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diff --git a/old/68998-0.txt b/old/68998-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ebc3acd..0000000 --- a/old/68998-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2312 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cape Coddities, by Roger Livingston -Scaife - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Cape Coddities - -Author: Roger Livingston Scaife - -Illustrator: Harold Cue - -Release Date: September 16, 2022 [eBook #68998] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Steve Mattern and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPE CODDITIES *** - - - - - - -CAPE-CODDITIES - -[Illustration] - - - - - CAPE - CODDITIES - - _By_ - DENNIS and MARION - CHATHAM - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ - HAROLD CUE - - [Illustration] - - BOSTON AND NEW YORK - HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY - 1920 - - COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - -[Illustration] - -_FOREWORD_ - - -These essays—thumbnail sketches of Cape Cod—should not be taken as a -serious attempt to describe the Cape or to delineate its people. They -merely express a perennial enthusiasm for this summer holiday land, -to-day the playground of thousands of Americans, three hundred years ago -the first “land of the free and home of the brave.” - -Acknowledgments are here given to the _Atlantic Monthly_ for permission -to include “A By-Product of Conservation” and “Scallops,” to _The -Outlook_ for the same courtesy for “A Blue Streak,” and to _The House -Beautiful_ for “A Casual Dwelling-Place.” - - THE AUTHORS. - -_January, 1920._ - - - - -[Illustration] - -_CONTENTS_ - - - I. _A Message from the Past_ 1 - - II. _The Casual Dwelling-Place_ 10 - - III. _The Ubiquitous Clam_ 27 - - IV. _A By-Product of Conservation_ 38 - - V. _Motor Tyrannicus_ 51 - - VI. _“Change and Rest”—Summer Bargaining_ 69 - - VII. _A Blue Streak_ 87 - - VIII. _A Fresh-Water Cape_ 97 - - IX. _Al Fresco_ 112 - - X. _Models_ 122 - - XI. “_A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea_” 132 - - XII. _My Cape Farm_ 140 - - XIII. _Scallops_ 154 - - _Aftermath_ 166 - - - - -[Illustration] - -_CAPE-CODDITIES_ - - - - -I - -A MESSAGE FROM THE PAST - - -Is it not strange that people who dwell in the same city block from -October to May, enjoying with mutual satisfaction the life which touches -them equally, should from May to October show such varying opinions that -argument is futile? These people who have wintered so happily together -may be placed in three classes—those who claim for the State of Maine the -exclusive right to the title of “God’s Own Country,” those who think of -the North Shore and Paradise as synonymous, and those other fortunates -whose regard for Cape Cod places it second only to heaven itself. - -Therefore, it is interesting to read the following passages and to find -these same divergent views of the Cape in earliest times. - -Captain John Smith in his account of New England in 1614, in a passing -reference to Cape Cod, says it “is a headland of high hills of sand -overgrown with shrubbie pines, hurts and such trash, but an excellent -harbor for all weathers. This cape is made by the maine sea on one -side and a great bay on the other, in the form of a sickle. On it doth -inhabit the people of Pawmet and in the Bottome of the Bay, the people of -Chawum.” Scant praise. - -Bartholomew Gosnold, writing to Raleigh in 1602, through the medium of -his associate, John Brereton, said, “We stood a while like men ravished -at the beautie and delicacie of this sweet soil”; and later, “truly the -holsomnese and temperature of this climat doth not only argue this people -(Indian) to be answerable to this description, but also of a perfect -constitution of body, active, strong, healthful and very wittie.” - -Here spoke the original summer visitor and the founder of that colony -which dots the coast from Marion to Manomet. - -If Gosnold could see the Cape on the present day, he would doubtless -show profound disappointment, unless he had chanced to invest in shore -property, for the forests teeming with game have disappeared, and no -trace of the wit he describes can be detected among the few Indians who -still cling to the shores of Mashpee Pond. But the broad waters, the -sloping sands, and above all the soft climate which Mr. Brereton tells -us did so much for the aborigine, and which now transforms our children -into veritable little red men, remain. - -Despite the depredations which the Cape has suffered at the hands of -both natives and summer residents, its flavor has been maintained, and -the very fact that it is largely inhabited serves well in these days of -friendly intercourse and indulgent habits; for we all of us must live -happily in summer, and to do so means comfort, food, and drink. And so we -find each town, however diminutive, possesses its Butcher and Baker and -Candlestick-Maker. - -The latter, to be sure, is employed by the local electric light plant, -and often his trade includes a knowledge of simple plumbing. The Baker -more often is both Postmaster and Grocer, while the Butcher may be -found to be the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. But all are true to -the type, and that wit which Gosnold so happily mentions may often be -detected among these simple people, some of whom are sea captains whose -taciturnity has been transformed into a shrewd cynicism coupled not -infrequently with a delightful optimism. Rarely will a native Cape-Codder -get the worst of a repartee and still more rarely will you find him the -first to terminate a conversation. He is as tenacious in conversational -competition as he is lax in business aggression. In fact, he would far -rather stand on the corner and describe to you, in detail, the amount of -work that has been shouldered upon him by So and So and So and So’s wife, -than to make the slightest attempt to accomplish any of the sundry duties -imposed. And yet he knows, and so do you, if you are at all versed in -Cape ways, that he will receive ample financial return for his slightest -service. - -There is no such word as hurry in the bright lexicon of Cape Cod, but -I confess it with some trepidation, for my many Cape friends will take -violent exception to my statement, true as it is. And yet I do not blame -them. I believe it is thoroughly accounted for by the climate; for when I -first visit the Cape in the spring or early summer, I always experience -a languor which makes the slightest effort seem a task of large -proportions. In short, I am lazy and prefer to see some one else do it. -This feeling generally passes away with the sheer joy of vacation days, -days of freedom and fresh air; but I realize that the climate breeds a -lack of ambition, to which I doubtless would succumb were I to live on -without interruption amid the Cape-Codders. - -And therefore I prefer to think of the Cape as a playground for the -initiate, a wonderland for children, and a haven of rest for the tired of -all ages, a land where lines and wrinkles quickly disappear under the -soothing softness of the tempered climate. - -Joseph Lincoln has told us of the people; Thoreau has written of the -place; but no one will really know the Cape unless he becomes a part of -it. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -II - -THE CASUAL DWELLING-PLACE - - -Is there a reader who has not at one time or another gloated over the -terrors, the thrills, and the mysteries which, in fiction, invariably -lie hidden in an unoccupied house? When one stops to think of it nearly -all the literature of roguery, as so clearly set forth in former days by -Wilkie Collins, Gaboriau, down to Conan Doyle and Mary Roberts Rinehart, -possesses as its most important stage-setting an untenanted mansion. It -may be one of those familiar villas generally located somewhere near -Hampstead Heath, a house set apart from its neighbors and surrounded -by a hedge; a house with every appearance of having been closed for -several years and now showing the first signs of decay; or it may be one -of those somber brownstone houses situated in one of the many New York -residential streets, where every house so closely resembles its fellows -as to court mischief to all who may return late at night; or again, it -may be one of those palatial country houses set among lawns and gardens -which are invariably described with broad, magnificent porticoes toward -which spotless limousines are continually approaching at top speed for no -apparent reason. Such a setting is perhaps the commonest, and the time is -always just before the family arrive for the season or just after they -have left for other equally expensive quarters. Now and then the novelist -will modestly cast the fate of his story in the seclusion of a deserted -cottage by the sea or a lonely hut among the hills, but rarely does this -occur nowadays. The mystery story is as dependent upon luxury of setting -as is the modern bachelor upon his creature comforts. And, therefore, -if the devotee of fiction chose to apply himself to this theme, he -would find that nearly all novelists, great and small, from Dickens -to Oppenheim, from Hawthorne to Anna Katharine Green, have utilized -the empty house to bring about the climactic point in the weaving of -some gruesome tale. So clear are these fictional features that, by the -association of ideas, one’s fears and apprehensions are invariably -aroused whenever the occasion arises when an unoccupied house or even an -untenanted apartment must be entered. - -With that unmistakable odor of mustiness comes afresh this uncomfortable -sense of trepidation (hardly fear, perhaps), and with it a conviction -that rats and mice are hidden spectators, and that the darkness and gloom -could well hide crime as well as the thieves themselves. This entire -mental state is largely caused by the aforesaid novelists, who I doubt -not would have the same hesitancy in opening the door of a darkened -chamber or in groping down the cellar stairs of a house long left to -disintegration. - -In short, reading has trained us all to regard empty houses with -suspicion, an absurd state of mind which should be quickly dispelled, for -in the case of nine out of every ten, yes, or ninety-nine out of every -hundred houses, there is no cause whatever for suspicion. - -There is a sunny little house on the shores of Buzzard’s Bay which -remains unoccupied except for ten weeks in the summer. Its shutters are -closed and fastened long before the oaks have turned to their gorgeous -fall colorings or the marigolds and phlox have lost the freshness of -their bloom. - -The soft, salty breeze, rippling the waters, the dancing rays of the -September sun through the swaying pines, give a joyous setting to this -cottage by the water, courting as it were an occupant. The hardiest of -that overworked class of readers who rely upon mystery stories would -find it difficult to conjure up a tragedy for such a spot. The native -Cape-Codders, knowing the owners, always glance over toward the cottage -as they pass by in the hope of finding a blind open or a light through -the trees, to show that some of “ther fam’ly be down for Sunday.” For -this is one of the important services which this particular cottage -renders to its owners. As the scion of the family (aged ten) once sagely -remarked, “We use the cottage more when it’s closed than when it’s open.” -And to each and every member of this house its welcome is always the -same. The family reach the house after dark on a Saturday night. The lock -readily responds to familiar fingers, the door creaks a friendly welcome -as the family grope their way through the hall in good-humored rivalry -to see which shall be the first to secure the box of matches always kept -on the right-hand corner of the mantelpiece in the living-room for this -emergency. Then, as the lamps are lighted, the old familiar objects -appear precisely as they had been left, perhaps six months before, with -a coating of dust, to be sure, but nothing which a few moments and a -dustcloth could not remove; for dust in this region is little known. -True, the chairs, or at least such of them as possess cushions, are -shrouded in covers. The sofa is a bulging conglomeration of cushions, -gathered from all hammocks and piazza furniture; but a few deft passes -by the fairy godmother of this establishment, and presto, the cushions -are distributed and the sofa offers a cozy retreat for the entire party. -Otherwise the living-room is livable. A fire ready laid is only waiting -for a match and a turn of the hand to open the flue. Such is a cottage by -the sea if it has been planned and built as it should be, not alone for -summer use, but also for spring and autumn holidays. - -The little cottage in question is a very ancient affair. A