'78
THE WEST SHORE.
June, 1879.
OU KITi'HKN KKVKKIK8.
r ar lavs i" M muallura, tin lliimghla have, heen cast
To Ue M where UN Stilt sf m ehlldh'eal aend;
I l.ml U Hi ratast 10 UM antrv Mill hall,
llul that l.leaand l kitchen MM dearer than all.
Jta i hatla and He talile, limn Lighter mill. I I"',
For all lla Murruumllliiri were aaernd Ui tlio
To the nail 111 Die BeUlnY. Dili lat.h on tha dour,
A11J I t"ti i irf) traek nil the 11I1I kitchen fliair.
I reuiMiiUr tlif flreplaci with mouth high bii'I alih ,
Tin l l laal.l 'I QTCI Dial aUaid ll) lU aide,
CM "I villi li, Stta Thatikairttluir. twma itn1illiiraainl pica.
Thai lalilt Ua ildcr! ami daufed mv eyes.
Amnion, saw, "I Nlilinlaa, alyly ami allll,
I'ame down Star) Christmas our abM-alnua to DM;
Hut Ihf ih' .t ! of uiemorlea I've lalit up In ktnre,
la lha molhur thai trial on the olil kitchen 1! mr
la In ami ilaj "ill, Iroin morning till night,
Mm lnotatt Mi a-arc Ima) , liar heart alaa.M light,
For It aeetmd In ma, tin ti, thai aha kltaw mil a i-aro,
Tlx amlle was an gentle liar (aia used Ui Wear;
I rataeoiher with plnaturt vital Joy filled our eyas,
W Inn tin I lit u tin at ll. that i hlldrtn an prise;
Tha) err M en 1 iik'lil, though we'll heard llietn lejfnre
from her llia, al lha a heel, M the old kit. hen d'air;
1 ri mi 'nl i I tin alnilua , a here mondial I'd run
Aa wain aa the iu liteak lo aateh for Hie aim;
An.l I lli.mghl, alien nil head ararcely reached In the Bill,
Tttal II ah t through the night In the treat on the hill.
Ami 'he email trai'l nl annuel lhalin) eyea there
Waa all of the anrld trial in) Infamy knew;
luilaad, I aii-l not lo kltoa of ll mora,
I i a. .rid of llaell a at I lull old kitchen floor
t hill,
mill I"
I till III
III lha I
Id tletans come hack al their will.
llul tlii aim I ami lu intlali' fnravar ara allll;
I In hand la ninth eaten, the ahnel laid aaal,
MMl the rtnifire that turned II lie lunld'rllur In clay;
I lie haartheloiia, ao aacrwd, la Juat aa 'Iwaa than,
And tlta votiwa nf rlilldren ring nut there again;
Tha aim throuiili the a Itulna lonke In aa nfynre,
llul ll aer atranga feel on tha old kitchen fliair,
I aak lint I'.l lemur, hut Hill I wnlllil rrate.
That alien the lllej epnaklug ara eloaad lu the grate,
III ihll'lleu a. mill galhet thelrt rulllld hy Ulalr aide,
And tall of lha lunthet ahu lung ago dlad;
I anul.l In u. .I I n '.', In .1' arel I" ma,
I t. an In npll..i. .in yitiilte or tltalhlo I'utlld lie,
To hale I hem tall i.tt.li. aa I did o( mra,
Of Ike m ill. et a ho Irol on lha nld kit. hall fl.eir
A ri mi in VOYAiiE.
Thnw familiar with tin lumW rag , not
only "( U I.' iiilwl Ktalaa, hut ti( t'anada, know
that Ilia grwal streams w In. It llnal tlio huge rails
of luiiW tlown ti. the varinus nrta anil nulla
along I hair course, ara of Urn iiia.ln serviceable
f'.r nlliar ptiriMtea. Hniiielinioe ilia lumberman
"i shtuglt maker lekaa Itia family with him ti
lha eoane nl hia winter a lahora ami in tha
tin-nig, when tha eraann'a Work ia ended, plaooe
them women ami children, attmalimni a niuml
dnesn tin a raft nf linn or shingloa, antl keeping
ohaw tu Ilia shore, floats down It), SO, or 30
mile Ui hta home. Tha hunter, who lia for
waaka huntaal anil traipal in tha viat ftiraaU
along llinaa traaina, linnfa hia kaia of (ttra
U'allirr, inakra himaalf a oourayanua hy laah
ttti hall a iloaan l.ia Unnly to aaoh othar, anil
aor.miiliahw hu journey nf UR) or nmra milaa
in '.' hour.
