The low-lying prairies, flooded in the spring season, and the lower marshes8 covered with water much of the year, were thought to be not worth the twenty-five cents per acre asked by the state. In later years, by a system of drainage, and through scientific farming, much of this land became highly productive and valuable.
In some of the deeper marshes, where there had been an abundance of water for several years, cranberry9 vines had covered the surface of the moss10 and yielded astonishing crops of mottled green and red berries. This was the character of much of the land
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of which Mr. Allen found himself possessed11. A granite12 rock rising with nearly perpendicular13 sides over three hundred feet above the level surface of the country, gave the name of North Bluff14 marsh7 to the locality, as distinguished15 from the country about a similar bluff some ten miles to the south.
After considerable persuasion16 on the part of the boys, Mr. Allen had leased this cranberry marsh to Rob and Ed, and their chum Dauphin. The boys already had a good start on the fund they were gathering17 for a planned year in college, and if they should be successful in getting the berries from the North Bluff to market, it would bring them nearer to the desired goal.
While the cranberry, as it is picked from the vine, is as firm and meaty as a little apple, it bruises18 easily in handling, and so requires great care in getting to market. The boys had purposed using two-bushel grain sacks for the transportation of the crop, but Mr. Allen wisely persuaded them to make a preliminary trip to Lisbon and secure light ash barrels to take with them to the marsh and so prevent much loss from bruised19 and damaged berries.
On the twentieth of August the boys had their outfits20 assembled: two yokes21 of oxen hitched22 to two broad-tired wagons23, upon which were long racks each containing thirty empty barrels. With these they carried a tent, cooking utensils25, supplies of bacon, flour, brown sugar, matches, axes, guns, and ammunition26, sacks to carry the berries from the marsh to dry land, and not
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least in importance, three cranberry rakes. Of these latter Uncle Sam Thompson had made one for each of the boys. A slab27 of ash was taken and fingers about ten inches long sawn and whittled28 down smooth in one end. Sides and back were put to this, with a handle on top and back. With these “rakes” the boys would literally29 scoop30 up the berries from the vines.
The trip of fifty miles to the marsh was, in itself, a great undertaking31. There were no roads; logs and tree roots had to be chopped out of the way, and overhanging limbs cleared from before the stacks of barrels. More serious were the occasional deep bogs32 encountered, through which the oxen, though accustomed to wallowing in mud, were unable to pull the wagons. Over these the boys were obliged to build a “corduroy,” sometimes for several rods. To one accustomed to a boulevard or even a macadam pike, the corduroy would seem an impossibility as a means of travel, but pioneers are frequently required to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Small trees are felled and cut into lengths suitable to the width of the wagon24, and these placed side by side until the way across has been covered. When the marsh is unusually deep and soft, a second layer of smaller logs is placed upon the first. It is not a good road, nor easy to ride over, but it can be crossed, and that is the main thing.
Not alone were the bad roads, or lack of roads, a cause of distress34 to the boys and their teams; mosquitoes in clouds attacked them day and night. Frequently they were compelled to make “smudges” of
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fire covered with green grass, so that in the smoke they might be able to eat their meals in some sort of comfort. At night the oxen were likewise protected from the attacks of the pestiferous insects. Much annoyance35 and no little suffering were caused by a spotted36 fly, called from its markings, the “deer fly,” which persistently37 crawled up into their hair and under their clothing, its bite always drawing blood.
The boys averaged not quite five miles a day on the trip, and it was the last day of August before the camping place at the foot of North Bluff was reached.
The first day of their arrival was spent in arranging camp; putting up the tent, digging the shallow well in the sand at the marsh’s edge, and building moss-lined pole-pens in which to store the berries as they should be picked. Cranberry harvest and the arrival of frost are usually too close together to allow any time to be taken away from the one occupation of picking. So the boys would sort over and clean the berries and then barrel them after the frosts had come.
The bog33 was a wonder to the Allen boys. Around the edge, for perhaps ten rods out into the marsh, were growing tamarack trees, from little switches a dozen feet high that could be easily pulled up by hand, to older ones six inches in diameter, and thirty feet in height. Further out, beyond the line of tamaracks, the bog looked much like a prairie covered with moss, with here and there a sandy mound38 upon which blackberry vines, huckleberry bushes, and a few scattering39 pine trees were growing.
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When they had walked out into the marsh several rods over shoe-top deep in the moss, Dauphin called out, “Stand still a minute, boys, I want to show you something,” and he began to spring up and down in rhythmic40 motion. In a few moments, at first slightly, then in increasing motion the trees began to sway and bend, and the surface of the bog, for many rods around, could be seen in regular, wave-like motion, trees and all rising and falling, bending and rolling as if on the bosom41 of a rolling sea.