long line -of sturdy Cape-Codders dwelt in it, uncomfortably, for generations. It -was not until a few years ago that it was entirely renovated, enlarged, -and equipped for summer use. Much care and thought were given to its -convenience, and it stands to-day as a model for perennial use as a -casual habitation. But it has certain drawbacks; as, for instance, -plaster. Such a cottage, to secure the maximum comfort with the minimum -of expense, should be unplastered, and without a cellar so that the -circulation of air will keep the house free from dampness. There should -be a kerosene cooking-stove in the kitchen so that the cooking can be -done without jeopardizing the water coil or boiler. Furthermore, unless -one’s family and friends are experts in the culinary art, the usual stove -fire is built regardless of the cost of coal or kindlings, and the -fire itself is apt to take a good deal of time in the making, several -trials often being necessary before the coals kindle into a respectable -glow. The problem of water is perhaps the most troublesome. No house, of -course, can be left with the water on during the winter season. These -Cape cottages are no exception to the rule, and every pipe is carefully -drained and the faucets greased to prevent rust. - -To go to the trouble of turning on the water system for an occasional -Sunday or holiday was manifestly out of the question, and so the owner of -this particular cottage solved the difficulty in true backwoods fashion. -A small stone tank, placed in the closet behind the stove, holding not -over five gallons of water, was always religiously filled. This served as -lubricant for a hand pump at the kitchen sink. One of the first duties in -starting in housekeeping was to heat a pail of this water, thaw out the -pump, and thus secure the supply which adequately filled the family needs -for the day or two of camp life to be enjoyed. - -You will ask what of bedding and blankets? They are there at hand. As -a matter of fact, the less one puts away the better for each and every -article. All blankets hung upon ropes stretched across the attic are dry -and ready for use. Upon such occasions as the one noted, the family do -without sheets and sleep fully as soundly. The blazing of the fire logs -and the warmth of the living-room have given to all a drowsy feeling -which defies wakefulness when once the head touches the pillow. - -If any one should contemplate making use of his summer house in this -fashion, there are certain suggestions which it would be well to follow; -points which any yachtsman or camper would never overlook. - -First of all, there should be a place for everything and everything -should be in place. You can never tell when you will return. Perhaps you -may be delayed and not arrive until after dark, chilled and hungry from -a long motor ride. At such times a fire ready laid, with a good store of -dried wood, is essential to happiness and comfort. - -There should always be a list of provisions left at the house so that -you may avoid duplication in purchasing supplies. Besides food, there -should also be such necessaries as soap, matches, and candles. These -should always be left in the boxes to prevent the mice and squirrels -from robbing one. A good scheme is to build a zinc-lined cupboard in the -pantry in which to keep such perishables. - -Kerosene is dangerous to leave about, and it is well to bring this with -you for the cook-stove; furthermore, it is hard to remember whether -enough has been left at the house for twenty-four hours’ use. - -Care should always be taken to leave the small water tank filled unless -you plan to secure your supply from a friend or neighbor. - -Your pots and pans, cutlery, dishes, and glasses should always be washed -and put away in order before leaving, ready for instant use. - -A little system will make all the difference in the world in the comfort -and enjoyment of such an outing, and will save labor, so that your actual -work will be done in much less time and the daylight hours can be given -over to the outdoor life which endears the place to each and every -member of your family. - -Whether it be a canoe, a knockabout, a gun, or a fishing-line, the -life outside the cottage will be a reflection of that within and -your enjoyment will come from the facility with which you manage the -essentials of simple living. And so after you have enjoyed your day in -the open, you will return to the cottage and discover that the simple -comforts which it offers, while perhaps lacking the luxury of your daily -routine at home, will be enjoyed with a relish far beyond that existence -in a brick block, amid a mass of bric-à-brac and surrounded by servants. -In its place you will devour an unusual amount of food which tastes the -better because you have cooked it, and later you will fall asleep with -the wind singing in the trees, and the waves lapping the shores. The -occasional barking of a dog will arouse no apprehension, and the dread of -haunted houses, of mysterious deeds accomplished behind closed shutters, -will have vanished until you are safe home again with a “thriller” to -pass away the time before it is seasonable to retire. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -III - -THE UBIQUITOUS CLAM - - “They scattered up & down ... by yᵉ waterside, wher they could - find ground nuts and clams.” (William Bradford, _History of - Plymouth Plantation_, II, 130.) - - -Surprising as it may seem, the clam, at least under his own name, -does not appear in the Encyclopædia Britannica. And yet the clam is -proverbial, metaphorical, and substantial, so substantial, in fact, -that individuals of uncertain digestion have been rendered distinctly -unhappy after a hearty encounter. But what is more surprising to the -average person, and especially to the novice in clamming, is where all -the clams come from for the unending clam-bakes, clam-chowders, and the -various concoctions necessitating a generous supply of these silent -shellfish. A journey to the beach at low tide (for all clammers know from -the reference to that animal’s joyous spirit at high water that clamming -is useless at that period) generally fails to accomplish more than a -very lame back, muddy feet, and a paltry dozen or more specimens of the -clam family, generally of immature age. The profusion of empty shells -scattered about encourage the clammer into the belief that here, at -least, is a favorable locality for his first efforts, and he grasps his -fork and bends low, thrusting the implement into the black ooze with keen -anticipation that the mud will disclose a whole family of clams, ready -at hand for capture; but, instead, he is rewarded by finding a number -of white shells, seemingly clams, but in reality merely their shells -held closely together by mud and sand, the skeletons of former bivalves -whose souls have fled to other worlds and whose bodies have long since -disappeared the way of all flesh. And so he seeks another spot, and the -same process is repeated. Each time he is conscious of an increasing -stiffening of the back, recalling former twinges of lumbago, and after -an hour or so the tide forces him to retreat, and he returns dejectedly -to partake of a thin clam-broth, upon the top of which, as a consolation -prize, his wife has tactfully placed a little whipped cream. - -And yet the clam is ubiquitous, once you know him, and the clammer, -himself, has been immortalized by Mr. William J. Hopkins in several -delightful stories with which certain readers are familiar. The -enthusiast soon learns their favorite haunts and on favorable tides he -gathers these bivalves by the pailful. For chowders and for bait alike he -digs, constructs a wire cage in which to keep his precious clams from -day to day, and week to week, and thus they become, as it were, almost a -part of his summer _entourage_. - -The clam is a numerous family (_Mya arenaria_, were one to become -scientific). The ordinary mud clam which inhabits the tidewater harbors -of our coasts; the quahog, whose young, termed “little necks,” are -served, uncooked, as appetizers; and the sea clam, are very familiar in -appearance and habits; but all varieties are secured in different ways -and in varying localities, and therein lies an added charm to the pastime -of clam-digging. - -There is a certain portion of the coast line in a very attractive -section of Cape Cod, which shall be nameless, where all varieties of -these mollusks abound, and it is difficult at times to decide which -variety to pursue. The ordinary mud clam is generally sought on the -especially low tides so kindly afforded by the moon at stated intervals. -It is then that the tide line resembles miniature trenches—first-line -defenses, if you will—so many and so persistent are the pursuers, -who look for all the world as if they were digging themselves in in -anticipation of a machine-gun attack. - -The quahog is more secure, for he lives in No Man’s Land, beyond the -trenches and just under the surface of the mud. If one is walking up a -salty, muddy creek—and surprising as the fact may seem, one often does -follow this watery by-path—the foot will continue to disclose these big -fellows. In the course of an hour of this method of locomotion, a full -pail of quahogs may be secured without further discomfort than a pair -of wet legs and two very muddy feet. The fishermen, however, regard -such efforts as time lost. They manipulate two long-handled rakes bound -together at the bottom, and with this implement a sort of hand-dredging -process is performed which apparently yields better results. But it is -only the native fisherman, with his knowledge of tides and currents, of -sandy or muddy bottoms, of channels and shoals, who can successfully -locate the choice spots where these quahogs lie hidden beneath water, -seaweed, and mud. - -The sea clam is as immaculately clean as his harbor cousin is muddy. -He is likewise found just beneath the surface of the water, buried in -firm white sand over which the white-crested breakers foam on the beach. -These clams are not greatly valued as food. They are gamy and tough in -comparison to their brethren and a sharp contrast in appearance, with -their delicate, smooth shell of an exquisite _café au lait_ color, and it -is for this reason, perhaps, that only the most enthusiastic of clammers -or fishermen after bait know of their whereabouts. - -Along the beaches where thousands of Americans may be seen in -impressionistic attire, disporting themselves by bobbing up and down -in the waves, one could easily secure a pailful of these fascinating -creatures by wading out and groping in the sands. No more exhilarating -pleasure can be secured from surf bathing than in this pastime, which -calls for agility in dodging the breakers as they roll in. While you are -in the act of dislodging a fine fat specimen, your pail grasped in one -hand, the other embedded in the sand seeking your prey, your body is -swept first in, then out, by the waves. In order to regain your balance -you lose your hold, just escape being toppled over by the next wave -rushing toward its finish on the sands, and miss the clam; and so the -process begins all over again. - -The “little necks” have their own places of abode close to the surface of -the mud in sequestered inlets. Now and again the plebeian clammer will -come across a stray family of little fellows while in quest of the common -variety, but as a pastime digging for “little necks” has but little zest. - -And now, after realizing the fascination of clamming, why be surprised -if, when you run down to the Cape for a week-end, your host grips you -with a hand, cold and moist from submersion—a “clammy hand”; and why be -surprised if on the following day, instead of the routine of golf and -tennis, you are initiated into this simple sport? The surprise would come -to the writer of this slight dissertation if he should find you callous -to the delight of clamming or disrespectful of the occupation of the -clammer. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -IV - -A BY-PRODUCT OF CONSERVATION - - -The torrent of conservation surged over our community in war-time with -a mighty roar, carrying with it all thought of flowers and lawns, and -making chaos of our cherished plans for a summer garden. With a velocity -which only social enterprise could initiate, New England became a market -garden from Eastport to Greenwich. Conservation developed back yards -and vacant lots into gardens, and bank clerks into farmers, enthusiastic -at the prospect, and innocent of the coming torments which weeds and -pests would soon bring with them. And so, for this same reason, our -flower garden on the Cape simmered down to a few nasturtiums and whatever -blossoms of a perennial nature cared to show themselves, while our spring -borders, usually a riot of color, were given over to vegetables. - -What, then, should we have in our vases to reflect the profusion of the -outdoor season? For a room without flowers in summer is as devoid of -character and charm as a man without a necktie. The solution, naturally, -was soon found by many in the wild flowers, and if conservation has -accomplished nothing else, its gift to us of an appreciation of the -beauty and variety of these exquisite plants will more than repay our -efforts to grow potatoes, beans, and corn at exorbitant prices with -doubtful success. - -The last days of school for the children and certain affairs at the -office, together with fixed habits which tyrannize over the household, -kept us from leaving for the Cape until late in June, so that we missed -the mayflowers which have made Cape Cod famous for generations. The iris -and violets, too, had disappeared, as well as the dogwood with its -delicate and generous pink-and-white petals. A few short hours after our -arrival, my little daughter discovered near by some exquisite specimens -of the wild lupine growing just as I had last seen it upon the slopes -of Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco, although perhaps not in the same -profusion. - -From that first day until well into September, our living-room was made -joyous by a succession of flowers as delicate and graceful as ever came -from the highly cultivated gardens of the idle rich—a term which will -soon vanish and justly so. - -The wild roses were late and never more plentiful or more perfect. The -daisies, arranged amid clusters of shiny bayberry and huckleberry leaves, -were transformed into stately decorations. The broom, as it is often -called, which abounds in certain sections of the Cape, planted there -in past years without doubt, gave one a sense of having been ferried -across the sea overnight, while our own columbine and wild geranium made -a pleasing variety, especially when arranged with the soft green of the -wild sarsaparilla. - -With the coming of July, the _Hudsonia_, or beach heather, clothed our -foreground with brilliant yellow spots, touches of the sun here and -there, while the low wild shrubs and grasses seemed to grow overnight -in their desire to hide our view of the water. After a week of rain -in which we were confined to the flowers about the house—succulent -clover, Queen Anne’s lace, and a wide variety of tall grasses, which, -mingled with pine branches, form admirable wall decoration—our desire -for botanical information led us to scour the near-by country, not with -guide-book, motor-maps, or even a copy of “How to Know the Wild Flowers,” -but to journey simply forth, either on foot or tucked tightly into -our Ford car. To come unexpectedly upon one of the many ponds dotted -with lilies and fringed with a variety of flowering shrubs caused as -delightful a sensation as the same sight a few years ago would have -aroused, only then it would have stimulated a very different desire—the -thought of a possible bass, lazily drifting below the surface, to be -tempted, perhaps, by a fly, would have been uppermost. But this summer -our sport lay in securing wild flowers, a harmless and charming pastime -in which for the first time all the members of the family found equal -enjoyment, and even our near neighbors, confirmed golfers, admitted the -fascination of our newly acquired sport. To return laden with lilies, -wild clematis, marsh mallows, delicately pink upon their tall, stately -stems, cat-tails, red lilies, the fragrant clethra, and a variety of -other flowers whose names are to be discovered in the winter over a -“complete botanical guide,” savored of a veritable triumph. - -Our growing interest in this wild garden was amply rewarded, for now in -August the flowers were at their height and it became doubly interesting. -Whether the discovery of new varieties or the satisfaction of gathering -and arranging the commonest weeds brought the greater pleasure, it is -hard to judge. The recollection of a tall, graceful copper vase filled -with the despised chicory and bouncing Bet, the blue of the one and the -delicate, pinkish purple of the other blending charmingly and supported -in contrast by a few sprays of sumac leaves, lingers as one of the -floral discoveries of the summer. A mass of fireweed, interspersed with -slender sprays of salt grass in full bloom, is another. - -And yet to the sportsman or the embryonic scientist, individuals of very -similar characteristics, an excursion into the back country through the -woods, a good, long, honest tramp in pursuit of new floral game, and the -finding, now a clump of cardinal-flowers and again the deadly nightshade -(for the sportsman and scientist alike are fearless), is keen pleasure. - -At times we would return with little booty to show for our trouble, a -gathering of St. John’s-wort, perhaps, or a few stalks of mallow or -one-eyed daisies, but never empty-handed and always with the exhilaration -of the thought that here was a garden without limit, without weeds, and -without the cares and expenses to which we were accustomed. - -In arrangement, it must be confessed that discussion often arose. Certain -members of the family, who shall be nameless, preferred a few blooms -alone in each vase, while others clamored loudly for garnishings of salt -grasses and other green decorations. Upon such flowers as butterfly-weed -and tansy, such discussions nearly ended in riots, and only a tactful -distribution of these blooms to those who had gathered them with full -authority as to arrangement secured peace. - -The goldenrod made its appearance earlier than usual, the handsome, -sturdy variety which grows close to the tidewater being especially fine. -With it came the purple and white wild asters, which are in reality so -much more beautiful than the cultivated kind, and the sea lavender vying -with baby’s-breath in its delicacy. - -In this September a pleasant surprise came in the discovery of a flower -which we called—and possibly incorrectly so—the wild primrose, growing -close to the coast among the pines and scrub oaks; and blooming at this -same time was the beach pea, a long, climbing vine of a pinkish-violet -color, luxuriating amid the desolation of the sand-dunes. - -Close upon the heels of these blossoms, which both seemed to belong to -the springtime, the turning of the leaves, the crispness of the air, -the short evenings, and the aforesaid three governing reasons, school, -office, and domestic domination, decided us with more reluctance than -ever to close the cottage. It was not until our luggage was packed and -ready that our final gatherings of the season’s wild flowers were removed -and the vases put away against the coming of next spring. - -It still remains to be seen whether conservation will ultimately lead to -a saving in the cost of food (for Americans are more given to preaching -than to practice) but it has served us well in our appreciation of -certain of the good things in life. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -V - -MOTOR TYRANNICUS - - -In the dim days of a decade ago—a generation might well have passed, -for time is measured by the march of events rather than the procession -of years—I remember yearning for the possession of an automobile. It -mattered not what make, or shape or size or year. I was oblivious to the -merits of six cylinders as opposed to four. I laughed at the enthusiast -who reckoned upon the length of wheel-base as deciding his comfort or -the question of demountable rims as governing his decision as to which -make to select. All I coveted was something on wheels (preferably four) -of my own which might go or even might not go, for so rampant was the -possessive desire in my heart that the chief thing in the world seemed -to me at that time to be able to say “My motor” in an utterly casual, -matter-of-fact tone, and back it up by nodding my head in the direction -of the barn, which after the fashion of marriages had suddenly changed -its name overnight by the possession of a master, and so became my -“garage.” - -This ridiculous state of mind is easy to account for. In winter we lived -in the suburbs where it seemed to both my wife and to me that every -friend we had owned a car. In summer we sojourned upon Cape Cod, where -the motor had replaced the runabout so completely that our old horse -looked like a prehistoric relic of the Stone Age. Added to this was the -ignominy of knowing that the Butcher and Baker both possessed machines -and had that mythological person the Candlestick-maker abided in our -town, doubtless he also would have honk-honked his way by our door. - -In short, the thing got so badly on our nerves that finally, with full -knowledge of the financial iniquity involved, I purchased one of those -hopelessly plebeian affairs which travel under so many opprobrious -pseudonyms—a Ford. From that day to this I have owned some sort of a car -and have thought myself a wise and a fortunate man, and subconsciously I -have felt myself rather more of a person because of this possession, for -such is the frailty of human nature. - -To-day, however, marks a turning-point, a milestone, a crisis in my -career. Personally I consider this day one of triumph—I have sold my car. -I have no independent means of transportation other than my own good -legs—or, at least, they were so until I neglected them—and I rejoice in -my motorless state. I feel a sense of exhilaration in my freedom from -Fords, from the bondage of Buicks, from captivity in my Chandler Sedan. -Such exhilaration is doubtless hard to understand because precisely the -same conditions now exist which originally drove me into buying that -first “Universal Car,” only in a more exaggerated degree. My children -(and now there are more of them) are always clamoring for rides, even for -the short distance of a few blocks which separates our house from school. -My wife (and I must confess there is now more of her too) still plies her -trade of exchanging visits and buzzing about town all day long, never -thinking of walking, and for myself, I have become mutely accustomed -to the rôle of family chauffeur when not attempting that increasing -impossibility, the attempt to make both ends meet. - -And yet, is it after all so hard to understand this relief? In the first -place, the car, no matter what variety, either goes or it does not go. -If by chance it goes, you must go with it. If it does not go, you must -make it go or get some one who knows more about it than you do, and who -costs more than you do, to mend it. That means that you go upstairs into -your own room and change into old clothes reserved for this purpose, go -down again and out to the garage, where you stand in contemplative mood -for some moments before crawling under the machine. When you are safely -landed in a dripping pool of oil, your children and your neighbor’s -children come trooping in from play and ask you why you are there and -what you are doing. This in itself is disconcerting, for you generally -don’t know. Having successfully found that out you slowly emerge from -your cramped quarters, which compare only with an upper berth, return to -your room, resume the garb of a successful business man, and take the car -to a garage and there wait until some one makes it _sound_ all right. -This individual vies with the tax collector in separating you from all -excess cash. - -This does not happen every day, I admit, but there is a sensation in the -back of the mind of nearly every motorist which is more or less constant. -You know that you worry when the car does not go. There is no ground for -speculation upon this point. You worry about what the matter is, and when -you find you can’t mend it, and take it to a garage to be repaired, you -worry as to whether you have taken it to the right garage, or the right -man in the garage. You fuss over the cost and you continually wonder -whether the repairs have been properly done or whether the blamed thing -won’t break out in the same place the next time you take the car out. And -during this whole period you feel in the bottom of your heart that you -could have mended it just as well yourself. - -Then there are the worries when it _does_ go. You wonder when the tires -are going to give out, whether they are too flat or too inflated, -whether you put in gas before you started, and how the water is. You are -continually guessing whether you have too much or too little oil, and you -generally guess wrong. - -These, however, are all mere trifles, the superficial maunderings of a -sensitive organism. Your major worries may be classified under three -headings: - -First: the worry of changing cars. Every year the question comes up for -family discussion, competing valiantly with the problem of when we are -to move to the Cape. Shall we turn in the old car and get a new one? If -so, what kind?