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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33846-8.txt b/33846-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f2661dd --- /dev/null +++ b/33846-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5333 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tent Dwellers, by Albert Bigelow Paine + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: The Tent Dwellers + +Author: Albert Bigelow Paine + +Illustrator: Hy. Watson + +Release Date: October 7, 2010 [EBook #33846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TENT DWELLERS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Internet +Archive. + + + + + + + + + +The Tent Dwellers + + + + +[Illustration: "He was swearing steadily and I think still blaming me +for most of his troubles."--_Page_ 83.] + + + + +THE TENT +DWELLERS + + +BY +ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE + +_Author of "The Van Dwellers," "The Lucky Piece," etc_. + + +_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HY. WATSON_ + + +[Illustration] + + +NEW YORK +THE OUTING PUBLISHING CO. +MCMVIII + + +COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY +THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY + + + + +Chapter One + + + _Come, shape your plans where the fire is bright,_ + _And the shimmering glasses are--_ + _When the woods are white in the winter's night,_ + _Under the northern star._ + + + + +Chapter One + + +It was during the holiday week that Eddie proposed the matter. That is +Eddie's way. No date, for him, is too far ahead to begin to plan +anything that has vari-colored flies in it, and tents, and the prospect +of the campfire smell. The very mention of these things will make his +hair bristle up (rather straight, still hair it is and silvered over +with premature wisdom) and put a new glare into his spectacles (rather +wide, round spectacles they are) until he looks even more like an +anarchist than usual--more indeed than in the old Heidelberg days, when, +as a matter of truth, he is a gentle soul; sometimes, when he has +transgressed, or thinks he has, almost humble. + +As I was saying, it was during the holidays--about the end of the week, +as I remember it--and I was writing some letters at the club in the +little raised corner that looks out on the park, when I happened to +glance down toward the fireplace, and saw Eddie sitting as nearly on his +coat collar as possible, in one of the wide chairs, and as nearly in the +open hickory fire as he could get, pawing over a book of Silver +Doctors, Brown Hackles and the like, and dreaming a long, long dream. + +Now, I confess there is something about a book of trout flies, even at +the year's end, when all the brooks are flint and gorged with white, +when all the north country hides under seamless raiment that stretches +even to the Pole itself--even at such a time, I say, there is something +about those bits of gimp, and gut, and feathers, and steel, that prick +up the red blood of any man--or of any woman, for that matter--who has +ever flung one of those gaudy things into a swirl of dark water, and +felt the swift, savage tug on the line and heard the music of the +singing reel. + +I forgot that I was writing letters and went over there. + +"Tell me about it, Eddie," I said. "Where are you going, this time?" + +Then he unfolded to me a marvelous plan. It was a place in Nova +Scotia--he had been there once before, only, this time he was going a +different route, farther into the wilderness, the deep unknown, +somewhere even the guides had never been. Perhaps stray logmen had been +there, or the Indians; sportsmen never. There had been no complete +surveys, even by the government. Certain rivers were known by their +outlets, certain lakes by name. It was likely that they formed the usual +network and that the circuit could be made by water, with occasional +carries. Unquestionably the waters swarmed with trout. A certain +imaginative Indian, supposed to have penetrated the unknown, had +declared that at one place were trout the size of one's leg. + +Eddie became excited as he talked and his hair bristled. He set down a +list of the waters so far as known, the names of certain guides, a +number of articles of provision and an array of camp paraphernalia. +Finally he made maps and other drawings and began to add figures. It was +dusk when we got back. The lights were winking along the park over the +way, and somewhere through the night, across a waste of cold, lay the +land we had visited, still waiting to be explored. We wandered out into +the dining room and settled the matter across a table. When we rose from +it, I was pledged--pledged for June; and this was still December, the +tail of the old year. + + + + +Chapter Two + + + _And let us buy for the days of spring,_ + _While yet the north winds blow!_ + _For half the joy of the trip, my boy,_ + _Is getting your traps to go._ + + + + +Chapter Two + + +Immediately we, that is to say, Eddie, began to buy things. It is +Eddie's way to read text-books and to consult catalogues with a view of +making a variety of purchases. He has had a great deal of experience in +the matter of camp life, but being a modest man he has a fund of respect +for the experience of others. Any one who has had enough ability, or +time, to write a book on the subject, and enough perseverance, or money, +to get it published, can preach the gospel of the woods to Eddie in the +matter of camp appointments; and even the manufacturers' catalogues are +considered sound reading. As a result, he has accumulated an amazing +collection of articles, adapted to every time and season, to every +change of wind and temperature, to every spot where the tent gleams +white in the campfire's blaze, from Greenland's icy mountains to India's +coral strand. Far be it from me to deride or deprecate this tendency, +even though it were a ruling passion. There are days, and nights, too, +recalled now with only a heart full of gratitude because of Eddie's +almost inexhaustible storehouse of comforts for soul and flesh--the +direct result of those text-books and those catalogues, and of the wild, +sweet joy he always found in making lists and laying in supplies. Not +having a turn that way, myself, he had but small respect for my ideas of +woodcraft and laid down the law of the forest to me with a firm hand. +When I hinted that I should need a new lancewood rod, he promptly +annulled the thought. When I suggested that I might aspire as far as a +rather good split bamboo, of a light but serviceable kind, he dispelled +the ambition forthwith. + +"You want a noibwood," he said. "I have just ordered one, and I will +take you to the same place to get it." + +[Illustration: "It was a field day for Eddie and he bought more."] + +I had never heard of this particular variety of timber, and it seemed +that Eddie had never heard of it, either, except in a catalogue and from +the lips of a dealer who had imported a considerable amount of the +material. Yet I went along, meekly enough, and ordered under his +direction. I also selected an assortment of flies--the prettiest he +would let me buy. A few others which I had set my heart on I had the +dealer slip in when Eddie wasn't looking. I was about to buy a curious +thing which a trout could not come near without fatal results, when the +wide glare of his spectacles rested on me and my courage failed. Then he +selected for me a long landing net, for use in the canoe, and another +with an elastic loop to go about the neck, for wading; leaders and +leader-boxes and the other elementary necessaries of angling in the +northern woods. Of course such things were as A, B, C to Eddie. He had +them in infinite variety, but it was a field day and he bought more. We +were out of the place at last, and I was heaving a sigh of relief that +this part of it was over and I need give the matter no further thought, +when Eddie remarked: + +"Well, we've made a pretty good start. We can come down here a lot of +times between now and June." + +"But what for?" I asked. + +"Oh, for things. You haven't a sleeping bag yet, and we'll