Charlie Bell, The Waif of Elm Island Read online

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  CHARLIE SURPRISED.--Page 158.]

  ELM ISLAND STORIES.

  CHARLIE BELL, THE WAIF OF ELM ISLAND.

  BY REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG,

  AUTHOR OF “SPARTACUS TO THE GLADIATORS,” “LION BEN,” “THE BOY FARMERS,” “THE YOUNG SHIP-BUILDERS,” “THE HARD-SCRABBLE,” THE “PLEASANT COVE STORIES,” THE “WHISPERING PINE SERIES,” ETC.

  _ILLUSTRATED._

  BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS

  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by LEE AND SHEPARD

  In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

  COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY ELIJAH KELLOGG.

  All rights reserved.

  CHARLIE BELL.

  INTRODUCTION.

  There is a period in the life of all boys, when, in the homely phraseof Uncle Isaac, “they stand up edgeways.” At this critical period, asstreams are tinged by the soils through which they filter, so theircharacter for life is in a great measure shaped by their playmates, theexamples set before them, and the associations amid which they grow up.

  Lion Ben, the principal character in the first volume of the series,with nothing but his hands, narrow axe, and a true-hearted, lovingwoman,--his equal in enterprise,--goes on to an island, an unbrokenforest in the midst of breakers, that, by reason of the peril of livingon it, can be bought cheap, thus coming within their scanty means,there to struggle for a homestead and acres of their own.

  Though bred a seaman, yet cherishing a love for the soil, withqualities of mind and heart commensurate with his great physical power,he appreciates the beauty of the spot.

  His reluctance to devote it to axe and firebrand excites him to effortsequally daring and original, in order that he may so husband hisresources as to pay for the land without stripping it of its majesticcoronal of timber and forests, any farther than is necessary to renderit available for cultivation.

  In this he is aided by the counsels of an old friend of himselfand his family,--a most original and sagacious man,--Isaac Murch.In their sayings and doings is represented the subsoil of Americancharacter--the home life and modes of thought of those who made theculture and progress; thus endeavoring, in a pleasing manner, to teachthose great truths which lie at the foundation of thrift, progress, andmorality.

  Charlie Bell, the hero of the second volume of the series, is anEnglish orphan, flung at a tender age upon the stormy sea of life, tosink or swim, as it should please Heaven. Friendless, starving on awharf at Halifax, he ships in a vessel with men, who, under the guiseof fishermen, are little better than pirates. Landing at Elm Island,they insult the wife of Lion Ben, who inflicts upon them a meritedchastisement, and adopts the orphan.

  In his boy life, and that of his young associates, their dailyemployments, and those exciting adventures which a new country, rudestate of society, and a ragged reach of sea-coast afford to boys fullof blue veins and vitriol, are seen the germs of qualities that ripeninto characters of the greatest usefulness.

  As the volumes are closely connected, it is hoped this sketch mayrender the second volume readable to those who take it up withouthaving read the first.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I. ROUSING THE LION 9

  II. CHARLIE BELL 17

  III. JOHN GOES TO SEE THE NEW BOY 33

  IV. GRIT AND GRATITUDE 45

  V. CHARLES RETURNS JOHN’S VISIT 58

  VI. CHARLIE IN A SNOW SQUALL 70

  VII. CHARLIE PLANS A SURPRISE FOR SALLY 85

  VIII. CHARLIE’S HOME LIFE AND EMPLOYMENTS 97

  IX. BEN FINDS A PRIZE 111

  X. HOW THEY PASSED THE WINTER EVENINGS 123

  XI. BEN REVEALS HIS LONG-CHERISHED PLAN TO HIS FATHER 139

  XII. THE MYSTERIOUS PIG 151

  XIII. A NOVEL CRAFT 171

  XIV. THE BURN 183

  XV. FITTING AWAY 203

  XVI. A WELL-DESERVED HOLIDAY 215

  XVII. UNCLE ISAAC’S PLEDGE 250

  XVIII. GENEROSITY AND PLUCK 264

  XIX. FRED’S SAND-BIRD PIE 285

  XX. A HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPE 296

  XXI. THE BOYS AND THE WIDOW 315

  CHARLIE BELL OF ELM ISLAND.