The chore-boy of Camp Kippewa

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Chapter I. The Call To Work

T HE march of civilization on this great continent means loss as well as gain. The opening up of the country for settlement, the increase and spread of population, the making of the wilderness to blossom as the rose, compel the gradual retreat and disappearance of interesting features that can never be replaced. The buffalo, the beaver, and the elk have gone ; the bear, the Indian, and the forest in which they are both most at home are fast following.

Along the northern border of settlement in Canada there are flourishing villages and thriving hamlets to-day where but a few years ago the verdurous billows of the primeval forest rolled in unbroken grandeur. The history of any one of these villages is the history of all. An open space beside the bank of a stream or margin of

a lake presented itself to the keen eye of the woodranger

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traversing the trackless waste of forest as a fine site for a lumber camp. In course of time the lumber camp grew into a depot from which other camps, set still further back in the depths of the “ limits,” are supplied. Then the depot develops into a settlement surrounded by farms ; the settlement gathers itself into a village with shops, schools, churches, and hotels, and so the process of growth goes on, the forest ever retreating as the dwellings of men multiply.

It was in a village with just such a history, and bearing the name of Calumet, occupying a commanding situation on a vigorous tributary of the Ottawa River, — the Grand River, as the dwellers beside its banks are fond of calling it, — that Frank Kingston first made the discovery of his own existence and of the world around him. He at once proceeded to make himself master of the situation, and so long as he confined his efforts to the limits of his own home he met with an encouraging degree of success ; for he was an only child, and, his father’s occupation requiring him to be away from home a large part of the year, his mother could hardly be severely blamed if she permitted her boy to have a good deal of his own way.

In the result, however, he was not spoiled. He came of sturdy, sensible stock, and had inherited some of the best qualities from both sides of the house. To his mother, he owed his fair curly hair, his deep blue, honest eyes, his impulsive and tender heart ; to his father, his strong symmetrical figure, his quick brain, and his eager ambition. He was a good-looking, if not strikingly handsome, boy, and carried himself in an alert, active way, that made a good impression on one at the start. He had a quick temper that would flash out hotly if he were provoked, and at such times he would do and say things for which he was heartily sorry afterward. But from those hateful qualities that we call malice, rancor, and sullenness he was absolutely free. To “ have it out ” and then shake hands and forget all about it — that was his way of dealing with a disagreement. Boys built on these lines are always popular among their comrades, and Frank was no exception. In fact, if one of those amicable contests as to the most popular personage, now so much in vogue at fairs and bazaars, were to have been held in Calumet school the probabilities were all in favor of Frank coming out at the head of the poll.

But better, because more enduring, than all these good qualities of body, head, and heart that formed Frank’s sole fortune in the world, was the thorough religious training upon which they were based. His mother had left a Christian household to help her husband found a

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new home in the great Canadian tiinberland, and this new home had ever been a sweet, serene center of light and love. While Calumet was little more than a straggling collection of unlovely frame cottages, and too small to have a church and pastor of its own, the hard-working Christian minister who managed to make his way thither once a month or so, to hold service in the little schoolroom, was always sure of the heartiest kind of a welcome, and the daintiest dinner possible in that out-ofthe way place, at Mrs. Kingston’s cozy cottage ; and thus Frank had been brought into friendly relations with the ‘‘ men in black ” from the start, with the good result of causing him to love and respect these zealous home missionaries instead of shrinking from them in vague repugnance, as did many of his companions who had not his opportunities.

When he grew old enough to be trusted, it was his proud privilege to take the minister’s tired horse to water and to fill the rack with sweet hay for his refreshment before they all went off to the service together ; and very frequently when the minister was leaving he would take Frank up beside him for a drive as far as the cross-roads, not losing the chance to say a kindly and encouraging word or two that might help the little fellow heavenward.

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In due time the settlement so prospered and expanded that a little church was established there, and great was the delight of Mrs. Kingston when Calumet had its minister, to whom she continued to be a most effective helper. This love for the church and its workers, which was more manifest in her than in her husband, — for, although he thought and felt alike with her, he was a reserved, undemonstrative man, — Mrs. Kingston sought by every wise means to instill into her only son ; and she had much success. Religion had no terrors for him. He had never thought of it as a gloomy, joy-dispelling influence that would make him a long-faced “ softy.” Not a bit of it. His father was religious ; and who was stronger, braver, or more manly than his father ? His mother was a pious woman; and who could laugh more cheerily or romp more merrily than his mother ? The ministers who came to the house were men of God, and yet they were full of life and spirits, and dinner never seemed more delightful than when they sat at the table. No, indeed ! You would have had a hard job to persuade Frank Kingston that you lost anything by being religious. He knew far better than that ; and while of course he was too thorough a boy, with all a boy’s hasty, hearty, impulsive ways, to do every thing “ decently and in order,” and would kick over the traces, so to speak, sometimes, and give rather startling exhibitions of temper, still in the main and at heart he was a sturdy little Christian, who, when the storm was over, felt more sorry and remembered it longer than did anybody else.