be thinking +of other stuff right along. We can stay over a day in Boston, too, and +get some things there. I always do that. You want a good many things. +You can't get them in the woods, you know." + +Eddie was right about having plenty of time, for this was January. He +was wrong, however, about being unable to get things in the woods. I +did, often. I got Eddie's. + + + + +Chapter Three + + + _Now the gorges break and the streamlets wake_ + _And the sap begins to flow,_ + _And each green bud that stirs my blood_ + _Is a summons, and I must go._ + + + + +Chapter Three + + +Eddie could not wait until June. When the earliest April buds became +tiny, pale-green beads--that green which is like the green of no other +substance or season--along certain gray branches in the park across the +way, when there was a hint and flavor of stirring life in the morning +sun, then there came a new bristle into Eddie's hair, a new gleam into +his glasses, and I felt that the wood gods were calling, and that he +must obey. + +"It is proper that one of us should go on ahead," he argued, "and be +arranging for guides, canoes and the like at the other end." + +I urged that it was too soon--that the North was still white and hard +with cold--that preliminaries could be arranged by letter. I finally +suggested that there were still many things he would want to buy. He +wavered then, but it was no use. Eddie can put on a dinner dress with +the best and he has dined with kings. But he is a cave-, a cliff- and a +tree-dweller in his soul and the gods of his ancestors were not to be +gainsaid. He must be on the ground, he declared, and as for the +additional articles we might need, he would send me lists. Of course, I +knew he would do that, just as I knew that the one and mighty reason +for his going was to be where he could smell the first breath of the +budding North and catch the first flash and gleam of the waking trout in +the nearby waters. + +He was off, then, and the lists came as promised. I employed a sort of +general purchasing agent at length to attend to them, though this I +dared not confess, for to Eddie it would have been a sacrilege not easy +to forgive. That I could delegate to another any of the precious +pleasure of preparation, and reduce the sacred functions of securing +certain brands of eating chocolate, camp candles, and boot grease (three +kinds) to a commercial basis, would, I felt, be a thing almost +impossible to explain. The final list, he notified me, would be mailed +to a hotel in Boston, for the reason, he said, that it contained things +nowhere else procurable; though I am convinced that a greater reason was +a conviction on his part that no trip could be complete without buying a +few articles in Boston at the last hour before sailing, and his desire +for me to experience this concluding touch of the joy of preparation. +Yet I was glad, on the whole, for I was able to buy secretly some things +he never would have permitted--among them a phantom minnow which looked +like a tin whistle, a little four-ounce bamboo rod, and a gorgeous Jock +Scott fly with two hooks. The tin whistle and the Jock Scott looked +deadly, and the rod seemed adapted to a certain repose of muscle after a +period of activity with the noibwood. I decided to conceal these +purchases about my person and use them when Eddie wasn't looking. + +But then it was sailing time, and as the short-nosed energetic steamer +dropped away from the dock, a storm (there had been none for weeks +before) set in, and we pitched and rolled, and through a dim disordered +night I clung to my berth and groaned, and stared at my things in the +corner and hated them according to my condition. Then morning brought +quiet waters and the custom house at Yarmouth, where the tourist who is +bringing in money, and maybe a few other things, is made duly welcome +and not bothered with a lot of irrelevant questions. What Nova Scotia +most needs is money, and the fisherman and the hunter, once through the +custom house, become a greater source of revenue than any tax that could +be laid on their modest, not to say paltry, baggage, even though the +contents of one's trunk be the result of a list such as only Eddie can +prepare. There is a wholesome restaurant at Yarmouth, too, just by the +dock, where after a tossing night at sea one welcomes a breakfast of +good salt ham, with eggs, and pie--two kinds of the latter, pumpkin and +mince. + +I had always wondered where the pie-belt went, after it reached Boston. +Now I know that it extends across to Yarmouth and so continues up +through Nova Scotia to Halifax. Certain New Englanders more than a +hundred years ago, "went down to Nova Scotia," for the reason that they +fostered a deeper affection for George, the King, than for George of the +Cherry Tree and Hatchet. The cherry limb became too vigorous in their +old homes and the hatchet too sharp, so they crossed over and took the +end of the pie-belt along. They maintained their general habits and +speech, too, which in Nova Scotia to-day are almost identical with those +of New England. But I digress--a grave and besetting sin. + +I had hoped Eddie would welcome me at the railway station after the long +forenoon's ride--rather lonely, in spite of the new land and the fact +that I made the acquaintance of a fisherman who taught me how to put +wrappings on a rod. Eddie did not meet me. He sent the wagon, instead, +and I enjoyed a fifteen-mile ride across June hills where apple blossoms +were white, with glimpses of lake and stream here and there; through +woods that were a promise of the wilderness to come; by fields so +thickly studded with bowlders that one to plant them must use drill and +dynamite, getting my first impression of the interior of Nova Scotia +alone. Then at last came a church, a scattering string of houses, a +vista of lakes, a neat white hotel and the edge of the wilderness had +been reached. On the hotel steps a curious, hairy, wild-looking figure +was capering about doing a sort of savage dance--perhaps as a +preparation for war. At first I made it out to be a counterpart of +pictures I had seen of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. Then I +discovered that it wore wide spectacles and these in the fading sunlight +sent forth a familiar glare. So it was Eddie, after all, and no edged +tool had touched hair or beard since April. I understood, now, why he +had not met me at the station. + + + + +Chapter Four + + + _Now, the day is at hand, prepare, prepare--_ + _Make ready the boots and creel,_ + _And the rod so new and the fly-book, too,_ + _The line and the singing reel._ + + + + +Chapter Four + + +[Illustration: "Eddie's room and contents ... was a marvel and a +revelation."] + +Eddie's room and contents, with Eddie in the midst of them, was a marvel +and a revelation. All the accouterments of former expeditions of +whatever sort, all that he had bought for this one, all that I had +shipped from week to week, were gathered there. There were wading boots +and camp boots and moccasins and Dutch bed-slippers and shoepacks--the +last-named a sort of Micmac Indian cross between a shoe and a moccasin, +much affected by guides, who keep them saturated with oil and wear them +in the water and out--there were nets of various sizes and sorts, from +large minnow nets through a line of landing nets to some silk head nets, +invented and made by Eddie himself, one for each of us, to pull on day +or night when the insect pests were bad. There was a quantity of +self-prepared ointment, too, for the same purpose, while of sovereign +remedies, balms and anodynes for ills and misfortunes, Eddie's +collection was as the sands of the sea. Soothing lotions there were for +wounds new and old; easing draughts for pains internal and external; +magic salves such as were used by the knights of old romance, Amadis de +Gaul and others, for the instant cure of ghastly lacerations made by man +or beast, and a large fresh bottle of a collodion preparation with +which the victim could be painted locally or in general, and stand forth +at last, good as new--restored, body, bones and skin. In