A star in a prison : a tale of Canada

Chapter I. Bunny Has An Adventure

LL through the day the whip of the west wind had been laid upon the face of the deep, and the long waves of Lake Ontario still heaved in rebellion at its lash. The sky above was gray, the water below was leaden, but, from a rift of cloud in the west, a red gleam shot from the sinking sun across the rolling surface. Directly in the path of this was a small boat.

At one end of the craft sat a man, a large dark man, with a bushy beard, and black, black eyes. He wore the oiled coat of a fisherman and an oiled-silk sou'wester was on his head. He was in no state of good humor this evening. Things had not been going well lately with Fisherman Jack, a;ul his ruffled temper was accustomed to venting itself upon anything within reach.

That thing at present was a small boy, who crouched at the other end of the boat, with the rope of the rudder about his body. But he was trembling so that he could scarcely draw upon the cord sufficiently to keep the craft with its end to the billows. This lad had an honest, round face, and beautiful blue eyes. His hair fell over his white brow in a tangle of waving Copyright 1898, by David C.

tresses, and his broad, boyish chest and straight shoulders gave the promise of a man with a noble physique. He was a very pleasing child to look upon. Had he possessed a father and mother he would have been the idol of their eyes. As it was. he was merely a trembling little fellow without a relative, so far as he knew, in all the wide world. He knew little of himself save that his name was William Hare, and that he had always been called Bunny. Ages and ages ago, it seemed to him, he had drifted into Fisherman Jack's cabin; since then he had helped with the fishing and had received for his wages chiefly abuse. Indeed, lately it seemed that Jack was harder to please than ever; but then, he had been drinking more heavily for the last few months. To-night Bunny had made some mistake in adjusting the nets. Jack had sworn at him, and now was glaring at him with angry eyes.

" See here, young fellow," he was saying, "I have put up with you just as long as I will. You do not earn your bread. Then there are the clothes to be thought of. You earn the clothes still less. I want you no more. You will leave my house this night, and never set foot in it again!"

A big lump came into Bunny's throat. Where should he go? Jack's cabin was all the spot he knew as home, and he did not want to leave it.

" But, Jack—" he faltered, with beating heart.

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"Not a word more!" interrupted Jack. " You leave me this night! Now, do you understand?"

When Jack spoke in that tone. Bunny knew he was in earnest. Tears rushed to the lad's eyes, and the red sunlight, falling upon them, made streaks of radiance that almost blinded him. He lost control of his rudder-rope, and the boat swerved around broadside to the waves. Jack spoke angrily 1 to him again, and the boy wished they were in, so that he might run away, away, away, where he would never hear wicked words and see dark looks again. Poor Bunny! Little did he know what a strange life was before him, or that this night's proceedings were to launch him into a career such as had never fallen to another beside himself.

When the boat touched the shore, and was drawn up on the beacu, Jack strode off into the cabin. Bunny dared not go. He sat down beside the oh boat, which seemed almost like a friend,, laid his head upon it, and shivered with the chill wind. Tears came again to his eyes, but he fought them back bravely. Night was fast falling. The stars began to come out. He looked up at them, and wondered if God, who, he thought, was away up above them, could look down through those tiny, bright spots and see the small boy shivering beside the boat on the dark, lonely shore.

" I haven't any folks anywhere," he thought. " There isn't one who cares for me!" and the tears rolled down his cheeks. He almost wished that he could die. Then a patter, patter, sounded on the stony beach behind him. A glad throb shot through Bunny's heart, for he knew that light step. Before he could turn his head, a warm nose was poked in beside his face, and a bushy tail was waving about in the air.

" Carlo! Carlo!" cried the boy, clasping his dog-friend to his breast, and burying his face in the black, curly fur. " You care for me, doggie, don't you? I wonder if God sent you to me?"

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Bunny did not know very much about God. He had been, a few times, to Sunday-school in the little town whose lights were now twinkling a short distance down the shore. He had picked up some ideas there, but these had set him thinking, and, with the pure heart of an innocent child, he seized upon the fact that there was some bond between him and God. Now, in his loneliness, the boy's heart turned to him as naturally as does the frightened babe to its mother.

" Yes, doggie," he went on, " I guess God sent you to keep me company, didn't he? and to let me know I have one real friend, anyway. Because you love me, doggie, don't you?" And the dog flourished his great tail vigorously, and licked the boy's cheek in assent.

"What will I do now, old boy?" asked the lad, as he nestled his cold fingers against the warm neck of his friend.

Carlo sat down, raised his ears inquiringly, and looked into Bunny's face as though he did not fully understand.

