CHAPTER IVON THE HIGH SEAS“Oh!” cried Martha, when the steamer was well away from Boston, and headed northward, “I’m frozen!”“Spread your rug over the chair; then sit down and fold the sides over you,” directed Miss Ashton. “You’ll be much warmer that way.”They all followed her advice, and lay cozily watching the sunset; while the deck trotters paced back and forth in front of them.“First call for dinner!” called a colored porter, passing along the deck, and accompanying his words by strokes on a brass gong.“How about it?” asked Martha. “I’m hungry.”“Go down if you like, Mart,” replied Nancy. “Jeanette and I are going to stay right here.”“Right here! And not eat at all?” gasped Martha.“A bit later the steward will bring us some sandwiches and ginger ale.”“Ginger ale in this cold wind!” exclaimed Martha. “You’d better have it heated.”Nancy laughed. “An old Frenchman up in Canada told us that if we’d drink ginger ale on shipboard, we’d never be seasick; and we’re going to try it out.”“I’ll go down with you, Martha,” said Miss Ashton, getting up and throwing her rug over Nancy and Jeanette, who were shivering in spite of their own heavy ones. “I’m a good sailor; so nothing bothers me.”The wind increased, and the ocean got choppy as soon as it grew dark; so the girls had their chairs moved into the enclosed deck, but near the door so they had plenty of ocean air.“How do you feel, Nan?” asked Jeanette a bit anxiously, after they had finished their simple lunch.“Mighty dizzy if I sit up; but deliciously comfortable as long as I lie back quietly. I feel as if I could stay here for hours.”“That is the way with me, too.”Some time later Miss Ashton came out on deck, and she was alone.“Martha has succumbed,” she said, in reply to the girls’ questions. “The motion is much more noticeable in the dining room, and that, combined with the odor of food, about finished her. I put her to bed, and left her in the care of our stewardess. She’ll be all right soon, and will probably go to sleep.”“Poor old Mart!” commented Nancy. “If she’d only stayed out of the dining room. But if she had,” she added, “then we would have been certain that she was already sick. Mart likes to eat even more than I do.”The pacers of the deck increased in number, and soon there was a regular procession of people trying to see how many times they could encircle the ship. It was interesting to watch the different gaits. Some walked so well, with a free, rhythmic swing, as if thoroughly accustomed to the exercise, and enjoying it. Others, apparently, were doing it because they thought it was “the thing to do,”—and were making pretty hard work out of it.“I’m walking all the way to Yarmouth,” panted a fat man, on his sixth round. The next time the parade passed in front of the trio, he was missing.“I suppose he has collapsed somewhere,” said Jeanette.“Who will be missing when they pass again?” wondered Nancy. “I bet it will be the pretty little girl with the brown curls.”It was. From this point on the walkers dropped out rapidly, and finally only three girls of about Nancy’s age remained.“I’m going to follow them and see how they do it,” exclaimed a boy of about fourteen, springing up from a near-by chair, and pacing after the girls, imitating exactly their long strides and swinging arms. On his return, he dropped exhausted into his chair, without volunteering any information to the amused spectators. The three girls continued to pass by regularly. The motion of the boat did not seem to disturb them at all; they appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely.“Let’s go to bed,” proposed Jeanette, suddenly.“Not a bad idea,” replied Nancy, getting up so quickly that she lost her balance and fell back into her chair. “My, but I’m dizzy!”With Miss Ashton’s help she finally managed to get on her feet again. By this time the motion of the boat was very pronounced, and walking was a difficult business. But the girls managed, by clinging to each other with one hand, and to various railings and door frames with the other, to get safely down to their stateroom. There the motion was a bit less noticeable; so they had no difficulty in preparing for bed.The fresh salt air had made them very sleepy, and they knew nothing more until the ship’s whistle began to blow at regular intervals.“What do you suppose is the matter now, Janie?” Nancy asked anxiously.“Fog, I imagine,” replied Jeanette sleepily.“Had we better get up and dress?”“What time is it?”“About half-past two.”“Goodness, no! Go to sleep again. If there is any danger, the big gong will be sounded.”“How do you know? Who told you about that?”“Sign—downstairs,” and Jeanette was fast asleep, while Nancy thought of all the stories she had ever read which dealt with the horrors of ships caught in the fogs. But after a while she too went to sleep again.The whistle was still blowing when they got up at six o’clock, although the steamer was anchored—somewhere.“When do we get in?” asked Nancy of a porter who passed their door just as she was peering out.“Soon as the fog lifts, madam, whenever that is. We’re in the harbor now.”Miss Ashton and a pale-faced Martha appeared at that moment, and they all went to the dining room. While they were having breakfast, the fog lifted, and the sun crept out rather cautiously. Then the excitement of disembarking began.Passengers surged in all directions. The ship’s officers and crew were everywhere. Baggage was piled along the corridors, and people stumbled over it at almost every step.Nancy had explained their locked suitcase to their porter, who promised to do his best to get it through the customs. While they were waiting for him in the big shed where the baggage was spread out on large tables for inspection by the customs officials, Nancy spied, on a table directly in front of them, a suitcase very much like her own.“I wish I could get hold of the key to that,” she exclaimed, pointing the bag out to Jeanette.“But I’m afraid you can’t.”Their porter joined them at that moment, and they went quickly out onto the wharf and over to the train for Halifax, which was waiting near by. To this day they do not know how the porter got Nan’s suitcase through the customs, for it was still locked when they got onto the train.“How funny!” exclaimed Martha, when she saw, instead of the regulation swinging chairs of a parlor car, big willow chairs upholstered in green velvet, but devoid of springs. These were not fastened to the floor in any way; so everybody placed hers as she pleased. As a result, walking down the aisle presented quite a problem.When the train began to pull out, Nancy happened to glance across the aisle; and nearly fell out of her chair.“Janie!” she whispered, “there is the very same suitcase we saw in the customs.”Without waiting for a reply, she went across to the gray-haired woman who occupied the seat opposite hers.“Pardon me, madam,” she said, a bit breathlessly, “but have you the key for that suitcase?”“Why, yes,” replied the woman, in some surprise.“And might I borrow it?” she asked, going on to tell the reason for her strange request.The woman was only too glad to accommodate her, and was as pleased as the girls themselves when the key opened Nancy’s suitcase.“Wasn’t that the strangest coincidence?” asked Nancy, as they settled back to enjoy the scenery; and they all agreed with her.“No one but Nancy,” observed Jeanette, with a smile at her friend, “would have had the problem solved so easily. She is always getting into difficulties, and being taken out of them. Most of us would have gone through the country with our things safely locked in.”“Now, girls,” said Miss Ashton, “what do you know about this country?”“Very little,” replied Nancy, “except that the scene of Longfellow’sEvangelineis laid here. And I can readily see, even after the bit of the country we have passed, why he spoke of the ‘forest primeval.’ There is plenty of forest here all right.”“I meant to look up some information before we started, but I didn’t have a minute,” said Jeanette.“I vote that Miss Ashton tell us all we should know,” proposed Martha.The motion was seconded, and passed unanimously; so they moved their chairs into a cozy group, and Miss Ashton produced a small map.