Chapter VIII: Hopes Realized and the Journey Ended (2)

“Kid, if you’re ever in trouble and want a friend, call on your Uncle Jumbo.”

In December, the following month, Kid’s time-cheque mounted to twenty-five dollars, and when he was being paid Scott informed him that he had earned every cent of it by working with a willing, cheerful spirit and by doing his level best, and that in this way he had been valuable even outside his regular work as an inspiration to the older members of the camp. This cheque reached his mother just before Christmas, in time to purchase a good many needed things and also to provide for a real Christmas, with a Christmas-tree and all the other accompaniments, for the little ones. In his turn Kid was delighted at Christmas to get a parcel of warm socks and mittens and a letter full of thanksgiving, in which the mother expressed her gratefulness to the men in Camp No. 2 for receiving her boy so kindly, and making special mention of the firm’s thoughtfulness.

As spring approached even greater efforts were put forth in Camp No. 2. Scott, the man who never tired in doing his best for his employer, was like a mighty, silent force, appearing everywhere, apparently looking after everything grimly and resolutely. He had made up his mind to see all the logs at the river bank before spring set in, and the fairness of his treatment made every man resolve that he would do his part. Every night in camp stories were told of the number of logs cut and placed upon skids that day, and of the record loads hauled by one span of horses to the river. Each night the scaler handed in a report of the work accomplished that day to Scott, who, after going over these, lay down and slept the sleep which comes with the consciousness of a day’s work well done.

Learning that there was a shortage of teamsters. Kid, who knew a little about horses, offered himself for this work, and accordingly was assigned to team supplies for the camp along the tote road from the railroad, about sixty miles away. In sending him out Scott cautioned him of the danger from the wolves, particularly at night, and told him that if he were caught out on the road after nightfall he was to stop and build a fire at the first howl. Failing time for this he was to unhitch his team, climb on their backs, and make the camp the best way he could. He was instructed, however, to provide against being out after night by leaving the Halfway house, thirty miles from camp, at daybreak.

Naturally, Kid planned to follow these instructions carefully, and on his first trip left the Halfway house even before daylight, but unfortunately, because of a heavy fall of snow during the day, was not able to keep to the anticipated schedule. When about six miles from camp darkness set in and he found himself alone in the forest.

Suddenly the howl of a wolf was heard. Following instructions he stopped the team and tried to gather birchbark and bits of wood to build his fire. It was cold, forty below, and doubtless the lad was cold and numb from the cold and frost when the wolves surrounded him. Probably, also, the team became frightened at the wolves, had upset the sleigh and got away. Since there was no witness to the tragedy no one knew definitely. At the time of the lad’s probable arrival Scott ran outside the camp with a lantern and peered down the tote road. As time went by he became alarmed at the failure of the lad to arrive and suddenly, when he heard the dashing of hoofs and saw the team running madly as if chased, he understood that something unusual had happened. With two men and a fresh team he started back over the tote road, and in a little time found their fears realized. Coming to the upturned sleigh, they saw shadowy forms sneaking away into the forest, and a little further on, underneath a tree beside the road, which the boy had evidently tried to climb, were torn boots and some bits of tattered clothing. Probably the lad had climbed the tree, but in his numb condition was unable to hang on and had fallen, becoming a prey to those ferocious brutes. While the lumber-jacks were in some respects hard men and had seen accidents and somewhat similar things before, their regard for the boy who had proved himself a real man made tears flow from their eyes, which froze into icicles as they trickled down their bearded faces. There before them, written on the snow around their feet, was the sad tale of how the heroic lad had met his end in the forest, doing his duty. Scott appreciated what this side of the tragedy would mean to the lad’s mother, fully realizing that she would appreciate how the lad had lived up to his duty, and would understand that God’s angels had been there to claim the spirit of her boy and take it up to a better home than earth affords.