Aa a general thing, thrra ia litlla riak iu auoh
a Journey If the waalhcr ta fair ami tha rivar
rlrai nl ilnaliug lumlwr, Uiara 11 hanlly mora
tlangtl than thara woultl lay in making tha dia.
takova Iwhinil a iiair l laat horaaa in a nmulry
wan. r.-..(.!e, howi ri, if lhay liva in ooo-
taut taenia, t w itli ilanget. gt.iw t'aralraa in lima
and ..Hen nak Ihrar own livaa and titoa nf othrra
w harr IIicit it no naoaaaliy,
And an it hapixtnwtl in lha maUnc I am aliout
la rwlala
John Allan waa a Wall Ui do (armar of Vo.
aieick, mi lha Ki, John mar. and lanida lha in
Inuiif .lent e.,1 Irtim hta land and dairy, hr nwnad
M ouawacUtwi with hia ana, a Irwol of wild lira
nac antuo .toran miioi uii voa rtvrr. Iica'tnntng
lu turn ila a-lrantagrw la aotxKinl in a amali
way, lha two had arwotd a amall ahingla null
naar the ahn-, and krl half a ditrrn man
wt-rk .lunng the winl.r. Th raatill lha liral
jrwavr waa ao aatiafarlatrT that ll waa rtwadraal to
ainraaai lha lanliUra of lha manufaotura, and
that il might ! d.a nadaralaadiagly, lhay
.1. ttitmot.i in Mail tna mill lor rannj
drive them up aa far aa they oould get with the beet we can, we shall be drenched. Yon
am and (mm thai tviint it wan hardly mr.ee. o., ,V,e,r1 T .-A -..a aj. - iu, ao ai
to be reaay oy ine tune we get mere. We'll bt
right after you."
ubedient to hu lather advice, Tom harried
rapidly along the path leading to the ipot where
the team had been left, while the remainder of
the party followed after aa fait as they could
The place waa reached at laat The wagon wm
there, the two bridlei lay just where they were
thrown, but the horses were gone.
For a moment the farmer stood dumb-founded,
then he began to examine their tracki.
"It's plain enough," at last he hurriedly said.
"Ihey ve slipped the natter and have started
back home. You'll have to see if yon can over
take them, Tom. I'll take your mother and
children back to the mill The wind is rising,
and it is setting in for a cold, raw storm."
1 he rain came faster and faster, and by the
time they had regained the shelter of the mill
thoy were thoroughly wet through. A fire
was soon kindled in the little cracked store
used by the shingle makers the winter before,
the time spent in waiting for Tom's return was
employed in drying their garments.
An hour passed away. The storm grew more
and more furious. The rain poured down in
torrents, and the great tops of the pine tress
bent and writhed in the terrible gusts, which
became more and more frequent The river,
always rapid and strong, was now a tierce,
turbulent stream, whose middle current noth
ing could oross in safety.
At last I out burst into the mill.
"It's of no use," he exclaimed. "We've got
to Htuy here or swim home. I went clear to
the main road, more than five miles from here,
and found that the horse have turned the
wroug way, instead of going home. If they
had gone straight back, tne men would have
known that something had happened, and cams
for ns; but there is no chance for that now."
At this Harry and Jack began to cry: and
even Mrs. Allen looked dismayed.
"Staying here to-night is ont of theqtestion,"
mini Mr. Allen. "We most get borne some
how. We haven't a morsel to eat, and every
hour we stay make it worts. We're in for t
long storm, and the roads half the way from
here to the turnpike will bt under water within
twelve hours.''
'What shall we do then?" asked Tom, who
was holding his dripping coat before the blase.
Mr. Allen shook his head.
"If it was fair weather. I should know what
to do quick enough; and 1 don't know bat we
shall be obliged to come to it anyway.
"Why, what do you mean, father?" asked Mrs.
Allen, anxiously.
lie pointed to the river.
than a mile to the mill. More than half the
way the road was morely a rough cart track
throuidi the woods, making the journey rather
a tedious one; but by starting very early in the
morning they calculated to make all the neces
sary investigations, and get back early in the
afternoon.
This waa tlio plan agroed upon, and the time
set was the tallowing .Saturday. As soon as it
liocame known in the house, the two youngest
hoys, Harry and Jack, were wild with excitement
'Mayn't wo go, too ? ' they shouted m con
cert "1'lease let ns go. Wo never saw a
shinglo mill."