—and then follows a month of violent discussion in which -my wife and the children take one side and I the other. By instinct I am -a modest man and by habit cautious. I do not like changes, especially -sudden changes, and so my inclination is either to stick to the old -car for another year or buy a new one like it. My family—why I cannot -say—seem to be oppositely inclined. My wife avers that So-and-So has had -great luck with a ⸺. Billy, my eldest, backs her up with several lengthy -anecdotes told him by So-and-So’s son, proving the excellence of that -make above all others. I am sufficiently shaken in my opinion to consult -with the garage-man from whom I bought my car, only to be shown a car of -the variety mentioned in deplorable condition awaiting the mechanic’s -skill. Poor engine, inadequate something or other,—I can’t remember the -name,—and so it goes. My office is thronged with automobile salesmen so -that work is impossible, while the evenings are passed in futile argument -until the final verdict is given, resulting generally in a compromise—a -new car is purchased of a trifle better type at a considerable advance -in price and the old car sacrificed for a song. Those days of budding -greenness for which we have longed through all the cold, useless days of -winter are utterly ruined by this fearful problem. - -The second worry comes with breakfast daily. Who is to use the car during -the day? The day being balmy, I had thought of going to town in it, -especially as I wanted to make a call on the way home. My wife, it seems, -had planned to go to the dressmaker. I should have guessed it. Billy, -who has just arrived at the legal age which foolishly permits youth to -endanger the lives and liberty of American citizens, had planned to take -a number of his cronies to St. Mark’s School to see a ball game. Billy, -as can be readily imagined, wins out. - -This daily observance takes the entire breakfast period and often leads -to slight feeling. I say slight because I rarely ever secure the car -myself unless it needs repairing. - -The last worry may perhaps be more likened to fear. “What next?” I -generally remark—for this third division concerns our friends. In -that happy decade, now but a dream, we used to live in a delightful -community, surrounded by friends who dropped in and then dropped out -again, both happy incidents in our daily life. But now, who has time to -see his neighbors when every one is frantically motoring to some distant -acquaintance miles away? What can you do when some friend at the end of -nowhere invites you to dinner because she knows you have a motor? You go -because your wife explains that this sort of thing is what a motor is for. - -Is this not a matter for worry?—to work in an office until five; to -journey home with the knowledge that in exactly thirty minutes you start -out, in a car which needs oiling and when one of the tires should have -more air, for a distant suburb, where you are to meet a number of people -you do not know and never care to see again. That this sort of thing is -going to increase just as long as you have a pesky car is more than a -cause for worry. It is a calamity. - -In a trice all this vanished, for I sold my car. I remember hearing the -story of a Southerner whose property was taken from him during the Civil -War and who later was robbed of all the money on his person. He confessed -to a feeling of intense joy and relief, for with his loss of property -went his feeling of responsibility, and care-free he entered the army and -fought a gallant fight. - -And so upon that day I walked with elastic tread, head up, chest out, -delighting in the discovery of freedom. I care not that my friends -all possess cars. I’ve had one—several in fact—and I can afford to buy -others, but I am not going to. That is, not yet (and here I remember -my family, somewhat dubiously). I plan to renew the pleasures of daily -rambles over the beautiful hills of my own town. I plan to renew old -friendships with my neighbors near by. I look forward to an occasional -Sunday at home. In short, I picture the joy of being without a motor. - -As a matter of fact, however, this vision was short-lived. In the first -place, the ramble over the old familiar hills made me so beastly lame -that my Sunday at home was a painful one, and the day was punctuated -by the complaints of each and every member of the family over the loss -of the car. I ventured out, still painfully, to call upon one or two of -my old neighbors, just for a run in and out again, but they, it seemed, -were out in their motors, and so I returned dejectedly to the sad-faced -group in my own living-room, where we managed to exist until bedtime, -conversing upon our prospective move to the Cape, and what it meant to -the various members of the family to be—as my daughter puts it—a million -miles away from every one with no means of ever leaving the house. And -so it was the Cape and its appeal which broke my defenses, for I must -confess our seasonal trips there were a delightful part of our existence, -to say nothing of the joys of our summer life. - -The next day I took an early train to town, and I came home that evening -somewhat sheepish, but reasonably happy, for I came in a new car, which -bids fair to be the best one yet; it is certainly the most expensive. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -VI - -“CHANGE AND REST”—SUMMER BARGAINING - - -Although on the surface Cape Cod seems to offer a haven of refuge to that -much overworked appendage to the modern man, the pocket-book, there are -dotted here and there upon the highways and byways many comparatively -innocent pitfalls. - -To a close student of these danger spots, they may be grouped under the -heading “Tea-Rooms, Arts and Crafts Stores, and Antique Shops.” - -I know of no greater relief than to escape from town and come to the -Cape. Once there, the daily routine of office, the absence of any -assigned duty, the leisure hours passed in or on the water or idly -knocking about the golf links, tend to merge one day into another, so -that time flashes past at an alarming rate. But every now and again comes -a day when some member of the family suggests that we take the motor and -extend our vision. It is upon such occasions that we test the financial -astuteness of the aborigines. - -One never visits the Cape without discovering how effectively the climate -stimulates the appetite. What wonder, therefore, that every village and -hamlet possesses a Tea-Room of varying attraction? - -The stop is made and the Tea-Room visited, only to find that the family, -in addition to ordering the tea, with its accompaniment of toast and -cake, or, for the younger members, a bottle of ginger ale or an ice-cream -cone, are bent upon securing a souvenir. The Tea-Room is generally -furnished with an assortment of articles intended for just such gullibles -as ourselves. There are, for instance, baskets of assorted sizes and -colors, for flowers, or fruit, or sewing, or pine cones; in fact for -everything that should be thrown away, but isn’t. We have several such -baskets at home, but that does not prevent some member of the family -from buying another. It will do for a Christmas present. Then there -are varieties of other things made far away and designed to lure the -cheerful motorist, such as charmingly decorated match-cases for elderly -people, noisily painted tin pails for the children, dainty knockers, and -all manner of knick-knacks for the women of the party. The invariable -assortment of what, to a man, seems the essence of uselessness, and yet, -I confess it, attractive to an insidious extent. - -The pocket-book is touched, not severely, to be sure, but there is a -perceptible shrinkage as we file out to continue on our harmless junket. - -For a few miles we bowl along over a delightfully smooth road and give -ourselves over entirely to the view. Now a long stretch of pine woods -gives just a glimpse of the water glistening through the trees; here and -there a little farmhouse, snugly tucked among a clump of lilacs close -to the road, with visions of larger establishments in the distance, -out toward the sea, the homes of summer residents boldly exposed to -the refreshing southwest wind; then a long stretch of marsh and dune -brilliant in the sun. Suddenly we come upon a more thickly populated -district where many of the old houses have been purchased and renovated -to fit the needs of city people, who, with the assistance of some modern -architect, oftentimes make enticing homes of these structures by the -simple addition of porches and piazzas, with bright touches of paint here -and there on blinds and doors, and the whole garnished well with bright -flowers, climbing roses, and cozy hedges. - -It is generally near such a settlement that we come upon the Arts and -Crafts in all their glory. - -Compared to the Tea-Room, the Art-Shop is a veritable mine of treasure. -From a variety of toys which would do credit to Schwartz to a complete -set of hand-painted furniture such as one might expect to find in the -window of the largest furniture store in Boston during the months of May -and June, seems a far cry for a small shop occupying a converted bungalow -in a modest Cape town; but this sort of thing exists, and between these -items there is an almost endless list of what for a better term may be -called “specialties,” and even I, who scorn the newness of furnishings -as they are displayed in town, fall a victim first to an exceptionally -soft-toned rag rug, oval in shape and comfortable to the tread, and also -to a set of doilies made of a light, colorful variety of oilcloth with -dainty pattern that my wife says will save washing; and lastly to a pair -of bayberry candles, olive green and a full eighteen inches high, which -it seems to me will give an admirable touch to our living-room mantel. - -The shrinkage in the pocket-book is easily discernible; in fact I am led -to say briskly that I think we had better be getting along home, and so -we put our new treasures into the car and proceed homewards by a new -route more inland. - -It is always interesting to try the lesser known roads even if they are -a bit rougher. They are little traveled and for this reason pleasanter -in midsummer; one rarely loses the way, for signs are plentiful, and so -we wind about the higher stretches which form the backbone of the Cape, -along sandy roads which at times diminish to mere cart-paths, but at all -times are passable. - -Emerging from this forest district on one such excursion, we came quite -suddenly upon the forking of two roads where a clump of neat-looking -farmhouses, a schoolhouse, and a diminutive church indicated a real town. -Here my eye was arrested by the magic sign “Antiques” stuck into the lawn -in front of one of the houses. - -While I do not admit the slightest lure in the sign of a Tea-Room except -when hard-pressed by hunger, and but scant attraction in the Art-Shop, -there is something about the word “antique” that whets my appetite -for exploration, and especially so when found in a quiet little hamlet -off the beaten path and probably not familiar to the many hundreds of -tourists whose smoothly running motors of ample proportions bespeak -well-filled pocket-books. Consequently I grasped the emergency brake and -came to a sudden stop in spite of a feeble protest from my daughter and a -heavy sigh from my wife on the back seat. - -Where antiques are concerned, I take the lead, or, to be more accurate, -I stand alone, and so proceeded to the back door of the house; for those -who know Cape-Codders well enough realize the inconvenience and delay -which a knock at the front door provokes. - -Seeing a middle-aged woman bending over the stove in the kitchen, I -called a merry “Good-afternoon” by way of salutation. - -“Good-afternoon,” she replied as an echo might have thrown back my words. - -“I saw your sign ‘antiques’ and thought perhaps I might have a look at -them,” I continued, nothing daunted. - -“Mister Eldridge ain’t to home, but if you want to go out to the barn you -can see what he’s got,” she replied, without even turning her head to see -what sort of a second-story man I might be. - -Here was luck, however, for I could look over the stock in trade of this -ambitious couple to my heart’s content, and I made haste to the barn, -which I found converted into one of the most amazing junk-shops it has -ever been my pleasure to explore. - -Crowded together without rhyme or reason, and with no thought of display, -were the goods and chattels of generations of Cape-Codders; tables, -chairs, beds, sofas, ice-chests, a parlor organ, curtain rods, bits of -carpet, crockery in all stages of dilapidation. On one of the tables a -variety of hardware was strewn about, on one of the stiff-backed