TALES OF THE WILDERNESS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1097, 8 April 1911, Page 6

TALES OF THE WILDERNESS.

/CHRISTOPHER OF THE FORD.

BY WILL LAWSON, (All Eights Reserved.) , Tho river sang and swirled along tho ; - loose shingle that was its bed; on either J side, stretched between the water and the" , gi'Uss . paddocks, was more shingle, dry 1 and .'gleaming whito in the bright snn- i light, and in the middle of the ford there J .was a bank of shinglo that split the Tiver , into two streams. For many years this ford* had existed, though it had never been - a very safe one, biit whilo . men and i horses and coaches and wagons may j flounder through rivers, and maybe ~ drown in the crossing, the locomotive } must have a -safe and level road. The I railway was-coming; it-would cross the J river at the ford, and so there must be a ■ bridge. For months great wagons had 1 been, hauling the timber and iron for the 1 strong piles and trusses, and men had ' been driving piles in tile heart of the l'iver-bed. When tho heavy timber first j . thwarted the river's career it rose in fury and tore at. .the piles' foundations, but they were sunk beyond tho river's reach, ! ■ : anil pier after pier was set up across its . wide bed, till the bridge began to take shape. , .. In tho summer afternoon the men were | - working at their gigantic task, and across j the' shingle of tho dry portion of the ] river-bed another worker tramped to and < fro, helping them. This was the ferry horso } Christopher of the Ford, an immense- ; ly powerful draught horse, standing , over eighteen hands high.' He was har- •, liessed to a light two-ivhceled vehicle of • . somewhat strango pattern. The wheels ( were very_large, and the,high springs sup- 2 ported the platform from which the shafts' . - ''Projected, 'and on which was erected the ] driver's sent. . This cart was .the "ferry". , w ; bich could cross tho river wheji other j vehicles of lower build would have been 1 swept away and capsized. s The great wooden beams for the bridge j were lashed at one end by a chain to tho , axle of the cart, and great Christopher : dragged them through the shallow waters , of the ford and across the river-bed to ( the j)lace where the workmen desired them 1 to be. The'.river was low and the-water ■> not very cold, so. Christopher found the . task a pleasant.'one, for there was no < hurry; no whip ever touched his glossy, j , chestnut hide—between him and his driver existed such- a perfect understand- . 'Dg. ' . :,. 'Once a day the coach, with its four staunch horses, came to . the , ford. The changed from the coach' to I the ferry,' s6me sitting on the seat by . the driver, the rest standing on the floor ■ , that was merely a platform, and holding oil to the back of the seat. Then, while .the coach, with its weight of mails and luggage, iurched and splashed across, . Christopher hauled his living load from ■ bank to bank.- In addition to these r'egu- i lar trips, there were numerous occasional < ' travellers oh foot or on'bicycles, who de- j .- sired to be' ferried across. Big Christo- j pher. carried them all. Summer and autumn .passed; winter came, and the bridge .- was still..■unfinished, 'The water of'the • Tiver was'cold, bitterly'cold.' It was'like ' . .knives, in Christopher's ' legs when .he • , tramped through with' the ferry. But-long 1 .usage had accustomed him to it, awl' i ■beyond-a snort of protest each :time he ' entered'the river, he made 'no"sign;•= , . On a day towards'tho'end'.o'f,'the'.win- ' ter, when there-had been-a spell of warm, i , : rainy weather, the water began to rise .'beyond'.the..le'yel it;us«ally,reached'wheii i . there was- a fresh, in-the rivejr., The- ! . coach : had;a rough-passago ov§r tho.fpr'd, ■ and-'the " water-was well over " the ; axle i ,of the ferry, 'when Christopher . took the, i passengers across. / Ho . heard the ! warning " note in .the' river's voice. " as' it - swirled round ■'• the bridgopiles and stirred the loose' shingle. It : was n, good night for Christopher to be- j 'in his stable, so the river told him. And ■ . it certainly was comfortable to bo shut ' the weather, to be rubbed down i and fed by his friend who drovo him, and ' . to hear the rain pattering on the iron i , roof. ' . 1 1 After putting his horse away the driver 1 went to his own adjoining lamp-lighted ; mom, where a fire was burning. Theirs , was the only habitation on that side of - ■ the,ford. Through the wall Christopher '' could hear him getting his evening meal, ' ■ and'afterwards the creak of tho bunk : told that the mail was going to bed.. ! Christopher, lying down in his Toomy - stall; slept too, but only fitfully, for 1 rheumatic pains ill his strong legs pre- : vented'him sleeping much. Years' of ice--Icold river water were beginning to chill ] ■ his blood and mako him older than his , ■years. Some time in the middle of' the night ' tho telephone in tho driver's room rang shrilly. The man awoke and was wide , awake on the instant and lie. heard the • thudding of! Christopher's hoofs on the : earth floor of his stablo sis the big horse . rose ,to his feet. .-.As he 1 took the receiver. ' the driver's eyes were on a level with j a printed paper' pinned to the wall qf 1 tho room. In this notice were contained the rules and charges of the ferry, and • the last sentence- read: "And tho ferry- ■ man shall at. all times he considered to be the'best judge as'to the condition of ' the ford and his decision shall be final." , 'Through, the transmitted'the man'was saying: "No, the river can't be crossed to-night: A moon?. Yes, but the clouds hide her and the river's running full." There was a long pause, during which tho voice at the other end, ten miles away, said something, that made the ferryman's eyes soften a little w-hile he 'chewed his moustache. At. last he said: "Well, come on and we'll try." _ TJien he went to .Christopher's " stall, carrying a lantern. The rain'had stopped, anil the night was not quite dark by reason of the cloud-hidden moon. A keen wind blew pff the nearby ranges. Christopher swung round to the stable-door | when ho heard his driver's footsteps to show that be was ready. Swinging open , the'door the man entered the stable, and Christopher nickered'softly and rubbed i his muzzle on the sleeve of the arm that was reached up to put his bridle 011. They were very old friends, these two. . In something less than an hour's time • . along the straight'white road came tho, sound of a-pair of fast-trotting horses. ■ Soon the lights of a buggy shone, coming swiftly nearer. AVith two bright acety- . lene lamps burning, the ferry moved out of the stable yard into the roadway. The panting .buggy, horses were stopped alongside'big Christopher. A man's voice'said to the ferryman: , "Good-man." "Who is going over?" the ferryman asked. "These," tho driver answered; then to the passenger, "Can you .climb . up, ma'am? I'll hand you up the child." ( "A woman and child!" the ferryman ''exclaimed in protest. "Yes, yes," she said, breathlessly, as she reached his side; "don't say we can't go" Tho driver of Christopher shook .his head. ' ' ' "I'm saying nothing. We'll' leave that to the Tiver. But you krfow tho risk you're running?" "Nothing matters," the woman said, "except to get across." 1 Then Christopher, as though ho had been listening, drew the ferry away to.wards the ford. Tho driver of the buggy walked alongside. They could hear 'the rumble of tho river swirling tho. loose shingle along. The river had a lot to £ay, and to Christopher, who knew all the voices of the wild places it said it was good for a ferry-horso to be in his .stable that night. Yet' because of the perfect understanding between him and tho friend who i drove • him, tho splendid horse stepped bravely ; into the rushing water, ice-cold as it i was. The acetylene lamps threw a vivid light which made the river, rippled and ringed, look like moving shingle, all greytoned with black shadows. ''Any use me coming?" the other driver asked. "Yes, climb up behind, we want all the weight we can get to steady her, and ■ Chris can pull lis all." . .. Up: to "his. girths plunged Christopher of the Ford. In the powerful sweep of .the stream he felt all the'monace of tho wilds. Alone he would have turned in ; terror from the crossing. But there was that electric message in, tho river,'and ' he reached at last tho comparative shallows of tho shingle-island in'the'centre of the ford. Here-he paused and'snortcd. Above them • loomed the sha'doW.v outline of tile unfinished and useless bridge. "Sho's not so bad—-' the other ' man i ' began, but-the-.ferryman 'silenced : hfni ; with a nudge of his \