addition there +was a certain bottle of the fluid extract of gelsemium, or something +like that, which was recommended for anything that the rest of the +assortment could do, combined. It was said to be good for everything +from a sore throat to a snake bite--the list of its benefits being +recorded in a text-book by which Eddie set great store. + +"Take it, by all means, Eddie," I said, "then you won't need any of the +others." + +That settled it. The gelsemium was left behind. + +I was interested in Eddie's rods, leaning here and there on various +parcels about the room. I found that the new noibwood, such as I had +ordered, was only a unit in a very respectable aggregate--rather an +unimportant unit it appeared by this time, for Eddie calmly assured me +that the tip had remained set after landing a rather small trout in a +nearby stream and that he did not consider the wood altogether suitable +for trout rods. Whereupon I was moved to confess the little bamboo stick +I had bought in Boston, and produced it for inspection. I could see that +Eddie bristled a bit as I uncased it and I think viewed it and wiggled +it with rather small respect. Still, he did not condemn it utterly and I +had an impulse to confess the other things, the impossible little +scale-wing flies, the tin whistle and the Jock Scott with two hooks. +However, it did not seem just the psychological moment, and I refrained. + +As for Eddie's flies, viewed together, they were a dazzling lot. There +were books and books of them--American, English, Scotch and what not. +There was one book of English dry-flies, procured during a recent +sojourn abroad, to be tried in American waters. One does not dance and +jiggle a dry-fly to give it the appearance of life--of some unusual +creature with rainbow wings and the ability to wriggle upstream, even +against a swift current. The dry-fly is built to resemble life itself, +color, shape and all, and is cast on a slow-moving stream where a trout +is seen to rise, and allowed to drift with the gently flowing current +exactly over the magic spot. All this Eddie explained to me and let me +hold the book a little time, though I could see he did not intend to let +me use one of the precious things, and would prefer that I did not touch +them. + +He was packing now and I wandered idly about this uncatalogued museum of +sporting goods. There was a heap of canvas and blankets in one corner--a +sleeping bag, it proved, with an infinite number of compartments, or +layers; there were hats of many shapes, vests of many fabrics, coats of +many colors. There were things I had seen before only in sporting goods +windows; there were things I had never seen before, anywhere; there were +things of which I could not even guess the use. In the center of +everything were bags--canvas and oil-skin receptacles, vigorously named +"tackle bag," "wardrobe," "war bag" and the like--and into these the +contents of the room were gradually but firmly disappearing, taking +their pre-destined place according to Eddie's method--for, after all, it +was a method--and as I looked at Eddie, unshaven for weeks, grizzled and +glaring, yet glowing with deep kindliness and the joy of anticipation, I +could think of nothing but Santa Claus, packing for his annual journey +that magic bag which holds more and ever more, and is so deep and so +wide in its beneficence that after all the comforts and the sweets of +life are crowded within, there still is room for more a-top. Remembering +my own one small bag which I had planned to take, with side pockets for +tackle, and a place between for certain changes of raiment, I felt my +unimportance more and more, and the great need of having an outfit like +Eddie's--of having it in the party, I mean, handy like, where it would +be easy to get hold of in time of need. I foresaw that clothes would +want mending; also, perhaps, rods; and it was pleasant to note that my +tent-mate would have boxes of tools for all such repairs. + +I foresaw, too, that I should burn, and bruise, and cut myself and that +Eddie's liniments and lotions and New Skin would come in handy. It +seemed to me that in those bags would be almost everything that human +heart could need or human ills require, and when we went below where Del +and Charlie, our appointed guides, were crowding certain other bags +full of the bulkier stores--packages, cans and bottles, and when I gazed +about on still other things--tents, boots, and baskets of camp +furniture--I had a sense of being cared for, though I could not but +wonder how two small canoes were going to float all that provender and +plunder and four strong men. + + + + +Chapter Five + + + _Then away to the heart of the deep unknown,_ + _Where the trout and the wild moose are--_ + _Where the fire burns bright, and tent gleams white_ + _Under the northern star._ + + + + +Chapter Five + + +It was possible to put our canoes into one of the lakes near the hotel +and enter the wilderness by water--the Liverpool chain--but it was +decided to load boats and baggage into wagons and drive through the +woods--a distance of some seventeen uneven miles--striking at once for +the true wilderness where the larger trout were said to dwell and the +"over Sunday" fisherman does not penetrate. Then for a day or two we +would follow waters and portages familiar to our guides, after which we +would be on the borders of the unknown, prepared to conquer the +wilderness with an assortment of fishing rods, a supply of mosquito +ointment and a pair of twenty-two caliber rifles, these being our only +guns. + +It seems hardly necessary to say that we expected to do little shooting. +In the first place it was out of season for most things, though this did +not matter so much, for Eddie had in some manner armed himself with a +commission from the British Museum to procure specimens dead or alive, +and this amounted to a permit to kill, and skin, and hence to eat, +promiscuously and at will. But I believe as a party, we were averse to +promiscuous killing; besides it is well to be rather nice in the matter +of special permits. Also, we had come, in the main, for trout and +exploration. It was agreed between us that, even if it were possible to +hit anything with our guns, we would not kill without skinning, and we +wouldn't skin without eating, after which resolution the forest things +probably breathed easier, for it was a fairly safe handicap. + +I shall not soon forget that morning drive to Jake's Landing, at the +head of Lake Kedgeemakoogee, where we put in our canoes. My trip on the +train along the coast, and the drive through farming country, more or +less fertile, had given me little conception of this sinister +land--rock-strewn and barren, seared by a hundred forest fires. Whatever +of green timber still stands is likely to be little more than brush. +Above it rise the bare, gaunt skeletons of dead forests, bleached with +age, yet blackened by the tongues of flame that burned out the life and +wealth of a land which is now little more than waste and desolation--the +haunt of the moose, the loon and the porcupine, the natural home of the +wild trout. + +It is true, that long ago, heavy timber was cut from these woods, but +the wealth thus obtained was as nothing to that which has gone up in +conflagrations, started by the careless lumbermen and prospectors and +hunters of a later day. Such timber as is left barely pays for the +cutting, and old sluices are blocked and old dams falling to decay. No +tiller of the soil can exist in these woods, for the ground is heaped +and drifted and windrowed with slabs and bowlders, suggesting the wreck +of some mighty war of the gods--some titanic missile-flinging combat, +with this as the battle ground. Bleak, unsightly, unproductive, mangled +and distorted out of all shape and form of loveliness, yet with a +fierce, wild fascination in it that amounts almost to beauty--that is +the Nova Scotia woods. + +Only the water is not like that. Once on the stream or lake and all is +changed. For the shores are green; the river or brook is clear and +cold--and tarry black in the deep places; the water leaps and