chairs -reposed three old brass lanterns. A Rogers group on a kitchen table -was flanked by a White Mountain ice-cream freezer on one side and a -fine old fire bucket on the other. A four-poster, of apple-wood, with -fluted posts terminating in pineapple tops, the wood in an excellent -state of preservation, was the repository of a half-dozen pictures, -three face-down, while one of the others disclosed itself as a really -good copy of the engraving of Washington and his family. But to the -casual observer, there seemed scarcely a piece of furniture or, in fact, -anything which was sufficiently in repair to survive the journey to my -house; furthermore, the rank and file of articles were of recent date and -had no charm for the collector. - -However, the very hopelessness of the quest whetted my appetite, and to -the utter disgust of my family, I spent a good half-hour rummaging about, -not only in the main part of the barn, but also in the stalls, and even -in the hayloft, for the whole building was bulging with what seemed the -cast-off furnishings of the entire Cape. - -The result of my examination was a really fine ship’s lantern which I -found in the loft; a pair of old pewter pepper pots, reclining in an old -soap dish, and a couple of straight-back rush-seated chairs, a trifle -rickety, but with the seats in excellent condition with the original rush -plaiting, which is unmistakable. - -For fear of mislaying my selection, I had brought them outside the barn, -and at that moment a lanky, middle-aged farmer drove up in a buggy and -slowly got out. - -“Is this Mr. Eldridge?” I asked. - -“Thet’s me,” he replied. “Been havin’ a look over the department store? -I ain’t got in my elevators, an’ the outing department [here he looked -at my golfing tweeds] ain’t much to brag about, but I’ve got ’most -everything in thar except the town hearse an’ I’m savin’ that for my -mother-in-law.” - -By George! I thought, here’s one of the real old-timers, nothing taciturn -about him, and I pointed to the modest selection I had made and asked -him what the price was. - -“Well, as to price,” he replied, taking off his hat and meditatively -scratching his head, “that’s the worst of the business. I never just know -what my things are worth. Them chairs came from old widow Crocker’s, over -by Forestdale. She’d never sell ’em till she died, an’ then she couldn’t -help herself an’ her son-in-law cleaned the place out, an’ I got quite -a lot of stuff an’ paid him for the lot. What d’you say to a couple o’ -dollars apiece?” - -I said, “Yes,” as soberly as I could. I would have given much more. - -“As to that lantern, it’s a good ’un and the glass is all right. I shall -have to get at least four dollars.” - -“All right,” said I, cheerfully, for I had seen a smaller one in Chatham -go for eight just a few days before. “And how about the pepper pots?” - -“Oh, you kin have ’em for—let’s see—’bout seventy-five apiece.” And I -agreed. - -“What do you do with all this stuff?” I asked, as he helped me to dispose -of my treasures in an already well-filled car. - -“Oh, mostly I sell to the Portugees that come here farmin’ and -cranberryin’. Now an’ then I get some old stuff same as you jest picked -up, but generally it’s the newer kind they like the best. I jest set -that there sign up ’cause I see every durn fellow ’long the road what -has a toothpick or a shavin’ mug to sell puts up a sign, an’ so, says I, -guess I’ll stick up one too.” - -And that is the way I became acquainted with Silas Eldridge, dealer -in antiques, who has sold me many a real treasure, but I keep his -whereabouts as secret as possible, for of all the fascinating places for -picking up astonishing bargains on Cape Cod, his old dilapidated barn -offers the most surprises. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -VII - -A BLUE STREAK - - -Slang is both the curse and the delight of the English language, and that -form of slang which our British friends term “Americanisms,” and which we -have now largely adopted as our national mode of communication, is not -confined to the youth of to-day by any means. In the home, in business, -and of course in sport, slang has found its way and has spread like the -weeds in the garden of the over-enthusiastic commuter. I remember hearing -a clergyman of national reputation and advancing years say a short time -ago, after a satisfying excursion of some sort, that he had “had more fun -than a goat,” and I defied him to elucidate that time-worn phrase to my -satisfaction. - -The derivations and origins of American idioms and colloquial expressions -are vastly interesting, not only in showing the resourcefulness of our -people in cutting wordy corners and in the development of a certain -form of humor which I do not defend, but in shedding real light upon -the whys and wherefores of our universe down to its smallest detail. A -temperamental curiosity has led me from time to time to look up certain -of the commoner expressions, and I am indebted to this eccentric hobby -for several pleasurable experiences. - -Many years ago—so many in fact that the memory is distasteful—I went to a -horse-race where the winner passed our stand at a pace which my companion -described as “going like a blue streak,” a familiar term with which I -ignorantly agreed at the time. I suppose that since then I have heard it -repeated many hundred times, but it was not until last summer when my son -applied it to a motor-boat passing out of the harbor, that I thought of -inquiring into its origin, and discovered, much to my surprise, that it -applied to the illusive and disconcerting movements of the ordinary sea -crab, often called the “blue claw.” - -The discovery piqued my curiosity and I determined forthwith to -investigate the locomotory accomplishments of these retiring animals. -This was not as easy a task as I had expected. The crab is not socially -inclined, and the term “crabbed” is soon apparent. He is only to be found -at low tide, and generally near the mouth of a salty creek where the -bottom is muddy and sparsely covered with seaweed and eelgrass. There in -the late summer and fall he can be seen from canoe or rowboat, if one is -patient and watchful, and the expression to “go like a blue streak” fits -him like a glove. - -Having provided myself with a net of the butterfly variety, I determined -to secure a specimen, and began my search among the creeks, so numerous -along the shores of Cape Cod. Although we came upon quite a number, it -took the entire morning to capture four. - -When unmolested, these creatures crawl slowly and deliberately about -their business, sluggish in manner and shabbily dark in appearance, -grubbing about on the bottom, now in, now out of the seaweed, but the -instant that danger is threatened, they undergo a transformation. The -claws, from sprawling about on the mud at every angle, are drawn in, and -like a flash—or, far better, “like a blue streak”—the particular crab -that you have selected for capture darts away at an angle that leaves -you helpless with wonder at the suddenness of his departure and at the -blueness of his appearance. - -As soon as you have spotted your prey the excitement begins. Armed with -the net, you crawl quietly to the bow of the boat and in whispers direct -the rower, now this way, now that, following the route taken by the -capricious crab. Sometimes the water is deep enough to permit the use -of the oars, at others it is necessary to pole the boat in and out among -the rocks covered by seaweed, your journey always attended by silence and -stealth as if the slightest noise would precipitate in flight this wily -crustacean. - -At last when you are within striking distance, the net is plunged in -among the grass and brought up, alas! empty, and the hunt continues as -before. - -When, after repeated trials, your patience is rewarded and a fine big -fellow is caught, the greatest care must be taken to prevent him from -crawling out of the net and escaping before he is landed in the boat, -for his activities are ceaseless. - -Indeed, even after he is flung deftly into the pail, his savage struggles -may succeed in freeing him from captivity. And so it is only with -infinite caution and patience—qualifications necessary in every game—that -you are able to land your prize, and it is only then that you will find -the explanation of the color quality of his passing. As the crab is taken -from the water, its mud-colored shell appears a dark ultramarine blue, -the claws of a lighter shade, the under part shading to white tinged with -pink; its entire surface seems metallic in the intensity of its coloring -as it leaves the water. From a slow, lazy animal of peaceful habits, the -crab has become a veritable monster, savage and fiercely aggressive, and -woe to the unfortunate within reach of his claws. - -His capture is a real experience and a distinctly sporting event. So -interesting and mysterious is the search, so active and adventurous -the pursuit, and so exciting and satisfying the actual catch, that one -is tempted to place crabbing among the big events of a summer at the -seashore. - -I know a college professor who annually devotes the better part of his -vacation to this pastime, and several of my athletic friends, whose -prowess on the football field was a matter of international comment -in the papers, confess to the delights of a crab hunt; but it is a -surprising fact, nevertheless, that the majority of those who visit the -seacoast each year have never even heard of the extraordinary fascination -of hunting the originator of the “blue streak.” - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -VIII - -A FRESH-WATER CAPE - - -To the majority of people Cape Cod spells sea breezes, a tang of salt in -the air, scrub oaks, tall pines, stretches of sand, and a large appetite. -To the few who know the Cape from more intimate acquaintance there is -added to this picture a swelling country densely wooded in sections and -spotted with ponds. It is a source of never-ending wonder how these -ponds exist in a country where the soil is so porous that a few minutes -after a shower there is no trace of the rain. In almost every instance -they are fed from springs beneath the surface, and the solution has been -offered and quite generally believed that much of this fresh water flows -in subterranean channels having their source far distant in the White -Mountains. - -So plentiful is the supply that wells and pipes, driven a few feet into -the soil at almost any spot, furnish clear, pure water in ample supply -for household needs. A more remarkable fact is that at low tide in many -of the harbors and inlets fresh water can be found between the high and -low stretches, oozing through the salty surface of sand and mud. And so -the Cape, for all its salt qualities, has fresh water in profusion and -ponds without number. In Plymouth County alone there are 365 ponds, many -of them of substantial size, while the lower Cape is almost equally well -provided. - -A generation ago, many of the residents of Plymouth passed their summers -on the largest of these—Long Pond. Having the salt breezes most of the -year they wisely sought a change to inland waters. - -Last year I met a gentleman fishing in Wakeby Pond—made famous by -Cleveland and Joe Jefferson—who told me he came on from Chicago every -year to pass a month bass fishing. He was probably ten miles from the -coast, and might have been a hundred for all the good it did him; but on -the other hand, why not a pond on the Cape as well as a Rangeley Lake -in Maine? The life is much the same—the air refreshing and the scenery -delightful. - -These larger ponds are fully as large as many of the Maine lakes. Long -Pond at Plymouth is said to be ten miles long, and I have seen the water -at Great Herring Pond as rough as one would care to have it when canoeing. - -To be sure the fishing is not perhaps so very exciting—few trout, except -in the occasional streams which have been stocked, but land-locked -salmon, perch, and pickerel to be had with a little patience, and a -shrimp or so. The real pleasure which these ponds offer is the surprise -and delight of coming upon them as one does frequently and quickly while -motoring through the less-frequented roads. From Plymouth down the Cape -through Sandwich nearly every road and by-path leads to some picturesque -little sheet of water often closely wooded to its shores and without a -sign of habitation. - -From Wareham or Cotuit, from Pocasset or Falmouth, from Hyannis or -Chatham—in short, from nearly every one of the many Cape towns, a ride -of fifteen or twenty minutes will take one to a pond which might as well -be fifty miles from any center of human activity. One rarely meets other -adventurers upon such trips, and the silence and peace which reign form -excellent foils to the summer life so