“It must be on account of its associations,” replied Loren, looking first at the clumsy canoe and then at the clear-cut lines of the shell. “If I had my choice between the two, it would not take me long to make up my mind which one I wanted.”
“Of course not. There is as much difference between them as there is between a trotter and a plow-horse; but each one has served the purpose for which it was intended, and served it well, too. I like the canoe better, because she was the first thing in the shape of a boat I ever owned. She has carried me a good many hundred miles, first and last, and although she has often got contrary and spilled me out into the water when I wasn’t expecting it, I have had any amount of fun with her exploring creeks and ponds that I could not otherwise have reached. She is fourteen feet long, weighs fifty pounds fully equipped, and packs in that little chest you see there. I know she isn’t very good-looking, but when it comes to running the rapids she is there, every time. That’s the reason I took her out of the chest. We are going down to Sherwin’s Pond to-morrow after bass; will you join us?”
Tom and his cousins replied that they would be glad to do so, and Joe went on to say:
“You see, the fishing in the pond is better than it is in the lake. The people who come here to spend the summer do not often go down there, because there is no wagon road through the woods, and they are afraid to trust themselves to the rapids. Well, they are frightful to look at, that’s a fact, but—”
“We know that very well,” interrupted Ralph. “We have gone down there a dozen times with our minds fully made up that we would run those rapids, or smash our canoes in trying, and we have as often come back without making the attempt. When we reached the place where the water leaves the lake, and goes foaming and boiling over the rocks in the gorge below, our arms always went back on us.”
“Yes. Our hearts were brave enough for any thing, but our cowardly arms wouldn’t pull the canoes into the rapids.”
“Oh!” said Sheldon. “Well, your cowardly arms were the wisest part of you, for you certainly ought not to try to go through until you know where the channel is. Those rapids have been run hundreds of times, though not always without accident to be sure, and if you will follow close in our wake to-morrow, we’ll take you safely to the bottom.”