The Adventures of Bobby Orde

ap and coat and other belongings. The Proper Place was a small, dark closet under the angle of the stairs. He called it the Proper Place

l black and white sett

uke!" gre

s magnificent feather tail, and

lobert Rifle. It was something to be dreamed of, with its beautiful blued-steel octagon barrel, its gleaming gold-plated locks and its polished stock. Bobby was just under ten years old; but he could have told you all about that Flobert Rifle-its weight, the length of its barrel, the number of grains of both powder and lea

rway, and the hall to which it mounted were dark and smelled of old coco-matting and stale tobacco. Bobby liked this sm

n iron "base burner" stove occupied the middle of the room. Its pipe ran in suspension here and there through the upper air until it plu

dows were two roll-top desks at which sat Mr. Orde and his p

ho was talking earnestly to a man;

ges and schooners. Bobby surveyed them with both pleasure and regret. It seemed a shame that such delightful boats should have been built only in half and nailed immovably to boards. Against another wall were maps, and a real

, the little boy and the grave, black and white setter dog walked down the

ich were at that time a source of such pride to their owners, a

nd faster he ran, until he was almost out of sight; then turned with a whirl of shingle dust and came racing back. When he reached the horses he leaped vigo

lender whalebone wh

Dick!"

sunlight twinkle on the wheel-spokes. The narrow tires sunk slightly in the yielding shingle fragments. Brittle! Brittle! Brittle! the sound said to Bobby. A

anks of the river. A long bridge crossed it. The team clattered over the planks so fast that hardl

eat and watch the wallowing, churning little tug and the three calm ships pass through. He could not see the tug at a

ed schooner

ut mighty beyond Bobby's small experience to gauge. He could make out the two bridge tenders walking around and around, pushing on the long lever t

n; but instead, great lumber yards, and along t

w perfumed all the air. To the left Bobby could see the shipyards and the skeleton of a vessel well under way. From

ake out the topmasts of more ships, from which floated the pointed hollow "tell-tales" affected by the lake schooners of those days as pennants. At the end of the lumber piles the road turned sharp to the right. It passed in turn the small building which Bobby knew to be another delightful office, and the huge cavernous mill with its shrieks and clangs, its blazing, winking eyes beneath

shioned snake fences; dotted with blackened stumps of the long-vanished forest; eaten by sloughs and bayous from the river. The sawdust ceased

d up in jets at each impact of the horses' hoofs. On either hand the bayou, but a plank's thickness below the level of the float-bridge, filmed with green weeds and the bright scum of water, not too stagnant, offered surprises to the watchful eye. One

obby excited and awed. "T

reaming with long green grasses, his wicked black eyes staring, his hooked, powerful jaws set in a grim curve. If onc

after them. Duke, the white of his coat soiled and muddied by frequent and grateful plunges, loped alongside, his pink tongue hanging from one corne

es you have the booms so far away? Why

ish, with his freckled, dull red cheeks, his dot of a nose, and his wide gr

they're all mixed up together. When they get down to the mills where they are to be sawed up into boards, the logs belonging to the different owners have to be sorted out. Papa's company is paid by all the others to do the floating down

em so far up the str

ore room-the river

onfessed within himself a strong doubt as to whe

you tell your logs from Mr. Proctor's or

ding his hand heartily

amped on the end with a mark. Mr. Proctor's mark is one thing; an

," sai

ove of willows. Emerging thence they fou

alory, the Stumps Perilous. Between them there was but just room to drive-in fact the delicate points of the whiffle tree scratched the polished surfaces of t

th pace undiminished and drew up proudly before the smallest of the group of buildings. Thence eme

im," said

ck," said

chore boy to t

im," replied t

reath of pleasure,

end by means of strong links. They were generally laid in pairs, and hewn on top, so that they constituted a network of floating sidewalks threading the expanse of saw-logs. At intervals they were anchored to bunches of piles driven deep, and bound at the top. An unbroken palisade of piles constituted the outer boundaries of the main boom. At the upper end of them perched a little house whence was operated th

e hut wherein he knew dwelt machinery and a good-natured, short, dark man with a short, dark pipe, and the criss-cross floa

lifted Bobby down, and immediately walked away with the River Boss,

e greatest interest. The sharp caulks of the rivermen's shoes had long since picked away the surface, leaving it pockmarked and uneven. Only the knots had resisted; and each

at intervals on them arose irregular humps of cheese cloth. Beneath the cheese cloth, which Bobby had seen lifted, were receptacles containing the staples and condiments, such as stewed

decided to visit them; but he knew better than to pass through the d

t a time, and climbed around to the kitchen. Here

eyebrows. The cookees grinned, and one of them offered him a cooky as big as

is camp of hungry hard-working men. It took a good man to plan and organize; and a good man Corrigan was. His meals were never late, never scant, and never wasteful. He had the record for all the camps on the river of thirty-five cents a day per man-and the men satisfied. Consequently, in his own domain he was autocrat. The dining room was sacred, the kitche

clock and uttered some command to his two subordinates. The latter immediately began to dish into large receptacles of tin the hot food from the stove-boiled meat, mashed potatoes, pork and beans, boiled corn. These they placed at regular intervals down the long tables of the dining room. Bobby descen

the bell, Bo

eized this and pulled as hard as he was able. But his weight could not bring the he