“As you can see,” she began, “Nova Scotia is a peninsula attached to that part of Canada called New Brunswick by a very narrow isthmus; it is only about ten feet wide. We landed down here at Yarmouth, on the southwestern coast, and this railroad follows the western and northern coast line over to Halifax, on the northeastern shore. The country was discovered about the year of 1000 by a Norseman from Iceland, called Leif the Lucky. He called it Marksland, and left it to a native tribe of Indians called Micmacs. There are supposed to be some remnants of the Micmacs still in the country.“In 1497, John Cabot landed here, and claimed the country for England. Some years later, the French attempted settlements which were not permanent. About the year 1606, Champlain and some other Frenchmen founded Arcadia at Port Royal, which was later destroyed by the English. In 1629, James VI of Scotland gave the entire territory to a favorite of his for colonization, and called it New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. From that time on, the country was constantly handed back and forth from the French to the English; for both claimed it until 1710, when it fell permanently into the hands of Great Britain.”“But where does the expulsion of the Acadians, as referred to by Longfellow, come in?” asked Nancy.“Some of the French, after the destruction of Port Royal, had gathered in the village of Grand Pré, and gradually a prosperous and even wealthy settlement grew up. Authorities are divided as to the question of their loyalty to the British government. Be that as it may, the English reached the conclusion that the community was a menace, and decided to deport the people and confiscate their lands. This was done in 1747. You might refresh your memories of the details by rereadingEvangeline.”“The Acadians came back again; didn’t they?” asked Jeanette.“Yes; some years later, many of the survivors returned to settle on the shores of St. Mary’s Bay. We shall see the little Acadian villages on one of our bus trips.”“The scenery is beautiful,” observed Jeanette. “So many lakes, bays, and rivers! Such quantities of white birch, and all kinds of pine trees.”“It reminds me of the frequency with which the birch is mentioned in the ‘Anne’ books,” remarked Nancy.“The ‘Anne’ books?” repeated Martha.“Yes;Anne of Green Gables, and all the rest of them, by L. M. Montgomery. If you have never read them, your education has been neglected; and you should remedy the defect. I read the whole series over twice, and I think I could enjoy reading them again if there were not so many things to be read.”“What rolling country it is,” remarked Miss Ashton a little later. “I have heard that there is scarcely a half mile stretch of level land; and there are two mountain ranges, one on the west coast, and one on the north.”“The character of the country surprises me,” said Jeanette. “For no good reason at all, I have always pictured it as flat.”At Digby, nearly all the travelers got out for ice cream cones.“Now, Nan,” warned Jeanette, “you know your weakness for missing trains.Pleasedon’t go too far.”They were wandering back to the station, when Nancy’s eye was caught by some post cards attractively displayed in the window of a small store.“Go on, Janie,”’ she said. “I’ll snatch just a couple of these and catch up with you.”“But don’t stay a minute,” cautioned Jeanette, walking on. “It’s nearly time for the train to start.”She boarded the train, but stood on the platform looking anxiously up the road.The whistles blew, the bell rang, and the train began to get under way; but no Nancy. At that moment she was seen running down the street for dear life. Luckily for her, it was necessary at that point for the train to slow up to round a curve; and she succeeded in swinging herself onto the steps of the last car.“Didn’t I tell you not to stay,” Jeanette cried, fairly shaking Nancy, when she finally reached the platform on which her friend was waiting. “You might have been killed, getting onto a moving train like that! You’re not going to get off ever again!”“Poor Nannie,” said Martha, who had overheard the last words, “you won’t be able then to get off with us at Halifax.”“Seriously, Nancy,” said Miss Ashton, “you must be more careful. Suppose you had been left in that strange town in an unfamiliar country.”For once, Nancy had no reply ready; for, to tell the truth, she had been more than a little frightened herself when she saw the train begin to move.CHAPTER VHALIFAX“Halifax!” called the conductor; and everybody filed out of the train onto the platform, where all the baggage was piled on big trucks to be taken through the station and out to the taxicab entrance.Martha was inclined to worry a bit about her two bags—she didn’t like to let them out of her sight; but Nancy and Jeanette, who had seen the same process in Chicago, assured her that she had no need for anxiety.“Don’t you feel real important when you can say, ‘they did this or that in such and such a place’?” whispered Nancy to Jeanette as they followed the crowd to the exit at the end of the station, where the taxi platform was located. Jeanette admitted that she did.At the outer edge of the platform was a railing over which leaned, facing them, a crowd of taxicab drivers, each shouting the name of the particular hotel he covered. It was a veritable bedlam, and nothing could be done but listen to it until the baggage was brought out.“We had better have two cabs, I think,” said Miss Ashton, “on account of our numerous bags. Martha and I will take this one, and you two can follow in the next.”The cab which came up to the steps immediately after she and Martha had driven off, was quickly claimed by another party; so the girls had to wait for the next. They signaled to one as it approached; but as soon as it drew up, a tall woman, who apparently sprang from nowhere, stepped out ahead of the girls and into the cab.Jeanette ventured to remark, “Wecalled this cab,” and the taxi men looked at one another and smiled. The girls hesitated; but the woman leaned forward and said to Nancy: “You are going to the Lord Nelson Hotel; aren’t you?”“Why, yes——”“Then we may as well go up together,” and she settled firmly back in the corner of the cab.There was nothing else to be done; so Nancy got in, and Jeanette followed her.The baggage was piled in front, and soon they were off up the steep streets leading to the hotel. The stranger, apparently an English woman, talked entertainingly of her trip across, the gifts which had been sent to her stateroom when she sailed, and of Halifax which she had not visited in several years. When they drew up at the hotel, which is opposite the beautiful Public Gardens, she paid her share of the charges, took her one smart-looking bag, and walked away down the street, murmuring something about taking a walk.“Of all queer women!” observed Jeanette. “Why on earth doesn’t she go in and dispose of the bag?”A boy took their bags up to the room which had been reserved for them; and as Nancy felt for her purse, she gasped a little and whispered to Jeanette, “You tip him.”“Janie!” she exclaimed, as soon as the door was closed, “I’ve lost my purse. I didn’t look for it when we were getting out of the cab, because you paid our share; and now I haven’t it.”“Was there much in it?”“Oh, no; about $2.50, I think. You know I never keep much in it when we’re traveling.”“But when did you have it last?”“I know I had it when we were in the station.”The girls looked at each other, their thoughts apparently traveling in the same direction.“I do hate to suspect anybody,” said Nan, “but I am awfully suspicious of our queer-acting traveling companion.”Martha and Miss Ashton entered just in time to hear the last words, and asked for an explanation.“I’m afraid there is nothing to be done, Nancy,” said Miss Ashton, after hearing the story. “You are fortunate that there was not much in it.”“Indeed I am; and I’m not going to worry about it. It is to avoid worry of that kind, that I carry so little money in my purse; then if it does get lost, it’s not especially important. What’s our immediate program?”“Unpack, perhaps,” suggested their chaperon.“If you don’t mind,” said Nancy, “I’d like to leave that until dinner time; and run out for a few minutes. We needn’t start to dress for an hour or so, and I should like to look around a bit. I never feel at home in a new place until I’ve had a walk.”