" You see," explained the boy, " Jack will not let me go home any more, so where will I go?"

Carlo gave a short bark, started up, and looked at Bunny again with ears erect, as though he were quite ready to start off at once on a pilgrimage around the world with his young friend.

" If I could only take you, old boy, it wouldn't be so lonely," went on Bunny. " We could sleep together in the green woods,, and you would keep me warm at nights, and you could hunt chipmunks in the daytime. But then," he added, "what would I give you to eat? Besides, you belong to Jack."

Again he let his cheek drop down on the glossy coat. It was quite dark now, but the boy was not afraid, with Carlo by him. His eyes grew very thoughtful for those of a ten-year-old lad. He fixed them upon a bright streak on the horizon, across the water, and resolutely attempted to look into

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the future. He must do something, go Carlo lay down by him and went to sleep,

somewhere. Could he get work among the Bunny could not sleep for excitement. This

farmers? No, the haying was almost on, seemed a terribly venturesome thing that he

and he was not strong enough for that. Then, was about to do. Oh, how wearisome the

what about going on one of the steamers for hours were, and how lonely! He had

Bunny sat down beside the old boat.— See page 2.

awhile? He had seen boys scrubbing the decks of the vessels that called at the town. Surely he could do that. He would ask the men to try him. He would strive hard to please them. Yes, the "Nubian" would be in to-night, at one o'clock. He would go down and try. At any rate they could do no worse than refuse him.

never imagined a night could be so long. Surely the " Nubian " could not be coming in this time. He listened to the plash of the water oc the beach, and watched the dark headland about which the down-going vessels usually came. The moon rose and gleamed through ragged clouds upon the broad waters. Bunny was glad to s^Ci her,

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but she seemed very cold and solitary. He felt even more lonely than before.

At last the far-off throb, throb of a steamer sounded, coming nearer and nearer. Bunny sat up, and stared with all his might at the end of the promontory looming up against the sky. Yes, there came a vessel at last, Its head-light shining through the darkness like a great, glaring eye. It was the " Nubian." Bunny knew her colors very well.

The boy sprang to his feet, and the dog, alert in an instant, sprang up, too, with ears erect and tail wagging.

"Carlo, dear old fellow!" said the boy, and immediately two great paws were placed on his shoulders, and a warm tongue was trying to lick his face. Bunny clasped his arms about the shaggy neck, and kissed the black head.

" Now, doggie," he said, with an ache at his heart, and a lump* in his thf*oat, " I must go. Go home, doggie."

Carlo looked at him in astonishment.

" Go home, Carlo," he repeated, with a sob in his voice. And the dog started off for the cabin, with an injured air, pausing, now and again, to glance back doubtfully at the little figure standing alone on the shore, in the moonlight.

. Not until his four-footed friend had reached the doorstep of the cabin above, did Bunny move. He stood watching until the dog disappeared in the shadow of the house, then he started off at a run towards the town, where the red and green lights about the wharf and the station seemed to beckon him on. Carlo watched him with ears erect, and a wondering expression on his black face. What process of reasoning went through his doggish brain, it would be hard to state. Certain it ig that he looked, first at the retreating boy, then at the cabin, then at the boy again, wondering probably in which direction his duty lay, and that finally he set off after Bunny with a swinging trot, keeping discreetly at some distance behind, yet never losing sight of his lonely little friend.

When Bunny reached the wharf, the steamer was just in, the gangway was thrown out, and a few men were beginning to roll some casks and boxes down into the vessel.

Bunny paused, and looked timidly about.

His heart was beating so that he could almost hear it. In the meantime Carlo had crept along behind him, and sat down in the shadow. Bunny made up his mind to address one of the men.

" Please, sir," he said, " haven't you some work I can do?"

" Surely," replied the man, with a smile. " Help down with those barrels."

Poor Bunny looked at the barrels, and placed his hands against one, but ke could not move it. The man laughed.

" Out of a job, eh?" he asked.

" Yes, I'd — I'd like to work on the boat, if there's anything I can do."

The man smiled again. " I guess you are a young runaway, aren't you?"

Bunny looked up indignantly. " Indeed no, sir; I haven't any home to run from."

" Come, now! You're only foolin'," was the reply.

Bunny rubbed his eyes hard to keep back the tears. " But no," he said with a break in his voice, " Jack told me I must never go into his house again. I — I haven't any place to sleep in!"

A man who had been standing idly near, watching the sailors, now turned and looked at the lad. He was one of the townspeople, and knew something of Jack and his charge.

" Why, bless me!" said he, " if it isn't Fisherman Jack's boy! So he's given you a walking-ticket at last, eh? Well, you'll not lose much."