let up entire! Now pull again! Now let up! That's the b

c, efforts. Nevertheless Corrigan took opportunity to reach out surreptitiously above the lit

broke the

, "Now all you got to do is to keep at her. Now

ng entirely over. Bobby was becoming enthusiastic. He tugged and tugged. Sometimes when he did not let go the rope in time, he was lifted slightly off his feet. The sun was hot, but he had no thought of quitting. His hat fell off backward, his towsled hair wetted at the edges, clung to his forehead, his dull red cheeks grew redder behind their freckles,

moment Mr. Orde and Jim Denning came around the corner with some haste. Both looked worried and a

own on his son and tos

e all here. Lord, Corrigan! I t

Christmas dinner to match that,

hly, because it was so different from what

ed, "I want to go

obby," replied Mr. Orde

ing would no

d he. "I bet you'd been fished out from r

rde l

but we were raised di

work's slack. I'll let

the steady unwavering determination that the river life develops. In all details of equipment he was a riverman complete: the narrow-brimmed black felt hat, pushed back from a tangle of curls; the flann

the River Boss after

oached, grinni

the booms," commanded Denning,

ed a little bashfully at each other, and then turned

n 'em afore?" as

after a pause, "I been o

elf with a little stagger, although his footing was a good three feet in width. On either side of him nuzzled the gre

s it here?"

et," replied

f the booms. Some jabbed the pike poles in and then walked forward along the boom logs. Others ran quickly over the logs themselves until they had gained timbers large enough to sustain their weight, whence they were able to work with greater advantage. The supporting log rolled and dipped under the burden of the

e logs?" asked Bobb

aughed Ji

you," ins

ipped before he had jumped to the next and the next after. Behind him the logs, bobbing up and down, churned the water white. Jimmy moved rapidly across the enclosure on an irregular zigzag. The smaller logs he passed over as quickly as possible; on the larger he paused appreciably. Bobby was

ere," s

ed its momentum, the boy increased his pace, until finally his feet were fairly twinkling beneath him, and the side of the log rising from the river w

ng a log," sa

etween the various enclosures were often nothing but single round poles

it here?" h

feet," replie

hile it lasted a definite subjective experience which Bobby would always remember. As he looked back, the buildings of the river camp, lying low among the trees, had receded to a great distance; apparently at another horizon was the dark row of piling that marked the outer confines of the booms; up

man North was short, dark, heavy and bearded; he smoked perpetually a small black clay pipe which he always held upside down in his mouth. His conversation was not extensive; but his blac

is yonder,

the river. Where the shadow of the cabin fell, he could see far down in the water, which there became a transpar

he advised. "Yan's

it. Bobby jiggled it up and down. No results. At last he fairly plumped the worm on top of the fish's nose. The perch, with an

ok and fish near bottom,

pit as scientifically as he could, and watched the waving green current slip silently beneath his feet

proffered Bobby at last, "

said Jimmy Powers, "Yo

istened with the envy of one whose imagination cannot conceive of himself permitted in

by, yank him!"

's a whale!" s

had been ruthlessly jerked below the water's surf

er, described an arc over your head, and lit somewhere behind you. He tried to accomplish this,

me!" cried

one," grun

his ears rang, but, after a first immovable resistance, to his great joy the tip of the bending, wriggling pole began to give. Slow

rmured Jimmy Pow

visible, the line came up with a sickening ease. The intere

a howl of di

hard luck!" cr

our pounds," prof

r whistle sounded from about the

d North, "Clear ou

a band of fancy grill-work, a walking beam, two huge paddle boxes and much white paint. She sheered sidewise with the current around the bend, and headed down upon them accompanied by a vast beating of paddle wheels. Bobby could soon make out atop the walking-beam, the swaying iron Indian with be

e her to-day,"

e man with a grin.

rip to and from Redding, forty miles up the River, twice a wee

erted to his

walk on the l

n, then," sai

teps along the booms

Powers, "'Cause then if you should fall in, the logs would c

, which in the event continu

ne," said Jimmy

ied to tread the other. The log promptly followed his suggestion-too promptly. Bobby soon found himself about two moves be

pping from the waist down! In any other surroundings or with any other company he would have wept bitterly. Even in the presence of Jimmy Powers his lower lip quivered; and his soul filled to the very throat with dismay. Jimmy Powers could not understand his very evident per

our collar's all right, and your hair ain't wet.

brig

cold?" he ask

with scorn. "You rustle in to the cook shanty

his guide, and presen

nnounced, "can I

Take a cracker-box and go over by

onfesse

munched and told about the fish he had almost caught. He liked Corrigan because the latter talked to him sensibly, without ill-timed

ll Papa,"

ne eye, and went on peeling potatoes. Aft

nquired. "Oh yes!

little boy's spirits rose. The team was waiting, and they mounted the buggy at once. Duke fell in behind

d time?" as

the man heard little of his son's talk. His mind was very busy with the elements of the game he was playing, sorting and arranging them, figuring how to earn and borrow the money necessary to permit his taking advantage of a chan

oming. Only when washing for dinner did he remember with certain self-felicitation that even his mother had noticed nothing. For the first time it occurred to him that his parents were not omniscient:-that was the

bless those dear to him, as usual; but

row up a big man