“It looks a lot like rain,” objected Jeanette; “and a fog is beginning to fall.”“Well, we won’t go far; and we’ve been out in dampness before, Janie dear.”So the three girls, after consulting some attractive souvenir advertisements in a folder, started out; while Miss Ashton remained to unpack, and rest a bit before dinner. They wandered along the street next to the hotel, stopping to look in various windows at amethysts, which were displayed in great profusion.“I never saw so many amethysts in all my life,” said Martha. “Why do they make so much of them here?”“Oh, the folder said that there is a mine of them at Cape Blomidon, and every tourist buys at least one. Look; there is a mass just as it was taken from the mine,” and Nancy pointed to a large piece, looking much like rock salt, except that it was lavender and the crystals were of varying sizes. For some minutes they rambled along, admiring the fine old English houses and estates.“I think we had better turn back now,” proposed Jeanette. “It always takes longer to unpack and dress than one counts on; and I imagine Miss Ashton would like to get in for dinner a little early.”“Just a minute,” begged Martha. “Let’s go just a little ways down this next street. Or you two go back if you want to; I’ll catch up with you.”So they parted. Before the two girls got very far, it began to rain very heavily; and they discovered that Martha was carrying their one umbrella.“Come on, Jeanette; we’ll have to run!” cried Nancy, catching her by the hand.With several stops to rest, in sheltered doorways, they at last reached the hotel. By this time a dense fog shut down. The street lights, which had been turned on, looked like ghostly globes; and cabs and people were dim shapes.“Where is Martha?” asked Miss Ashton, when they entered their rooms.“I’m really rather worried about her,” added Jeanette, after they had explained.“She’ll find her way back all right,” maintained Nancy. They were all anxious, however, when half an hour passed, and still no Martha. Miss Ashton was about to go down to the office for advice, when the girl rushed in; and Nancy and Jeanette plied her with all kinds of questions.“I was all right,” she gasped, “until that blamed fog came up.”“Came down,” corrected Nancy.“I wandered about trying to find my way, and getting more and more lost every minute. Finally I ran into a man in uniform, and asked him to set me on my way. I thought he looked a bit familiar; and who was he but the purser from our steamer. He’s awfully nice, and he came all the way to the hotel with me!”“Martha! Martha! I’ll certainly have to chaperon you more carefully,” laughed Miss Ashton. “However, all’s well that ends well. Now hurry, and dress for dinner. We didn’t have much on the train this noon; and I, for one, am hungry.”After dinner they wandered about the hotel for an hour, and then went to bed.“We must be up and ready to start at eight thirty,” was Miss Ashton’s good night instruction.Promptly at that hour, they took their seats with a few other people in the roomy, comfortable bus.“My name is James Jackson,” announced the conductor, as he checked up the list of passengers, “but most people call me ‘Jim.’”Soon they were out of the city and on the open road leading to Chester and Bridgewater, on the southeastern coast. The roads ran up and down hills constantly, and around all kinds of curves, crossing and recrossing the railroad over which they had ridden the day before.“This is heaps of fun!” cried Nancy, as they rolled down one particularly long slope. “It’s just like a great roller coaster. I hope there are lots of roads like this.”“So many you’ll get tired of them,” commented the driver, without enthusiasm.“No danger at all!”A beautiful lake suddenly appeared on the right, and soon was left behind; then acres and acres of pasture land, dotted with cattle, stretched out on either side.“Oh!” squealed Nancy suddenly. “Did you seethat?”“What?” inquired the others eagerly, looking back to see what they had missed.“That tiny little black and white calf in the corner of that meadow. He was scratching his nose with his hind paw——”A burst of laughter interrupted her.“But he did,” she persisted, when she could make herself heard. “And it was too cute for anything!”“It wasn’t that,” explained Jeanette, “it was because you called his hoof a paw.”“Well, how should I know its proper name. I’m not a farmer, and don’t pretend to be.”“I wonder if there is duty on calves,” commented Jeanette in mock seriousness. “Perhaps you would like to take the dear little fellow home with us, if the farmer would sell him.”Everybody laughed; for Nancy was always wanting to “take home with her” all kinds of animals, and was prevented from maintaining a small zoo only by the fact that her family wouldn’t tolerate it.The bus shot through the pine woods, and out again to roll smoothly along the edge of a large body of water.“This is Mahone Bay,” said the driver; “and that island is Oak Island where Captain Kidd is supposed to have buried some of his treasure.”“Oh,” cried Martha. “How I’d love to go out to it. Could we?”“On the way back we stop here for lunch,” said the driver, as they entered the town of Chester. “Perhaps you could get some fisherman to take you out.”“What do you expect to do there, Mart?” laughed Jeanette. “Find some of the treasure?”“I might. Who knows? And wouldn’t I have the laugh on you if Idid!”“Look,” said Miss Ashton, as they stopped in front of the inn for a moment and the driver went in to give notice of the number of guests he would have stopping there for lunch, “that woman is doing her marketing with a pail instead of a basket.”Sure enough a tall, thin woman, primly dressed in an old-fashioned looking garment of dull calico, was going from one store to another, and piling meat, groceries, fruit, and notions into a large tin pail which hung on her arm.On the way to Bridgewater they ran in and out of fog constantly. Sometimes the air would be perfectly clear, and the sun shining brightly. Then suddenly the fog would shut down so heavily that they could hardly see to the edge of the beach.“Isn’t this queer?” said Martha. “At home either we have fog or we don’t.”“That’s the way it is here, too,” replied the driver, smiling over his shoulder at Nancy; and Martha could not understand why they all laughed. Then he went on to explain that it was because they changed “levels” so constantly, that they “had the fog” or “didn’t have it” in such rapid succession.“This is Lunenburg,” he explained presently, as they ascended a hill into a small, prosperous-looking town. “It is famous for the building of deep-sea fishing vessels. Out there,” pointing to the expanse of water below them, “is the Lunenburg Harbor. There are some boats ready for use; some ready for the masts; and on the shore are others just begun. Notice that the prows are all painted blue; for they are known as ‘Bluenose Boats.’”“I have heard that term so many times since we landed,” said Miss Ashton, “and I never heard it before. For example, the train we came on yesterday is called the ‘Bluenose Special.’ What is the origin, and significance?”“The name dates back to the American Revolution,” explained Jim. “Certain families who were direct descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated to Nova Scotia during the war. These were known as Bluenose families; and the term came to be used more generally later on as a mark of high quality.”On the way back to Chester they passed an enclosed wagon with two doors at the back. “That,” said Jim, “is a traveling store. It carries everything from crackers to kerosene.”“How veryfunny!” exploded Martha, leaning out of the window a bit to get another look.“Be careful,” warned Miss Ashton. “That is always dangerous.”“She might fall out!” laughed Nancy.“How could anyone fall out of the window!” Martha was indignant again.“Many of the people of this country,” continued the driver, “live at great distances from stores; and as the automobile is not yet so common as it is in the States, they find it difficult to get to the towns to buy what they need.”As they drove along, they passed another traveling store standing in front of a small house; and from it the proprietor was taking several garments on hangers.