When Scott and his men returned to camp with the story naturally a gloom was cast over the crew. Next day, when the boss of the camp came in, he noted on the way the signs of the tragedy, and on making inquiries was told the sorrowful story. When told of the good qualities of the lad he was deeply touched, and leaving the camp the following day, he resolved to go himself to break the news to the Kid’s mother, carrying with him a collection of over a hundred dollars which had been made up by the members of the crew as a remembrance, to which he himself added a substantial amount. He drove directly to the lad’s home, and on his arrival introduced himself and handed over the purse intended for the mother. Then came a hard task for him. He talked for some time, but had difficulty in getting further with his story than the fact that the money was a gift from the crew of Camp No. 2. Beads of perspiration gathered on his brow. His face was strained, and the matter troubled him so much that he had almost made up his mind to leave without telling his story when the mother, noting the look of pain on his face, pleaded to know all about Charlie. The boss tried to speak, but could not utter the word which he felt would blast her hopes. Then, as she knelt before him and pleaded with him to tell her the truth, saying that she would be brave, and no further information came, she left the room a moment, later appearing with hat and shawl, and said, “Now, please take me to Charlie.” Finally, and almost in a whisper, the boss said: “No, you cannot go to Charlie. His soul is in heaven.”

After an agonized cry, the mother bravely got hold of herself and said: “Charlie’s soul in heaven. Thank God. I can go to him there. I shall be brave and bear the cross, for I know that Charlie will be company there for his father. They were such chums here on earth.”

While Charlie’s face was absent from the camp, his influence was still present. Scott, for instance, knelt and said his prayers every night before he climbed into his bunk, just as Kid had done that first night in camp, and as he prayed for himself Scott tried to remember the mother and kiddies who had suffered from the loss of their son and brother. Many of the men in the camp, too, had been influenced in a similar way, and Camp No. 2 was a different place than it had been six months previously.

When the winter’s work was completed and the men and teams were leaving their quarters, many a man turned to cast a last look at the camp where various joys had been known, where gloom had been shared by all and where trial and difficulty had been overcome. The procession of men, who through their experiences together that winter had become a sort of family, a brotherhood, wended their way along the tote road. Looking at them none could deny that these lumber-jacks were a noble breed of men. The sons and grandsons of pioneers, men of the north, conquerors of the forest, bound together by a chain of chivalrous deeds, of hardships and difficulties, they were doing their part in the building up of the future of a nation.

Scott was in the sleigh with the leading team. When they came opposite the spot where Kid had fought his last battle against the cruel forest conditions, a halt was ordered. The crew gathered around the spot and Jumbo, surprisingly, spoke first, saying: “So here’s where the Kid fought his last fight. I hope he saw that I wanted to be his friend. I’d have liked to take a whack at these brutes myself, or to have taken his place. I guess he would have been worth more in the world than I’ll be.”

The procession passed on its way sorrowfully. Possibly never again would the spot be visited by one who knew the story, but in the years following the men who had been in Camp No. 2 that winter told at their firesides tales of a lad who had fought his battle and won, of the cheerful-faced boy who was man enough to face the world and the hard things in it to support his mother, of the young man who tackled a man’s work and did it without a murmur, and who, above all these other things, loved God and was not afraid to acknowledge Him in his home and in the difficult conditions of the lumber camp.

AN APPEAL TO PLAY THE GAME FAIRLY

Perhaps a word here from the experience of an older man than most of those who will read this book will be helpful.

In going through the current magazines and trade journals ordinarily read by young men and women, I am impressed by the fact that they seem to be largely devoted to pastime or for showing methods of accumulating wealth, and in most of these the latter seems to be termed success. After having seen a good deal of life in its various aspects I know full well that there is no success worth mentioning in the terms of dollars. While it is necessary that we work hard, and keep everlastingly at it; while it is essential that we be thrifty and look after what we earn carefully to produce the right kind of character, it is a fact to which those who have grown out of youth will testify if they are serious, that the dollars a man has do not leave any lasting record for him.

Character is all that lives. The kind words we speak, the helpful things we do, the service we give to others willingly, the sacrifices we make cheerfully and gladly for the good of mankind, are the things which really count, and these things it has been surely proved are the things which go to make up real character.