dashes in +whirlpools and torrents, and the lakes are fairy lakes, full of green +islands--mere ledges, many of them, with two or three curious sentinel +pines--and everywhere the same clear, black water, and always the trout, +the wonderful, wild, abounding Nova Scotia trout. + +To Jake's Landing was a hard, jolting drive over a bad road, with only a +break here and there where there is a house or two, and maybe a sawmill +and a post-office, the last sentinels of civilization. It was at +Maitland, the most important of these way stations, that we met Loon. +Maitland is almost a village, an old settlement, in fact, with a store +or two, some pretty houses and a mill. Loon is a dog of the hound +variety who makes his home there, and a dear and faithful friend of +Eddie's, by the latter's account. Indeed, as we drew near Maitland, +after announcing that he would wish to stop at the Maitland stores to +procure some new things he had thought of, Eddie became really boastful +of an earlier friendship with Loon. He had met Loon on a former visit, +during his (Loon's) puppyhood days, and he had recorded the meeting in +his diary, wherein Loon had been set down as "a most intelligent and +affectionate young dog." He produced the diary now as evidence, and I +could see that our guides were impressed by this method of systematic +and absolute record which no one dare dispute. He proceeded to tell us +all he knew about Loon, and how glad Loon would be to see him again, +until we were all jealous that no intelligent and affectionate hound dog +was waiting for us at Maitland to sound the joy of welcome and to speed +us with his parting bark. + +Then all at once we were at Maitland and before Loon's home, and sure +enough there in the front yard, wagging both body and tail, stood Loon. +It took but one glance for Eddie to recognize him. Perhaps it took no +more than that for Loon to recognize Eddie. I don't know; but what he +did was this: He lifted up his voice as one mourning for a lost soul and +uttered such a series of wails and lamentations as only a hound dog in +the deepest sorrow can make manifest. + +"Wow-ow-oo-ow-wow-oo-oo-o." + +The loon bird sends a fairly unhappy note floating down the wet, chill +loneliness of a far, rainy lake, but never can the most forlorn of loons +hope to approach his canine namesake of Maitland. Once more he broke +out into a burst of long-drawn misery, then suddenly took off under the +house as if he had that moment remembered an appointment there, and +feared he would be late. But presently he looked out, fearfully enough, +and with his eyes fixed straight on Eddie, set up still another of those +heart-breaking protests. + +As for Eddie, I could see that he was hurt. He climbed miserably down +from the wagon and crept gently toward the sorrowing hound. + +"Nice Loon--nice, good Loon. Don't you remember me?" + +"Wow-ow-oo-ow-wow-oo-oo-o," followed by another disappearance under the +house. + +"Come, Loon, come out and see your old friend--that's a good dog!" + +It was no use. Loon's sorrow would not be allayed, and far beyond +Maitland we still heard him wailing it down the wind. + +Of course it was but natural that we should discuss the matter with +Eddie. He had assured us that dogs never forget, and we pressed him now +to confess what extreme cruelty or deceit he had practiced upon Loon in +his puppyhood, that the grown hound dog had remembered, and reproached +him for to-day. But for the most part Eddie remained silent and seemed +depressed. Neither did he again produce his diary, though we urged him +to do so, in order that he might once more read to us what he had +recorded of Loon. Perhaps something had been overlooked, something that +would make Loon's lamentations clear. I think we were all glad when at +last there came a gleam through the trees and we were at Jake's Landing, +where our boats would first touch the water, where we would break our +bread in the wilderness for the first time. + +[Illustration: "Eddie produced his jug of fly mixture and we anointed +ourselves for the first time, putting on a pungent fragrance."] + +It was not much of a place to camp. There was little shade, a good deal +of mud, and the sun was burning hot. There was a remnant of black flies, +too, and an advance guard of mosquitoes. Eddie produced his jug of fly +mixture and we anointed ourselves for the first time, putting on a +pungent fragrance which was to continue a part of us, body and bone, so +long as the wilderness remained our shelter. It was greasy and sticky +and I could not muster an instant liking for the combined fragrance of +camphor, pennyroyal and tar. But Eddie assured me that I would learn to +love it, and I was willing to try. + +I was more interested in the loading of the canoes. Del, stout of muscle +and figure--not to say fat, at least not over fat--and Charlie, light of +weight and heart--sometimes known as Charles the Strong--were packing +and fitting our plunder into place, condensing it into a tight and solid +compass in the center of our canoes in a way that commanded my respect +and even awe. I could see, however, that when our craft was loaded the +water line and the gunwale were not so far apart, and I realized that +one would want to sit decently still in a craft like that, especially in +rough water. + +Meantime, Eddie had coupled up a rod and standing on a projecting log +was making a few casts. I assumed that he was merely giving us an +exhibition of his skill in throwing a fly, with no expectation of really +getting a rise in this open, disturbed place. It was fine, though, to +see his deft handling of the rod and I confess I watched him with +something of envy. I may confess, too, that my own experience with fly +casting had been confined to tumbling brooks with small pools and +overhanging boughs, where to throw a fly means merely to drop it on a +riffle, or at most to swing it out over a swirling current below a fall. +I wondered as I watched Eddie if I ever should be able to send a fly +sailing backward and then shoot it out forward a matter of twenty yards +or so with that almost imperceptible effort of the wrist; and even if I +did learn the movement, if I could manage to make the fly look real +enough in such smooth, open water as this to fool even the blindest and +silliest of trout. + +But, suddenly, where Eddie's fly--it was a Silver Doctor, I think--fell +lightly on the water, there was a quick swirl, a flash and then a +widening circle of rings. + +"You got him comin'," commented Charlie, who, it seems, had been +noticing. + +The fly went skimming out over the water again and softly as thistle +seed settled exactly in the center of the circling rings. But before it +touched, almost, there came the flash and break again, and this time +there followed the quick stiffening of the rod, a sudden tightening of +the line, and a sharp, keen singing of the reel. + +"That's the time," commented Charlie and reached for a landing net. + +To him it was as nothing--a thing to be done a hundred times a day. But +to me the world heaved and reeled with excitement. It was the first +trout of the expedition, the first trout I had ever seen taken in such +water, probably the largest trout I had ever seen taken in any water. In +the tension of the moment I held my breath, or uttered involuntary +comments. + +It was beautiful to see Eddie handle that trout. The water was open and +smooth and there is no gainsaying Eddie's skill. Had he been giving an +exhibition performance it could not have been more perfect. There was no +eagerness, no driving and dragging, no wild fear of the fish getting +away. The curved rod, the taut swaying line, and the sensitive hand and +wrist did the work. Now and again there was a rush, and the reel sang as +it gave line, but there was never the least bit of slack in the recover. +Nearer and nearer came the still unseen captive, and then presently our +fisherman took the net from his guide, there was a little dipping +movement in the water at his feet and the first trout of the expedition +was a visible fact--his golden belly and scarlet markings the subject of +admiration and comment. + +It was not a very big fish by Nova Scotia standards--about +three-quarters of a pound, I believe; but it was the largest trout I had +ever seen alive, at that time, and I was consumed with envy. I was also +rash. A little more, and I had a rod up, was out on a log engaged in a +faithful effort to swing that rod exactly like Eddie's and to land the +fly precisely in the same place. + +But for some reason the gear wouldn't work. In front of me, the fly fell +everywhere but in the desired spot, and back of me the guides dodged and +got behind bushes. You see, a number three steel hook sailing about +promiscuously in the air, even when partially concealed in a fancy bunch +of feathers, is a thing to be avoided. I had a clear field in no time, +but perhaps Eddie had caught the only fish in the pool, for even he +could get no more rises. Still I persisted and got hot and fierce, and +when I looked at Eddie I hated him because he didn't cut his hair, and +reflected bitterly that it was no wonder a half-savage creature like +that could fish. Finally I hooked a tree top behind me and in jerking +the fly loose made a misstep and went up to my waist in water. The +tension broke then--I helped to break it--and the fishing trip had +properly begun. + +The wagons had left us now, and we were alone with our canoes and our +guides. Del, the stout, who was to have my especial fortunes in hand, +knelt in the stern of the larger canoe and I gingerly entered the bow. +Then Eddie and his guide found their respective places in the lighter +craft and we were ready to move. A moment more and we would drop down +the stream to the lake, and so set out on our long journey. + +I recall now that I was hot and wet and still a little cross. I had +never had any especial enthusiasm about the expedition and more than +once had regretted my pledge made across the table at the end of the old +year. Even the bustle of preparation and the journey into a strange land +had only mildly stirred me, and I felt now that for me, at least, things +were likely to drag. There were many duties at home that required +attention. These woods were full of mosquitoes, probably malaria. It was +possible that I should take cold, be very ill and catch no fish +whatever. But then suddenly we dropped out into the lake Kedgeemakoogee, +the lake of the fairies--a broad expanse of black water, dotted with +green islands, and billowing white in the afternoon wind, and just as we +rounded I felt a sudden tug at the end of my line which was trailing out +behind the canoe. + +In an instant I was alive. Del cautioned me softly from the stern, for +there is no guide who does not wish his charge to acquit himself well. + +"Easy now--easy," he said. "That's a good one--don't hurry him." + +But every nerve in me began to tingle--every drop of blood to move +faster. I was eaten with a wild desire to drag my prize into the boat +before he could escape. Then all at once it seemed to me that my line +must be fast, the pull was so strong and fixed. But looking out behind, +Del saw the water break just then--a sort of double flash. + +"Good, you've got a pair," he said. "Careful, now, and we'll save 'em +both." + +To tell the truth I had no hope of saving either, and if I was careful I +didn't feel so. When I let the line go out, as I was obliged to, now and +then, to keep from breaking it altogether, I had a wild, hopeless +feeling that I could never take it up again and that the prize was just +that much farther away. Whenever there came a sudden slackening I was +sickened with a fear that the fish were gone, and ground the reel handle +feverishly. Fifty yards away the other canoe, with Eddie in the bow, had +struck nothing as yet, and if I could land these two I should be one +ahead on the score. It seems now a puny ambition, but it was vital then. +I was no longer cold, or hot, or afraid of malaria, or mosquitoes, or +anything of the sort. Duties more or less important at home were +forgotten. I was concerned only with those two trout that had fastened +to my flies, the Silver Doctor and the Parmcheenie Belle, out there in +the black, tossing water, and with the proper method of keeping my line +taut, but not too taut, easy, but not too easy, with working the prize +little by little within reach of the net. Eddie, suddenly seeing my +employment, called across congratulations and encouragement. Then, +immediately, he was busy too, with a fish of his own, and the sport, the +great, splendid sport of the far north woods, had really begun. + +I brought my catch near the boatside at last, but it is no trifling +matter to get two trout into a net when they are strung out on a +six-foot leader, with the big trout on the top fly. Reason dictates that +the end trout should go in first and at least twice I had him in, when +the big fellow at the top gave a kick that landed both outside. It's a +mercy I did not lose both, but at last with a lucky hitch they were duly +netted, in the canoe, and I was weak and hysterical, but triumphant. +There was one of nearly a pound and a half, and the other a strong +half-pound, not guess weight, but by Eddie's scales, which I confess I +thought niggardly. Never had I taken such fish in the Adirondack or +Berkshire streams I had known, and what was more, these were two at a +time![1] + +Eddie had landed a fine trout also, and we drew alongside, now, for +consultation. The wind had freshened, the waves were running higher, +and with our heavy canoes the six-mile paddle across would be a risky +undertaking. Why not pitch our first night's camp nearby, here on Jim +Charles point--a beautiful spot where once long ago a half-civilized +Indian had made his home? In this cove before dark we could do abundant +fishing. + +For me there was no other plan. I was all enthusiasm, now. There were +trout here and I could catch them. That was enough. Civilization--the +world, flesh and the devil--mankind and all the duties of life were as +nothing. Here were the woods and the waters. There was the point for the +campfire and the tents. About us were the leaping trout. The spell of +the forest and the chase gripped me body and soul. Only these things +were worth while. Nothing else mattered--nothing else existed. + +We landed and in a little while the tents were white on the shore, Del +and Charlie getting them up as if by conjury. Then once more we were out +in the canoes and the curved rod and the taut line and the singing reel +dominated every other force under the wide sky. It was not the truest +sport, maybe, for the fish were chiefly taken with trolling flies. But +to me, then, it did not matter. Suffice it that they were fine and +plentiful, and that I was two ahead of Eddie when at last we drew in for +supper. + +That was joy enough, and then such trout--for there are no trout on +earth like those one catches himself--such a campfire, such a cozy tent +(Eddie's it was, from one of the catalogues), with the guides' tent +facing, and the fire between. For us there was no world beyond that +circle of light that on one side glinted among boughs of spruce and +cedar and maple and birch, and on the other, gleamed out on the black +water. Lying back on our beds and smoking, and looking at the fire and +the smoke curling up among the dark branches toward the stars, and +remembering the afternoon's sport and all the other afternoons and +mornings and nights still to come, I was moved with a deep sense of +gratitude in my heart toward Eddie. + +"Eddie," I murmured, "I forgive you all those lists, and everything, +even your hair. I begin to understand now something of how you feel +about the woods and the water, and all. Next time----" + +Then (for it was the proper moment) I confessed fully--the purchasing +agent, the tin whistle, even the Jock Scott with two hooks. