rafts?" persisted Bert. "And there are people there too. Yes, I can see women and children," he added, as he lowered the glasses he had been using.

"That's what they are," replied Ethan. "They're cabins. They have to have a place for their women folks and children, don't they?"

"Do you mean to tell me they _live_ on board those rafts?"

"Course they do. Why not?"

"Bert!" exclaimed Ben, quickly, "I'm going to take a canoe and go out to visit them. Want to go along?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Bert, eagerly, as he ran with Ben to the beach, where the canoes were kept.

The other boys followed them, and warned Bert against intrusting himself to a canoe in which Ben was to be pilot and helmsman; but both were too eager now to heed the advice of their friends, and in a few minutes they had launched the canoe, adjusted the mast and, spreading the bat-wing sail, went skimming over the water in the direction of the approaching rafts.

Whatever Bert's fears may have been, and doubtless they were many, Ben managed to keep the canoe upright, and in a little while drew near the slow-moving crafts. The sail was then lowered, though the canoe was almost capsized in the attempt, and using their paddles, the boys soon drew alongside one of the rafts and successfully clambered on board, dragging their boat after them.

It was a strange spectacle which greeted their eyes. Two families evidently were living on board, and the children stood and shyly watched the arrival of their unexpected visitors. Two little huts had been erected near the stern of the raft, and the women were then hanging their weekly washing on the lines which had been stretched from side to side.

One of the men now approached the boys and respectfully saluted them, and Ben explained their purpose in coming. In response to their request they were conducted to one of the huts, and hospitably invited to share in the meal which was soon to be prepared.

Ben declined the invitation, but curiously observed the places in which the people were dwelling for a time. Rude berths or bunks had been built along the sides of the cabin, and a few rough chairs and the various utensils which were necessary for cooking were also seen. On the open raft a fireplace had been made, over which an iron pot could be placed.

Altogether the scene was as novel as it was interesting, and after remaining to talk with the men and to bestow some small coins upon the bashful children, as the camp on Pine Tree Island had long since disappeared from sight, they soon departed, thanking the people for their kindness in explaining all the details to them.

The boys succeeded in embarking safely and then set sail for the Island, where they arrived about three-quarters of an hour afterward. Ethan and Tom had already departed for the day, and the campers were now waiting for the arrival of Mr. Clarke's steam-yacht, which was to convey them to his cottage.

"I'm going down there in a canoe," exclaimed Ben. "Any of you fellows want to come along with me?"

"Nay, verily," said Jock. "You have a fancy for appearing before the girls in your wet clothes. For my part, I don't enjoy that."

"I'll not tip you over," replied Ben. "I'm learning about all there is to learn in handling canoes. It's as easy as--as Latin, when you once get the notion of it."

None of the boys could be persuaded, however, and soon Ben departed alone. He placed two paddles in the smaller of the canoes, and then spreading his sail, departed from the camp amidst the cheers of his friends, not one of whom expected to see him in a presentable condition when they should arrive at "The Rocks."

Ben, however, was unmindful of their scepticism and sailed away as if no shadow of possible ill clouded his vision. In spite of his many mishaps he was determined to master the canoe, and no matter how many upsettings he had, they all only strengthened him in his purpose.

It was a perfect day for his venture. A gentle breeze slightly ruffled the surface of the river and bore the light little canoe steadily on in its course. The water was so transparent that in places, as Ben occasionally glanced over the side of his boat into the river, he could see the rocks upon the bottom, and several times beheld the hungry bass as they darted swiftly away at his approach. The sound of a belated mowing-machine came faintly from the shore where he could see men toiling in the fields. The reflections of the islands were so clear and distinct that he could hardly have determined which part was above and which below the surface as he glided past them. The bold rocks, the deep green of the bordering trees, and the many-colored cottages provided variety in the scene about him, and as Ben moved onward before the gentle breeze, at times it almost seemed to him that he was in fairy-land.

His first interruption came when a steamer approached, and not yet ready to test his prowess too severely, he turned out of the course far enough as he thought to place him beyond all danger; but he soon discovered that the wash of the steamer reached far that morning, and in a moment his frail craft was being tossed about as if it had been a leaf in the current of the mighty stream.

However, he managed to hold his boat, and soon the troubled waters subsided, though he could see that the motion of the waves had extended even to the shores of a far-distant island.

At last he came within sight of "The Rocks," and beheld the girls on the dock watching one of their number whom he could see in a canoe not far away. The yacht could not anywhere be seen, and concluding that it had gone to the camp for his friends, he gave all his attention to the immediate task of landing in the presence of the girls without capsizing.

