On a Visit.—A Fascination and a Temptation.—Secret Plans.—An exciting Letter.—Where’s old Solomon?—Arrival of an Opportunity.—The Opportunity seized.—A hazardous Adventure.—The Island in the Falls.
BART DAMER lived at St. John, and on his return home he had brought with him his two friends, Phil and Pat, to pass the vacation with him. Solomon had also accompanied them, for the purpose of visiting some relatives who lived in the vicinity. Neither Phil nor Pat had ever been in St. John before, and they found the place full of attractions of no common order.

Indeed, it may safely be said, that St. John possesses attractions sufficient to excite the interest even of those who have travelled far and seen much, and can lay claim to far more experience than could possibly have been possessed by two lads like Phil and Pat.

Situated as it is on a peninsula between two seas, and on a declivity which slopes steeply down on three sides, its houses rise one above another, and thus produce an effect which is in the highest degree imposing to those approaching. Before the city and behind it two furious floods pass and repass, in one place filling up the broad channel with sand, but in the other mingling with the torrent of a mighty river, which, after flowing for five hundred miles, at this place pours all its accumulated waters into the bay.

All around the city are many striking scenes; the sea, with its tides and currents; the sky, with its clouds and fogs; the rocky ledges, the surf-beaten islands, and the far-folded headlands; the low marshes, and broad sand flats; the bold, rocky hills, whose summits, rising one behind another, fade away in the distance;—and over all these an ever-changing atmosphere, which at one time veils all the scene in thick mists, and at another time gathers up all its clouds to lend additional glories to the setting sun.

But, amid all these objects of interest, one stands forth preeminent, and that is the river. After flowing for many a mile through every variety of scenery, it at length approaches its termination, where, within the space of a few miles, it gathers together the extremes of the grand and the beautiful. Here it expands into a broad lake, and receives into itself, by a wide mouth, another tributary river; after which it contracts into narrow dimensions, and winds its way between rocky precipices till it reaches the suburbs of the city. Here it expands once more, and then, flowing onward a little farther, it comes to a place where towering cliffs rise abrupt, giving signs of some primeval convulsion of nature, which has rent the solid rock asunder to open a pathway for the waters. Here, through a narrow and gloomy gorge, it rushes onward, past rocky shores and between small islands, and at length, with a majestic curve, sweeps into the harbor, and thence into the bay.

Now, the surface of that bay is forever changing, as the mighty tides ebb and flow, and the difference between the extremes of its elevation is great. At low tide all the river pours in foam and fury through this gorge, forming what is called the Falls; at high tide, on the contrary, the outer waters run swiftly up the river with resistless sweep; while between the two there is a time when the waters are so still that the most fragile boat can pass with perfect safety in any direction.

The scene is magnificent. At the beginning of the Falls the river grows narrow, showing two rocky islets on one side, and a promontory on the other. Then, after widening again, it once more contracts, and lowering cliffs of solid rock arise on either side. Across this abyss a suspension bridge has been flung, from which there is a view full of grandeur. Here at high tide the river may be seen rushing up; at low tide it may be seen pouring down with the fury of a cataract; while at intermediate tide may be seen steamers, and schooners, and scows, and timber-rafts, and sail-boats, and row-boats, all passing through in perfect safety.

After exhausting the possibilities of the place, Phil and Pat both settled down upon the Falls as the one grand distinguishing feature of the city, at least in their estimation. Bart’s house was not very far away, and so they used to come here often; sometimes sitting on the suspension bridge, and watching the flood below, or the vessels passing underneath, or the foam of the thunderous cataract; at other times scaling the sides of the precipice, and working their way down to the edge of the river, so as to look up from thence and watch the suspension bridge overhead, with the people and carriages that passed to and fro. Thus the whole immediate vicinity of the Falls became at length perfectly familiar to them, and there was not a single spot worth seeing which they had not thoroughly explored.

When I say this, I must make an exception. There were some spots which yet baffled them. These were two islands which lay in the channel of the river, and, when the flood poured down, received its shock upon their rocky borders. These islands lay out of the reach of the boys, and for that reason became particularly attractive to them. An island is always an object of unutterable fascination to a boy; but these became still more fascinating, for the reason that they seemed to be more inaccessible than was generally the case. At the same time they were very provokingly near. From one shore the distance was so slight that it seemed almost possible to jump across. But the possibility was only apparent; the island was in reality inaccessible, except by boat, at certain times of tide, and so Phil and Pat only found themselves tantalized by the sight of an object apparently so near, yet in reality so remote.

