by John Fox
CHAPTER 4.
THE COMING OF THE TIDE
While the corn grew, school went on and, like the corn, Chad'sschooling put forth leaves and bore fruit rapidly. The boy's mind wasas clear as his eye and, like a mountain-pool, gave back every imagethat passed before it. Not a word dropped from the master's lips thathe failed to hear and couldn't repeat, and, in a month, he had putDolph and Rube, who, big as they were, had little more than learned thealphabet, to open shame; and he won immunity with his fists from gibeand insult from every boy within his inches in school--including TadDillon, who came in time to know that it was good to let the boy alone.He worked like a little slave about the house, and, like Jack, won hisway into the hearts of old Joel and his wife, and even of Dolph andRube, in spite of their soreness over Chad's having spelled them bothdown before the whole school. As for Tall Tom, he took as much pride asthe school-master in the boy, and in town, at the grist-mill, thecross-roads, or blacksmith shop, never failed to tell the story of thedog and the boy, whenever there was a soul to listen. And as forMelissa, while she ruled him like a queen and Chad paid sturdy anduncomplaining homage, she would have scratched out the eyes of one ofher own brothers had he dared to lay a finger on the boy. For Chad hadGod's own gift--to win love from all but enemies and nothing butrespect and fear from them. Every morning, soon after daybreak, hestalked ahead of the little girl to school, with Dolph and Rubelounging along behind, and, an hour before sunset, stalked back in thesame way home again. When not at school, the two fished and playedtogether--inseparable.
Corn was ripe now, and school closed and Chad went with the men intothe fields and did his part, stripping the gray blades from the yellowstalks, binding them into sheaves, stowing them away under the low roofof the big barn, or stacking them tent-like in the fields--leaving eachear perched like a big roosting bird on each lone stalk. And when theautumn came, there were husking parties and dances and much merriment;and, night after night, Chad saw Sintha and the school-master in frontof the fire--"settin' up"--close together with their arms about eachother's necks and whispering. And there were quilting parties andhousewarmings and house-raisings--one that was of great importance toCaleb Hazel and to Chad. For, one morning, Sintha disappeared and cameback with the tall young hunter in the deerskin leggings--blushingfuriously--a bride. At once old Joel gave them some cleared land at thehead of a creek; the neighbors came in to build them a cabin, and amongthem all, none worked harder than the school-master; and no one butChad guessed how sorely hit he was.
Meanwhile, the woods high and low were ringing with the mellow echoesof axes, and the thundering crash of big trees along the mountain-side;for already the hillsmen were felling trees while the sap was in theroots, so that they could lie all winter, dry better and float betterin the spring, when the rafts were taken down the river to the littlecapital in the Bluegrass. And Caleb Hazel said that he would go down ona raft in the spring and perhaps Chad could go with him who knew? Forthe school-master had now made up his mind finally--he would go outinto the world and make his way out there; and nobody but Chad noticedthat his decision came only after, and only a little while after, thehouse-raising at the head of the creek.
When winter came, school opened again, and on Saturdays and Sundays andcold snowy nights, Chad and the school-master--for he too lived at theTurners' now--sat before the fire in the kitchen, and the school-masterread to him from "Ivanhoe" and "The Talisman," which he had broughtfrom the Bluegrass, and from the Bible which had been his own since hewas a child. And the boy drank in the tales until he was drunk withthem and learned the conscious scorn of a lie, the conscious love oftruth and pride in courage, and the conscious reverence for women thatmake the essence of chivalry as distinguished from the unthinking codeof brave, simple people. He adopted the master's dignified phraseologyas best he could; he watched him, as the master stood before the firewith his hands under his coat-tails, his chin raised, and his eyesdreamily upward, and Tall Tom caught the boy in just this attitude oneday and made fun of him before all the others. He tried somehigh-sounding phrases on Melissa, and Melissa told him he must becrazy. Once, even, he tried to kiss her hand gallantly and she slappedhis face. Undaunted, he made a lance of white ash, threaded some looseyarn into Melissa's colors, as he told himself, sneaked into the barn,where Beelzebub was tied, got on the sheep's back and, as the old ramsprang forward, couched his lance at the trough and shattered it with athrill that left him trembling for half an hour. It was too good togive up that secret joust and he made another lance and essayed anothertournament, but this time Beelzebub butted the door open and sprangwith a loud ba-a-a into the yard and charged for the gate--in full viewof old Joel, the three brothers, and the school-master, who werestanding in the road. Instinctively, Chad swung on in spite of the roarof laughter and astonishment that greeted him and, as Tom banged thegate, the ram swerved and Chad shot off sidewise as from a catapult anddropped, a most unheroic little knight, in the mire. That ended Chad'schivalry in the hills, for in the roars of laughter that greeted him,Chad recognized Caleb Hazel's as the loudest. If HE laughed, chivalrycould never thrive there, and Chad gave it up; but the seeds were sown.
