Chatterbox, 1906 Part 90

THE SUGAR MAPLE.

The Sugar Maple belongs to the same family of trees as our common maple and sycamore. It grows in Canada and the northern parts of the United States. Most of the maples contain a large amount of juice, which flows freely when the stem of the tree is cut. In the Sugar Maple this juice is very abundant, and so sweet that the Indians and settlers obtain large quant.i.ties of sugar from it.

In the month of March, when the sap begins to ascend in the tree, the sugar-makers build temporary sheds in or near the woods. They first tap the trees by boring a hole, from one to two inches deep, into the stem of each maple. A short tube is inserted into the hole, and the sap of the tree flows through it, and is caught in a pail or trough placed at the foot of the tree. The amount of sap which each tree yields varies considerably, but the average is from two to three gallons each day. It is said that some trees have yielded the enormous amount of twenty gallons in one day, while sometimes, on the other hand, the quant.i.ty is not more than a pint. The trees, which grow in small clumps, and thus obtain more light and air, are more profitable as sugar-producers than those which grow in forests. The maple-sap continues to flow from the tree for about six weeks.

From time to time the Indians, or settlers, collect the contents of the various vessels placed against the trees, and empty the juice into large kettles, which hold from fifteen to twenty gallons each. One man can usually attend to two or three hundred trees in this way, if they are not too far apart. The juice in the kettles is boiled over fires until the sugar begins to form into solid crystals. Sometimes milk, or white of eggs, is added to the juice, in order to separate the impurities, which rise to the surface, and are skimmed off with a ladle. The whole operation is very simple and rough, when compared with the great care which is given to the manufacture of sugar from the sugar-cane; the sugar obtained from the maple, though not so pure, is the same in kind as cane-sugar. The juice from the maple must be boiled within about twenty-four hours after it has flowed from the tree. If kept longer than this it begins to ferment, and quickly spoils. A good maple will yield sufficient sap to make about four pounds of sugar every year.

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 287._)

The colour was coming again into Estelle's white face, and presently there was a flutter of the eyelids. Then she opened her eyes, and gave a bewildered glance at the friends collected round her. She closed them for a moment, as if weary, but only to open them again and smile as she looked up at the anxious faces.

'Come, this is disgraceful,' said the doctor; 'I did not expect to have you on my hands again so soon.'

Estelle smiled; then, recollection returning, she glanced round with terror in her eyes.

'Jack! Oh, where's Jack?'

He came and knelt at her side, and took her hand protectingly in his own strong fingers.

'I'm here, Missy,' he said, in a voice that brought to her a sense of security and peace. 'You are all right now, and quite safe.'

'You see, Jack,' continued the little girl, in a pleading tone, 'I did have something to be afraid of when you were away. You won't be angry if I can't bear you to go away again, will you?'

'What had you to be afraid of?' asked the doctor, his keen eyes watching her changing face.

'I did not know then,' replied Estelle, putting her free hand on her chest; 'but I felt _here_ that there was something I could not understand, and I did not want Jack to go.'

'What sort of a feeling?' asked the doctor again.

'That something would happen. And you see I was right. Something _did_ happen, and it was only Jack who could have saved me from Thomas.'

'Thomas?' repeated the doctor, in the same quiet tone, while Jack and his mother only kept silent and motionless with difficulty. Their excitement was great, for they were on the verge of discovering who their little foundling was, and sadness had at least as large a share of their hearts as joy. Did it not mean that they would lose her sunny presence with them?

'Yes,' Estelle was saying, as she gazed up in surprise at her questioner, 'Thomas, Aunt Betty's under-gardener. He tried to---- '

Like a flash the truth had broken upon her. She remembered!

With eyes wide open, she stared in awe and amazement at the earnest faces around her. Mrs. Wright's eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g over. Julien's were full of sorrow and trouble. For him, it meant losing her altogether.

Jack only held his little girl's hand more closely, giving no other sign.

'So it has come at last, Missy,' he said, softly.

'Oh, Jack!' cried Estelle, her face flushing and paling in alarming alternations, 'I know now! I am Estelle de Bohun, and I live with my great-aunt, Lady c.o.ke, at the Moat House, because my father, Lord Lynwood is abroad. Oh, Jack! Oh, Goody!'

And she burst into tears.

Long did Jack and his mother sit up that night, discussing with their good friend the doctor what it was their duty to do. Julien had gone home, and was keeping his father and mother up later than usual, while he related to them the events of the evening. M. le Prefet, as head of the police in Tout-Pet.i.t, ordered that a search should be begun at once for Lady c.o.ke's late gardener. It was not merely for the sake of punishing him as he deserved, but that some information might be gathered from him which could help to restore the little lady to her family. Julien and his father grew quite excited at the prospect of the search, in which the boy wished earnestly to share. It was all he could do to help the little girl to whom he had grown so strangely attached.