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The ordinary New York and New England "half pound trout" will weigh +anywhere from four to six ounces. It takes a trout nearly a foot long to +weigh half a pound. With each additional inch the weight increases +rapidly. A trout thirteen inches in length will weigh about three +quarters of a pound. A fourteen-inch trout will weigh a pound. A +fifteen-inch trout, in good condition, will weigh one and a half pounds, +plump. + + + + +Chapter Six + + + _Nearer the fire the shadows creep--_ + _The brands burn dim and red--_ + _While the pillow of sleep lies soft and deep_ + _Under a weary head._ + + + + +Chapter Six + + +When one has been accustomed to the comforts of civilized life--the +small ones, I mean, for they are the only ones that count--the beginning +of a wild, free life near to nature's heart begets a series of +impressions quite new, and strange--so strange. It is not that one +misses a house of solid walls and roof, with stairways and steam +radiators. These are the larger comforts and are more than made up for +by the sheltering temple of the trees, the blazing campfire and the +stairway leading to the stars. But there are things that one does +miss--a little--just at first. When we had finished our first evening's +smoke and the campfire was burning low--when there was nothing further +to do but go to bed, I suddenly realized that the man who said he would +be willing to do without all the rest of a house if he could keep the +bathroom, spoke as one with an inspired knowledge of human needs. + +I would not suggest that I am a person given to luxurious habits and +vain details in the matter of evening toilet. But there are so many +things one is in the habit of doing just about bedtime, which in a +bathroom, with its varied small conveniences, seem nothing at all, yet +which assume undue proportions in the deep, dim heart of nature where +only the large primitive comforts have been provided. I had never been +in the habit, for instance, of stumbling through several rods of bushes +and tangled vines to get to a wash-bowl that was four miles wide and six +miles long and full of islands and trout, and maybe snapping turtles (I +know there were snapping turtles, for Charlie had been afraid to leave +his shoepacks on the beach for fear the turtles would carry them off), +and I had not for many years known what it was to bathe my face on a +ground level or to brush my teeth in the attitude of prayer. It was all +new and strange, as I have said, and there was no hot water--not even a +faucet--that didn't run, maybe, because the man upstairs was using it. +There wasn't any upstairs except the treetops and the sky, though, after +all, these made up for a good deal, for the treetops feathered up and +faded into the dusky blue, and the blue was sown with stars that were +caught up and multiplied by every tiny wrinkle on the surface of the +great black bowl and sent in myriad twinklings to our feet. + +Still, I would have exchanged the stars for a few minutes, for a +one-candle power electric light, or even for a single gas jet with such +gas as one gets when the companies combine and establish a uniform rate. +I had mislaid my tube of dentifrice and in the dim, pale starlight I +pawed around and murmured to myself a good while before I finally called +Eddie to help me. + +"Oh, let it go," he said. "It'll be there for you in the morning. I +always leave mine, and my soap and towel, too." + +He threw his towel over a limb, laid his soap on a log and faced toward +the camp. I hesitated. I was unused to leaving my things out overnight. +My custom was to hang my towel neatly over a rack, to stand my +toothbrush upright in a glass on a little shelf with the dentifrice +beside it. Habit is strong. I did not immediately consent to this wide +and gaudy freedom of the woods. + +"Suppose it rains," I said. + +"All the better--it will wash the towels." + +"But they will be wet in the morning." + +"Um--yes--in the woods things generally are wet in the morning. You'll +get used to that." + +It is likewise my habit to comb my hair before retiring, and to look at +myself in the glass, meantime. This may be due to vanity. It may be a +sort of general inspection to see if I have added any new features, or +lost any of those plucked from the family tree. Perhaps it is only to +observe what the day's burdens have done for me in the way of wrinkles +and gray hairs. Never mind the reason, it is a habit; but I didn't +realize how precious it was to me until I got back to the tent and found +that our only mirror was in Eddie's collection, set in the back of a +combination comb-brush affair about the size of one's thumb. + +Of course it was not at all adequate for anything like a general +inspection. It would just about hold one eye, or a part of a mouth, or +a section of a nose, or a piece of an ear or a little patch of hair, and +it kept you busy guessing where that patch was located. Furthermore, as +the comb was a part of the combination, the little mirror was obliged to +be twinkling around over one's head at the precise moment when it should +have been reflecting some portion of one's features. It served no useful +purpose, thus, and was not much better when I looked up another comb and +tried to use it in the natural way. Held close and far off, twisted and +turned, it was no better. I felt lost and disturbed, as one always does +when suddenly deprived of the exercise of an old and dear habit, and I +began to make mental notes of some things I should bring on the next +trip. + +There was still a good deal to do--still a number of small but precious +conveniences to be found wanting. Eddie noticed that I was getting into +action and said he would stay outside while I was stowing myself away; +which was good of him, for I needed the room. When I began to take on +things I found I needed his bed, too, to put them on. I suppose I had +expected there would be places to hang them. I am said to be rather +absent-minded, and I believe I stood for several minutes with some sort +of a garment in my hand, turning thoughtfully one way and another, +probably expecting a hook to come drifting somewhere within reach. Yes, +hooks are one of the small priceless conveniences, and under-the-bed is +another. I never suspected that the space under the bed could be a +luxury until I began to look for a place to put my shoes and handbag. +Our tent was just long enough for our sleeping-bags, and just about wide +enough for them--one along each side, with a narrow footway between. +They were laid on canvas stretchers which had poles through wide hems +down the sides--the ends of these poles (cut at each camp and selected +for strength and springiness) spread apart and tacked to larger cross +poles, which arrangement raised us just clear of the ground, leaving no +space for anything of consequence underneath. You could hardly put a +fishing rod there, or a pipe, without discomfort to the flesh and danger +to the articles. Undressing and bestowing oneself in an upper berth is +attended with problems, but the berth is not so narrow, and it is flat +and solid, and there are hooks and little hammocks and things--valuable +advantages, now fondly recalled. I finally piled everything on Eddie's +bed, temporarily. I didn't know what I was going to do with it next, but +anything was a boon for the moment. Just then Eddie looked in. + +"That's your pillow material, you know," he said, pointing to my medley +of garments. "You want a pillow, don't you?" + +Sure enough, I had no pillow, and I did want one. I always want a pillow +and a high one. It is another habit. + +"Let me show you," he said. + +So he took my shoes and placed them, one on each side of my couch, about +where a pillow should be, with the soles out, making each serve as a +sort of retaining wall. Then he began to double and fold and fill the +hollow between, taking the bunchy, seamy things first and topping off +with the softer, smoother garments in a deft, workmanlike way. I was +even moved to add other things from my bag to make it higher and +smoother. + +"Now, put your bag on the cross-pole behind your pillow and let it lean +back against the tent. It will stay there and make a sort of head to +your bed, besides being handy in case you want to get at it in the +night." + +Why, it was as simple and easy as nothing. My admiration for Eddie grew. +I said I would get into my couch