“That fellow,” said the driver, “operates a ready-to-wear shop. Most of them do not limit their lines; they carry everything. He believes in specializing.”“Wouldn’t it be convenient to have things brought in instead of having to go after them,” said Jeanette.“Not for you, Janie,” laughed Nancy. “You’d need a whole procession of wagons. She goes through one store after another before she finds anything to suit her,” she explained to the driver.On their return trip, they stopped at Chester for lunch at the Lovett House. It is one hundred and fifty years old, and has been in the hands of the family of the present owners for one hundred and two years. There are steps up into this room, and down into that one. The old wall paper is patterned in hunting scenes; and the whole house is filled with delightful, old-fashioned furniture. The side porch is built right around the trunk of an immense tree.“Now for Captain Kidd’s island,” said Martha after lunch. “We can go; can’t we?” she appealed to the driver, as the girls laughed at her.“I could get someone to take them out,” he replied, looking at Miss Ashton for assent.“If you have time to indulge her whim,” she replied, “I have no objections to make.”Before very long the girls and Miss Ashton were in a small launch manned by an old fisherman, and headed for Oak Island. It was a forlorn-looking spot when they reached it, much of it covered by trees and brush, and the rest of it holes of various shapes and depths.“Apparently you’re not the first one who has entertained hopes of becoming wealthy, Mart,” said Nancy, peering into one immense excavation.“I wouldn’t care so much about getting rich,” she replied, “if I could find even one coin to take home. Imagine, having evenonesouvenir from Captain Kidd’s treasure.”“Of course, Mart,” said Jeanette practically, “it is not a certainty that he even buried any of it here.”“Anyway, if at first you don’t succeed,” began Nancy, “you know the rest of it.”They prowled around for about twenty minutes, and then wandered back toward the launch.“Did you look into this hole, Mart?” asked Nancy, pointing to a wide, shallow one near by. “It doesn’t go very deep. This particular excavator lost heart early in the game.”“No, I missed that.”Martha went to inspect it, while the rest strolled on. A cry of delight and surprise from Martha made them turn suddenly. She was running toward them so eagerly that she did not see a twisted root in the path. Her foot caught in it, and down she went, rolling over and over down the slope to their very feet. They picked her up with anxious questions as to the extent of her injuries, trying hard not to laugh; for she had presented a very funny spectacle.“I’m—all—right,” she gasped. “Don’t bother. But look.”She opened one hand, which she had kept tightly closed in spite of her catastrophe. In the palm lay an earth-stained, blackened coin!“I saw the edge of it sticking out from one side of the hole, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I pulled it out! Just think of my having been so very lucky!”She could talk of nothing else for some time on the return trip, and the others tried to share her enthusiasm.Jim examined the coin closely when they returned to the Lovett House, and then congratulated Martha on her good fortune. As he cleverly swung the big bus around the corner, and on the road out of Chester, he looked searchingly down at Nancy who was sitting beside him. She flushed a bit, but her eyes were dancing with mischief.“What would you give to know?” she asked teasingly, in a low voice.“Nothing!” he replied. “For I’m sure I have solved the problem.”“How?”“Two and two always make four. The first two is the fact that I once had a hobby of collecting coins, and I recognize many specimens; and Iknowthat this one is not a part of the notorious Captain’s treasure.”“And the other two?”“That a certain person is fond of playing jokes.”“I fear you know altogether too much.”Jim laughed, but made no further comments. He did not always have such congenial people to “conduct”; and he was enjoying himself immensely.“Gathering blueberries seems to be quite a business here,” observed Miss Ashton. “I have seen several old men and women with bowls, pitchers, or other containers; and many children with tin cups or pails.”“It is,” answered Jim. “The people of all ages go out in berry season and gather all they can. A big truck makes the rounds of the scattered houses every day, and picks up the fruit. Most of it is then shipped from Yarmouth to Boston. The cargo of the steamer you go back on will be largely blueberries.”“What are the winters like here?” inquired Miss Ashton. “Rather bleak, I should imagine.”“They are really very much like Boston, except in the interior, where they get more snow, and farther up north, toward Truro, where it is considerably colder. The settlements, you will notice, are pretty much around the edge of the country; the center is still rather wild. And have you noticed the bundles of wood lying along the roadside?”“Yes; and I have been wondering about them.”“From time to time the people fell small trees, or find dry wood which they gather into bundles, and leave to be picked up ‘some day’ when they are passing with an empty cart. That is their winter’s supply.”They were proceeding very slowly just then, as the road was more crooked than usual; and was upgrade.“How——” began Miss Ashton, when a scream from Jeanette startled everyone.“Martha has fallen out!” she cried.Jim stopped the bus instantly. They looked back, and there sat Martha in the middle of the road, covered with dust, and wearing a most pathetically bewildered expression.They all got out and ran back to assist her.“What in the world happened?” inquired Nancy, brushing Martha off after Jim had set her on her feet.“Happened!” exploded Martha. “Plain enough to be seen, I should think. I fell out!”Everybody screamed with laughter.“Yes, but——” began Nancy, and went off into another gale of merriment.“Now please tell us just how you happened to fall, Martha,” said Miss Ashton, when they were all in the bus again, and on their way.“I got awfully sleepy,” said Martha, rather sheepishly, “and I thought I’d go and sit in the back seat and take a little nap where nobody would disturb me. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the road and the bus was going on without me. Ididhope you’d discover that I was missing before you went very far.”“But how on earth did you get out?” persisted Miss Ashton.“That back door is almost never used, except in emergencies,” interrupted the driver. “It may not have been closed tightly; and she probably fell against it when she was asleep——”“That was an emergency, all right,” commented Nancy.“Now, Martha,” warned Jeanette, as they drew up before the hotel in Halifax, “you have had two falls. Do be careful during the rest of our trip.”There was an hour to spare before it was time to dress for dinner, and the girls spent it wandering around the Public Gardens. A rambling stream, stone bridges, duck ponds filled with water fowl, immense trees, great flower beds of all shapes in which are blended, in striking color combinations, blossoms of all kinds, make it a most attractive place to spend hours; and the girls heartily regretted that time would not permit them to linger.“But it is just as well we did not have any more time to walk about the gardens,” said Jeanette, as they were preparing for bed. “I am tired to death now.”“I am too,” replied Nancy; “but I do hope that the bell buoy in the harbor does not keep me awake to-night. Even in my sleep I heard that monotonous ‘ding-dong’ last night.”“Well, try to sleep anyhow,” advised Jeanette; “for to-morrow will be our biggest day——”“Oh, yes,” cried Martha, “to-morrow we see Evangeline——”Then, as a laugh interrupted her, she went on indignantly, “I don’t know why you all laugh every time I open my mouth. I’m not going to say another word!”“Until next time,” called Nancy, as Martha went into her own room.
CHAPTER IV
ON THE HIGH SEAS
“Oh!” cried Martha, when the steamer was well away from Boston, and headed northward, “I’m frozen!”
“Spread your rug over the chair; then sit down and fold the sides over you,” directed Miss Ashton. “You’ll be much warmer that way.”
