Foxcroft Academy - Review Yearbook (Dover Foxcroft, ME)

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x ACADEMY to tie up for a few hours. On one of these occasions jack asked if he might be put ashore and hunt. Captain Boyle was willing that he should go, because he saw that it would be sev- eral hours before they could make any headway against the wind. Being very close to shore, he ordered several sailors to lower a boat and put jack on the mainland. Jack wandered far into the woods, and when he decided to return he found that he did not know in which direction to go. He had heard it said that when lost in the woods, the best way to do was to go in one direction, making sure you were going straight. He tried this and walked until ex- haustedg then he lay down, and sleep was soon upon him. Meanwhile, on the Roxbury,,' all was dismay and excitement, when it began to get dark the captain sent an armed party after jack. In the morn- ing the party returned with the report that Jack could not be found. Parties searched day after day until a week had passed. Then Captain Boyle felt that he could delay no longer, so he headed out to sea again. In truth. he felt that the boy was dead. But contrary to Captain Boyle's be- lief, jack was very much alive. He lived on deer and berries, which he found were very plentiful. Then, on the morning of the seventh day, he came to a river. From his knowledge of geography, he knew that there were mountains b e t w e e n him and the Pacific Ocean, and therefore this river must lead to the Atlantic. REVIEW I 15 Fortunately Jack had a. of stout string with him and he soon con- structed a hookg with these he caught a great number of fish. He studied the sun and the direction in which the river was flowing and soon decided that he had better start off across country for the Strait. It took him four days to reach the Strait, and when finally he did so, he found himself, to his great astonishment, within a few yards of where he had first entered the woods. The Roxbury, of course, had long since gone, but he discovered, above the high-water mark, a large pile of stones, and on pulling it to pieces, found that it covered a perfect magazine of supplies, which was made up of food and ammunition. He also found a letter with the supplies from Captain Boyle. The Captain in this letter told Jack how to live until help came. He also said he would return in two months. He had done this, it seemed, as a last resort to save Jack, should he be alive and find his way back there. jack built a small cabin from drift wood and swale grass. He fished from a sand bar when the tide was out and then went hunting when it was in. Shell fish could be picked up on the sand and there were large birds to be shot. Jack fared quite Well, the only draw- back to his happiness was the thought of his mother and her lack of money. As weeks passed, he became more lonely and wished the boat would come. ri Y :Z 'S rf.: .2 a:L?Aa?x4-F .-.1 1-M

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14 ACADEMY REVIEVV . My THE MYSTERIOUS BOX On a certain May morning back in 1904, there was no happier boy in the city of Boston than seventeen-year- old Jack Hubbardg for at last his very poor mother had consented that jack should work his way to California on the ship Roxbury, under command of Captain Boyle, a friend of Mrs. Hubbard. Fifteen months before VVilliam Hub- bard, -Iack's father, had written from California that he had discovered a very rich mine, but owing to bad health could not work it. He had said in the letter that he was going to write down the location of the mine and then start home for a rest. NVhen he had rested sufliciently, he would take some trustworthy friend and, with the map, go back, find the mine, and make him- self rich. But unfortunately, both for his family and for him, the ship was wrecked and he never returned. Neither was the spot where the boat went down ever determined. E LULJ I . 14-.J 1' ,f J' At California jack hoped to find his father's mine and lay claim to itg but there was little hope of this. because his father had never told anyone, out- side of his family, about the mine, and even they did not know where it was. Mrs, Hubbard was at the wharf to see jack leave on his long quest, and despite jack's best efforts, he was cry- ing like a child when at last the ship weighed anchor and headed out to sea. The Roxbury was laden with a cargo of goods for California and car- ried no passengers. jack's duties were very light, and he became a close friend to both the captain and the crew. He gained such knowledge as would give him the rank of an amateur sailor. The owners of the Roxbury, in order to avoid the rough voyage around Cape Horn, instructed Captain Boyle to go through the Strait of Magellan. The captain believed that this would be a very difficult passageg and it proved to be as he thought. The ship's progress was very slow. and several times she was even obliged

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sud- ,and he as he to see saw that it 'picked it up, and his way. His only it might be a buried that it would mean money at last he came to his hut and sat down to examine the contents of the' box, he 'was very nearly exhausted frdrn his long run. But after all, the contents were such that he was fully repaid for his narrow escape, and even for his long stay away from the people of the outer world. For some time he acted like a mad person, first crying, then laughing, , From that time on he spent the most of his time watching for ships. The only event of importance that took place, from then until Captain Boyle arrived, was a fight tif it might be called suchj he had with thirteen na- tives, who came very suddenly from across the Strait and attacked him. He had only to fire a few shots over their heads from his hut and they made a quick retreat to their boat. Meanwhile back in Boston Mrs. Hubbard grieved the loss of her son. REVIEW ' A ' She had used all her money and would have been forced to go to a home for the poor, had it not been for a sym- pathizing friend who helped her. One night-i wtas the fifteenth of the month-a low rap was heard at the door of the Hubbard homeg and not waiting for an answer, Captain Boyle walked soberly into the room. On recognizing her visitor as an old friend and 'as the captain of the boat on which her son had sailed, the poor woman sprang from her chair with a cry. Can you ever forgive me for letting your poor boy out of my sight? asked Captain Boyle in an apparently sad tone. But even before Mrs. Hubbard had had time to answer, the door opened and in walked Jack. It had been part of the plan that he should wait outside much longer, but it had been impos- sible for him to carry out the plan, knowing his mother tobe Within. In an instant he was in his mother's arms and they were both sobbing. In the hour that followed Jack related his adventures to his mother. and then he asked Captain Boyle for the small tin box which he had found. He opened it and from it drew a piece of paper, having a roughly-sketched map on it. Down at the right-hand corner was the following note: I write this as the ship 'Wallace' sinks. On this piece of paper is the map 'of a gold mine in California. Acting upon the request of a dying man, will the Ender please send this box to Mrs. Hubbard, Boston, Mass. WILLIAM HUBBARD. There is little need to say that there was happiness in the Hubbard home that night. ROBERT D.XN'EE, 27. - ,.,n...,,-.f.,,idg....... -.-...-- f-.4:.- . Y - ' f'hii