near at hand. - -Those who are wise in Cape ways possess small canoes mounted upon two -wheels, which are fastened on behind their cars, so that, when touring -the ponds, they are not limited in their fishing to the shore or to the -chance of finding a boat. - -There are a number of gentlemen who have built small camps upon certain -of these secluded spots for casual excursions and for spring and fall -use. They are wise. By leaving Boston at noon they can always be in camp -by sundown ready to enjoy a full Sunday, while the mighty fisherman who -depends entirely upon the Maine lakes or the more remote places must plan -a week’s vacation, with the chance of better sport, to be sure, but no -better life, for the life of a sportsman in the open is much the same. -The great outdoors is universal in its appeal to the sane-minded and -healthy-bodied. - -I have experienced as much heat and poorer fishing in Nova Scotia during -July as I have on our ponds of the Cape, and in addition I have noticed -more mosquitoes and midges to the cubic inch in Canada than on these same -ponds; but of that perhaps the less said the better. - -I have in mind a little excursion which illustrates these extremes of -Cape life, and it is but one of many. In early July, when the children, -freed from school restraint, were on the rampage, and our cottage was -bearing the brunt of an onslaught of youthful visitors, each of our -neighbors having one or two boys and girls as guests for their children, -life seemed to me an unending series of activities coupled with ceaseless -slang. In fact, I was “fed up” with it all, so that when my classmate -and old friend R⸺ telephoned to say that he was going up to the pond for -a day or so, I clung to the receiver in my joy to escape. - -The preparations for such a trip are simple—a blanket, a change of -clothing, a toothbrush, no razor, food enough to fill a small basket, -and—yes, I suppose it must be confessed—a bottle. - -My fishing tackle is always ready. The bait, however, is more difficult -to secure. With net and pail I hastened to the creek which enters the -harbor near our cottage, and, it being fortunately low tide, I was able, -in the twenty minutes left before R⸺’s arrival, to secure a fair supply -of shrimp. That was all there was to it. We were off well within an hour -from the time of his message, and well within another hour we had arrived -at his little shack perched high above the shore of one of the loveliest -ponds on the Cape, and were settled for the night. - -The camp was well stocked with wood and simply furnished with camp beds, -the ordinary cooking-utensils, and such comforts as may be gathered about -a broad hearth and a roaring fire. - -Outside, the wind had died down and not a ripple disturbed the mirrored -surface of the water, which reflected the delicate outline of cedar, -pine, and oak, a lacy filament which shielded the setting sun from the -already silvered reflection of the half-moon. - -“A perfect time of a perfect day, in a well-nigh perfect spot,” I said, -by way of expressing the joy of my escape. - -“Such a burst of eloquence demands a toast,” remarked my friend. - -So we forthwith resorted to the aforesaid bottle, and then turned to and -prepared supper—the inevitable scrambled eggs, deviled ham, bread and -marmalade, and coffee. - -“To think of that howling mob at home only twenty minutes away,” I mused, -puffing contentedly at my pipe and reveling in the silence. - -“To think of what a motor will do!” replied my friend, who was not -unaware of my opinion of cars. - -I muttered something incoherently, and squirmed a bit at the thought of -some of my notions. - -The next morning we were up with the sun, and after a hasty bite, put our -canoe into the water and set about our main task. - -We were both fairly familiar with the haunts of the wily bass. In summer -they lie close to the bottom, the laziest of fellows, sucking in the -bait, if they notice it at all, in a dreamy fashion, but, once hooked, -they show their mettle, and so, when I finally felt a slight strain on my -line, I held back until I was sure of my fish. Yes, I had him, and a good -big one at that. - -There is little or no casting in midsummer, so that I had brought a -stouter trolling-rod, and it was just as well. I played that fellow for -ten minutes, and when R⸺ finally netted him for me, we sat and looked at -each other speechless. - -“By gad, he’s a five-pounder!” said my friend excitedly. - -“Hum—about four and three quarters,” I replied in a matter-of-fact tone -to cover my excitement. - -We caught twelve that morning, several weighing two pounds or -more,—splendid fishing, the best we had ever had on the pond. - -When we reached the camp and weighed my prize, he tipped the scales at -five and three ounces—a record fish. - -Late in the afternoon the clouds began to gather and the wind turned -northeast, so we decided to run for cover. - -I was at home in time for dinner, and found the spell broken. It was I -who did the talking, an amazing amount of it, while the youngsters sat -open-mouthed when my bass was brought onto the table in a platter all -to himself, garnished by our cook, who, so says my wife, is proud of my -ability as a provider. - -What more versatile land of summer, then, can one imagine than the -seashore with an almost permanent breeze, with a chain of inland ponds -remote and wild in character almost at one’s back door, motorively -speaking? - -If variety is truly the spice of life, what better seasoned offering has -any locality to show than Cape Cod? - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -IX - -AL FRESCO - - -Before you pass judgment upon any man or woman of your acquaintance, ask -him or her to a picnic. Then if you are not ready to form a decision, -they will probably have made up their minds about you. A picnic, so -the Dictionary has it, is an entertainment in a grove, an ominous and -hazardous place at best for a good time, and one to be avoided except -by sentimental couples, and therefore the Dictionary may be considered -narrow-minded in naming the locality. Furthermore, its advice is rarely -followed in these days, and the picnics which I prefer, and they are -countless, are held upon the seashore and, for the most part, in the sea -itself. - -There is a white, sandy beach of a mile or more, banked by great -sand-dunes and bordering a section of Buzzard’s Bay which is -comparatively unknown, where there are no houses, not even bath-houses, -and where the delighted squeal of the noisy girl or the guffaw of the -blatant youth is rarely heard. It is here that we frequently gather with -a few good friends upon pleasant warm days, for an impromptu meal _al -fresco_, preceded by a joyous bath in water as clear as crystal, warm and -yet with a spiciness that clears the head from all drowsiness and whets -the appetite to a keen edge. - -There are problems to every picnic. The conventions of life grip hard, -and yet it is curious and sometimes amusing to see how thin the veneer -really is when the primitive necessities of a picnic are faced. - -The sand-dunes are conveniently rolling, every now and then dipping into -bowl-like formations, and in these sequestered or semi-sequestered nooks -we don our bathing-suits and sally forth to the sea. One of our friends, -a man somewhat particular as to his appearance and the soul of modesty, -was directed to the appointed place, but his love for the view led him up -the slope, so that, innocently turning our gaze shoreward, the feminine -portion of our gathering was considerably disconcerted to see the apostle -of Beau Brummel in nature’s garb innocently viewing the horizon and -giving little heed to his natty bathing-suit, a black and orange affair -with immaculate white belt which lay at his feet. - -The women, too, those who but a few moments before would have tried -in every way to conceal a hole in their stockings, were glad to borrow -bathing-dresses of any reasonable style if by chance they had forgotten -to pack their own, and stockings seemed of no importance. - -To line up twenty or more on the beach and rush for a plunge, to breast -the billows or to grope amid the sands for sea clams, to race along -the beach for the sheer joy of life, is the glad part of what I call -a picnic. And then the food! No meal which must be coaxed along by a -cocktail or other appetizer, to prepare the way for course after course -of indigestible concoctions planned by fertile-minded chefs, but honest -beef and chicken and ham sandwiches, delicately prepared and tastefully -arranged. Sandwiches of lettuce and cheese and paprika; sandwiches with -sardines, with olives; graham sandwiches with a thin layer of marmalade -or guava intended for the children, but partaken of by all. And stuffed -eggs, the variety only to be found at a picnic and eaten in two gulps, -the one place where such table manners are tolerated. - -And it is on picnics that the thermos bottle is most thoroughly -appreciated. The miracle of hot bouillon, hot coffee, iced tea, and a -variety of beverages, suitably chilled or heated, seems ever to be a -source of fresh surprise and pleasure. - -Toward autumn, the picnics offer a new variety, for the children thrill -at the expectation of cooking their own dinner. The joys of a bonfire, -the excitement of burying potatoes, corn, and clams in seaweed, the -frying of ham and eggs, and the occasional treat of flapjacks when one -of our nautical friends happens to be of our number. These are but a few -of the pleasures of a picnic such as one encounters on the shores of -Buzzard’s Bay in August and September. - -It must be admitted that there are certain drawbacks which seem serious -to the individual of fixed habits, tender feet, and uncertain digestion. -There is, for example, the beautiful white sand, glistening in the -sun, smooth as a billiard table and fine as powder. It must be admitted -that after the bath one is conscious of the pervading quality of its -particles. It is in one’s hair, one’s shoes, and often elsewhere about -the person. It is discovered invading the aforesaid sandwiches, which -seem well named at such times. A brisk wind slaps it into your eye or -your mouth in disconcerting fashion, and you become aware of its grating -presence. Then, again, there are clouds upon the horizon. To those who -are seriously affected by the sand, these clouds look ominous. They may -forebode a storm and a wetting. A certain clamminess of hands and feet, -occasioned by the bath, remind one that a change in the weather precedes -a cold in the head. These feelings mark the man of creature comforts and -he fails to join in the part-singing which comes after the hearty meal, -when pipes are lighted and the entire gathering stretch themselves upon -the sands for a lazy half-hour before the inevitable cleaning-up process -begins. This same individual declines to tell his best story, and should -a ball game be suggested, he will be found callous to all coaxing. He -has enough sand in his shoes as it is, or he has eaten too much for -exercising, or possibly the clouds on the horizon lower more formidably. - -Yes, a picnic discloses the strength and weakness of character which -mark our friends, and yet, after all, it does more, for it brings out the -best in most of us, and few, even of our habitually conventional friends, -fail to respond to the delights of a seashore picnic or lack in the -essential philosophy of an outdoor, care-free existence. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -X - -MODELS - - -Long before the Old Colony Railroad thought of running a line to Cape -Cod—although that in itself was not so very long ago, well within the -memory of man—there was one charm of the Cape which is fast vanishing and -entirely unknown to the casual visitor and unappreciated by the perennial -summer residents. In those days there was a host of rugged, sturdy men, -intelligent, courageous, upright, and keen-minded. They were the Cape -captains, the men who grew up among the sand-dunes, to the rote of the -sea. The men who carried the good name of Cape Cod to the ends of the -earth and who brought back with them the fortunes which made the little -towns, dotted here and there along the shore, havens of comfort and rest. - -Such men could tell stories which would vie with those of Conrad and -Stevenson, but for the most part their deeds go unrecorded except in -their ships’ logs, for they were a simple, reserved company. Of this -epoch there remains but one relic which is sought after by the present -generation, and it savors of the antique. In fact, it is the antiquarian -rather than the adventurer who ransacks the Cape at present for ships’ -models. - -In those early days there were months at a time when the ship’s company -were idle, and it grew to be a custom for those clever with their hands -to fashion models of the schooners in which they sailed or of seacraft -notable for beauty of line or complexity of rig. - -Many an old sea captain would pass his idle moments in fashioning these -miniature boats, and many members of the ships’ crews became adept at -the hobby, for a knowledge of tools was almost an essential for every -man on the Cape, where the trades of carpenter, painter, and plumber -were generally performed by the householder. Furthermore, a sailor would -infinitely prefer to whittle out a model than to swab down the deck, and -frequently a clever mechanic would be relieved by his captain from this -menial work, if he devoted his time to the perfection of a model which -was destined for the mantel of the captain’s best parlor. - -Therefore, in the old days, there was scarcely a Cape family of saltwater -ancestry which did not boast of at least one model and often more, the -trademark of an honorable and hazardous occupation and a relic of former -days of plenty when the Cape was peopled only by the native Cape-Codders -and before steam took from them the vocation to which they were reared. - -To-day the captain of a full-rigged ship is as hard to find as the -vessel herself, and the Cape exists upon the summer residents and upon -the less productive occupation of fishing, which is largely in the hands -of the Portuguese, who have come in droves to settle upon our land of -Bartholomew Gosnold and his company of adventurers. And so the interest -in ships and in tales of the sea has disappeared along with those who -upheld the trade; and the models, familiar sights to the descendants, -have been relegated to the attic or have been sold as curiosities to the -ubiquitous dealers in antiques, who persistently come to the Cape for old -furniture, pewter, china—anything, in fact, which can be palmed off on -that voracious type of collector, the lover of antiques. - -During the last few years, for some reason or other, these models have -become very popular. Just why it is not easy to explain. It is true -that they typify a lost trade which was full of adventure. It is also -true that they are decorative, many of them, but that hardly explains -the ravenous appetite which many collectors of antiques have recently -developed to obtain a genuine model. Dealers have secured agents in -every town on the Cape who are ransacking their neighborhoods for models, -half-models, pictures of boats made in bas-reliefs, weather vanes in the -shape of ships, and the prices are increasing by leaps and bounds. In -fact, so popular has this fad become that ex-sailors and carpenters with -some slight acquaintance with the sea are now developing quite a business -in fashioning models of special designs or of former famous ships. A few -years ago the model of a schooner about two feet in length fully rigged -would bring in the neighborhood of twenty-five dollars; to-day the same -model could not be secured for less than one hundred dollars. Often the -smaller, more exquisitely made specimens will bring more. The descendants -of the old captains have lost any sentimental regard for these relics -and gladly part with them for a comparatively small sum, but only to the -patient and skillful, who know Cape ways and Cape people, and so it is -almost impossible for the tourist to secure a model except from a dealer. - -Should the casual summer visitor attempt to bargain with his native Cape -neighbor, he would find him a wily bird, suspicious of being imposed upon -and as likely as not to put an absurd valuation upon his possession; and -yet that same Cape neighbor might part with the model the next day to a -total stranger for a smaller sum, for such is the nature of the denizen -of the Cape. This contrary-mindedness and disinclination to do a favor is -not unusual, but as against this trait, he will be found to be a genial -host and a kindly acquaintance often generous beyond his means. - -And so to-day we witness the passing of the models, last relic of the -olden days, the golden days of Cape Cod, from those tiny Cape cottages -built by these same sturdy sea captains to the comfortable mansions of -the summer people whose knowledge of the sea is secured in July and -August by an occasional dip, a sail in a knockabout, and a glimpse of a -glorious sunset over the shining waters of the Atlantic Ocean. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -XI - -“A WET SHEET AND A FLOWING SEA” - - -In my youthful days I often wondered at the regularity with which elderly -people would go out to drive day after day, sitting in the same seat in -the same carriage, behind the same horses, driven by the same coachman -along the same roads. It seemed to me a lamentable waste of time. And now -I have more or less (less as the years advance) the same feeling toward -those couples whose chief relaxation is a spin along the state roads of -their district in a well-appointed limousine, for I belong to that class -of motorists who use their cars purely for convenience and prefer the -fresh-air variety. - -Yet, when it comes to sailing, for some reason which I am at a loss to -explain, my views are diametrically opposite. I am content to clamber -into my knockabout and to perform the routine labor of pumping “her” out, -unfurling and hoisting the sail, and casting off, then to cruise lazily -about our harbor, sailing over the same course day in and day out with -little variation, and to do this either alone or with a kindred spirit -as the case may be. - -To many these cases may seem parallel, but to me they are widely variant. -There is a formality to a drive or a motor ride which starts with the -costume worn and ends with the character of conversation. - -On a boat—and I am speaking entirely of small boats—the costume is of a -heterogeneous variety and the conversation of the freest. In fact, there -is something so thoroughly unconventional about life on the water that -even the stiffest of Brahminian Bostonians may occasionally be heard to -indulge in slang and to assume a rakish attitude, perched upon deck. - -But such criticism, or rather comparison, is highly superficial. There -is more to it than external appearance; for sailing brings out the best -in human nature, encourages philosophy, develops independence of thought -and act, and largely so because those who sail shed their coating of -reserve and allow their natural feelings fair play. There is no quicker -way to know and size up one’s friends than to go on a cruise for a few -days. There is no better way of enjoying and extending one’s friendships -with both sexes than spending a few afternoons sailing together, skirting -along the shore with a fair breeze, nor is there any quicker way of -learning the weaknesses of certain individuals than by observing their -conduct under perhaps less peaceful conditions at sea. For the best of -skippers cannot predict weather conditions, and there are times when wind -and storm will come upon one with surprising quickness. - -Here in New England, the sailing fraternity may be divided into those -who prefer the Maine coast and those who cling to the Cape and Buzzard’s -Bay. As one of the latter class, I always claim our supremacy by stating -two points which I believe to be true: first, that we have more wind, and -second, that we have less fog. To me this is convincing. The southwest -wind which cools the Cape, blows nearly every day in summer and with a -strength that often requires reefing. Rarely between ten in the morning -and five at night will the mariner find himself becalmed in Buzzard’s -Bay. In fact, the stranger is generally amazed to see girls and young -boys sailing without the presence of an older person, in what looks to -him a three-reef breeze. - -They have been brought up to it and realize that vigilance must always be -exercised on the water, and they know the qualities of their boat and the -power of the wind. I know of no better training for youngsters who are -proficient in swimming than to learn to sail and race their own little -boats. The development of a power of observation, accurate judgment, -prompt action, and steady nerve comes more quickly with the handling of a -boat than in any other way for those who lead our kind of life. - -Sailing is confined to boats, but boats are not by any means confined to -sailing, for latterly there are almost as many motor-boats to be found -chugging along the shores of the Cape as there are sailboats, although -I personally always pity the groups in the stern of one of these modern -affairs which makes its noisy passage leaving an odorous wake of oil and -smoke. But doubtless I am extreme in my views and old-fashioned in my -taste. - -Give me a knockabout—a fifteen-footer for real comfort for a daily sail, -a stiff member of the twenty-one-foot class for cruising along shore. -Give me a comfortable catboat, broad of beam, for a family boat or for -a day’s fishing, or let me idle about in one of our little twelve-foot -Herreshoff class with my small son. In any one of them I shall find the -same sense of freedom, the same sort of pleasure, and the same love for -the salt sea, and from each I shall look at the windy, sandy shores of -the Cape with the same loyal affection. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -XII - -MY CAPE FARM - - -If I have thought of it at all, I have thought of myself as a sociable -cuss. Not that I like sociables; I hate them, and that is probably why -they have gone out of fashion. What to my mind defines sociability is the -quality of enjoying and giving enjoyment to others, singly, in pairs, or -in groups; and in present days sociability is generally put to the test -either at dinners or at week-end parties, for these are the principal -points of contact between friends. - -Latterly, however, my social bent has been somewhat warped by the growing -desire on the part of my friends to boast of their success as producers -of food. Whether it be premature senility, the result of conservation, or -merely the acquisition of wealth, which is being rapidly returned to its -own through the purchase of land and the ingenuity of gardeners, it is a -fact that at dinners of the cut-and-dried variety or a family gathering, -or, more especially, over a week-end, my host invariably calls attention -to the asparagus with a modest cough as prelude, or my hostess mentions -the number of eggs the farmer brought in yesterday to be put down in -water-glass. Sometimes it is not asparagus, but peas, or corn, or perhaps -a chicken, or even a ham. This the host. His wife more generally dilates -upon the milk products and the preserving end of the bill of fare; but, -for whatever cause, the thing got a bit on my nerves, so that I found -myself thinking of reasons for not visiting So-and-So or for not dining -with the Thing-um-Bobs on Friday week, when I knew we hadn’t a thing on -earth to do. - -This frame of mind was, of course, all wrong. In the first place, these -friends were as good and as loyal as they were ten years ago, when, -if they had any garden at all, it consisted of a half-dozen radishes -that no one could eat without summoning a physician within four hours. -Furthermore, the aforesaid asparagus, with its accompaniments, was -better than the ordinary variety which has decorated the entrance to the -greengrocer’s establishment for the better part of a week. And lastly, as -I had no garden myself, why not enjoy the best and be thankful? - -Probably the reason was envy and the season spring, when, contrary to -budding nature, one’s own physical being is not as blooming as it should -be. - -Be this as it may, the final result has probably made me more of a bore -to my friends than they ever were to me, for to get even with them I -conceived the happy idea of catering to their epicurean tastes from my -own farm, which consisted of a scant two acres of shore line in that -section of Cape Cod which is renowned for its scarcity of soil. - -The idea came to me soon after we had moved down for the summer months, -and my wife became so enthusiastic that it really became our hobby for -the season. We had planned for a succession of week-ends, and many of -these agricultural intimates were coming to us for return visits. We -would feed them upon the fat of our land or in this case largely the fat -of the sea. - -It is interesting and instructive to learn just what varieties of food -can be secured from the immediate vicinity of any place, and to me -especially so of our Cape Cod. - -During the entire summer I felt so personal an interest in our section -of the country that my small son exclaimed one day that I talked as if I -owned the entire Cape. I know I felt a proprietary interest in certain -fishing grounds, the whereabouts of which I would not confess even on -the rack. And it amuses me now to think of the circuitous routes I