[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "CHUTE."]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FIRST JUMP.]
Quickly the boat rattles into the incline. A fraction of a second, and you are rushing along so fast that you almost scream. A second or two more, and you are going at the rate of seventy-four miles an hour. You have lost your breath, but the fresh air that rushes into your lungs gives you a delicious sensation. You feel as if you were flying through the air.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SECOND JUMP.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: "TRYING IT AGAIN."]
Boom! Splash! The boat strikes the water, almost jolting you off your seat, and whirling the spray high into the air. The people on the banks of the little pond whiz by, for the speed is still terrific, and the boat jumps forward in crazy leaps. After two or three of these spasmodic efforts the boat glides to the landing, thanks to the a.s.sistance of the man in the stern. Your breath comes back. You find you weren"t hurt a bit, or even wet. You feel as if you jumped from the top of the barn into the lowest but softest hay-mow. You give an ecstatic gasp, this time of extreme delight, and plead with papa or Uncle Tom to "try it again."
You "try it again," and this time you are not scared a bit, just simply delighted. As you are being paddled over to the sh.o.r.e after the last violent plunge of the ride, you take a look at the boat, and notice that it is very strongly built--of hickory and oak, the boatman says, and costing over a hundred dollars. It has a long slope upward in the prow, less sharp than a yacht"s bow, and thus the danger of getting wet is almost entirely done away with. Each boat has four seats, seating eight people altogether, besides the man who steers.
Perhaps you go down the chute a few times more. If you do, you will have acquired the "chute craze," and then it is only a question of how much money you can have spent for you. Abroad, several of the royal families acquired the "chute craze," and some of them have had amusing times on it. When the present Emperor of Russia, then the Czarovitch, was visiting England in July, 1893, he, the Prince of Wales, and the King of Denmark, went to Captain Boyton"s water-show to "shoot the chute." An eye-witness, who wrote about it to a Chicago paper, said:
"They climbed to the top of the high incline, and the Czarovitch, with a twinkle in his eye, invited the King of Denmark to take the front seat in the boat in which they were to make the swift descent. His Majesty took the place, and his nephew quietly stepped in behind and put his silk hat under the seat. The Indian guide pushed off, and in a moment the boat was flying like mad down the steep incline. The King, who thought the boat would certainly plunge under the waters of the lake when it struck, crouched down and held on like grim death. The Czarovitch stood up and yelled with excited glee. The flat-bottomed boat dashed into the water with a tremendous splash, leaped four or five feet into the air, and a drenching shower of spray covered his Majesty on the front seat. As the boat approached the opposite sh.o.r.e the Czarovitch turned to the Indian who was steering, grinned, and put out his hand; the Indian grinned wickedly, and something slipped into his fingers.
There had been a similar bit of pantomime before the boat started, and as skilful guides can take their boats through the exciting trips without wetting their pa.s.sengers, it is supposed that the young Czarovitch played a little joke on his royal uncle. The Prince of Wales came down in another boat, and they all liked it so much that they all went back and tried it again."
So popular has the pastime been at the chute near New York that over 30,000 persons have frequently "shot the chute" in a day.
OAKLEIGH.[1]
BY ELLEN DOUGLAS DELAND.
CHAPTER XI.
Christmas morning dawned cloudy and very cold, but it had stopped snowing, and after a while the sun came out and turned the country into a radiant, dazzling spectacle.
The Franklins were to have a party during the holidays, and it had been planned for the following Tuesday--New-Year"s eve.
"If we had only arranged to have it earlier we might have escaped that horrid Branson," said Cynthia, regretfully, the day after Christmas.
"Now, of course, he will come with the Morgans, and, worse still, we shall have to be polite to him in our own house."
"I should hope so," said Edith. "You were rude enough to him at the picnic, and I do think good manners are so attractive. I am going to cultivate them as much as possible. No one will ever like you unless you are polite, Cynthia."