The winter passed, and what a time Chad and Jack had, snaking logs outof the mountains with two, four, six--yes, even eight yoke of oxen,when the log was the heart of a monarch oak or poplar--snaking them tothe chute; watching them roll and whirl and leap like jack-straws fromend to end down the steep incline and, with one last shoot in the air,roll, shaking, quivering, into a mighty heap on the bank of KingdomCome. And then the "rafting" of those logs--dragging them into the poolof the creek, lashing them together with saplings driven to the logswith wooden pins in auger-holes--wading about, meanwhile, waist deep inthe cold water: and the final lashing of the raft to a near-by treewith a grape-vine cable--to await the coming of a "tide."
Would that tide never come? It seemed not. The spring ploughing wasover, the corn planted; there had been rain after rain, but gentlerains only. There had been prayers for rain:
"O Lord," said the circuit-rider, "we do not presume to dictate toThee, but we need rain, an' need it mighty bad. We do not presume todictate, but, if it pleases Thee, send us, not a gentle sizzle-sizzle,but a sod-soaker, O Lord, a gullywasher. Give us a tide, O Lord!"Sunrise and sunset, old Joel turned his eye to the east and the westand shook his head. Tall Tom did the same, and Dolph and Rube studiedthe heavens for a sign. The school-master grew visibly impatient andChad was in a fever of restless expectancy. The old mother had made hima suit of clothes--mountain-clothes--for the trip. Old Joel gave him afive-dollar bill for his winter's work. Even Jack seemed to know thatsomething unusual was on hand and hung closer about the house, for fearhe might be left behind.
Softly at last, one night, came the patter of little feet on the roofand passed--came again and paused; and then there was a rush and asteady roar that wakened Chad and thrilled him as he lay listening. Itdid not last long, but the river was muddy enough and high enough forthe Turner brothers to float the raft slowly out from the mouth ofKingdom Come and down in front of the house, where it was anchored to ahuge sycamore in plain sight. At noon the clouds gathered and old Joelgave up his trip to town.
"Hit'll begin in about an hour, boys," he said, and in an hour it didbegin. There was to be no doubt about this flood. At dusk, the riverhad risen two feet and the raft was pulling at its cable like anawakening sea-monster. Meanwhile, the mother had cooked a great pone ofcorn-bread, three feet in diameter, and had ground coffee and got sidesof bacon ready. All night it poured and the dawn came clear, only todarken into gray again. But the river--the river! The roar of it filledthe woods. The frothing hem of it swished through the tops of the treesand through the underbrush, high on the mountain-side. Arched slightlyin the middle, for the river was still rising, it leaped and surged,tossing tawny mane and fleck and foam as it thundered along--a mad,molten mass of yellow struck into gold by the light of the sun. Andthere the raft, no longer the awkward monster it was the day be
fore,floated like a lily-pad, straining at the cable as lightly as agreyhound leaping against its leash.
The neighbors were gathered to watch the departure--old Jerry Budd,blacksmith and "yarb doctor," and his folks; the Cultons andMiddletons, and even the Dillons--little Tad and Whizzer--and all. Anda bright picture of Arcadia the simple folk made, the men in homespunand the women with their brilliant shawls, as they stood on the banklaughing, calling to one another, and jesting like children. All wereaboard now and there was no kissing nor shaking hands in the farewell.The good old mother stood on the bank, with Melissa holding to herapron and looking at Chad gravely.
"Take good keer o' yo'self, Chad," she said kindly, and then she lookeddown at the little girl. "He's a-comin' back, honey--Chad's a-comin'back." And Chad nodded brightly, but Melissa drew her apron across hermouth, dropped her eyes to the old rifle in the boy's lap, and did notsmile.