They all followed her advice, and lay cozily watching the sunset; while the deck trotters paced back and forth in front of them.
“First call for dinner!” called a colored porter, passing along the deck, and accompanying his words by strokes on a brass gong.
“How about it?” asked Martha. “I’m hungry.”
“Go down if you like, Mart,” replied Nancy. “Jeanette and I are going to stay right here.”
“Right here! And not eat at all?” gasped Martha.
“A bit later the steward will bring us some sandwiches and ginger ale.”
“Ginger ale in this cold wind!” exclaimed Martha. “You’d better have it heated.”
Nancy laughed. “An old Frenchman up in Canada told us that if we’d drink ginger ale on shipboard, we’d never be seasick; and we’re going to try it out.”
“I’ll go down with you, Martha,” said Miss Ashton, getting up and throwing her rug over Nancy and Jeanette, who were shivering in spite of their own heavy ones. “I’m a good sailor; so nothing bothers me.”
The wind increased, and the ocean got choppy as soon as it grew dark; so the girls had their chairs moved into the enclosed deck, but near the door so they had plenty of ocean air.
“How do you feel, Nan?” asked Jeanette a bit anxiously, after they had finished their simple lunch.
“Mighty dizzy if I sit up; but deliciously comfortable as long as I lie back quietly. I feel as if I could stay here for hours.”
“That is the way with me, too.”
Some time later Miss Ashton came out on deck, and she was alone.
“Martha has succumbed,” she said, in reply to the girls’ questions. “The motion is much more noticeable in the dining room, and that, combined with the odor of food, about finished her. I put her to bed, and left her in the care of our stewardess. She’ll be all right soon, and will probably go to sleep.”
“Poor old Mart!” commented Nancy. “If she’d only stayed out of the dining room. But if she had,” she added, “then we would have been certain that she was already sick. Mart likes to eat even more than I do.”
The pacers of the deck increased in number, and soon there was a regular procession of people trying to see how many times they could encircle the ship. It was interesting to watch the different gaits. Some walked so well, with a free, rhythmic swing, as if thoroughly accustomed to the exercise, and enjoying it. Others, apparently, were doing it because they thought it was “the thing to do,”—and were making pretty hard work out of it.
“I’m walking all the way to Yarmouth,” panted a fat man, on his sixth round. The next time the parade passed in front of the trio, he was missing.
“I suppose he has collapsed somewhere,” said Jeanette.
“Who will be missing when they pass again?” wondered Nancy. “I bet it will be the pretty little girl with the brown curls.”
It was. From this point on the walkers dropped out rapidly, and finally only three girls of about Nancy’s age remained.
“I’m going to follow them and see how they do it,” exclaimed a boy of about fourteen, springing up from a near-by chair, and pacing after the girls, imitating exactly their long strides and swinging arms. On his return, he dropped exhausted into his chair, without volunteering any information to the amused spectators. The three girls continued to pass by regularly. The motion of the boat did not seem to disturb them at all; they appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely.
“Let’s go to bed,” proposed Jeanette, suddenly.
“Not a bad idea,” replied Nancy, getting up so quickly that she lost her balance and fell back into her chair. “My, but I’m dizzy!”
With Miss Ashton’s help she finally managed to get on her feet again. By this time the motion of the boat was very pronounced, and walking was a difficult business. But the girls managed, by clinging to each other with one hand, and to various railings and door frames with the other, to get safely down to their stateroom. There the motion was a bit less noticeable; so they had no difficulty in preparing for bed.
The fresh salt air had made them very sleepy, and they knew nothing more until the ship’s whistle began to blow at regular intervals.
“What do you suppose is the matter now, Janie?” Nancy asked anxiously.
“Fog, I imagine,” replied Jeanette sleepily.
“Had we better get up and dress?”
“What time is it?”
“About half-past two.”
“Goodness, no! Go to sleep again. If there is any danger, the big gong will be sounded.”
“How do you know? Who told you about that?”
“Sign—downstairs,” and Jeanette was fast asleep, while Nancy thought of all the stories she had ever read which dealt with the horrors of ships caught in the fogs. But after a while she too went to sleep again.
The whistle was still blowing when they got up at six o’clock, although the steamer was anchored—somewhere.
“When do we get in?” asked Nancy of a porter who passed their door just as she was peering out.
“Soon as the fog lifts, madam, whenever that is. We’re in the harbor now.”
Miss Ashton and a pale-faced Martha appeared at that moment, and they all went to the dining room. While they were having breakfast, the fog lifted, and the sun crept out rather cautiously. Then the excitement of disembarking began.
Passengers surged in all directions. The ship’s officers and crew were everywhere. Baggage was piled along the corridors, and people stumbled over it at almost every step.
Nancy had explained their locked suitcase to their porter, who promised to do his best to get it through the customs. While they were waiting for him in the big shed where the baggage was spread out on large tables for inspection by the customs officials, Nancy spied, on a table directly in front of them, a suitcase very much like her own.
“I wish I could get hold of the key to that,” she exclaimed, pointing the bag out to Jeanette.
“But I’m afraid you can’t.”
Their porter joined them at that moment, and they went quickly out onto the wharf and over to the train for Halifax, which was waiting near by. To this day they do not know how the porter got Nan’s suitcase through the customs, for it was still locked when they got onto the train.
“How funny!” exclaimed Martha, when she saw, instead of the regulation swinging chairs of a parlor car, big willow chairs upholstered in green velvet, but devoid of springs. These were not fastened to the floor in any way; so everybody placed hers as she pleased. As a result, walking down the aisle presented quite a problem.
When the train began to pull out, Nancy happened to glance across the aisle; and nearly fell out of her chair.
“Janie!” she whispered, “there is the very same suitcase we saw in the customs.”
Without waiting for a reply, she went across to the gray-haired woman who occupied the seat opposite hers.
“Pardon me, madam,” she said, a bit breathlessly, “but have you the key for that suitcase?”
“Why, yes,” replied the woman, in some surprise.
“And might I borrow it?” she asked, going on to tell the reason for her strange request.
The woman was only too glad to accommodate her, and was as pleased as the girls themselves when the key opened Nancy’s suitcase.
“Wasn’t that the strangest coincidence?” asked Nancy, as they settled back to enjoy the scenery; and they all agreed with her.
“No one but Nancy,” observed Jeanette, with a smile at her friend, “would have had the problem solved so easily. She is always getting into difficulties, and being taken out of them. Most of us would have gone through the country with our things safely locked in.”
“Now, girls,” said Miss Ashton, “what do you know about this country?”
“Very little,” replied Nancy, “except that the scene of Longfellow’sEvangelineis laid here. And I can readily see, even after the bit of the country we have passed, why he spoke of the ‘forest primeval.’ There is plenty of forest here all right.”
“I meant to look up some information before we started, but I didn’t have a minute,” said Jeanette.
“I vote that Miss Ashton tell us all we should know,” proposed Martha.
The motion was seconded, and passed unanimously; so they moved their chairs into a cozy group, and Miss Ashton produced a small map.