Out of the way as Calumet might seem to city folk, yet the boys of the place managed to have a very good time. There were nearly a hundred of them, ranging in age from seven years to seventeen, attending the school which stood in the center of a big lot at the western end of the village, and with swimming, boating, lacrosse, and baseball in summer, and skating, snow-shoeing, and tobogganing in winter, they never lacked for fun. Frank was expert in all these sports. Some of the boys might excel him at one or another of them, but not one of his companions could beat him in all-round contest. This was due in part to the strength and symmetry of his frame, and in part to that spirit of thoroughness which characterized all he undertook. There was nothing half-way about him. He put his whole soul into everything that interested him, and, so far as play was concerned, at fifteen years of age he could swim, run, handle a lacrosse, hit a base ball, skim over the ice on skates, or over snow on snow shoes with a dexterity that gave himself a vast amount of pleasure and his parents a good deal of pride in him.

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Nor was he behindhand as regarded the training of his mind. Mr. W arren, the head teacher of the Calumet school, regarded him favorably as one of his best and brightest pupils, and it was not often that the “ roll of honor ” failed to contain the name of Frank Kingston. At the midsummer closing of the school it was Mr. Warren’s practice to award a number of simple prizes to the pupils whose record throughout the half-year had been highest in the different subjects, and year after year Frank had won a goodly share of these trophies, which were always books, so that now there was a shelf in his room upon which stood in attractive array Livingstone’s “ Travels,” Ballantyne’s “ Hudson’s Bay,” Kingsley’s “ Westward Ho ! ” side by side with “ Robinson Crusoe,” “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” and “ Tom Brown at Rugby.” Frank knew these books almost by heart, yet never wearied of turning to them again and again. He drew inspiration from them. They helped to mold his character, although of this he was hardly conscious, and they filled his soul with a longing for adventure and enterprise that no ordinary every-day career could satisfy. He looked forward eagerly to the time when he would take a man’s part in life and attempt and achieve notable deeds. With Amyas Leigh he traversed the tropical wilderness of Southern America, or with the

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“Young Fur Traders” the hard-frozen wastes of the boundless North, and he burned to emulate their brave doings. He little knew, as he indulged in these boyish imaginations, that the time was not far off when the call would come to him to begin life in dead earnest on his own account, and with as many obstacles to be overcome in his way as had any of his favorite heroes in theirs.

Mr. Kingston was at home only during the summer season. The long cold winter months were spent by him at the “ depot,” many miles off in the heart of the forest, or at the “ shanties,” that were connected with it. At rare intervals during the winter he might manage to get home for a Sunday, but that was all his wife and son saw of him until in spring time. When the “ drive ” of the logs that represented the winter’s work was over, he returned to them to remain until the falling of the leaves recalled him to the forest. Frank loved and admired his father to the utmost of his ability, and when in his coolest, calmest moods he realized that there was small possibility of his ever sailing the Spanish main like Amyas Leigh, or exploring the interior of Africa like Livingstone, he felt quite settled in his own mind that, following in his father’s footsteps, he would adopt lumbering as his business. ’Tis true, his father was only an

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agent or foreman, and might never be anything more; but even that was not to be despised, and then with a little extra good fortune, he might in time become an owner of “ limits ” and mills himself. Why not ? Many another boy had thus risen into wealth and importance. He had at least the right to try.

Fifteen in October, and in the highest classes, this was to be Frank’s last winter at school ; and before leaving for the woods his father had enjoined upon him to make the best of it, as after the summer holidays were over he would have to “cease learning and begin earning.” Frank was rather glad to hear this. He was beginning to think he had grown too big for school and ought to be doing something more directly remunerative. Poor boy ! Could he have guessed that those were the last words he would hear from his dear father’s lips, how differently would they have affected him ! Calumet never saw Mr. Kingston again. In returning alone to the depot from a distant shanty, he was caught in a fierce and sudden snow storm. The little-traveled road through the forest was soon obliterated. Blinded and bewildered by the pitiless storm beating in their faces, both man and beast lost their way, and, wandering about until all strength was spent, lay down to die in the drifts that quickly hid their bodies from sight. It was many days

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before they were found, lying together, close wrapped in their winding-sheet of snow.