Perhaps, in the bottom of his heart, he hoped he might lay claim to some grat.i.tude for such service as it was in his power to give in the search, and that he might yet see his little friend again in consequence. He had never before desired to go to England; it had always been 'perfidious Albion' to him till he met Estelle, but now his views had changed. He longed to see her in her own home, to feel that when she left France it would not mean final separation. He reflected on the chance of his desires being granted somewhat sadly as he mounted the stairs to go to bed; the prospect seemed too remote.

Jack's visit to the house of Fargis, to make inquiries about Thomas, was the result of the consultation he had had with the doctor. Estelle's memory seemed to have returned, and she had been able to answer all the questions put to her, except those regarding the locality of the Moat House. She had driven into Matherton with Lady c.o.ke only once or twice, and as it had become the custom in the family to call it 'the town,'

Estelle was not sufficiently familiar with the neighbourhood to have remembered the name. Jack knew the coast, however, and believed he could find out all about the families living in that part. Should he go alone first, and return for the child when he had full information? But Estelle's horror of being left without the security of his presence made the doctor forbid that course. Should he appeal to the British Consul at Nantes?

'Why don't you ask Thomas?' put in Estelle, who had just come into the room as they were talking. 'He knows, for he has been all his life at the Moat House. His mother has a cottage on the property.'

'Listen,' said the doctor, at last; 'the child is not strong, as this fainting fit has proved to us. The expense of a long journey is more than we can meet all at once. So wait a little. By the middle of the month, or a little later, these winds will have blown themselves out.

Then you can charter Fargis' smack, and cruise round the coast till you find where this Moat House is. It will be far less costly a way of setting to work than going to England by the regular route, with inns and trains into the bargain when you get there, and no certainty as to where to go.'

If Thomas could not be found, this was certainly the best course to pursue. Nevertheless, Jack did his best to trace the ex-gardener, aided by M. le Prefet and his police. Julien would have been one of the keenest of the searchers, but he was wanted at the Hospice de la Providence. Both Mrs. Wright and Jack thought it was good for Estelle to have a companion in her wanderings on the sea-sh.o.r.e. Their minds were more at rest while Julien was with her, for he was a lad of coolness and resource, and he was alive to the risk of Thomas turning up when least expected.

Julien was only too delighted at the trust placed in him, and meant to fulfil it like a man. Mrs. Wright and Jack--and most of all, Estelle--should see that their confidence in him was not misplaced. He thought long and earnestly over what he should do if Thomas did show himself suddenly on one of their walks. Could he defend Estelle? What was his strength compared to that of the ex-gardener? Still, if he was not caught in a cave, he thought defence was just possible. He decided, however, it was safer not to wander too far from the Hospice de la Providence.

One evening, about a week after the _fete_, Jack announced that he was going out trawling that night. It was no longer possible to put off his work. Mrs. Wright and Estelle looked up at him with eves full of fear; but, remembering the scene that had taken place when last he had gone, neither of them said a word. Estelle drooped her head, and tears would come in spite of her efforts to keep them back. Her heart sank when Jack appeared in his oilskins, and it was with quivering lips and flushed face that she said good-bye. He smiled encouragingly while he gave his mother directions about securing the outer door as soon as he was gone.

'I have made everything fast inside,' he said, 'and I do not think you need have any fears. I shall be back as early as possible. Now, good-bye, and keep together. Go to sleep, Missy, and be down on the beach when the boats come in.'

'I will go with Julien up to the cliff,' said Estelle, holding Jack's hand very tight in her efforts to keep down her terror at his going.

'All the women will be there to watch for the boats, and I will wave my handkerchief for you.'

'No,' replied Jack, decidedly, 'I won't have you go so far from Mother in my absence. It will be better for you both to remain here. Julien will come and keep you company all day; but I don't expect to be away as long as that.'

Mrs. Wright followed him to the outer door, fastened it securely, and returning, locked and barricaded the inner one. She did not fear attack, but she knew it would give Estelle a greater feeling of safety. Though her eyes wandered now and again round the vast kitchen, Estelle bore up bravely. There certainly appeared to be more dark corners than even Mrs.

Wright had ever noticed before. 'But,' murmured the cheery old woman, determined not to be fanciful, 'what did the corners matter, however dark they might be, if they were empty?'

(_Continued on page 298._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: "'Good-bye, and keep together!'"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "She waited in breathless silence, a pistol ready in her hand."]

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 295._)

Jack was gone. Suddenly Mrs. Wright's heart misgave her. The bookcase!

Had Jack thought of that? Her eyes rested upon it for a second, fascinated. She dare not let them linger there for fear Estelle should perceive her doubts. She felt restless, uneasy. She wished she had not reminded Jack about it, and yet she did not now venture to go and see if he had taken any precautions.