“As you can see,” she began, “Nova Scotia is a peninsula attached to that part of Canada called New Brunswick by a very narrow isthmus; it is only about ten feet wide. We landed down here at Yarmouth, on the southwestern coast, and this railroad follows the western and northern coast line over to Halifax, on the northeastern shore. The country was discovered about the year of 1000 by a Norseman from Iceland, called Leif the Lucky. He called it Marksland, and left it to a native tribe of Indians called Micmacs. There are supposed to be some remnants of the Micmacs still in the country.
“In 1497, John Cabot landed here, and claimed the country for England. Some years later, the French attempted settlements which were not permanent. About the year 1606, Champlain and some other Frenchmen founded Arcadia at Port Royal, which was later destroyed by the English. In 1629, James VI of Scotland gave the entire territory to a favorite of his for colonization, and called it New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. From that time on, the country was constantly handed back and forth from the French to the English; for both claimed it until 1710, when it fell permanently into the hands of Great Britain.”
“But where does the expulsion of the Acadians, as referred to by Longfellow, come in?” asked Nancy.
“Some of the French, after the destruction of Port Royal, had gathered in the village of Grand Pré, and gradually a prosperous and even wealthy settlement grew up. Authorities are divided as to the question of their loyalty to the British government. Be that as it may, the English reached the conclusion that the community was a menace, and decided to deport the people and confiscate their lands. This was done in 1747. You might refresh your memories of the details by rereadingEvangeline.”
“The Acadians came back again; didn’t they?” asked Jeanette.
“Yes; some years later, many of the survivors returned to settle on the shores of St. Mary’s Bay. We shall see the little Acadian villages on one of our bus trips.”
“The scenery is beautiful,” observed Jeanette. “So many lakes, bays, and rivers! Such quantities of white birch, and all kinds of pine trees.”
“It reminds me of the frequency with which the birch is mentioned in the ‘Anne’ books,” remarked Nancy.
“The ‘Anne’ books?” repeated Martha.
“Yes;Anne of Green Gables, and all the rest of them, by L. M. Montgomery. If you have never read them, your education has been neglected; and you should remedy the defect. I read the whole series over twice, and I think I could enjoy reading them again if there were not so many things to be read.”
“What rolling country it is,” remarked Miss Ashton a little later. “I have heard that there is scarcely a half mile stretch of level land; and there are two mountain ranges, one on the west coast, and one on the north.”
“The character of the country surprises me,” said Jeanette. “For no good reason at all, I have always pictured it as flat.”
At Digby, nearly all the travelers got out for ice cream cones.
“Now, Nan,” warned Jeanette, “you know your weakness for missing trains.Pleasedon’t go too far.”
They were wandering back to the station, when Nancy’s eye was caught by some post cards attractively displayed in the window of a small store.
“Go on, Janie,”’ she said. “I’ll snatch just a couple of these and catch up with you.”
“But don’t stay a minute,” cautioned Jeanette, walking on. “It’s nearly time for the train to start.”
She boarded the train, but stood on the platform looking anxiously up the road.
The whistles blew, the bell rang, and the train began to get under way; but no Nancy. At that moment she was seen running down the street for dear life. Luckily for her, it was necessary at that point for the train to slow up to round a curve; and she succeeded in swinging herself onto the steps of the last car.
“Didn’t I tell you not to stay,” Jeanette cried, fairly shaking Nancy, when she finally reached the platform on which her friend was waiting. “You might have been killed, getting onto a moving train like that! You’re not going to get off ever again!”
“Poor Nannie,” said Martha, who had overheard the last words, “you won’t be able then to get off with us at Halifax.”
“Seriously, Nancy,” said Miss Ashton, “you must be more careful. Suppose you had been left in that strange town in an unfamiliar country.”
For once, Nancy had no reply ready; for, to tell the truth, she had been more than a little frightened herself when she saw the train begin to move.
CHAPTER V
HALIFAX
“Halifax!” called the conductor; and everybody filed out of the train onto the platform, where all the baggage was piled on big trucks to be taken through the station and out to the taxicab entrance.
Martha was inclined to worry a bit about her two bags—she didn’t like to let them out of her sight; but Nancy and Jeanette, who had seen the same process in Chicago, assured her that she had no need for anxiety.
“Don’t you feel real important when you can say, ‘they did this or that in such and such a place’?” whispered Nancy to Jeanette as they followed the crowd to the exit at the end of the station, where the taxi platform was located. Jeanette admitted that she did.
At the outer edge of the platform was a railing over which leaned, facing them, a crowd of taxicab drivers, each shouting the name of the particular hotel he covered. It was a veritable bedlam, and nothing could be done but listen to it until the baggage was brought out.
“We had better have two cabs, I think,” said Miss Ashton, “on account of our numerous bags. Martha and I will take this one, and you two can follow in the next.”
The cab which came up to the steps immediately after she and Martha had driven off, was quickly claimed by another party; so the girls had to wait for the next. They signaled to one as it approached; but as soon as it drew up, a tall woman, who apparently sprang from nowhere, stepped out ahead of the girls and into the cab.
Jeanette ventured to remark, “Wecalled this cab,” and the taxi men looked at one another and smiled. The girls hesitated; but the woman leaned forward and said to Nancy: “You are going to the Lord Nelson Hotel; aren’t you?”
“Why, yes——”
“Then we may as well go up together,” and she settled firmly back in the corner of the cab.
There was nothing else to be done; so Nancy got in, and Jeanette followed her.
The baggage was piled in front, and soon they were off up the steep streets leading to the hotel. The stranger, apparently an English woman, talked entertainingly of her trip across, the gifts which had been sent to her stateroom when she sailed, and of Halifax which she had not visited in several years. When they drew up at the hotel, which is opposite the beautiful Public Gardens, she paid her share of the charges, took her one smart-looking bag, and walked away down the street, murmuring something about taking a walk.
“Of all queer women!” observed Jeanette. “Why on earth doesn’t she go in and dispose of the bag?”
A boy took their bags up to the room which had been reserved for them; and as Nancy felt for her purse, she gasped a little and whispered to Jeanette, “You tip him.”
“Janie!” she exclaimed, as soon as the door was closed, “I’ve lost my purse. I didn’t look for it when we were getting out of the cab, because you paid our share; and now I haven’t it.”
“Was there much in it?”
“Oh, no; about $2.50, I think. You know I never keep much in it when we’re traveling.”
“But when did you have it last?”
“I know I had it when we were in the station.”
The girls looked at each other, their thoughts apparently traveling in the same direction.
“I do hate to suspect anybody,” said Nan, “but I am awfully suspicious of our queer-acting traveling companion.”
Martha and Miss Ashton entered just in time to hear the last words, and asked for an explanation.
“I’m afraid there is nothing to be done, Nancy,” said Miss Ashton, after hearing the story. “You are fortunate that there was not much in it.”
“Indeed I am; and I’m not going to worry about it. It is to avoid worry of that kind, that I carry so little money in my purse; then if it does get lost, it’s not especially important. What’s our immediate program?”
“Unpack, perhaps,” suggested their chaperon.
“If you don’t mind,” said Nancy, “I’d like to leave that until dinner time; and run out for a few minutes. We needn’t start to dress for an hour or so, and I should like to look around a bit. I never feel at home in a new place until I’ve had a walk.”