Mrs. Kingston bore the dreadful trial with the fortitude and submissive grace that only a serene and unmurmuring faith can give. Frank was more demonstrative in his grief, and disposed to rebel against so c^uel a calamity. But his mother calmed and inspired mm, and when the first numbing force of the blow had passed away, they took counsel together as to the future. This was dark and uncertain enough. All that was left to them was the little cottage in which they lived. Mr. Kingston’s salary had not been large, and only by careful management had the house been secured. Of kind and sympathizing friends there was no lack; but they were mostly people in moderate circumstances, like themselves, from whom nothing more than sympathy could be expected.

“ I’m afraid there’ll be no more school for you now, Frank darling,” said his mother, passing her white hand fondly over his forehead as he sat beside the lounge upon which she was reclining. “ Will you mind having to go to work ? ”

“ Mind it ! ” exclaimed Frank. “ Not a bit of it ! I’m old enough, ain’t I ? ”

“I suppose you are, dear,” replied Mrs. Kingston,

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half-sadly. “ What kind of work should you like best?”

“That’s not a hard question to answer mother,” returned Frank, promptly. “ I want to be what father was.”

Mrs. Kingston’s face grew pale when she heard Frank’s answer, and for some time she made no reply.

Chapter II. The Choice Of An Occupation

HE fact was that Mrs, Kingston felt a strong repug-

JL nance to her son’s following in his father’s footsteps, so far as his occupation was concerned. She dreaded the danger that was inseparable from it, and shrank from the idea of giving up the boy whose company was now the chief delight of her life, for all the long winter months that would be so dreary without him.

Frank had some inkling of his mother’s feelings, but, boy like, thought of them as only the natural nervousness of womankind ; and, his heart being set upon going to the woods, he was not very open to argument.

“ Why don’t you want me to go lumbering, mother ? ” he inquired in a tone that had a touch of petulance in it. “ I’ve got to do something for myself, and I detest storekeeping. It’s not in my line at all. Fellows like Tom demon and Jack Stoner may find it suits them, but I can’t bear the idea of being shut up in a store or office all day. I want to be out of doors. That’s the kind of life for me.”

Mrs. Kingston gave a sigh that was a presage of

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defeat as she regarded her son, standing before her, his handsome face flushed with eagerness and his eyes flashing with determination.

“But, Frank dear,” said she, gently, “have you thought how dreadfully lonely it will be for me living all alone here during the long winter — your father gone from me and you away off in the woods, where I can never get to you or you to me ? ”

The flush on Frank’s face deepened and extended until it covered forehead and neck with its crimson glow. He had not taken this view of the case into consideration before, and his tender heart reproached him for so forgetting his mother while laying out his own plans. He sprang forward, and, kneeling down beside the lounge, threw his arms about his mother’s neck and clasped her fondly, finding it hard to keep the tears back, as he said :

“ You dear, darling mother ! I have been selfish. I should have thought how lonely it would be for you in the winter time.’’

Mrs. Kingston returned the embrace with no less fervor, and as usually happens where the other side seems to be giving way, began to weaken somewhat herself and to feel a little doubtful as to whether, after

all, it would be right to oppose her son’s wishes when B

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his inclinations toward the occupation he had chosen were evidently so very decided.

“ Well, Frank dear,” she said, after a pause, while Frank looked at her expectantly, “I don’t want to be selfish, either. If it were not for the way we lost your father, perhaps I should not have such a dread of the woods for you, and no doubt even then it is foolish for me to give way to it. We won’t decide the matter now. If you do go to the woods, it won’t be until the autumn, and perhaps during the summer something will turn up that will please us better. We will leave the matter in God’s hands. He will bring it to pass in the way that will be best for us both, I am confident.”

So with that understanding the matter rested, although of course it was continually being referred to as the weeeks slipped by and the summer waxed and waned. Although Frank felt quite convinced in his own mind that he was not cut out for a position behind a desk or counter, he determined to make the experiment, and accordingly applied to Squire Eagleson, who kept the principal store and was the “ big man ” of the village, for a place in his establishment. Summer being the squire’s busy season, and Frank being well known to him, he was glad enough to add to his small staff of clerks so promising a recruit, especially as, taking advantage of the boy’s ignorance of business affairs, he was able to engage him at wages much below his actual worth to him. This the worthy squire regarded as quite a fine stroke of business, and told it to his wife with great gusto, rubbing his fat hands complacently together as he chuckled over his shrewdness.

