CONVERSATION XIV
DANGER
Lucy often had singular adventures with Royal and her father; but one, which interested her as much as any, was an adventure she once met with in crossing a river. The circumstances were these: —
They were on a journey; Lucy and Royal were travelling with their father and mother.
One evening, after they had reached the end of the journey for the day, the party stopped in a village, built upon an eminence, which overlooked a broad and very fertile-looking valley. It consisted of extensive intervals, level and green, and spotted with elms, and with a river winding through them, until its course was lost among the trees, a few miles below. After tea, Royal wanted to go down, across the intervals, to the bank of the river, to see the water.
“O yes,” said Lucy, “and let me go too, father.”
“O no,” said Royal, “you must not go.”
“Why not?” said Lucy.
“Because,” said Royal, “we may find a boat there, and want to take a sail in it; and you couldn’t go.”
“Why not?” said Lucy.
“Because,” said Royal, “you wouldn’t dare to go.”
“Yes I should,” said Lucy.
“No,” said Royal, “you don’t dare to sleep in a room alone at night, in a hotel.”
“But I think she will not be afraid to go in the boat,” said her father. “At any rate, we will let her go with us.”
Lucy then went to get her bonnet; and when they were all ready, she and Royal went out together; their father followed immediately afterwards. Their mother, being fatigued, preferred to remain at home.
From the principal street of the village, they passed out, through a pair of bars, into a cart road, which led through the mowing fields down towards the intervals.
They walked on together, until they came down to the intervals, which were level fields of grass and flowers, very beautiful, and extending on each side of them very far. The road gradually grew narrower, until at length it became a mere path, which finally conducted them to the bank of the river. Royal and Lucy stood upon the bank, and looked down into the water.
The bank was quite high and steep, formed of earth, which seemed to be, from time to time, caving into the water. It was green to the very brink, and some large masses of turf lay down below at the water’s edge, and partly in the water, where they had apparently fallen from above. The shore on the opposite side of the river was, however, very different. It was a low, sandy beach, with the water rippling along the pebbles, which lay upon the margin of it.
“O father,” said Royal, “I wish we could get over to that beach.”
“Yes,” said Lucy, “and then we could get down and throw stones into the water.”
“If we had a boat,” said Royal, “we could get across.”
“O no,” said their father, “this river is too shallow for a boat.”
“How do you know, father?” said Royal.
“Why, I can see the bottom all the way; and then I know by the rapidity of the current, that it must be quite shallow.”
Just then they observed some men coming down towards them, on the bank of the river. Royal’s father asked them, when they came up to where he was standing, if there were any boats on the river.
“Yes,” said the men, “there is a small boat just above here, which you can have if you want. Only bring it safe back again.”
“I am very much obliged to you,” said Lucy’s father; “are there any oars?”
“There are some paddles,” replied one of the men. “They’re hid in the bushes, just opposite the boat. There is a padlock on the boat, and it looks as if it was locked, but it is not. You can take the padlock right off.”
The men then went on their way down the river, and Lucy and Royal ran along the bank to see if they could find the boat. Their father followed them more slowly. Presently, however, they all came to the place where the boat was lying.
It was a very small boat indeed. It was drawn up partly upon the bank, which was here not quite so steep as where the children had first stood, but was yet considerably precipitous. The boat was fastened, by a chain, to the root of a large elm-tree, which was growing upon the bank, the roots having been laid bare by the action of the water. There was a padlock passing through a link of the chain in such a way as to give the boat the appearance of being fastened; but Lucy’s father found that the padlock would open easily, without any unlocking, and so they soon got the boat at liberty.
Royal then went to look around among the grass and bushes near, to see if he could find the paddles. Presently he called out, “Here they are!” and in a few minutes he brought them to his father.
“Now, Lucy,” said her father, “do you want to get in and sail across the river?”
“Isn’t there any danger?” said Lucy.
“Yes,” said her father, “I think there is considerable danger.”
“What! that we shall get drowned?” exclaimed Lucy.
“No,” replied her father; “only that we shall get upset.”
“Well, father,” said Lucy, “if we get upset, we shall certainly be drowned.”
“O no,” replied her father; “the water isn’t deep enough to drown us anywhere, if we stand upright upon the bottom. And then, besides, there is no danger that we shall be upset, unless where it is very shallow indeed. The current may sweep us away down the stream, so that we shall lose command of the boat, and then, if we strike a large stone, or a sunken log, the boat might fill or go over; but, then, in the places where the current is so rapid, the water is nowhere more than knee deep. Now you may go with us or not, just as you please.”
“Royal, what would you do?” said Lucy.
“O, I’d go,” said Royal, “by all means.”
“Would you, father?” asked Lucy.
“Yes,” said her father, “unless you are very much afraid.”
Lucy said she was a little afraid, but not much; and she cautiously stepped into the boat. Royal got in after her, and when the two children had taken their seats, their father followed them, and took his place in the stern, with one of the paddles. Royal had the other. The stern is the hinder part of a boat. The forward part is called the bows. There was a chain attached to the bows of the boat, by which it had been fastened to the shore.
“Now, Royal,” said his father, when they were all seated, “you must remember that, if you go with us, you must obey my orders exactly.”
“Yes, father, I will,” said Royal.
“And suppose,” said his father, “that I order you to jump into the river.”
“Then I’ll jump right in,” said Royal.
“Well,” said his father, “we shall see.”