at once in order that he might +distribute himself likewise. + +But this was not so easy. I had never got into a sleeping-bag before, +and it is a thing that requires a little practice to do it with skill +and grace. It has to be done section at a time, and one's night garment +must be worked down co-ordinately in order that it may not become merely +a stuffy life-preserver thing under one's arms. To a beginner this is +slow, warm work. By the time I was properly down among the coarse, new +blankets and had permeated the remotest corners of the clinging +envelope, I had had a lot of hard exercise and was hot and thirsty. So +Del brought me a drink of water. I wasn't used to being waited on in +that way, but it was pleasant. After all there were some conveniences of +camp life that were worth while. And the bed was comfortable and the +pillow felt good. I lay watching Eddie shape his things about, all his +bags and trappings falling naturally into the places they were to occupy +through the coming weeks. The flat-topped bag with the apothecary stores +and other urgency articles went at the upper end of the little footway, +and made a sort of table between our beds. Another bag went behind his +pillow, which he made as he had made mine, though he topped it off with +a little rubber affair which he inflated while I made another mental +memorandum for next year. A third bag---- + +But I did not see the fate of the third bag. A haze drifted in between +me and the busy little figure that was placing and pulling and folding +and arranging--humming a soothing ditty meantime--and I was swept up +bodily into a cloud of sleep. + + + + +Chapter Seven + + + _Now, Dawn her gray green mantle weaves_ + _To the lilt of a low refrain--_ + _The drip, drip, drip of the lush green leaves_ + _After a night of rain._ + + + + +Chapter Seven + + +The night was fairly uneventful. Once I imagined I heard something +smelling around the camp, and I remember having a sleepy curiosity as to +the size and manner of the beast, and whether he meant to eat us and +where he would be likely to begin. I may say, too, that I found some +difficulty in turning over in my sleeping-bag, and that it did rain. I +don't know what hour it was when I was awakened by the soft thudding +drops just above my nose, but I remember that I was glad, for there had +been fires in the woods, and the streams were said to be low. I +satisfied myself that Eddie's patent, guaranteed perfectly waterproof +tent was not leaking unduly, and wriggling into a new position, slept. + +It was dull daylight when I awoke. Through the slit in the tent I could +see the rain drizzling on the dead campfire. Eddie--long a guest of the +forest lost now in the multiple folds of his sleeping-bag--had not +stirred. A glimpse of the guides' tent opposite revealed that the flap +was still tightly drawn. There was no voice or stir of any living +creature. Only the feet of the rain went padding among the leaves and +over the tent. + +Now, I am not especially given to lying in bed, and on this particular +morning any such inclination was rather less manifest than usual. I +wanted to spread myself out, to be able to move my arms away from my +body, to whirl around and twist and revolve a bit without so much +careful preparation and deliberate movement. + +Yet there was very little to encourage one to get up. Our campfire--so +late a glory and an inspiration--had become a remnant of black ends and +soggy ash. I was not overhot as I lay, and I had a conviction that I +should be less so outside the sleeping-bag, provided always that I could +extricate myself from that somewhat clinging, confining envelope. +Neither was there any immediate prospect of breakfast--nobody to talk +to--no place to go. I had an impulse to arouse Eddie for the former +purpose, but there was something about that heap of canvas and blankets +across the way that looked dangerous. I had never seen him roused in his +forest lair, and I suspected that he would be savage. I concluded to +proceed cautiously--in some manner which might lead him to believe that +the fall of a drifting leaf or the note of a bird had been his summons. +I worked one arm free, and reaching out for one of my shoes--a delicate +affair, with the soles filled with splices for clambering over the +rocks--I tossed it as neatly as possible at the irregular bunch +opposite, aiming a trifle high. It fell with a solid, sickening thud, +and I shrank down into my bag, expecting an eruption. None came. Then I +was seized with the fear that I had killed or maimed Eddie. It seemed +necessary to investigate. + +I took better aim this time and let go with the other shoe. + +"Eddie!" I yelled, "are you dead?" + +There was a stir this time and a deep growl. It seemed to take the form +of words, at length, and I caught, or fancied I did, the query as to +what time it was; whereupon I laboriously fished up my watch and +announced in clear tones that the hand was upon the stroke of six. Also +that it was high time for children of the forest to bestir themselves. + +At this there was another and a deeper growl, ending with a single +syllable of ominous sound. I could not be sure, but heard through the +folds of a sleeping-bag, the word sounded a good deal like hell and I +had a dim conviction that he was sending me there, perhaps realizing +that I was cold. Then he became unconscious again, and I had no more +shoes. + +Yet my efforts had not been without effect. There was a nondescript stir +in the guides' tent, and presently the head of Charles, sometimes called +the Strong, protruded a little and was withdrawn. Then that of Del, the +Stout, appeared and a little later two extraordinary semi-amphibious +figures issued--wordless and still rocking a little with sleep--and with +that deliberate precision born of long experience went drabbling after +fuel and water that the morning fire might kindle and the morning pot be +made to boil. + +They were clad in oilskins, and the drapery of Charles deserves special +attention. It is likely that its original color had been a flaunt of +yellow, and that it had been bedizened with certain buttonholes and hems +and selvages and things, such as adorn garments in a general way of +whatever nature or sex. That must have been a long time ago. It is +improbable that the oldest living inhabitant would be able to testify +concerning these items. + +Observing him thoughtfully as he bent over the wet ashes and skillfully +cut and split and presently brought to flame the little heap of wood he +had garnered, there grew upon me a realization of the vast service that +suit of oilskins must have rendered to its owners--of the countless +storms that had beaten upon it; of the untold fires that had been +kindled under its protection; of the dark, wild nights when it had +served in fording torrents and in clambering over slippery rocks, indeed +of all the ages of wear and tear that had eaten into its seams and +selvages and hues since the day when Noah first brought it out of the +Ark and started it down through the several generations which had ended +with our faithful Charles, the Strong. + +I suppose this is just one of those profitless reflections which is +likely to come along when one is still tangled up in a sleeping-bag, +watching the tiny flame that grows a little brighter and bigger each +moment and forces at last a glow of comfort into the tent until the +day, after all, seems worth beginning, though the impulse to begin it is +likely to have diminished. I have known men, awake for a long time, who +have gone on to sleep during just such morning speculations, when the +flames grew bright and brighter and crackled up through the little heap +of dry branches and sent that glow of luxury into the tent. I remember +seeing our guide adjust a stick at an angle above the fire, whereby to +suspend a kettle, and men, suddenly, of being startled from somewhere--I +was at the club, I think, in the midst of a game of pool--by a wild +whoop and the spectacle of Eddie, standing upright in the little runway +between our beds, howling that the proper moment for bathing had +arrived, and