Each of the boys began at length to be filled with a consuming desire to reach the islands, and each soon began to think over some plan by which their purpose might be effected. Of the two, Pat was the more eager; in fact, if it had not been for him, it is not at all likely that Phil would ever have felt the desire so strongly; but Pat seemed to be completely carried away by this one feeling; and his excitement was gradually communicated to Phil, till at last one was as eager as the other to reach those inviting shores.

As for Bart, he was in a different position altogether. He had been taken there once, and consequently knew all about them; and thus there was no mystery to attract him. In the second place, his father had forbidden him, most positively and most solemnly, from ever having anything whatever to do with any boat above the Falls. The prohibition was one which was so final, that the idea of disobeying it never for one moment entered into his head; and when Pat had mentioned his wish to visit the islands, he had refused so positively, and had warned him against it so earnestly, that Pat from that moment never alluded to it again in his presence. In this matter Phil was influenced by Pat, rather than by Bart; that is to say, he listened rather to Pat’s enthusiastic descriptions of those mysterious islands than to the somewhat unsatisfactory warning which Bart had given; and the only result of that warning was, that he and Pat began to devise in secret some plan by which they might achieve their desire.

The result of this was, that Pat volunteered to go forth and make some inquiries about boats. There were plenty of boats above the Falls, and it was easy enough to procure one. The only difficulty was, that people might not be willing to let one to inexperienced boys. But Pat was fully a match for this emergency. He was ready with any amount of professions as to his ability to manage any boat; and indeed in such professions he was not deceitful, for he could handle an oar as well as any boy of his age. And so his offer was accepted very readily by Phil; and the consequence was, that Pat took occasion to make his search, and made it with such success that he at length found a boat every way adapted to their purpose. He did this, too, quite unknown to Bart.

This must not be considered as a violation of confidence, or anything of that sort; for Pat was, after all, not capable of direct deceit. The fact was, he regarded Bart’s objection as due to his father’s command, and that command he did not consider as at all binding either upon himself or upon Phil. He did not suppose that there was any actual danger, nor did he stop to think that Mr. Darner’s prohibition might be founded upon wise precautions and a knowledge of the perils of the place; for, as a matter of fact, though this fact was unknown to Pat, the Falls are sufficiently dangerous to cause the loss of one life per year on an average, besides many accidents which do not result in an actual loss of life; and it was this knowledge of the dangers attendant upon boating in these waters which had led to Mr. Darner’s prohibition.

Thus Pat went innocently and confidently to work, and obtained a boat; and Phil entered with the utmost eagerness into Pat’s plan. Bart’s strong objections and earnest warnings had, however, produced sufficient effect upon them to make them anxious to keep their plan a secret from him, and to carry it into execution at some time when he might not be with them. But this was not very easy, for Bart was always with one or both of them; and so, even after they had found a boat, it still seemed as difficult as ever to make use of it.

At length an event occurred which gave them the long desired opportunity of making use of the boat in a voyage to the islands.

This event was the receipt by Bart of a letter from Bruce Rawdon. It was as follows:—

“Dear old Bart: How are you, and how have you been enjoying yourself? Are you aware that four weeks have passed, and that our holidays will soon be over? I’ve got several things to say, and others to propose, and therefore I take my pen in hand on the present occasion.

“First of all, Tom is with us, and has been all along. A week after we got home, he received a letter from his father, who told him that he was going to England with his mother, and that he might stay with us, and go back to school with us. Well, Tom was a little disappointed, but not so very much, after all. So he’s been here ever since. The next thing I have to tell you is, the arrival here of a mutual friend and benefactor. You see it happened this way: The other day I was down on one of the wharves, when I was struck by a familiar-looking craft, and on going nearer it became still more familiar. So I jumped on board in a state of high excitement, and put my head into the opening of a very familiar cabin, when suddenly it encountered another head that was putting itself out. And who do you think it was? I won’t keep you in suspense. It was Captain Corbet! Yes, it was himself, as meek, as mild, as paternal, and as venerable as ever. He came here after oats. With him is Mr. Wade, whose ‘ole ’oman’s name’ he still insists is Gipson, and he also asserts that we won’t find many of that name in this country.

“Well, now I come to the point of my letter. We have persuaded the venerable Corbet to give up oats for the present and charter his ship to us. We have organized a campaign around the Bay de Chaleur. We are going to operate by sea and land. Now, what do you say to it? Will you come? Is Phil with you, and Pat? Have you got Solomon? What do you say? Can you resist? Can you keep away when you hear that the Antelope is once more upon the waters, and that the flag of the B. O. W. C. is again floating from her masthead? Resist? You know you can’t.

“And so I merely remark that we shall be at Shippegan, on the Bay de Chaleur, on the 15th of August. This gives you two or three weeks to reach us. We shall expect you. Bring Phil. Bring Pat. Bring Solomon. Without the glow of his beloved countenance shining upon us as it beams over the cooking-stove, no expedition is worth having.

