Gentleman Jim And Niagara Falls - Part Four

James King was a real gentleman to us the rest of the day. He took us in his second hand car to go sightseeing. It was my second time in a car. First being the Taxis.

He gave Pa the best known dimensions of the falls, the water's average speed during each season, and then he escorted us to one of the finest restaurants in the city.

I had a wonderful time. I never wanted it to end.

But as you all well know, in life, everything ends eventually.

Mr. King drove us back to the boarding house and I stood there, smiling at him. There was an awkward moment between us. He offered to shake my hand, which I took, then he abruptly said, “Goodnight Miss Lynskey. I am so happy to have met your acquaintance.”

I wasn't sure what to do, what to think, or what to say. So I clumsily said my thanks for a wonderful evening and started walking towards the front door of the boarding house. I was really confused at that point for some reason.

My Pa said he would be in, in a minute. He wanted to thank Mr. King alone personally. So I went in the house, went up to our room, and I cried a little bit before my Pa came in.

Nothing was said about Jim the rest of the night or the next morning.

We boarded the train home on time and that was the end of it.

I became melancholy on the way back, not saying much. Pa didn’t seem to notice because he was writing down dimensions and making little drawings on the type of barrel he was going to create.

It took forever to get up to the falls, but the time flashed by on the way home.

That was in the Spring, the first time we visited the city of Niagara Falls. Now it was the middle of August and Pa said this would be the optimal time to go over the waterfalls. He figured that all the tributaries had used up their allotment of melted winter snow by now. Pa figured this was probably the best time of year when the Niagara River would be at its lowest level, making it, hopefully, a little bit slower.

The slowest the river goes is in the Winter, when a lot of water is frozen. But nobody in their right mind would try to go then. You would freeze to death of hypothermia before your ride was over. So Pa decided now was the time to go now.

The date was the 20th of August when he announced it to the family.

“Murray.” Pa yelled from the kitchen. “Pack your things and get ready. We are going back to Niagara Falls this coming Wednesday.”

I wasn't too excited. I didn't want to get disappointed or hurt like I did on our last trip, so I asked Pa if I could stay home this time.

“Murray Alley Cat Lynskey. You march right up to your room this instant and start to pack. The whole family is going this time around. And that means you too.”

Pa wasn't mad when he said those words, but you could feel that he wasn't in no mood to argue the point.

So I reluctantly packed and told myself, “They can't make me enjoy myself.”

Pa had his barrel crated and all locked up tight ahead of time. So when we reached the train station his barrel was already packed in one of those storage cars. We just had to find our private compartment on the train.

My parents went all out on this trip, this time around. They spent all of our savings and borrowed money to boot. We were going to Niagara in style, but I was blasé about the whole thing.

I was curious why we were spending all that money, so with a obstinate attitude I asked, “Why?”

He told me that he had a lot of confidence in the barrel he designed and with all of us supporting him he felt sure he would win the 15,000 dollars.

“How can you be so sure?” I asked incredulously.

He told me he had a secret ballast system aboard his barrel that was going to keep him floating. If his barrel did go under water, these ballasts, which he said were made out of huge cow bladders, would quickly bring him back up to the surface. Faster than a normal barrel's buoyancy would. He wouldn't announce to anyone what was inside these bladders until after he had won the money. “No good giving the competition any help,” he said. He was really secretive about the whole thing.

I overheard him talking to Ma about the bags, but not how they would help him. Pa was trying to ease Ma's worries by explaining their function without giving anything away. He was telling her something about those bags when the train whistle blew loud and long. All I heard was the end of the conversation. “Don't worry, once they're filled, they'll work just fine.”

Filled with what? I didn't have the foggiest notion at the time. I couldn't hear. Damn whistle.

I trusted my Pa though. He knew what he was doing.

As the train got closer to the city, I could see in Ma's face that she was still worried, even with Pa explaining his system of ballasts inside the barrel. She knew too well that other people had died going over the falls this year and if Papa made one little mistake in his calculations, he would be next.

So Pa used a different tactic to get her mind off things. He started talking about the accommodations we were going to have upon our arrival.

 This is,

Hoping Someday I Will Ride The Rails As An Adult,

It's On My Bucket List

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of: for this moment I know where I am going.”

- Anna Funder -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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