"I seem to have plenty of friends," returned her sister, composedly, "and I don"t really care to have Bronson like me. In fact, I would rather prefer that he shouldn"t. I wouldn"t consider it much of a compliment to be liked by a--a--_creature_ like that!"
It would be impossible to convey an idea of the contempt in Cynthia"s voice as she said this.
"And if you are going to have such lovely manners, I should think it would be just as well to begin at home," she added.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I don"t suppose you will like it, but really, Edith, sometimes it does seem as if you just tried to hurt mamma"s feelings. I know I ought not to say this, perhaps, for you think I am only a younger sister, I suppose, and haven"t any right to lecture you; but when I remember how nice you really are, I can"t bear to have you act so. If you only would try to like her, instead of trying not to like her! There, don"t cry, dear; I didn"t mean to hurt your feelings."
And Cynthia threw her arms around her sister and kissed her.
"You have hurt them," said Edith, with a sob, "but I deserve it. I don"t know what has gotten into me since the Gordons came. I _can"t_ like her being here. Oh, Cynthia, you don"t know how I feel sometimes! I wish I didn"t have such bad, wicked thoughts."
"Do you really try to get over it, Edith?"
"No-o, not very hard," she faltered. "I can"t forgive her for coming and taking my place, and--and--I don"t want to forgive her. There, I know you will think I am bad and horrible and everything else, but I can"t help it."
And, rising abruptly, she left the room.
"Poor old Edith!" sighed Cynthia, compa.s.sionately. "She will come round some time; she can"t help it."
On New-Year"s eve was to be the Franklins" party.
"Edith, we must have it very original and unique, something quite different from anything we have ever had in our lives," said Cynthia, a few days before.
"How can we? There"s nothing new."
"Yes, there is, right in my head. I have an idea."
"What in the world is it?"
"Well, I"ll tell you," and she proceeded to unfold it.
It proved to be a good one, and with Mrs. Franklin"s help it was carried into effect. The suggestion was to have a "character" party, but to enact the parts without dressing especially for them. A list was made of persons well known in history or fiction, and from this list Mrs.
Franklin chose those she considered the best, and wrote against each name that of some girl or boy in Brenton. This she did without telling her daughters how she had apportioned the parts, that they might be as ignorant as their guests about one another"s characters.
"It is a truly Bostonese party," said Mrs. Franklin, laughing, when they talked it over. "There is an intellectual flavor to it that you wouldn"t find far away from "the Hub," but it is a capital idea, nevertheless, Cynthia."
When the list was duly made Mrs. Franklin drove about Brenton to the various girls and boys who were expected, and invited them for Tuesday evening, explaining to them at the same time what they were to do.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GIRLS CAME TRIPPING DOWN IN THEIR DAINTY EVENING DRESSES.]
It was an old-fashioned tea-party, and the guests began to arrive at six o"clock. There were twenty in all, and they came hurrying in out of the cold, and up-stairs to remove their heavy wraps, the girls tripping down again in their dainty evening dresses, while the boys stood about the doorways in rather an aimless fashion, wondering what they were expected to do at such a very peculiar tea-party as this seemed to be.
It added to the mystery that each was given a card with his or her name prettily printed upon it, and a little pencil attached.
"I never heard of anything like it, don"t you know," drawled Bronson.
"I"ll be hanged if I know what to talk about."
After supper, which was very jolly and effectually broke the ice, Mr.
Franklin made a little speech.
"You are all supposed to be somebody, and no one but my wife knows which is which," he said. "The object is for each one to guess as many characters as possible from their conversation, and when you have made up your mind who some one is, you will write the name on your card, with the name of the person you are guessing about. When your card is filled with twenty-four names, which means that you have given a guess about every one here, you will hand it in. Then the prizes will be bestowed."
"Prizes!" was murmured by the girls; "how lovely!" while the boys looked relieved as the matter became clearer.