Christopher half-turned his wise, old head towards his .driver, and the man was fully aware how close a call it was going to bo, for lie knew how Christo'pher was listening to the voices in the river." ' Then the horse wont forward again, belly deep, girth deep—the water rose to the level of the shafts, and Japped 011 tho lower side of the floor. Through the spokes and among the springs ' and axle the river burst and roared its anger at finding nothing largo to .seisw'on, till the vehicle was thrilling as though it danced on its wheels. The woman's eyes were fixed 011 the other bank of the river; she would not look at the water; only her lips moved. Christopher went 'slowly forward. .Suddenly the near wheel rose; a hpgo boulder/was ill its path and the ferryman's hands on tho reins sent a swift ' message that made Christopher plunge forward. The wheel rose higher, then sank swiftly into the hole that the water had scoured alongside tho stone. For a brief instant tho river leaped over the ferryfloor.' But the next moment it was on tho level-again, saved by the big horse's sheer strength. And tho river seethed_ and revelled around them. By slow inches they fought a way across;'but tho worst came, when the landing-place wa9 near. The wheels sank aiul sank till tho water bubbled across the floor and tha ferry was dancing half-afloat. They were drifting down-stream, but big Christopher never lost. his footing. As the ferry swung round, there came an urgent message' through- tho Teins. He put forth every ounce of his strength,, and, lunging and plunging, managed to reach the shallows in an almost exhausted condition. Up the roadway from the river the men led him—up to the place where another buggy waited. Tho woman with her child was taken and put into it, but not before she had flung an arm about old Christopher's neck and kissed his wet, untidy mane. Then the buggy whirled her away into the night, and to tho sorrow or joy that might be hers at the end of the long drive. Christopher, in a strange stable, munched tho oats that he had earned. There would be no return to his own quarters that night. To-day there is a railway, across the river at. tho old ford, arid twice in the twenty-four hours a mighty express engine leaps out of the distance, sweeps down .to the bridge, and, .blowing one. short bark of, warning, flies with a whirl of swift wheels and rods across the .span of river-bed where once the two-wheeled ferry plied. The bridge creaks as the string of passenger-cars race after the" locomotive with clamour of wheels that dies away so quickly in the distance.' But, as they pass the .riverpaddock by the bridge, sometimes tho passengers see' a huge horse feeding there, and maybe remark on his gigantic build. That is old Christopher—Christopher of the Ford,