“Bright boy, that Frank Kingston! Writes a good fist, and can run up a row of figgers like smoke. Mighty civil, too, and sharp. And all for three dollars a week ! Ha, ha, ha ! Wish I could make as good a bargain as that every day.” And the squire looked the picture of virtuous content as he leaned back in his big chair to enjoy the situation.

Mrs. Eagleson did not often venture to intermeddle in her husband’s business affairs, although frequently she became aware of things which she could not reconcile with her conscience. But this time she was moved to speak by an impulse she could not control. She knew the Kingstons, and had always thought well of them. Mrs. Kingston seemed to her in many respects a model woman, who deserved well of everybody; and that her husband, who was so well-to-do, should take any advantage of these worthy people who had so little, touched her to the quick. There was a bright spot on the center of her pale cheeks and an unaccustomed ring

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in her voice as she exclaimed, with a sharpness that made her husband give quite a start of surprise :

“ Do you mean to tell me, Daniel, that you’ve been mean enough to take advantage of that boy who has to support his widowed mother, and to hire him for half the wages he's worth just because he didn’t know any better? And then you come home here and boast of it. Have you no conscience ? ”

The squire was so taken aback by this unexpected attack that at first he hardly knew how to meet it. Should he lecture his wife for her presumption in meddling in his affairs, which were quite beyond her comprehension as a woman, or should he make light of the matter and laugh it off? After a moment's reflection, he decided on the latter course.

“Hoity, toitv! Mrs. Eagleson, but what’s set you so suddenly on fire ? Business is business, you know, and if Frank Kingston did not. know enough to ask for more wages it wasn’t my concern to enlighten him.”

Mrs. Eagleson rose from her chair and came over and stood in front of her husband, pointing her long thin forefinger at him as, with a trembling yet scornful voice, she addressed^him thus :

“ Daniel, how you can kneel down and ask the blessing of God upon such doings is beyond me, or how your head can lie easy on your pillow when you know that you are taking the bread out of that poor lone widow's mouth it is not for me to say. But this I will say, whether you like it or not : if you are not ashamed of yourself I am for you.” And before the now much-disturbed squire had time to say another word in his defense, the speaker had swept indignantly out of his presence and hastened to her own room, there to throw herself down upon the bed and burst into a passion of tears, for she was at best but a weak- nerved woman.

Left to himself, the squire shifted about uneasily in his chair, and then rose and stumped angrily to the window.

“ What does she know about business ? ” he muttered. “ If she were to have her own way at the store she’d ruin me in a twelve-month.”

Yet Mrs. Eagleson’s brave outburst was not in vain. Somehow or other after it the squire never felt comfortable in his mind until, much to Frank’s surprise and delight, he one day called him to him, and, with an air of great generosity and patronage, said :

“ See here, my lad. You seem to be doing your work real well, so I am going to give you a dollar a week more just to encourage you, and then if a little extra work comes along” — for autumn was approaching — “ ye won’t mind tackling it with a good will ; eh ? ”

Frank thanked his employer very heartily, and this unexpected increase of earnings and his mother’s joy over it for a time almost reconciled him to the work at the store, which .he liked less and less the longer he was at it.

The fact of the matter was a place behind the counter was uncongenial to him in many ways. There was too much in-doors about it, to begin with. From early morning until late evening he had to be at his post, with brief intervals for meals, and the color was leaving his cheeks and his muscles were growing slack and soft, owing to the constant confinement.

But this was the least of his troubles. A still more serious matter was that his conscience did not suffer him to take kindly to the “ tricks of the trade,” in which his employer was a “passed master ” and his fellow-clerks very promising pupils. He could not find it in his heart to depreciate the quality of Widow Perkins’s butter, or to cajole unwary Sam Struthers, from the backlands, into taking a shop-worn remnant for the new dress his wife had so carefully commissioned him to buy. His idea of trade was that you should deal with others as fairly as • you would have them deal with you ; and while, of course, according to the squire’s philosophy, you could never make a full purse that way, still you could at least have a clear conscience, which surely was the more desirable, after all.