“It looks a lot like rain,” objected Jeanette; “and a fog is beginning to fall.”
“Well, we won’t go far; and we’ve been out in dampness before, Janie dear.”
So the three girls, after consulting some attractive souvenir advertisements in a folder, started out; while Miss Ashton remained to unpack, and rest a bit before dinner. They wandered along the street next to the hotel, stopping to look in various windows at amethysts, which were displayed in great profusion.
“I never saw so many amethysts in all my life,” said Martha. “Why do they make so much of them here?”
“Oh, the folder said that there is a mine of them at Cape Blomidon, and every tourist buys at least one. Look; there is a mass just as it was taken from the mine,” and Nancy pointed to a large piece, looking much like rock salt, except that it was lavender and the crystals were of varying sizes. For some minutes they rambled along, admiring the fine old English houses and estates.
“I think we had better turn back now,” proposed Jeanette. “It always takes longer to unpack and dress than one counts on; and I imagine Miss Ashton would like to get in for dinner a little early.”
“Just a minute,” begged Martha. “Let’s go just a little ways down this next street. Or you two go back if you want to; I’ll catch up with you.”
So they parted. Before the two girls got very far, it began to rain very heavily; and they discovered that Martha was carrying their one umbrella.
“Come on, Jeanette; we’ll have to run!” cried Nancy, catching her by the hand.
With several stops to rest, in sheltered doorways, they at last reached the hotel. By this time a dense fog shut down. The street lights, which had been turned on, looked like ghostly globes; and cabs and people were dim shapes.
“Where is Martha?” asked Miss Ashton, when they entered their rooms.
“I’m really rather worried about her,” added Jeanette, after they had explained.
“She’ll find her way back all right,” maintained Nancy. They were all anxious, however, when half an hour passed, and still no Martha. Miss Ashton was about to go down to the office for advice, when the girl rushed in; and Nancy and Jeanette plied her with all kinds of questions.
“I was all right,” she gasped, “until that blamed fog came up.”
“Came down,” corrected Nancy.
“I wandered about trying to find my way, and getting more and more lost every minute. Finally I ran into a man in uniform, and asked him to set me on my way. I thought he looked a bit familiar; and who was he but the purser from our steamer. He’s awfully nice, and he came all the way to the hotel with me!”
“Martha! Martha! I’ll certainly have to chaperon you more carefully,” laughed Miss Ashton. “However, all’s well that ends well. Now hurry, and dress for dinner. We didn’t have much on the train this noon; and I, for one, am hungry.”
After dinner they wandered about the hotel for an hour, and then went to bed.
“We must be up and ready to start at eight thirty,” was Miss Ashton’s good night instruction.
Promptly at that hour, they took their seats with a few other people in the roomy, comfortable bus.
“My name is James Jackson,” announced the conductor, as he checked up the list of passengers, “but most people call me ‘Jim.’”
Soon they were out of the city and on the open road leading to Chester and Bridgewater, on the southeastern coast. The roads ran up and down hills constantly, and around all kinds of curves, crossing and recrossing the railroad over which they had ridden the day before.
“This is heaps of fun!” cried Nancy, as they rolled down one particularly long slope. “It’s just like a great roller coaster. I hope there are lots of roads like this.”
“So many you’ll get tired of them,” commented the driver, without enthusiasm.
“No danger at all!”
A beautiful lake suddenly appeared on the right, and soon was left behind; then acres and acres of pasture land, dotted with cattle, stretched out on either side.
“Oh!” squealed Nancy suddenly. “Did you seethat?”
“What?” inquired the others eagerly, looking back to see what they had missed.
“That tiny little black and white calf in the corner of that meadow. He was scratching his nose with his hind paw——”
A burst of laughter interrupted her.
“But he did,” she persisted, when she could make herself heard. “And it was too cute for anything!”
“It wasn’t that,” explained Jeanette, “it was because you called his hoof a paw.”
“Well, how should I know its proper name. I’m not a farmer, and don’t pretend to be.”
“I wonder if there is duty on calves,” commented Jeanette in mock seriousness. “Perhaps you would like to take the dear little fellow home with us, if the farmer would sell him.”
Everybody laughed; for Nancy was always wanting to “take home with her” all kinds of animals, and was prevented from maintaining a small zoo only by the fact that her family wouldn’t tolerate it.
The bus shot through the pine woods, and out again to roll smoothly along the edge of a large body of water.
“This is Mahone Bay,” said the driver; “and that island is Oak Island where Captain Kidd is supposed to have buried some of his treasure.”
“Oh,” cried Martha. “How I’d love to go out to it. Could we?”
“On the way back we stop here for lunch,” said the driver, as they entered the town of Chester. “Perhaps you could get some fisherman to take you out.”
“What do you expect to do there, Mart?” laughed Jeanette. “Find some of the treasure?”
“I might. Who knows? And wouldn’t I have the laugh on you if Idid!”
“Look,” said Miss Ashton, as they stopped in front of the inn for a moment and the driver went in to give notice of the number of guests he would have stopping there for lunch, “that woman is doing her marketing with a pail instead of a basket.”
Sure enough a tall, thin woman, primly dressed in an old-fashioned looking garment of dull calico, was going from one store to another, and piling meat, groceries, fruit, and notions into a large tin pail which hung on her arm.
On the way to Bridgewater they ran in and out of fog constantly. Sometimes the air would be perfectly clear, and the sun shining brightly. Then suddenly the fog would shut down so heavily that they could hardly see to the edge of the beach.
“Isn’t this queer?” said Martha. “At home either we have fog or we don’t.”
“That’s the way it is here, too,” replied the driver, smiling over his shoulder at Nancy; and Martha could not understand why they all laughed. Then he went on to explain that it was because they changed “levels” so constantly, that they “had the fog” or “didn’t have it” in such rapid succession.
“This is Lunenburg,” he explained presently, as they ascended a hill into a small, prosperous-looking town. “It is famous for the building of deep-sea fishing vessels. Out there,” pointing to the expanse of water below them, “is the Lunenburg Harbor. There are some boats ready for use; some ready for the masts; and on the shore are others just begun. Notice that the prows are all painted blue; for they are known as ‘Bluenose Boats.’”
“I have heard that term so many times since we landed,” said Miss Ashton, “and I never heard it before. For example, the train we came on yesterday is called the ‘Bluenose Special.’ What is the origin, and significance?”
“The name dates back to the American Revolution,” explained Jim. “Certain families who were direct descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated to Nova Scotia during the war. These were known as Bluenose families; and the term came to be used more generally later on as a mark of high quality.”
On the way back to Chester they passed an enclosed wagon with two doors at the back. “That,” said Jim, “is a traveling store. It carries everything from crackers to kerosene.”
“How veryfunny!” exploded Martha, leaning out of the window a bit to get another look.
“Be careful,” warned Miss Ashton. “That is always dangerous.”
“She might fall out!” laughed Nancy.
“How could anyone fall out of the window!” Martha was indignant again.