“It is like this,” said Dauphin in answer to the boys’ astonished questioning, “this marsh is really a lake over which the moss has grown until it is now completely covered. Here, near the edge where it started in to grow and spread over the water, the old moss falling down each year has been succeeded by the new growing up, and so for ages, until there is now quite a solid covering at the surface, enough even to support the trees, but, as you see, it is only after all a floating cover to a lake. Not all over is the moss so thick as here, and there are places dangerous to try to walk over. One might easily drop through. Then—”
“Don’t, Dauph,” exclaimed Ed; “I don’t want to think of anything so horrible.”
“You had best pick your steps, then,” replied Dauphin; “if you attempt to cross the bog, or you may find something worse than hearing about it.”
“How far is it to the bottom?” asked Rob.
“We can soon see,” replied Dauphin. Cutting down a slender dead tamarack he thrust it down
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through the moss until it rested upon the solid sand.
“Twelve feet!” exclaimed the boys as the pole was drawn42 up and measured. Further out from the edge they took a measurement of sixteen feet from the mossy surface to the bottom.
There was a fine crop of cranberries43 on the vines, and the boys were busy from early morning until late at night with their rakes. The unaccustomed stooping all day was back-breaking work, and it was not at all pleasant to stand in cold water wet to the knees, but the two-bushel sack of berries each boy was able to carry to camp every half day made the labor44 endurable.
As the best patches near the camp were soon raked over, the boys would take turns searching for new places. On one of these excursions Rob had an adventure which came near to a tragedy for him, but which led to happy termination. In a cove5 of perhaps an acre, jutting45 up into one of the pine islands, lying nearly a mile out into the bog, Rob found a patch of beautiful “bell” berries, and over near the edge it appeared as though the vines had been recently disturbed. Closely scanning the land nearby he at length discovered a mound of freshly-pulled moss over which pine boughs46 had been carelessly strewn, as if in attempt to hide something. His curiosity was of course aroused, and digging away the moss he came upon several sacks filled with berries. Evidently somebody had been there at work. He determined47 to carry one of the sacks of berries to camp with him, and then get
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the boys and hunt for the trespassers. Instead of returning in the way he came, Rob struck out straight across the bog, his mind full of excited imaginings about his find. Suddenly he found himself dropping, and like a flash he realized that he had come upon a thin place in the bog, and was falling through to the cold, dark depths of the lake beneath. Instinctively48 he had thrown himself forward, with arms out-stretched, his hands clutching the moss. This stayed him for a moment, but the heavy sack of berries was upon him, forcing his head and shoulders down into the moss. He could feel himself sinking; the water seemed to be rising about his face. He thought of how the boys would miss him, of their fruitless search, for the moss would soon close over him leaving no mark to show where he had gone down. Then the thought came that he must not die; that he might work backward from under the sack and get free. It was a desperate struggle, and before he succeeded his face was under water, and his strength nearly exhausted49 for lack of breath. But at last he was free, and throwing his arms up over the sack he raised his head, regained50 his breath, and rested. Slowly he pulled his body up, and using the sinking sack for a foothold, he threw himself sprawling51 upon the track over which he had come. He crawled in the moss for several yards before he dared to rise to his feet and resume his journey to the camp.
“I should like to see that lake drained,” said Dauphin, as Rob told of his narrow escape. “Think of the
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different kinds of animals that have probably left their bones on the sands of that lake bottom in the ages past.”
“Well, I’m glad that your future scientist will not have the pleasure of classifying my bones, anyway,” replied Rob.
Next day the boys found the trespassers to be a band of Winnebago Indians, and they were able to make satisfactory arrangements whereby the Indians stayed and helped them harvest the crop of berries, which the boys finally got safely to market.
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1
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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6
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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7
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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cranberry
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| n.梅果 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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11
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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12
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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13
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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14
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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15
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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16
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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17
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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18
bruises
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| n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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19
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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20
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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21
yokes
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| 轭( yoke的名词复数 )； 奴役； 轭形扁担； 上衣抵肩 | |
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22
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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23
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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25
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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26
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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27
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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whittled
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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30
scoop
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| n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出 | |
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31
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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32
bogs
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| n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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33
bog
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| n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖 | |
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34
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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35
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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36
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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37
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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38
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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39
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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40
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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41
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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42
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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43
cranberries
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| n.越橘( cranberry的名词复数 ) | |
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44
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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45
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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46
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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47
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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48
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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49
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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50
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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51
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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