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Woodcraft Boys at Sunset Island

<h2>CHAPTER SEVEN FURTHER ADVENTURES AT SPRUCE ISLAND</h2> BEFORE Mose had quite finished washing out the muddy clothes the flower hunters returned. Elizabeth was highly elated because she had found enough new varieties to complete her list of fifty for the Wild-Flower coup, while Miriam’s and Edith’s lists had reached thirty different kinds. As the girls ran over to the group of boys to tell them about their successful hunt, Trixie stood still and gasped. The others turned to look in the direction that she was staring and a burst of merriment sounded from them all. “Good gracious, Paul! Where did you find the upsey-downsey suit of clothes—are you masquerading?” cried Elizabeth. Paul mumbled but looked annoyed and uncomfortable. “Doesn’t he look like one of those double-headed dolls? You hold them one way and they are Mammys, and you turn them up the other way and they are something else,” said Trixie. 122 “What ever put it into your head to dress that way, Paul?” persisted Elizabeth. “Well, you see, he thought you girls would like clams on the half-shell so he found a spot where he tried digging. But he dug so deep while trying to catch a big fat juicy clam, that he fell into the hole and pulled the hole in after him. We had all we could do to pull him out again, but when he finally did come out, Lo! he pulled the hole out too!” explained the irrepressible Uncle Bill. “So, that’s why Mose is giving his clothes a Turkish bath,” giggled Billy. Mrs. Remington and Mrs. Farwell looked hard at Uncle Bill but forbore saying more at that time. Mose soon completed the task given him and then sounded a tin pan for the call to luncheon. A grand scramble ensued and there was much confusion and advice before every one was comfortably settled on cushions and rugs about a large cloth spread out upon the grass. The three hostesses had been very busy unpacking and arranging the contents of hampers and boxes but now that the result of their efforts and work was finished the hungry picnicers enjoyed the wonderful meal thoroughly and the viands disappeared like magic. Wide and well worn was the trail made by Mose as he tracked back and forth from famished eaters to the chowder kettle and when Billy called for a fourth bowl of the delicious soup, the distracted chef123 turned the pot upside down in silence to prove that not a drop remained therein. Directly after luncheon, Uncle Bill proposed a hike around the island stopping at the tall spruce tree to retake the snap-shot of the hawk’s nest and also to place a signal on the beach of quicksand. “Ah! Now I know how Paul delved for that clam!” murmured Mrs. Remington, nodding her head wisely. “Oh, by the way! maybe Billy has requisitioned too much chowder to be in trim to climb that tree!” said Uncle Bill quietly, the moment he recognised the blunder he had made. “Oh, no, you don’t, Bill!” laughed Mrs. Farwell. “You’re fairly caught this time and we demand knowledge of that clam-digging feat!” However, Uncle Bill was not to be caught napping again, so he began a long, tiresome story of clam-digging until every one told him to “cut it short!” Having succeeded in taking a picture of the fish-hawk’s nest and rigging up the red banner for a signal to unwary hikers, as well as painting a warning on the front face of the rock in white lead, the entire crowd continued the hike over the island. After many adventures they came to a small beach at the north end of the island where the winter storms washed ashore all sorts of debris. Paul spied a gleaming white section of a skeleton and he ran excitedly over calling as he went: 124 “Come on, boys! See what I’ve found!” The others followed and soon were examining a number of vertebra of a whale. “By the Great Horn Spoon! Is a remnant of that old whale here yet!” cried Uncle Bill, in surprise. “What old whale—do tell us the story!” begged Billy, scenting an exciting adventure of Uncle Bill’s youth. “Well, when I was about your age, my brother and I took a sail one day and landed for lunch at this island. We intended to spend the day fishing for cod and then start home about sunset. Just about the time we were ready for lunch, the wind veered and brought the most dreadful odour to our nostrils. “We looked at each other, while reaching the same conclusion—something unusual had been washed ashore! “Say, Bill, folks say ‘follow your nose’—shall we?” asked my brother. “Sure thing—come on!” said I, and we ran down to this beach and right here we came upon a young whale which yet was ancient of days! “Even in death the strength of the whale was more than our lusty powers of resistance so we both returned to that lunch minus an appetite. The fire was smothered and we sadly resumed our cod-fishing, but strange to say, it had lost its zest for us and the boat seemed very wobbly. We returned home quite early that day and took relief in a mad game of tennis.125 That evening we felt better and could partake of slight nourishment!” Every one laughed at Uncle Bill’s experience and Dudley made a suggestion. “Let’s take home the vertebra for souvenirs!” “It won’t have the same effect now as it had years ago, that’s certain,” said Uncle Bill. So each boy loaded himself with the whitened bones of the whale while the elders slowly retraced their steps. At the clearing where the picnic was held, Mose was found taking advantage of the peace by enjoying a well-earned snooze. The chef was roused by the noise made by the returning explorers and Billy eagerly showed him the souvenirs. “Whale bones, Mose—the same one Uncle Bill found when he was a boy.” “What! Whalebones! Yo’ don’ mean t’ tell me dat dem things is what dey puts in ladies co—yo’ know, dat—dat—well, yo’ all knows what Ah means! Dem articles what d’ ladies wear t’ mek ’em look slim,” delicately hinted Mose. Every one ha-haed at the manner of Mose’s questioning, and Uncle Bill explained that the whalebone of commerce and corsets came from the rows of screen plates that are so arranged in a whale’s mouth that all of his food is strained out from his sea-water soup. “Jus’ lak’ es how it woul’ be ef yo’ took a mouf-ful126 ov chowder en’ shet yer teeth t’ keep in d’ clams whiles yo’ squirt out all d’ water, eh?” asked Mose, eagerly. “Just so, only more so!” laughed Uncle Bill. After a light supper on the picnic grounds, haste was made to embark. The tide was ebbing and there was no wind so the dory was filled with the boxes and baskets and towed behind the launch. As the mariners came out from the shadow of the overhanging bluffs of Spruce Island the moon, still in its last quarter, shone silvery white in the heavens and the stars sparkled with unusual brightness. The Woodcrafters gazed at the blue dome overhead, and started talking about the constellations. “Who can show me where to find the Pole Star?” then asked Uncle Bill. Instantly many voices replied to this question. “Paul, now’s your chance to point out the four constellations you boasted about when that last tassel was cut from your badge,” teased Uncle Bill. “I will,” returned Paul. “The Pole Star’s in the Little Bear, and there’s the Dipper, or Big Bear. Way over in the west is Arcturus—I know him by the big star, see? Then, that one up there in the northeast is Cassiopaeia—it looks just like a ‘W.’ That makes four!” “Good for you! Now, who else can name any?” said Uncle Bill. “I can!” cried Elizabeth. “Directly over our heads127 you will find Vega, in Lyra. And—oh, Paul, you forgot to mention Orion in your’s!” “Ha, ha! That’s one on you, Elizabeth, because you can’t see Orion until early morning up here,” laughed Fred. “Why there are the Pleiades and Orion is near them,” argued Elizabeth. “But those aren’t the Pleiades, although I’ll admit it looks like them,” protested her brother. “That’s Job’s Coffin.” “Well, I never! I’ve always said they were the Pleiades even though I thought they appeared a bit strange to me,” said the surprised girl. “What are those stars near Job’s Coffin?” asked Billy. “That is Aquilla,” answered Mrs. Remington. “Now let me get these down straight,” came from Billy. “First, that ‘W’ is Cassiopaeia. Next to her—what are those four big stars like a square?” “It is called the Great Square of Pegasus,” replied Mrs. Remington. “Then comes Aquilla and Job’s Coffin, and above us you find Lyra.” “Look! What is that large star in the northeast—it is low down on the horizon but it is rising fast?” cried Dudley. Every one turned to gaze at the beautiful twinkling star that seemed to sway in the sky. In fact Billy denied it was a star. 128 “Any one can see with half an eye that that’s a fire-balloon!” argued he. However, it proved itself to be a star and finally, Mrs. Remington and Fred identified it as Capella and the atmospheric conditions near the horizon accounted for its gyrations. “But, mother, it is moving east!” cried Elizabeth. “It is a fire-balloon, ’cause no star travels that way,” added Billy. Here Uncle Bill offered an explanation of the marvel. “It’s a star, all right, Billy, and it really is moving east to us because we are so far north that we see it below what is ordinarily the horizon! Watch carefully now, and soon you will see it move west and behave as all other well-trained stars do.” This proved to be so and before the party quite reached home Capella had risen high in the heavens to join the orderly procession of westward moving stars. “Do any of you know the Algonquin name for the Big Dipper?” asked Mrs. Remington. Aunt Miriam demonstrated her knowledge of the zodiac at this point and told the story of Ojeeg-Annung, the Fisher Star. “Ojeeg-Annung was a mighty hunter—he lived with his wife and little son on the shores of a great lake. They always had plenty to eat because Ojeeg was so skilful in the chase. But at that time it was always winter in the land—the sky people kept the Birds129 of Summer shut up in cages in the Fields of Heaven. “The little son complained of the continual cold, especially when his hands were stiff and aching so that he could not use his bow and arrow on the squirrels and rabbits. “One day when he cried with the cold, a squirrel hopped up and told him, ‘Keep on crying and complaining no matter what your parents offer you for consolation, and at last your father, who is a magician, will promise you anything you want if you will only stop crying. Then ask him to make Summer in the land!’ “The boy followed the squirrel’s advice and it happened as he said it would. “Ojeeg called all his fellow-chiefs together and they made strong medicine and started off to climb to Heaven. “Finally they reached the top of a high mountain and from there they could jump into heaven, by breaking through the celestial floor. “Before the sky-people could stop them, Ojeeg had cut open the cages and freed the Birds of Summer. They flew quickly down through the hole in heaven and so we now have summer and warmth and flowers. “Poor Ojeeg was overtaken by the sky-men and, although he changed himself into his totem animal, the fisher, he died from an arrow-head in the tip of his tail—the only spot that was vulnerable. As he died, he exclaimed: ‘I am satisfied to die because I have done130 such good, not only to my son but to all who come hereafter.’ “There he is in the sky as a remembrance. What we call the ‘Dipper’s Handle,’ the Indians call Ojeeg’s long tail with the arrow sticking in the end.” “What is the fisher like?” questioned Paul. “It’s like an otter or a sable or a marten,” replied Billy, the hunter. “This marten story makes six different names I have heard the Dipper go by, and I suppose there really are others,” remarked Elizabeth. “Six!” exclaimed Paul in surprise. “What are they besides the Bear and the Dipper and this Fisher Ojeeg?” “Why, there are the Seven Plough Oxen, The Seven Rishis, or Wise Men, and the Persian Heft Aurang or Seven Thrones,” explained Elizabeth, the lover of poetry and romance. But the stars were soon forgotten after the Woodcrafters landed and wearily sought their cots. A full and happy day in the open made most of them sleepy and glad to stretch out for the night. <hr class="divider" /> 131 <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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