“Many of the people of this country,” continued the driver, “live at great distances from stores; and as the automobile is not yet so common as it is in the States, they find it difficult to get to the towns to buy what they need.”
As they drove along, they passed another traveling store standing in front of a small house; and from it the proprietor was taking several garments on hangers.
“That fellow,” said the driver, “operates a ready-to-wear shop. Most of them do not limit their lines; they carry everything. He believes in specializing.”
“Wouldn’t it be convenient to have things brought in instead of having to go after them,” said Jeanette.
“Not for you, Janie,” laughed Nancy. “You’d need a whole procession of wagons. She goes through one store after another before she finds anything to suit her,” she explained to the driver.
On their return trip, they stopped at Chester for lunch at the Lovett House. It is one hundred and fifty years old, and has been in the hands of the family of the present owners for one hundred and two years. There are steps up into this room, and down into that one. The old wall paper is patterned in hunting scenes; and the whole house is filled with delightful, old-fashioned furniture. The side porch is built right around the trunk of an immense tree.
“Now for Captain Kidd’s island,” said Martha after lunch. “We can go; can’t we?” she appealed to the driver, as the girls laughed at her.
“I could get someone to take them out,” he replied, looking at Miss Ashton for assent.
“If you have time to indulge her whim,” she replied, “I have no objections to make.”
Before very long the girls and Miss Ashton were in a small launch manned by an old fisherman, and headed for Oak Island. It was a forlorn-looking spot when they reached it, much of it covered by trees and brush, and the rest of it holes of various shapes and depths.
“Apparently you’re not the first one who has entertained hopes of becoming wealthy, Mart,” said Nancy, peering into one immense excavation.
“I wouldn’t care so much about getting rich,” she replied, “if I could find even one coin to take home. Imagine, having evenonesouvenir from Captain Kidd’s treasure.”
“Of course, Mart,” said Jeanette practically, “it is not a certainty that he even buried any of it here.”
“Anyway, if at first you don’t succeed,” began Nancy, “you know the rest of it.”
They prowled around for about twenty minutes, and then wandered back toward the launch.
“Did you look into this hole, Mart?” asked Nancy, pointing to a wide, shallow one near by. “It doesn’t go very deep. This particular excavator lost heart early in the game.”
“No, I missed that.”
Martha went to inspect it, while the rest strolled on. A cry of delight and surprise from Martha made them turn suddenly. She was running toward them so eagerly that she did not see a twisted root in the path. Her foot caught in it, and down she went, rolling over and over down the slope to their very feet. They picked her up with anxious questions as to the extent of her injuries, trying hard not to laugh; for she had presented a very funny spectacle.
“I’m—all—right,” she gasped. “Don’t bother. But look.”
She opened one hand, which she had kept tightly closed in spite of her catastrophe. In the palm lay an earth-stained, blackened coin!
“I saw the edge of it sticking out from one side of the hole, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I pulled it out! Just think of my having been so very lucky!”
She could talk of nothing else for some time on the return trip, and the others tried to share her enthusiasm.
Jim examined the coin closely when they returned to the Lovett House, and then congratulated Martha on her good fortune. As he cleverly swung the big bus around the corner, and on the road out of Chester, he looked searchingly down at Nancy who was sitting beside him. She flushed a bit, but her eyes were dancing with mischief.
“What would you give to know?” she asked teasingly, in a low voice.
“Nothing!” he replied. “For I’m sure I have solved the problem.”
“How?”
“Two and two always make four. The first two is the fact that I once had a hobby of collecting coins, and I recognize many specimens; and Iknowthat this one is not a part of the notorious Captain’s treasure.”
“And the other two?”
“That a certain person is fond of playing jokes.”
“I fear you know altogether too much.”
Jim laughed, but made no further comments. He did not always have such congenial people to “conduct”; and he was enjoying himself immensely.
“Gathering blueberries seems to be quite a business here,” observed Miss Ashton. “I have seen several old men and women with bowls, pitchers, or other containers; and many children with tin cups or pails.”
“It is,” answered Jim. “The people of all ages go out in berry season and gather all they can. A big truck makes the rounds of the scattered houses every day, and picks up the fruit. Most of it is then shipped from Yarmouth to Boston. The cargo of the steamer you go back on will be largely blueberries.”
“What are the winters like here?” inquired Miss Ashton. “Rather bleak, I should imagine.”
“They are really very much like Boston, except in the interior, where they get more snow, and farther up north, toward Truro, where it is considerably colder. The settlements, you will notice, are pretty much around the edge of the country; the center is still rather wild. And have you noticed the bundles of wood lying along the roadside?”
“Yes; and I have been wondering about them.”
“From time to time the people fell small trees, or find dry wood which they gather into bundles, and leave to be picked up ‘some day’ when they are passing with an empty cart. That is their winter’s supply.”
They were proceeding very slowly just then, as the road was more crooked than usual; and was upgrade.
“How——” began Miss Ashton, when a scream from Jeanette startled everyone.
“Martha has fallen out!” she cried.
Jim stopped the bus instantly. They looked back, and there sat Martha in the middle of the road, covered with dust, and wearing a most pathetically bewildered expression.
They all got out and ran back to assist her.
“What in the world happened?” inquired Nancy, brushing Martha off after Jim had set her on her feet.
“Happened!” exploded Martha. “Plain enough to be seen, I should think. I fell out!”
Everybody screamed with laughter.
“Yes, but——” began Nancy, and went off into another gale of merriment.
“Now please tell us just how you happened to fall, Martha,” said Miss Ashton, when they were all in the bus again, and on their way.
“I got awfully sleepy,” said Martha, rather sheepishly, “and I thought I’d go and sit in the back seat and take a little nap where nobody would disturb me. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the road and the bus was going on without me. Ididhope you’d discover that I was missing before you went very far.”
“But how on earth did you get out?” persisted Miss Ashton.
“That back door is almost never used, except in emergencies,” interrupted the driver. “It may not have been closed tightly; and she probably fell against it when she was asleep——”
“That was an emergency, all right,” commented Nancy.
“Now, Martha,” warned Jeanette, as they drew up before the hotel in Halifax, “you have had two falls. Do be careful during the rest of our trip.”
There was an hour to spare before it was time to dress for dinner, and the girls spent it wandering around the Public Gardens. A rambling stream, stone bridges, duck ponds filled with water fowl, immense trees, great flower beds of all shapes in which are blended, in striking color combinations, blossoms of all kinds, make it a most attractive place to spend hours; and the girls heartily regretted that time would not permit them to linger.
“But it is just as well we did not have any more time to walk about the gardens,” said Jeanette, as they were preparing for bed. “I am tired to death now.”
“I am too,” replied Nancy; “but I do hope that the bell buoy in the harbor does not keep me awake to-night. Even in my sleep I heard that monotonous ‘ding-dong’ last night.”
“Well, try to sleep anyhow,” advised Jeanette; “for to-morrow will be our biggest day——”
“Oh, yes,” cried Martha, “to-morrow we see Evangeline——”
Then, as a laugh interrupted her, she went on indignantly, “I don’t know why you all laugh every time I open my mouth. I’m not going to say another word!”
“Until next time,” called Nancy, as Martha went into her own room.