“We start in a few days. You need not answer, as there will not be time to get your letter. We all count upon meeting you at Shippegan on August 15.

“The venerable Corbet sends his blessing.

“Yours in B. O. W. C.

“Bruce Rawdon.”

This letter created the wildest outburst of joy that is possible to the effervescing spirits of enthusiastic boys. It came at the very time when the holidays were beginning to grow a little dull; when all its first pleasures had been exhausted, and no new ones remained. Coming thus, it brought the prospect of new excitement, and met with but one response. Bart eagerly appealed to his father, and received his permission to meet his friends. Then followed long discussions as to their journey to the Bay de Chaleur; and first and most important among the preliminaries of their journey was the necessity of preparing Solomon for what was proposed.

Solomon!

But where was Solomon?

Shortly after their arrival, he had taken his departure, and had not been seen since. Bart, however, knew where he had gone, and supposed that he might be there yet; so he proposed that they should all drive off in search of Solomon early on the following day.

There soon arose a difficulty, however, which interfered with this. The place was fifteen miles away, and Mr. Damer would not trust the horse to Bart alone. If the servant drove, there would not be room for them all, and so one, at least, would have to stay behind. Pat and Phil each offered to stay; and as it would be lonely for only one to remain, it was finally decided that both should stay, while Bart went off alone to search after the Grand Panjandrum.

This arrangement was the very thing that was most satisfactory to Phil and Pat; and thus chance threw into their way the very opportunity for which they had been waiting so eagerly and impatiently.

Early on the following morning Bart started, while Phil and Pat waited a little while, in order to have a convenient time for setting forth upon their own enterprise. The sky was clear, and the sun was bright overhead; but half way down the harbor there were heavy fog clouds, which increased until all the distance was concealed from view. But as these fogs belonged to the bay, and did not affect the land, they had no anxiety about their excursion, since it was to take place on the river.

They waited leisurely about the house for an hour after breakfast, and at length left without saying anything to anybody, and went at once to the Falls. As they came in sight of the river, they looked with eager eyes over its surface to see whether the time was a suitable one for their enterprise. Their first glance was highly satisfactory. As far as they could judge, it seemed the very best time that there could be to make the attempt. The water was quite smooth, and the stream was moving along rather slowly. Upon reaching the suspension bridge, they stood still and looked down. As they stood there, they saw several wood boats approaching them from the upper part of the river. They came along slowly, and with as little motion of any kind as though they were in the placid waters farther up. The two boys watched them as they passed under the bridge, and then followed them with their eyes as they half sailed, half drifted, onward to the harbor.

This sight greatly encouraged them, and there seemed now not the slightest doubt of the perfect feasibility of their enterprise. Without any further delay, therefore, they at once set out for the place where the boat was kept that Pat had engaged.

The Falls are about a quarter of a mile above the suspension bridge. At this place, as has been said, the river contracts, and is hemmed in be-between the projecting precipice of a rocky promontory on one side, and a small, shaggy, wooded island on the other. Between these it pours its flood, which alternates between the swift influx of the sea-water at high tide, and the Swift, thunderous outpour of low tide, when the river flings itself in wrath and foam down a declivity of rocks that form its bed. Above this place there is a wide expanse, and on the upper side of the promontory is a cove which affords an excellent shelter for boats, rafts, and schooners. It was in this cove that their boat was kept, and towards this they now directed their steps as fast as possible.

On reaching the place, they found the boat afloat, with its oars inside, and fastened by the painter to the wharf. Here they stopped for a short time, and again looked forth over the surface of the water.

Immediately in front it was as smooth as a millpond, and farther out it appeared to be quite as calm. The two islands to which they wished to go were out there, full before them, on the other side of the river, yet not so far away but that they could be reached by a moderate effort. A brief survey satisfied both of them; and without waiting any longer, they cast off’ the line, and rowed away towards the islands.

A quarter of an hour’s vigorous pulling brought them well out of the cove, and soon they reached the channel of the river. Here the water was still smooth; but they noticed that the current was much stronger than they had expected to find it. After all, however, there was as yet no very great force in it; and so they pulled on. But the current made some change in their plans; for, whereas they had at first intended to go to the upper island, they now found the sweep of the tide dragging them so far out of their course, that they decided to land upon the lower one.

This one lay nearest now. They were between the two, and the rocky shore of the island was close by. It was the part of the island which lay farthest up stream. They thought it best to visit this one first, then the other, after which they could return to the shore, or continue their explorations in other directions, as the fancy might seize them.

With these intentions, they turned the boat’s head towards the island, and in a short time stepped out upon the rocky beach.

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