Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country — John Shaqi
Eben Holden: A Tale of the North CountryBacheller, Irving
General
Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country
Bacheller, Irving
Farm life -- Fiction; Historical fiction; New York (State) -- Fiction
Our breakfast over, Uncle Eb made me promise to stay with Fred and the
basket while he went away to find a man who could row us across. In
about an hour I heard a boat coming and the dog and I went out on the
point of rocks where we saw Uncle Eb and another man, heading for us,
half over the cove. The bow bumped the rocks beneath us in a minute.
Then the stranger dropped his oars and stood staring at me and the dog.
'Say, mister,' said he presently, 'can't go no further. There's a reward
offered fer you an' thet boy.'
Uncle Eb called him aside and was talking to him a long time.
I never knew what was said, but they came at last and took us into the
boat and the stranger was very friendly.
When we had come near the landing on the 'York State' side, I remember
he gave us our bearings.
'Keep t' the woods,' he said, 'till you're out o' harm's way. Don't go
near the stage road fer a while. Ye'll find a store a little way up the
mountain. Git yer provisions there an' about eighty rod farther ye'll
strike the trail. It'll take ye over the mountain north an' t' Paradise
Road. Then take the white church on yer right shoulder an' go straight
west.'
I would not have remembered it so well but for the fact that Uncle Eb
wrote it all down in his account book and that has helped me over many
a slippery place in my memory of those events. At the store we got some
crackers and cheese, tea and coffee, dried beef and herring, a bit of
honey and a loaf of bread that was sliced and buttered before it was
done up. We were off in the woods by nine o'clock, according to Uncle
Eb's diary, and I remember the trail led us into thick brush where I had
to get out and walk a long way. It was smooth under foot, however, and
at noon we came to a slash in the timber, full of briars that were all
aglow with big blackberries. We filled our hats with them and Uncle Eb
found a spring, beside which we built a fire and had a memorable meal
that made me glad of my hunger.
Then we spread the oilcloth and lay down for another sleep. We could
see the glow of the setting sun through the tree-tops when we woke, and
began our packing.
'We'll hev t' hurry,' said Uncle Eb, 'er we'll never git out o' the
woods t'night 'S 'bout six mile er more t' Paradise Road, es I mek it.
Come, yer slower 'n a toad in a tar barrel.'
We hurried off on the trail and I remember Fred looked very crestfallen
with two big packages tied to his collar. He delayed a bit by trying to
shake them off, but Uncle Eb gave him a sharp word or two and then he
walked along very thoughtfully. Uncle Eb was a little out of patience
that evening, and I thought he bore down too harshly in his rebuke of
the old dog.
'You shif'less cuss,' he said to him, 'ye'd jes' dew nothin' but chase
squirrels an' let me break my back t' carry yer dinner.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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