The boat's mate happened to be standing near. He was a tall, kind-hearted man, who had children of his own, and he had noticed the pathetic look of appeal on Bunny's face.

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"Who is he?" he asked", with a nod towards the lad.

" A poor little gaffer who hasn't a friend to his name!" replied the town man. " His father and mother was people who came out from England, — they was a runaway match, I reckon; leastways they had nothing to do with their folks. I mind well when they died. People didn't do right with the little 'un, and Fisherman Jack got him someway. If ye've a job, mate, it'll be a kindness to animals to give it to him. Jack hasn't been over - kind to him, I'll be bound."

" Well, then, tumble in, la<I," said the mate to Bunny. And the boy waited for no second invitation, but immediately ran down the gangway. A gleam of black shot across after him. It was Carlo, who lay down at Bunny's feet, and looked up at him with flattened ears, and the most apologetic air imaginable.

The boy's heart gave a great leap of joy. He patted the dog on the head. " Oh, doggie, doggie, you must go home!" said he. But Carlo merely looked up more imploringly than ever, and thumped his tail on the floor. Bunny then caught him by the paws and tried to drag him out. But he was obstinate. He braced his feet on the floor and refused to go, and the kind-hearted mate, looking down at the handsome, glossy creature, said indulgently: "Let him stay."

" He's Jack's dog," replied the boy. But the mate had gone on, and the gangway was being drawn in, so there was nothing for it but to let Carlo remain. Bunny put his hand on the dog's head, feeling that now, indeed, he was not wholly friendless. He then looked about for some place to sleep. There was a cozy-looking corner in among some boxes. Bunny crept into it, and Carlo followed. The two nestled down together. The engine throbbed, the vessel swayed. The motion lulled the sleepy lad to rest. His long lashes drooped, sounds about the vessel seemed to drift farther and farther away, and the little homeless waif was sound asleep, with his head on Carlo's soft coat.

The men were rolling the casks and boxes about, but that did not bother the little sleeper. He was all unconscious that, not noticing him in his dark corner, the men had piled the boxes before and above him, so that he could not get out at all.

He was awakened by a gentle whine. Carlo was poking his nose down beside his face. Bunny rubbed his eyes sleepily. For a moment he could not realize where he was. Then the dull throbbing of the machinery recalled all to him, and he started up. He found himself walled in by bales and trunks, but could see, through the chinks, that it was broad daylight.

" I guess we're in a trap now, Carlo," he said. " They didn't know we were in here, did they, old fellow?"

Carlo gave an approving bark. Bunny tried to move the boxes, but could not. He did not like to call out. " We'll wait, old boy," he said, " and maybe at the first port they'll be moving these things."

The minutes wore on — ten, twenty, thirty. Every moment seemed an hour. Besides, the air was close. Ages seemed to go by. Carlo was very patient, but Bunny was getting hungry. He tried again to push the trunks aside, but only succeeded in knocking down a shower of dust, which got into his eyes and throat. He was seized with a fit of coughing. Then some one said:

" WTho's there?"

Now, over an hour before, upon the deck of this self-same steamer, an oldish man and a little girl, evidently a grandfather and his grandchild, had appeared. They had breakfasted, and were now pacing up and down, enjoying the crisp breeze that had set the waves a-dancing. The little girl had curling hair, golden as a tangle of embodied sunbeams, and her broad, white hat kept blowing up from her head, so that her grandfather had to stop often to arrange it. Presently it went oft* completely, over the railing, and out on the bine waves, where it bobbed up and down provokingly, " like a white water lily just out of reach.

The little girl gave a scream. The old man looked helplessly after it.

" Never mind, grandfather," said the child. " There's a blue hood in the big valise. We'll go down below and hunt it up."

"Just so, just so, Gertrude," said the grandfather. " You'll catch your death of cold if you have nothing on your head. Come, now, and we'll find it."

They went below and began searching among the bales and valises. All at once they heard coughing that seemed to come from the bottom of the pile.

"Who's there?" calfed the grandfather twice. At the second call, a thin, halfburied voice piped out, " Bunny Hare!"

"What are you doing?"

" Chok-ing!"

" Ho, ho! You are, are you! Come, sir," to one of the boat hands, " there's a bunny in here that seems to have too close a hutch. Get him out, will you?"

The man began to haul the bales down, in no good humor. As soon as an opening presented itself, Bunny crept out, with dust on his nose, and his face red with coughing. The man caught him by the shoulder, and gave him a shake. Carlo leaped out with a % savage growl, and the man let go his hold.