used -in getting to certain berry patches and stretches where mushrooms grew -overnight. In variety our dinners, or high teas (as we always called -them), were infinite as compared with those of our asparagus associates. - -I remember one little repast which pleased me mightily, because it came -at the end of one of those hot days—they are rare on the Cape—when the -wind refused to blow from the southwest. We had had our swim, but even -golf was a bit too strenuous and food does not have its usual appeal on -such occasions even on the Cape. It also happened that our friends of -this particular week-end were literally congested with land and its more -generous offerings, and so when I practiced the usual humiliatory cough -and remarked that our simple repast came from my Cape farm and they must -excuse its simplicity, I was just a trifle nervous. - -The melons were a gift from my plumber, a curious combination. If only -the plumber could plumb as well as he grows melons upon his barren -sandpile, our summer comfort would be increased by fifty per cent. No -better melons can be found than these little fellows. The clam-broth, -from my own clam-bed, was an appetizer. I seriously believe that there -is real energizing value in such clam-broth as this, boiled down almost -to a _liqueur_ from newly dug clams. Then came scallops plucked that -day from the seaweed, where they lie at low tide blowing like miniature -whales. We all know how delicious they are in the autumn served with -_tartare_ sauce, but have you ever tasted them creamed with a dash of -brown sherry and served with fresh mushrooms? - -Just as the plumber supplies us with melons, so the fishman is the local -authority on lettuce. Our salad, therefore, came from Captain Barwick, -crisp and white with slices of early pears from a near-by tree, and with -it my favorite muffins of coarse, white cornmeal toasted, thin, and eaten -with beach-plum jam made from our own bushes in the bramble patch close -by the lane, and cottage cheese which our cook positively enjoys making. - -My wife had felt this to be a rather scant repast for those used to -dinners of six or eight courses, and so the dessert was a substantial -huckleberry pudding served cold from the ice-chest with whipped -cream, and to take the chill off we had a small glass of my home-made -wild-cherry brandy with our coffee; and while there are other beverages -which are preferable I confess it gave us a delightfully comforting -sensation. - -The hearty, genuine praise from my guests gave me a fleeting feeling of -shame at the way I had criticized their asparagus and numberless eggs, -but the pride of success carried me with it. - -“Oh, this is not anything; wait until to-morrow and let me show you the -varieties which my farm offers. In the catboat, I have a well in which we -keep fish alive. What say you to a butterfish for breakfast? For dinner -we can either go out to the fishing grounds for something with a real -pull to it, or we can motor over to Turtle Pond for a try at a bass, or -we can golf and take a couple of lobsters out of my pots bobbing up and -down out there by the point.” - -“Hold on,” my friend interjected. “What I want to know is whether every -one on the Cape lives in this way, for if they do I think I shall be -moving down here by another season.” - -“No,” I replied, “very few. In the first place, most people continue to -do just what their neighbors do—tennis, golf, swimming, sailing. The -fishing is poor unless you know where to go. The natives are not helpful -unless you know how to take them, and that is why I call it all _my_ -farm, because I have taken it all unto myself and I reap a reward much -richer than I deserve. - -“I pass much of my time hunting up new fishing grounds or the lair of -the soft-shell crab, or even the quiet, muddy recesses of the ‘little -necks.’ I wander about the country exploring new berry patches, for there -is a great variety of these. And if you must know, I fraternize with -certain delightfully conversational individuals who sell me delicious -fruit and vegetables as well as ducks and chickens and a variety of odds -and ends, as, for instance, that little model over there. But you could -not buy them. No, sir, not until you learned the art of negotiation to -perfection. You may manage your estates to the Queen’s taste, but when it -comes to managing a Cape-Codder, ah, that’s not done so easily.” - -I see my friends leading the conventional summer life and wonder at -times how they can come to the Cape year after year and yet be strangers -to its real fascination, because it has many other hidden allurements -besides this quest for food. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -XIII - -SCALLOPS - - -Sport, according to our highest authorities, is “that which diverts -and makes mirth,” and from this general interpretation the term has -been applied to games, and to the various forms of hunting and fishing -commonly known, but I have yet to hear the word applied to the pursuit -of the scallop. And yet, scalloping more nearly approaches the original -meaning of sport than most of the games which are commonly classed under -this heading, for not only does the scallop divert and provoke the mirth -of his pursuer, but the pursuer in turn evokes a similar feeling and -impression upon those who chance to see him in action. Those who have -never tasted the joys and excitement of a scallop hunt have not completed -their education as real sportsmen. It is true that Badminton does not -devote a volume to this particular pastime; it is equally true that the -progressive American journalist, whose duty it is to supply the sporting -columns of his paper with all the news of current athletic events, -invariably ignores this important item, and our mighty Nimrods fail to -include scalloping among their feats of prowess; but in each case the -cause of the omission invariably can be traced to ignorance, and to the -fact that your scallop-hunter is a wary fellow who says but little and -boasts less, fearing inadvertently to disclose the favored haunts of his -favorite prey. And so, for these and divers causes, the pursuit of the -scallop lies in obscurity. - -On the other hand, the scallop has been a friend to man for generations -in many and varied ways. In the days of the Crusaders, the pilgrims -returning from the Holy Land wore scallop shells, gathered upon the coast -of Palestine, as a badge or mark of the success of their wanderings. -At an equally early period the scallop shell became an important factor -in design, from architecture, through the various stages, to the -adornment of women’s clothes. The scallop shell is discovered embedded -in the capitals of many famous columns. It will be found chiseled upon -the keystones of countless arches. Scarcely a theater but possesses it -among its mural decorations. Upon the title-pages of books it serves in -an equally decorative capacity, while the scalloping upon the hems of -dresses brings the scallop’s shell familiarly into our family life. - -In addition to all this, certain families of ancient lineage have -adopted the shell as a part of their crest. Heraldry traces the cause to -the days of the Knights of the Holy Land. - -The scallop, therefore, has been sought by generations, and is no marine -upstart basing his claims to popularity upon his flavor as a savory dish -for a modern Lucullus. In short, the scallop is historic, artistic, -decorative, and delicious. In real life, however, he is one of the -numerous marine bivalve mollusks of the genus _Pecten_, and to those who -have not already recognized the symmetrically ribbed shells so often -found upon our beaches, a dictionary is recommended. - -Although his past is buried in the annals of the Holy Land, in Ægean -waters, and upon the banks of the Red Sea, just at present he is rampant -upon the shoals of Cape Cod, and it is here that our scallopers pursue -him during the weeks previous to early autumn days, when the Cape -fisherman wages destruction with sea-rakes, seines, and nets. - -Imagine the tide running low, disclosing the bright, sandy bottoms of -countless inlets, the ripple of the waters making dim the outlines of -the corrugated surfaces of the submerged shore. At such times, and in -certain localities which shall be nameless, the wily hunter issues forth -in bathing-suit or rubber-booted, or even—in the enthusiasm of the -moment—fully clothed, with pail or basket sometimes attached to his waist -by a cord. He wades in at a slow pace, gazing searchingly into the depths -of the water for a sign of his prey, choosing at first the shoals where -it is easier to see, and as likely a spot as others for fine shellfish. -And here a curious phenomenon is discovered; his eye catches the glint -of a shining shell and he stoops to secure it, only to find a half shell -without life. The brighter the shell, the less chance of its being -inhabited. The scallop covers himself when possible with a few strands -of seaweed, or buries himself in the mud or sand, and therefore, when -in the full bloom of life, he looks like a hoary, hairy thing of past -history, an encrusted shell from which life might have departed a century -ago. If, by good fortune, the hand comes in contact with him, however, -his vitality is made quickly evident by a savage snap of his shell, as -the large muscle expands and contracts in self-defense, and should a -finger become caught between the upper and lower shells, the hunter is -in for a sharp nip. The quest leads from spot to spot, from shoal water -out into deeper parts, until one finds one’s self waist-deep, bending and -stooping, raking the bottom with frenzied hand groping for these tufted -prizes, and when one is fortunate to secure a good spot, the hand never -fails to bring up one, two, and sometimes more, of these irate creatures -whose antics evoke admiration and whose strength seems almost abnormal. - -There are bright, warm days in the latter part of August when on many -parts of the shore may be seen men, women, and children by scores, -curiously and wonderfully garbed, grotesquely postured, wading the -waters in this fascinating pursuit, which, after the quiet glamor of -clam-digging, possesses the excitement of big-game hunting. Were it not -for a strict law these same hardy hunters would, undoubtedly, be found in -dories, plying a small net for the same purpose, but the very crudity -of the chase has its advantages, for one comes close to the life of the -sea bottom, and all that goes on there, from the waving masses of seaweed -of many varieties to the countless forms of life clinging to the rocks, -embedded in the mud or darting through the water. The sea bottom is as -busy as Broadway, and as full of mystery. - -The reader must not for a moment imagine the scallop, however, as -belonging to a sedentary type of life. Often he is found moving at a high -rate of speed through the water, propelled by this same muscle which -provides his defense. By opening and closing his shell he moves forward -and upward or downward, apparently at will, digging himself into the mud -and effectually hiding himself from his pursuers. He deserves the respect -of his superiors in the animal kingdom, and at the same time proves -himself fair game by his prowess. - -And so one is led out and out still farther, until, bent upon securing -one more victim, a mouthful of water and smarting eyes give notice that -those beyond are safe for the time being, and the successful hunter -returns to his boat with a full pail, while the sun, enormous and a deep -orange red, is just touching the horizon. - -The conquest is not complete, for it is no easy task to open these -snapping bivalves, and thus to extract the muscle that is the edible -portion, and the full reward is by no means reaped. That is left for the -evening meal, when the scallop becomes the _pièce de résistance_ cooked -in one of a hundred ways. But of this let a _cordon bleu_ convince you, -whose best efforts are secured and deserved by the scallop. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -_AFTERMATH_ - - -And now comes the fall of the year with days gorgeous in coloring, from -the clear crystal blue of the sky reflected in sparkling waters to the -flame-tinted stretches of woodland watched over by tall pines and guarded -by stately cedars. The sandy roads glisten in the distances, marking off -sections of the Cape country as a huge picture puzzle. The atmosphere -seems purged of all imperfection, giving to every town and hamlet a -spotless appearance bright with late flowers and fresh fruit awaiting -the harvest. Azure days of October, the most perfect of the year. It is -then that regretfully we say “au revoir” to our beloved Cape in all its -glory. - - - - - The Riverside Press - CAMBRIDGE. 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