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    The Chief Engineer
    The Chief Engineer
    The Chief Engineer
    Ebook60 pages42 minutes

    The Chief Engineer

    By Henry Abbott

    ()

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 15, 2013
    The Chief Engineer

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      Book preview

      The Chief Engineer - Henry Abbott

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chief Engineer, by Henry Abbott

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

      Title: The Chief Engineer

      Author: Henry Abbott

      Release Date: December 16, 2010 [EBook #34673]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHIEF ENGINEER ***

      Produced by Linda M. Everhart, Blairstown, Missouri

      THE CHIEF ENGINEER

      By

      HENRY ABBOTT

      NEW YORK

      1920

      Copyright 1920

      by

      HENRY ABBOTT

      THE CHIEF ENGINEER

      It was a dark night in July — very dark. There was no moon and clouds hid the stars. We were sitting by the camp fire. Bige had just kicked the burning logs together so that a shower of sparks shot straight up toward the tree-tops, indicating that there was no wind, when he said, If you want to make that picture of deer this is just the kind of a night to go for it. You must have it dark so you can get close enough to get a good photograph. Also, this is just the kind of weather when we are likely to find deer feeding near the mouth of the river.

      So with camera and flash-light apparatus I climbed into the bow end of our light-weight cedar boat, while Bige with paddle sat in the stern. We aimed toward the mouth of the river about half of a mile from camp and across the pond. No land-marks were visible, so we steered by dead reckoning. Bige was feathering his paddle, Indian fashion without lifting it out of the water, so we silently proceeded, making no ripple on the surface and yet, at first, rather swiftly.

      The Chief Engineer

      A few minutes later, the bow of the boat struck some yielding obstacle. My first thought was that we had hit a mossy, overhanging bank on the opposite shore of the pond. In times of stress, thoughts follow each other in rapid succession. My second thought was that the opposite shore was not mossy and overhanging, but rocky; third, that we had not been out long enough to get across; and fourth that we must have hit some animal who was swimming. But things were happening now, more rapidly than thoughts, and very much quicker than the time required to tell about them; and this latter thought was confirmed long before it was completely formulated.

      Instantly, after we struck, a violent commotion occurred under the bow of the boat, water splashed in my face, there was the sound of scratching, gnawing and splintering wood, then a paw appeared on the gunwale beside me, the boat rocked and I yelled to Bige, He is climbing aboard!! while I lifted the camera intending to brain this indistinct shape as soon as I could see its head. This was immediately followed by the release of the weight on the side of the boat, its rocking in the opposite direction, a resounding slap on the water which threw a shower of spray over my head, in my eyes and ears. Then silence.

      Must have hit a muskrat, said Bige.

      More like a collie dog or a young bear, said I. "He surely would have swamped the boat if you had not slapped the water with the paddle, and I would

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