Royal was seated forward, at the bows of the boat. The boat was flat-bottomed, and square at both ends, so that there was very little difference between the bows and the stern, and there was a place to sit at each. Royal put his paddle into the water, and began to paddle a little; but they made no progress, until his father was ready to work his paddle at the stem of the boat; and then it began slowly to glide up the river, keeping, however, all the time near the bank from which they had set out. The water appeared to be much deeper on this side than on the other, and the current was not so rapid. Lucy, however, by looking over the side of the boat, could plainly see the gravel-stones upon the bottom.
They went along very smoothly and prosperously, but yet very slowly, for some time; and at length Royal asked his father to put out more into the stream. So his father turned the head of the boat out, and in a very few minutes they found themselves in the middle of the river. Now, however, instead of moving up, they found, by looking upon the stones at the bottom, that they were drifting down. Royal observed, too, that the water had become much more shallow, and the current was stronger. He looked at his father, and found that he was exerting himself, with all his strength, to force the boat against the current, and keep it from being carried away.
But the water was so shallow, that the end of his paddle rubbed upon the bottom, and prevented his keeping the boat under command. Then he thought that he would use his paddle for a setting-pole, instead of a paddle; that is, that he would plant the lower end of it firmly into the gravel at the bottom, and then push against it, and so force the boat to go up the stream.
In attempting to do this, however, he lost the command of his boat still more. The current, setting strong against the bows, swept that end of the boat round, so as to bring her broadside to the stream; and then she was entirely at the mercy of the water, which here seemed to pour over the stones in a torrent. The boat went flying along over the rippling waves, within a very few inches of the pebble-stones below. Royal began to be seriously afraid.
“Can’t you stop her, father?” said he.
His father did not answer, he was so intent upon the effort which he was making. He had thought of one more plan. He planted the foot of his paddle into the gravel on the bottom, opposite the middle of the boat, and then, letting the middle of the boat press against it, he endeavored to hold it by main force; but the force of the water was so great, that the boat was crowded over until it just began to let in water; so that he was obliged to release his hold, and the boat drifted away again. He then took his seat once more in the stern of the boat.
“Now, Royal,” said he, “stand up and take hold of the painter.”
“What is that?” said Royal.
“The chain,” replied his father – “the chain fastened to the bows.”
Royal did so.
“Now,” said his father, “stand up steadily upon the bows, and then step down carefully into the water.”
Royal obeyed his father’s command with much firmness. The water was about up to his knees. He staggered a little at first, as he carried with him the motion of the boat; but he soon regained a firm footing.
“Now stand still,” said his father, “and hold on.”
Royal braced himself, by his position in the water, against the action of the boat, which pulled hard upon the painter, and this immediately brought the boat round, into a position parallel with the direction of the current. By holding on firmly a moment longer, he stopped the boat, and the current swept swiftly by it, dashing the rippling waves almost over the bows. Lucy sat all this time very quietly on the middle seat, without saying a word.
“Now, Royal,” said his father, “see if you can draw us in towards the shore.”
Royal found, that although it had been so difficult for his father to push the boat by the head, yet that he himself could draw it pretty easily with the chain. So he walked along through the water towards the shore, drawing the boat after him. In a few minutes, he had the bows safely drawn up upon the sand.
His father then stepped out upon the beach, telling Lucy to sit still. He took his stand back a little, where the gravel was dry, while Royal remained just in the edge of the water.
“Now, Royal,” said his father, “you may see if you can draw Lucy up the river. Keep just far enough from the shore to make the water half knee deep.”
Royal was much pleased with this arrangement; and as for Lucy, she was delighted. She sat upon the middle seat, balancing herself exactly, so as not to upset the boat; while Royal waded along, drawing her through the water, which curled and rippled on each side.
“O Lucy,” said Royal, stopping to look round, “we can play this is a canal-boat, and that I am the horse.”
“So we can,” said Lucy; and she began immediately to chirup to him, to make him go faster.
Royal dragged the boat along, while his father walked upon the shore. Presently they came to a place where the water began to be deeper, and the bottom more sandy; and Royal perceived that the current was not nearly as rapid. He looked up to see how the water appeared before him, and he found that it was smooth and glassy, instead of being rippled and rough, as it had been below. His father noticed this difference in the appearance of the water too; and he told Royal that it was a sign that there was no current there. So he directed Royal to come in to the shore, and they would all get in again.
Royal accordingly drew the boat up to the shore, and they all got in. Now they found that they could paddle the boat very easily. It glided over the smooth water with a very gentle and pleasant motion. Lucy looked over the side, and watched the change in the sandy bottom far below. Sometimes she saw a great log lying across the bed of the stream, then a rock, half imbedded in the sand, and next a school of little fishes. The land, too, looked beautiful on each side, as they passed along. There were willows here lining the bank, and now and then a great elm, with branches drooping over almost into the water.
After sailing about in this smooth water a little while, their father said that it was time for them to go home; and so he brought the boat round, turning her head down the stream. After going down in that direction for a little while, Royal said,
“Why, father, you are going right upon the ripples again.”
“Yes,” said his father, “we are going over them.”
“O father,” said Lucy, “we shall upset.”
“No,” said her father, “there is no danger, going down.”
“Why not?” said Royal.
“Because,” said his father, “I shall keep her head down, and then, if we strike a snag, it will do no harm.”
“What is a snag?” said Lucy.
“It is a log sunk in the water,” replied her father.
By this time they had begun to enter the rippling water, and the boat shot swiftly along, bounding over the little billows very merrily. Lucy was at first a little afraid, but she soon began to feel safe, and to enjoy the rapid motion. They soon reached the place where they had taken the boat, and, leaving it there, fastened securely as they had found it, they all went back across the intervals towards home.