" So, you little varmint, you steal a ride, do you?" he said.

The little girl, who had been clinging to her grandfather's hand, now stepped forward. " Please, what are you going to do with him?" she asked.

" Just trundle him off with the rest of the baggage, at the first stopping-place," said the boatman.

"Serve him right, the little stowaway!" added Gertrude's grandfather, drawing her away.

Just then the tall mate came up. " Oh, you're here, are you?" he said good-humor-

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edly. " This is no stowaway, sir, but a yodng man who aims at being captain some day, eh? Well, my lad, just straighten those valises, and we'll se,e that you get some breakfast."

Bunny sprang to work with alacrity.

Meanwhile the girl and her grandfather had gone on. But the child kept looking back. Presently she reached up and whispered: .

" Grandfather, doesn't ' he look like our Wilhelm?"

The grandfather turned quickly about, and took a sharp look at Bunny. " I believe he does," replied he. Then they walked on again.

The big valise was found, the blue hood was tied on, and they went again on deck.

The waves were dancing and sparkling more merrily than ever, but little Gertrude could not help thinking of the forlorn boy, piling valises in that hot, grimy place below, before he might have any breakfast. After a time she climbed up on the arm of her grandfather's chair, put her arms about his neck, and gazed out over the blue water, with, a wistful look in her eyes. ; " I don't believe he has any friends, grandfather," she said, at length.

" Who, child?"

" That little boy — Bunny Hare. What a funny name he has!"

" Like enough the little rogue was lying about it.". v

The child's eyes looked reprovingly at him. " Oh, Grandpapa Steinhoff !" she said, " I don't think he's a bad little boy, for he looks just like Wilhelm."

The grandfather coughed. His one great passion had been his affection for his two little grandchildren, and one of them had died over a year before. Now his whole heart was given to tne little orphan who was sitting on the arm of It is chair. He had little room in his affections for anyone else. His whole life was given up to humoring her every wish, and in striving to make

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" paying " investments which should develop into a fortune for her. But he and the child still mourned over Wilhelm, and spoke of him, even yet, in whispers.

After a pause, Gertrude said, " Grandpapa Steinhoff?"

" Yes, dear."

" Couldn't we take that poor little boy to Ottawa with us? We'll need some one to look after the fires, the way John used to, you know."

Gertrude now had her face bent down against her grandfather's, and on-lookers smiled to see the pretty picture — the pleading, red lips, the blue hood, and the golden curls escaping from it to mingle with the long, gray-streaked locks of the man.

" Do you want him very much, Gertie?" he said, after a moment of silence.

" Yes, grandpapa mine."

He pulled one of her curls. " What a tease you are!" he said. "Well, run away down, then, and bring him up till I talk to him for a while."

She was off like a gleam of sunshine, and went picking her way daintily through the grimy passages below to the place where she had seen Bunnj^. He had finished his work, also his breakfast, and was sitting on a box, holding his knee with both hands, while Carlo lay beside him panting contentedly. Bunny was feeling very much alone and very timid. He thought the little girl coming toward him through the dirty, smoky passages must look like an angel — but then, angels didn't wear blue hoods. At any rate she seemed as one from a sphere different from his, and as she paused before him, he looked up at her with a half-wistful, half-pleading face.

" Tlease, Bunny Hare," she said, " my grandpapa would like to talk to you for a little while."

"To me?" Bunny said, in astonishment.

" Yes," she replied eagerly. " And maybe he'll do something nice for you. Come now, please, 'cause I want to have everything

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settled," she added with a gravely important air.

He arose and followed her up the stair and through the cabin, which he thought must be the most beautiful place ever any one was in. Then she triumphantly led him to her grandfather, who looked at him for a moment, softening more and more as the resemblance to Wilhelm appeared more evident.

" What is your name?" he asked.

" Bunny Hare, sir; at least, William Hare," added the boy, who was used to having his nickname, Bunny, laughed at.

"Wilhelm, too, aye!" muttered the grandfather; then aloud, he asked: "Where are your mother and father?"

" Dead, sir, ever so long ago," replied the boy.

" An orphan, as our . Wilhelm was," muttered the man again. Then he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Bunny explained. Gertrude pleaded for him, and the result 'was that the boy who "looked like Wilhelm," was taken with his new friends off the boat and on to a rushing train which bore the three swiftly to the capital. He was henceforth to be, not the boy who should " take care of the fires," but the adopted grandson of Hermann Steinhoff, and to be known as Wilhelm Steinhoff.

