Newspaper Page Text
146
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
MAROONER’S ISLAND ;
OR,
Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children.
BY REV. F. R. GOULDING,
Author of “ The Young Maroonera.”
CHAPTER XIII. (Concluded.)
BIVOUAC ISLAND A-FIRE EFFORTS
LOSSES AND UNWELCOME VISITORS.
PHE men went to work
with a will, and had
nearly accomplished
their several parts, when
Tompkins, after a few
words with Wheeler, returned to
My Hr. Gordon, and said :
“1 had intended to fire the Out-
side of our cleared circle, as soon as
it was ready, so as to have a wide belt of
burnt ground between us and that roar
ing giant yonder. But Wheeler reminds
me that if we start a fire here we may
show to our enemies on the main where
we are; and as we probably have time
enough, I propose to fire first the west
ern side, just across the island from us,
that it may seem as if the fire from our
camp comes from a spark blown from the
other side. Will you let Wildcat go with
Wheeler for this purpose ?”
“Assuredly/’ was the reply, and in less
than a minute the two delegates -were
forcing their way through the tangled
undergrowth. They had not made half
the distance ere they had impressive evi
dence of the progress of the conflagra
tion. A whizzing sound overhead caused
them to look upward, and they saw a
large gang of wild turkeys, that had been
running before the fire, rise on meeting
them, and take refuge in the trees ; after
which a trampling announced" something
on the ground, and a herd of deer passed
them, careering wildly through the un
dergrowth, and behind them they heard
the whine of a pup, and saw a she wolf
bearing in her mouth a crying, and no
doubt half-burnt whelp.
“'Poor brutes,” said Wheeler, “there is
many a one suffering to-night, particular
ly of the young deer and squirrels. Who
would have expected so much loss and
suffering from so small a spark.”
The fire beginning at the northwest
end of the island, and driven by a wind
from the west, had sjiread rapidly east
and slowly south, until it appeared like
an immense seine of fire stretched across
the island, driving everything before it
that had life, and swinging round upon
its right staff. Observing the progress
southward to be much more rapid on the
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
east than on the west side of the island,
Wheeler took advantage of the first open
place to start his fire, then called to W ild
cat to unite with him in a speedy return
to camp by way of the southern beach.
On their way, and while yet a quarter
of mile distant, they heard the voice of
the sergeant giving orders, then a con
fused sound of several voices together, in
the midst of which came the report of
one, then of two other muskets.
“ I’m afraid,” said Wheeler, “ there is
trouble in camp. Let us run.”
They came at full speed, which was not
slackened by observing that the light at
the camp flashed up into a momentary
ulare, attended with another confusion of
voices. On arriving they saw that the
fire had overleaped the cleared ring which
had been made, and had extended down
to the beach where the articles had been
sent to be out of danger, but where, un
fortunately, there "was a little patch of tall
grass that took fire and conveyed it to
the tent and some other combustible ma
terials heaped together on shore. This
was not the result of carelessness, but of
accident —a sudden whirlwind, created by
the heat of a burning tree-lap (as the
head of a fallen tree is called) had carried
some cinders beyond their usual bounds,
and set on fire the part supposed to be
safe.
On the alarm being raised, the men
rushed back to save their goods, but not
in time for the tents and some valuable
articles of clothing. A stack of muskets
had also been reached by the fire, and
were so badly scorched that one of them
was discharged, throwing down the
others, so that they exploded also, to
gether with a cartrige box of one of the
men.
To increase the confusion a blind wolf
—rendered so by the heat and smoke
through which she had passed, or else by
the discharge of the muskets—(for she ap
peared at the moment they exploded)
sprang in among the men, snarling fu
riously and snapping at their legs, until
she was arrested by being pinned to the
earth with a bayonet.
The loss, however, which was most se
riously felt at the moment by the men,
thirsting intensely from their hot work,
was of their drinking water; for Thomp
son, in his Irish haste to extinguish the
burning tents and clothing, had emptied
the contents of the runlet by bueket-fulls
upon the flames, when most needed.
I 1 °r & time the smoke, prevailing from
the north and west, threatened to drive
them all from the island; but, at last, the
land breeze gaining the ascendancv, ena
bled them to breathe freely, and to think
of resting. And it was time, for mid
night had now come, and in five hours
more would arrive the light of another
day, and the call for renewed labor.
All assembled under the oak, which was
now their only shelter, and, as soon as
they were sufficiently composed, the Ser
geant said:
“ There are two points of business re
quiring our attention before avo go to
sleep: one is, to determine what we shall
do for Avater ; and the other is to learn
lioav that fire in the Avoods got out.” To
which Wheeler promptly responded:
“I Avish, Sergeant, that I could respond
to the first point as certainly as I can to
the second. I have seen no signs of fresh
Avater on the island, though I suppose
from the deer and turkeys avo met that
there must be some somcAvhere. As for
the fire, I am pretty sure it got out from
my pipe. When Jones and I got to the
nor’west end of the island last evening,
avo felt pretty tired; so Ave lighted our
pipes and sat on a log to rest. My pipe
had in it only tobacco enough for a few
Avhiffs, so when it ceased giving smoke, I
knocked out the ashes on the log, not
dreaming there was a live spark in it.
And that, I’m pretty sure, is lioav the tire
got out.”
“A costly smoke,” said Tomkins, “but
one that we shall haA 7 e to excuse.”
“ It Avas a far bigger one than I intend
ed Avhen I struck* my match,” rejoined
Wheeler; “and sorry enough I am for
it. But it is only a circumstance com
pared with Avhat I suav once on the
prairies.”
“We must remember that, and call for
it some other time,” said Hr. Gordon.
“In the meantime, we must enquire about
Avater.”
“ I have a canteen full of it, in the
boat,” said Thompson, “ and the company
are welcome to all of it except one drink.”
“ I have a canteen of it, too,” added
Magrudcr ; “I’ll save one drink and give
the rest away.”
“I too,” said Wildcat, with a merry
laugh, in which everybody joined, and in
the midst of which Hr. Gordon observed:
“I do not know lioav fair it Avould be in
us, who have no canteens of water, to ac
*We use the word “ struck 11 in deference to
the present mode of originating fire. No doubt
this term will change in the course of time, so us
to express some other mode, not as yet in vogue.
In the year 1831, the most approved matches,
known as “Lucifers,” were “ drawn 1 ' through
a fold of sand paper; though many people con
tinued still to “ dip ” in a vial of sulphuric acid,
or of phosphorus, according to the nature of At
preparation. Flint and steel, with tinder, were
also in common use.