The squire had noticed Frank’s “ pernickety nonsense,” as he was pleased to call it, and at first gave him several broad hints as to the better mode of doing business ; but, finding that the lad was firm, and would no doubt give up his place rather than learn these “ business ways,” he had the good sense to let him alone, finding in his quickness, fidelity, and attention to his work sufficient compensation for this deficiency in bargaining acumen.

“ You’ll be content to stay at the store now, won’t you, Frank ? ” said his mother as they talked over the welcome and much-needed raise of salary.

“ It does seem to make it easier to stay, mother,”

answered Frank. “ But ” And he gave a big sigh,

and stopped.

“ But what, dear? ” asked Mrs. Kingston, tenderly.

Frank was slow in answering. He evidently felt reluctant to bring up the matter again, and yet his mind was full of it.

“ But what, Frank ? ” repeated his mother, taking his hands in hers and looking earnestly into his face.

“ Well, mother, it’s no use pretending. I’m not cut out for keeping store, and I’ll never be much good at it. I don’t like being in doors all day. And then, if you want to get on, you’ve got to do all sorts of things that are nothing else but downright mean, and I don’t like that, either.” And then Frank went on to tell of some of the tricks and stratagems the squire or the other clerks would resort to in order to make a good bargain.

Mrs. Kingston listened with profound attention. More than once of late, as she noticed her son’s growing pallor and loss of spirits, she had asked herself whether she were not doing wrong in seeking to turn him aside from the life for which he longed; and now that he was finding fresh and fatal objections to the occupation he had chosen in deference to her wishes, she began to relent of her insistence, and to feel more disposed to discuss the question again. But before doing so she wished to ask the advice of a friend in whom she placed much confidence, and so for the present she contented herself with applauding Frank for his conscientiousness, and assuring him that she would a thousand times rather have him always poor than grow rich after the same fashion as Squire Eagleson.

The friend whose advice Mrs. Kingston wished to take was her husband’s successor as foreman at the depot for the lumber camps — a sensible, steady, reliable young man, who had risen to his present position by process of promotion from the bottom, and who was therefore well qualified to give her just the counsel she desired. At the first opportunity, therefore, she went over to Mr. Stewart’s cottage, and, finding him at home, opened her heart fully to him. Mr. Stewart, or Alec Stewart, as he was generally called, listened with ready sympathy to what Mrs. Kingston had to say, and showed much interest in the matter, for he had held a high opinion of his former chief, and knew Frank well enough to admire his spirit and character.

“ Well, you see, Mrs. Kingston, it’s just this way,” said he, when his visitor had stated the case upon which she wanted his opinion : “ if Frank’s got his heart so set upon going into the woods, I don’t know as there’s any use trying to cross him. He won’t take kindly to anything else while he’s thinking of that, and he’d a big sight better be a good lumberman than a poor clerk, don’t you think ? ”

Mrs. Kingston felt the force of this reasoning, yet could hardly make up her mind to yield to it at once.

“But, Mr. Stewart,” she urged, “it may only be a boyish notion of Frank’s. He thinks, perhaps, he’d like it because that’s what his father was before him, and then he may find his mistake.”

“Well, Mrs. Kingston,” replied Mr. Stewart, “if you think there’s any chance of that being the case we can

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settle the question right enough in this way: let Frank come to the woods with me this winter. I will give him a berth as chore-boy in one of the camps, and if that doesn’t sicken him of the business then all I can say is you’d better let the lad have his will. 5 *

Mrs. Kingston sighed.

“ I suppose you’re right. I don’t quite like the idea of his being chore-boy ; but if he’s really in earnest, there's no better way of proving him.”

When Frank heard that his desire for a winter in the woods was to be gratified after all, he felt too delighted to find any fault with the position, humble though it was, as he well knew, which Mr. Stewart offered him. The prospect of release from the uncongenial routine of storekeeping filled him with happiness, and his mother almost felt reconciled to let him go from her, so marked was the change in his spirits.

Chapter III. Off To The Woods

SEPTEMBER, the finest of all the months in the Canadian calendar, was at hand, as the sumac and the maple took evident delight in telling by their lovely tints of red and gold, and the hot enervating breath of summer had yielded to the inspiring coolness of early autumn. The village of Calumet fairly bubbled over with business and bustle. Preparations for the winter’s work were being made on all sides. During the course of the next two weeks or so a large number of men would be leaving their homes for the lumber camps, and the chief subject of conversation in all circles was the fascinating and romantic occupation in which they were engaged.