As he approached he discovered that the beach on one side of the dock was low, and not quite daring to run in alongside the regular landing-place, he sent the canoe straight ashore and succeeded in his attempt with no worse mishap than wetting his feet.

He was eagerly greeted by the girls, and as he took his stand on the dock beside them, one of them said:--

"Have you given up appearing here as you did the first night you came?"

"I hope so," answered Ben. "I'm going to keep at it till I have got the better of the thing. I practise every day."

"Are you practising for the races, Mr. Dallett?" inquired one of them.

"What races?"

"Why the regular canoe races next month. Don't you know about them?"

"Tell me about them."

"They meet down here not very far away, and have a regatta every summer. They have races with double bat-wings and single bat-wings, and one paddle and two paddles, and I don't know what all, only it's perfectly lovely. And the girls wear the colors; and yes, there is a race for the ladies, too. We're urging Bessie here to go into that. Have you ever seen her in a canoe?"

"No, I never have."

"Well, you ought to. And are you really going to enter the canoe race, Mr. Dallett? And will you paddle or sail?"

"Yes," said Ben, forming a sudden resolution, "I'm going into the race."

"And will you paddle or sail?"

"Paddle."

"How perfectly lovely. I say, girls, wouldn't it be fine sport for Bessie and Mr. Dallett to have a race now? Mr. Clarke won't be back for a little while yet with the yacht and the boys, and I think it would be fine to have a race right here."

"Not very fine for me, I fear," replied Ben. "Miss Bessie would beat me."

"I'd do my best, you may be sure of that," exclaimed the young lady referred to. "Do you want to race with me, Mr. Dallett?"

"I'm afraid--"

"Oh, never mind, if you are _afraid_," said Bessie, quickly, her eyes sparkling as she spoke. "Possibly you might tip over."

"I'll try it," said Ben, doggedly. He knew he would never hear the last of it from his companions if he should refuse, and even the girls would not be averse to referring to the matter.

"Get your canoe, then," said Bessie, quickly.

"What's the course to be?" inquired Ben.

He wished now that he had not consented so readily. If by any chance he should win the race, he could see that his rival would not take her defeat quietly; and, on the other hand, if he should be beaten by a girl, his life in camp would not be lacking in spice. And Miss Bessie was so confident and eager. Yes, he wished that he had not consented, but there was no withdrawal now.

"The course will be around the island," explained Bessie. "It's about half a mile and clear water. If you lose the race and are beaten by a girl," she exclaimed, "I'll despise you."

"And if I win," laughed Ben, "you'll never forgive me."

"_If_ you _win_? Win if you can!" and she quickly took her place in her canoe and began to wield her paddle in a manner that increased Ben's misgivings still more.

He, too, was soon ready, and as the canoes came alongside in front of the dock, one of the girls counted "One! Two! Three!" the signal agreed upon for starting, and in an instant the race was begun.

Whatever Ben thought about racing with a girl, he speedily discovered that it was no holiday task before him even to keep up with her canoe, to say nothing of passing it.

Quick to take advantage of the start, she was fully three yards in advance of him when his paddle struck the water. His long arms gave him a decided advantage, but what his contestant lacked in reach she seemed to supply in quickness, and her dexterity was simply marvellous.

In his eagerness not to be outdone, Ben drove his paddle so far down into the water, that his canoe was almost upset, and when he tried to right it Bessie had increased her lead and called mockingly to him that 'she could tow him around the island.' But he soon had gained his balance, and his long sweeping strokes began to tell. Nearer and nearer he came to the canoe in front of him, and, do what she could, she could not increase the distance between them, and when they turned the point and were hidden from the sight of the girls on the dock, she was only a length in advance.

Almost together they then swept on, and when at last they turned the other point and came in on the home stretch, they were side by side.

Suddenly their ears were saluted by calls and shouts and the shrill whistle of the yacht which was now approaching with the boys on board. Ben did not mean to win now, but he did want to come in even, and was doing his utmost to hold his own.

He was paddling in a course parallel to that which Miss Bessie had taken and about three rods distant, when suddenly he found himself in the wash of the little steamer, and before he was aware of what had befallen him, was struggling in the water.

Ben's disappearance was greeted with shrieks of laughter, but when several minutes had passed and he did not come to the surface, the laughter suddenly ceased and the onlookers were gazing into one another's faces with consternation and fear. In a moment Jock and Bert leaped into a skiff and with swift strokes rowed out to the place where Ben had capsized.