Suppose that you who are reading this are old enough to be face to face with the realities of life. Heretofore you have been living at the home fireside, able to depend on your father and mother for help in your difficulties of whatever kind. It is as though your personal craft has been sailing on a calm mill-pond. Now you have come out of the mouth of the River of Youth and find yourself face to face with the great Ocean of Life. New responsibility will come to you. Difficulties that you did not appreciate will crop up frequently and you will not be able to turn to father and mother for help. If you are made of the right stuff you will not want to do so, but will want to sail your own course, and it is in doing so, and in getting through the storms on your own resources that will build up your character. It will be necessary to use courage, grit and determination in the battle of life. These are the things which will carry you through. But you will find that life and good fellowship when properly used will radiate themselves widely and make their influence largely felt. Let your words always be truthful. This is a bigger factor in success than most young people imagine, and if thankfulness for kindnesses received is apparent this will smooth the way a good deal.

With everything else you must remember to play the game of life fairly. While it is only right to stand up for one’s own rights and to hold to this principle firmly it is not at all necessary to try to shift responsibility to the other fellow. There is far too much of this in the world. The man who carries himself honestly, straightforwardly, and is willing to accept the responsibility for the mistakes he is occasionally certain to make is much more likely to be awarded praise for the good things he does than the chap who is continually trying to get out of difficulty by shoving the matter to someone else’s shoulders.

Keep in mind the fact that the real things of life are the ones to be worked for, and by attempting to work up to an ideal much better progress will be made. If God gives you powers to construct, to create, to organize and to develop, be mightily thankful and do your utmost to develop these powers. Any man can be mightily useful in the world if he will seriously take hold of the talents--be they one or twenty--God gives him and uses them as best he knows how.

And remember that it is largely the little things which make up the big ones. What you do every day, what you read, your thoughts, your words, your deeds, go to make up yourself, and as you speak and think and read and do now so will you be hereafter.

If you are to win in the battle of life there must be no compromise with your better self. One is either useful to the world or is detrimental. There is no neutral point. You will be either somebody or nobody, and remember that so long as you are perfectly sincere and live according to your own knowledge and as your conscience tells you, you will be somebody, and it doesn’t make very much difference what the world thinks of you. The men who have proved themselves strongest, the men of genius, the inventors, the philosophers, the preachers, the scientists, have in hundreds of cases been men whom the people of their day laughed at. They did the best they could according to their light, cared little for what the people around them thought, and while they were probably laughed at in their day, time showed their value to the world and to their fellow men. Thus it may be with you.

Canada cannot be a strong nation unless her youth become strong in character.]

If you are looking for an opening for your life’s career, you cannot do better than pick a spot right here in Canada. Probably the place to start is right where you are. A lot of people make mistakes in running around looking for opportunities when, in all probability, the opportunity is standing around the corner waiting for the door to be opened to make a bolt in. It is the wise young man or woman who can see an opportunity and grab it from where he stands, and in a good many cases these opportunities consist simply in doing honestly, sincerely and with all the heart that can be put into it the things which lie right at hand. It may be pitching hay on the farm, chucking coal into the fire-box of a locomotive or delivering parcels from a grocery store. If these things are done with the right spirit and done as well as one knows how to do them, bigger opportunities are as certain to crop up all in good time as the sun is to rise to-morrow morning. Those of us who look back from added years see that the hard and trying work in what seemed to be limited opportunities was really a preparation for the bigger things to follow, and if the one who is doing what seems to be the little things doesn’t do them in the best way he knows how he will not be ready to take hold of the bigger things when they come along.

This country of ours, Canada, is to-day, in resources, an undeveloped opportunity, the greatest under God’s heaven. With its wealth of land, forest and mine, with its unknown and undreamed-of resources in the sections man has not yet trod, it presents a wealth of opportunity such as our fathers never dreamed of. The young man or woman who believes in the syllable “can” and will develop his or her will-power to say “I can,” and “I will,” and follows this up with the doing will not lack a place in this country.

With all the struggle and striving for success do not forget that life’s choicest gift is Love. Every chivalrous act results from love. Faith, Hope and Charity are all the outgrowth of love. Nature as we see it around us in the fields and forests is a picture of love, and is a sort of mirror reflecting God’s thoughts.

Robert and Mary, the hero and heroine of the preceding story, went their way and left an impress of their lives on their country and on the hearts of the people of their time by playing fairly and by working with God’s blessing. To fill a similar place in life it will be necessary for you to work with the same end in view and under the same auspices.

Will you do it?

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.

Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.