All were aboard now--Dolph and Rube, old Squire Middleton, and theschool-master, all except Tall Tom, who stood by the tree to unwind thecable.
"Hold on!" shouted the Squire.
A raft shot suddenly around the bend above them and swept past with theDillon brothers Jake and Jerry, nephews of old Tad Dillon, at bow andstern--passed with a sullen wave from Jerry and a good-natured smilefrom stupid Jake.
"All right," Tom shouted, and he unwound the great brown pliant vinefrom the sycamore and leaped aboard. Just then there was a mad howlbehind the house and a gray streak of light flashed over the bank andJack, with a wisp of rope around his neck, sprang through the air froma rock ten feet high and landed lightly on the last log as the raftshot forward. Chad gulped once and his heart leaped with joy, for hehad agreed to leave Jack with old Joel, and old Joel had tied the dogin the barn.
"Hi!" shouted the old hunter. "Throw that dawg off, Chad--throw himoff."
But Chad shook his head and smiled.
"He won't go back," he shouted, and, indeed, there was Jack squatted onhis haunches close by his little master and looking gravely back asthough he were looking a last good-by.
"Hi there!" shouted old Joel again. "How am I goin to git along withoutthat dawg? Throw him off, Boy--throw him off, I tell ye!" Chad seizedthe dog by the shoulders, but Jack braced himself and, like a child,looked up in his master's face. Chad let go and shook his head.
A frantic yell from Tall Tom at the bow oar drew every eye to him. Thecurrent was stronger than anyone guessed and the raft was being sweptby an eddy straight for the point of the opposite shore where there wasa sharp turn in the river.
"Watch out thar," shouted old Joel, "you're goin to 'bow'!" Dolph andRube were slashing the stern oar forward and back through the swiftwater, but straight the huge craft made for that deadly point. Everyman had hold of an oar and was tussling in silence for life. Every manon shore was yelling directions and warning, while the women shrankback with frightened faces. Chad scarcely knew what the matter was, buthe gripped his rifle and squeezed Jack closer to him. He heard Tom roara last warning as the craft struck, quivered a moment, and the sternswept around. The craft had "bowed."
"Watch out--jump, boys, jump! Watch when she humps! Watch yo' legs!"These were the cries from the shore, and still Chad did not understand.He saw Tom leap from the bow, and, as the stern swung to the othershore, Dolph, too, leaped. Then the stern struck. The raft humped inthe middle like a bucking horse--the logs ground savagely together.Chad heard a cry of pain from Jack and saw the dog fly up in the airand drop in the water. He and his gun had gone up, too, but he cameback on the raft with one leg in between two logs and he drew it up intime to keep the limb from being smashed to a pulp as the logs crashedtogether again, but not quickly enough to save the foot from a painfulsqueeze. Then he saw Tom and Dolph leap back again, the raft whirled onand steadied in its course, and behind him he saw Jack swimming feeblyfor the shore--fighting the waves for his life, for the dog was hurt.Twice he turned his eyes despairingly toward Chad, and the boy wouldhave leaped in the water to save him if Tom had not caught him by thearm.
"Tell him to git to shore," he said quickly, and Chad motioned, whenJack looked again, and the dog obediently made for land. Old Joel wascalling tenderly:
"Come on, Jack; come on, ole feller!"
Chad watched with a thumping heart. Once Jack went under, but gave nosound. Again he disappeared, and when he came up he gave a cry forhelp, but when he heard Chad's answering cry he fought on stroke bystroke until Chad saw old Joel reach out from the bushes and pull himin. And Chad could see that one of his hind legs hung limp. Then theraft swung around the curve out of sight.
Behind, the whole crowd rushed down to the water's edge. Jack tried toget away from old Joel and scramble after Chad on his broken leg, butold Joel held him, soothing him, and carried him back to the house,where the old "yarb doctor" put splints on the leg and bound it uptightly, just as though it had been the leg of a child. Melissa wascrying and the old man put his hand on her head.
"He'll be all right, honey. That leg'll be as good as the other one intwo or three weeks. It's all right, little gal."
Melissa stopped weeping with a sudden gulp. But when Jack was lying inthe kitchen by the fire alone, she slipped in and put her arm aroundthe dog's head, and, when Jack began to lick her face, she bent her ownhead down and sobbed.