In his early life, this man with whom Bunny Hare was now to be so closely associated, had, in company with his brother Fritz, drifted about Canada. They had been in all sorts of obscure and unlikely places; had set their traps in the fastnesses of the great forests, had carried on a system of barter with the Indians, and had kept stores for that purpose on the very confines of civilization. But Fritz had at last settled down in the capital, and now Hermann, with his little Gertrude, the only one remaining of his family, was going thither also, to spend the remainder of his life near his brother.

When the trio reached the city iae> were

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welcomed by this brotber, and, with bis assistance, a cozy borne was soon secured in a once fasbionable quarter of Sandy Hill. It was a wbite cottage, set in the midst of a broad, rambling garden filled with tall trees and blossoming shrubbery. A green veranda, hidden beneath clematis and Virginia creeper, ran about the house, and a very high picket fence enclosed the grounds, giving the place a delightful air of privacy and home-like seclusion.

Bunny, or, as he was now called, Wilhelm, thought the place was the most beautiful that he had ever seen. He and Gertrude played for hours every day in that wonderful garden, and many a passer-by paused to look at the pretty sight — the fairy girl with the long, golden curls, the staunch little lad dressed in sailor-blue, with his hat on the back of his head, and his fair waving hair blown about his rosy face, and lastly, the great, black collie which entered into their fun with all his heart.

Occasionally they would go down the street on little shopping expeditions, and Wilhelm would scarcely let go of the little girl's hand for a moment. " I have got to take care of her. you know," he would say to the old shop-woman who weighed out their candies for them. This sense of having some one to care for was the sweetest change of all to the boy. He felt as though now he really had " folks " like other boys, and he could scarcely recognize in himself the little Bunny, the poor, forlorn waif who had sat, all homeless, hugging his dog, that weary night on the lake shore. It all seemed like a dream now, yet he thought of those days sometimes, and his blue eyes would then grow very solemn.

One day he was lying on the ground, leaning on his elbows, with his chin in his hands, and his sailor hat, as usual, on the back of his head.

"Gertie" he said, "what makes you happy all the time?"

" Why," she replied, " lots of things. I've got ribbons, and pretty dresses, and this garden to play about in, and you and grandfather to love me, and for me to love."

" Yes." returned the little philosopher, " when people love you, and you love people, you think kind thoughts, don't you, and that makes you happy?"

" 'Course," assented Gertrude with a nod.

" Well, then, I guess poor Jack never had anybody to care for," said the boy, stroking Carlo thoughtfully. " Because, you know, he wasn't very happy."

" Well, I'm sure he might have cared for you," replied Gertrude, indignantly.

" Or Carlo," nodded Wilhelm, while the dog raised his head and winked approvingly. " Gertrude," went on the lad, " wouldn't it be very strange if I should ever meet Jack again?"

"Very," said the child.

"And if I do," returned he, "I will try very hard to care for him, and be kind to him."

Yes, little fair-haired boy, lying there in the grass, you are yet to have the opportunity of making good your words, in the midst of circumstances more strange than you would ever have dreamed of.

In the meantime, Wilhelm and Gertrude started to school. Wilhelm had to begin in a very low form indeed, but he was clever and willing, and soon distanced the rest of his class-mates. In course of time he entered the high-school, and grew up, a tall, alert youth, a favorite alike with teachers and students, whether in the school-room or on the campus. And, during all these years, the same quiet, peaceful life went on in the vine-covered cottage. If a shade of anxiety was on Hermann's brow no one noticed it. He spent a great deal of his time dabbling at experiments in physics and chemistry, for he was a scientist of no mean order, and hoped, some day, to embody some of his theories in an invention

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which would electrify the world. Hence, he was able to give much valuable assistance to Wilhelra, whose remarkable proficiency in all such branches brought him into high favor with the old man; and together they spent many happy hours probing the mysteries of natural law. So, with apparent smoothness, the tide of their life ebbed on.

Chapter II. The Colporteur

URING all this time, Wilhelm received very little direct teaching about God, for Hermann Stein - hoff was not a Christian. With the naturally religious element which had been in him when but a little child, Wilhelm felt God in the green trees, in the warm sunshine, in the blue sky, in his own soul. Sometimes he wondered about him still, as he had so long ago, yet of God he had still but a hazy conception, as of some mighty, all-powerful being, whose great white throne was afar off from the touch of man. But his heart remained strong, loving and true, and through it he was never, perhaps, very far from the heavenly portals.

During the long evenings, after school was done, Wilhelm often indulged in a sort of nature-worship. He would then usually hire a skiff and row briskly up the Rideau, rejoicing in the calm beauty of its scenery. Sometimes he would make his trip serve two purposes, and would collect plants for botanizing.