"A shingle mill isn i mucn to see, answered
their father, "And, besido, you'll bo getting
into all aorta of dangor. "
"Oh, no wo won't We'll be so careful, if
you'll let us go. It woultl be suoh a nice ride!"
"Why don't you let them go, father?" said
Mrs. Allen. "They won't take up so much
room, antl they will enjoy it so much."
"Wall, well." said the farmer nood-naturedlv.
"let 'em go. I shall havs to take the double
wagon if they go, though; aud that's large
enough lor the whole laiiuly.
"Why not take tlio whole family, then?" said
Mrs. Allen, half in earnest "I've hartlly boon
out of doors tho w hole winter and spring, and I
should enjoy tho rule as well as the boys.
Farmer Allen laughod.
"Any more of you want to go ? What woultl
you do with tho liaby ?"
lake her, ol course, i ou don t siiiiiioho
weather like this would hurt her? She needs
air as much aa anybody."
"Ara you really in oaroost mother ?"
"Certainly. I don't see why you oan't make
a pleasure jaunt out of it as well as a business
one. I haven't been so far away from home for
live years, ami 1 gtieas the hottso oould get along
without in" for half a flay, Becky can get dinner
lor the men at noon, and we should get home by
two or inree o emeu at tlio laiesl.
Ho the matter waa settled.
At seven o'clock the next Saturday morning
a ..t -II I. al.. Ll-l I v p
i in- paa ty ava out, an iu ana mgiioaa apinte.
huge basket of lunoh waa placed under the
much to the aatiataution ol Harry and Jack,
who had laaen too much exoited over the jour
nav to earn much for hmakfaaL
It waaaftair 11 o'clock when they reached the
ill. Tho wagon haul been left at tha and nt
tha mail, a mile hack, the horaea taken out and
a Iwg of oata emptied upon the ground for thorn.
They ware both steady-going old veterans, aatd
to the harrow and plow, and would stand just
where they were left for hours at a time. The
armar, however, had taken the precaution.
after putting the bridles in the wagon, lo tie the
halter to one of the whaela.
The mill stood close down ia the wafer's
adgw, and in front and all around it ware heaps
n. ei ware lo hart on of la farm hands
of blocks, refuse timlier, logs, and shavings, it
waa not a very romantic Innklng place, but the
cnii lreu woro drlighlod with it
The long ride had given them all a good au
. i.t a ....... .-t.i- i . -
Ci"- n i. me. i vauia waa mane oui ol eon
rda laid acmes a couple of stumps, and tl
contents nl lha lug haaket were soon nla. 1
upon it Unch liuiehod, the farmer and hia
aon licgan Uieir invvatigalions. while Mea Al
lan and lha children wandered about looking for
ainuiua aon garnering pine cones. There was
m.iM 1.. i . l . i -r. .1 . rat . .
"- - - , , wu, too mm than was
expected, and il was about 2 o'clock before the
jou waa unianeti.
No busy had they all been that the gradual
clouding up ..I 'the aky had not been noticed
and it waa not until the sadden pattering of
rain apon the trees that tha little partv Imran
to look about them. '
Ila nothing bat aa April shower." said
Tom. "Hi shall have to get under the mill
Mil 11 ieaBVaa OTT.
iWt yw behave it" returned the farmer
a nave had lain hanging around for a week
ls ana ww ve got it now, sure enough. Do
"1 should take the shinglo raft lying there by
the landing. It is staunch and strong, and
just as safe as any boat that ever floated on the
St John river."
Mrs. Allen had all a woman's dread of water,
and her heart sank at once. Bat the idea of
being compelled to remain for two or three
lays in that desolate spot without looo or a
:hance to sleep, was mora dreadful yet tad she
felt almost like urging her husband to carry
oat the desperate idea be had snnoanoed.
" We've got to decide upon something pretty
quick," continued the farmer. " It'll be dark
in an hoar, and we ahall have no choioe.
lie went to the window and looked oat lor t
moment at the river. Then he came back to
the stove again.
"It -tonus fearfully said bt ; "btl that)
we're pretty nigh at wet at we can bt now. I
believe we can keep in shore without much
trouble, and at the rate tha stream it running
now we should reach Woodstock in leas than an
hour. 1 ve done it in worse weather than this.
"I shouldn't bt afraid my self, " said Tom ;
"but then there's mother tad the childreo
they must bt thought of."
"I'm not afraid, Tom," said Mrs. AUaa.
"And even if I wart, I believe it u the only
thing we can tin."
"We'll try ittheo.' taid Mr. Allen, decidedly.