kicking up what seemed to me a great and unnecessary stir. + +[Illustration: "Not to take the morning dip ... was to manifest a sad +lack of the true camping spirit."] + +The idea of bathing on such a morning and in that primitive costume had +not, I think, occurred to me before, but I saw presently there was +nothing else for it. A little later I was following Eddie, cringing from +the cold, pelting rain, limping gingerly over sharp sticks and pebbles +to the water's edge. The lake was shallow near the shore which meant a +fearful period of wading before taking the baptismal plunge that would +restore one's general equilibrium. It required courage, too, for the +water was icy--courage to wade out to the place, and once there, to make +the plunge. I should never have done it if Eddie had not insisted that +according to the standard text-books the day in every well-ordered camp +always began with this ceremony. Not to take the morning dip, he said, +was to manifest a sad lack of the true camping spirit. Thus prodded, I +bade the world a hasty good-by and headed for the bottom. A moment later +we were splashing and puffing like seals, shouting with the fierce, +delightful torture of it--wide awake enough now, and marvelously +invigorated when all was over. + +[Illustration: "Catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled +admiration"] + +We were off after breakfast--a breakfast of trout and flapjacks--the +latter with maple sirup in the little eating tent. The flapjacks were +Del's manufacture, and his manner of tossing the final large one into +the air and catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled admiration. + +The lake was fairly smooth and the rain no longer fell. A gray +morning--the surface of the water gray--a gray mantle around the more +distant of the islands, with here and there sharp rocks rising just +above the depths. It was all familiar enough to the guides, but to me it +was a new world. Seated in the bow I swung my paddle joyously, and even +with our weighty load it seemed that we barely touched the water. One +must look out for the rocks, though, for a sharp point plunged through +the bottom of a canoe might mean shipwreck. A few yards away, Eddie and +his guide--light-weight bodies, both of them--kept abreast, their +appearance somehow suggesting two grasshoppers on a straw. + +It is six miles across Kedgeemakoogee and during the passage it rained. +When we were about half-way over I felt a drop or two strike me and saw +the water about the canoe spring up into little soldiers. A moment later +we were struck on every side and the water soldiers were dancing in a +multitude. Then they mingled and rushed together. The green islands were +blotted out. The gates of the sky swung wide. + +[Illustration: "To put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of +a canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter."] + +Of course it was necessary to readjust matters. Del drew on his oilskins +and I reached for my own. I had a short coat, a sou'wester, and a pair +of heavy brown waders, so tall that they came up under my arms when +fully adjusted. There was no special difficulty in getting on the hat +and coat, but to put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of a +canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter. There seemed no good place +to straighten my legs out in order to get a proper pull. To stand up was +to court destruction, and when I made an attempt to put a leg over the +side of the canoe Del admonished me fearfully that another such move +would send us to the bottom forthwith. Once my thumbs pulled out of the +straps and I tumbled back on the stores, the rain beating down in my +face. I suppose the suddenness of the movement disturbed the balance of +the boat somewhat, for Del let out a yell that awoke a far-away loon, +who replied dismally. When at last I had the feet on, I could not get +the tops in place, for of course there was no way to get them anywhere +near where they really belonged without standing up. So I had to remain +in that half-on and half-off condition, far from comfortable, but more +or less immune to wet. I realized what a sight I must look, and I could +hardly blame Eddie for howling in derision at me when he drew near +enough to distinguish my outline through the downpour. I also realized +what a poor rig I had on for swimming, in event of our really capsizing, +and I sat straight and still and paddled hard for the other side. + +It was not what might be termed a "prolonged and continuous downpour." +The gray veil lifted from the islands. The myriad of battling soldiers +diminished. Presently only a corporal's guard was leaping and dancing +about the canoe. Then these disappeared. The clouds broke away. The sun +came. Ahead of us was a green shore--the other side of Kedgeemakoogee +had been reached. + + + + +Chapter Eight + + + _Where the trail leads back from the water's edge--_ + _Tangled and overgrown--_ + _Shoulder your load and strike the road_ + _Into the deep unknown._ + + + + +Chapter Eight + + +We were at the beginning of our first carry, now--a stretch of about two +miles through the woods. The canoes were quickly unloaded, and as I +looked more carefully at the various bags and baskets of supplies, I +realized that they were constructed with a view of being connected with +a man's back. I had heard and read a good deal about portages and I +realized in a general way that the canoes had to be carried from one +water system to another, but somehow I had never considered the baggage. +Naturally I did not expect it to get over of its own accord, and when I +came to consider the matter I realized that a man's back was about the +only place where it could ride handily and with reasonable safety. I +also realized that a guide's life is not altogether a holiday excursion. + +I felt sorry for the guides. I even suggested to Eddie that he carry a +good many of the things. I pointed out that most of them were really +his, anyway, and that it was too bad to make our faithful retainers lug +a drug store and sporting goods establishment, besides the greater part +of a provision warehouse. Eddie sympathized with the guides, too. He was +really quite pathetic in his compassion for them, but he didn't carry +any of the things. That is, any of those things. + +It is the etiquette of portage--of Nova Scotia portage, at least--that +the fisherman shall carry his own sporting paraphernalia--which is to +say, his rods, his gun, if he has one, his fishing basket and his +landing net. Also, perhaps, any convenient bag of tackle or apparel when +not too great an inconvenience. It is the business of the guides to +transport the canoes, the general outfit, and the stores. As this was to +be rather a long carry, and as more than one trip would be necessary, it +was proposed to make a half-way station for luncheon, at a point where a +brook cut the trail. + +But our procession did not move immediately. In the first place one of +the canoes appeared to have sprung a leak, and after our six-mile paddle +this seemed a proper opportunity to rest and repair damages. The bark +craft was hauled out, a small fire scraped together and the pitch pot +heated while the guides pawed and squinted about the boat's bottom to +find the perforation. Meantime I tried a few casts in the lake, from a +slanting rock, and finally slipped in, as was my custom. Then we found +that we did not wish to wait until reaching the half-way brook before +having at least a bite and sup. It was marshy and weedy where we were +and no inviting place to serve food, but we were tolerably wet, and we +had paddled a good way. We got out a can of corned beef and a loaf of +bread, and stood around in the ooze, and cut off chunks and chewed and +gulped and worked them down into place. Then we said we were ready, and +began to load up. I experimented by hanging such things as landing nets +and a rod-bag on my various projections while my hands were to be +occupied with my gun and a tackle-bag. The things were not especially +heavy, but they were shifty. I foresaw that the rod-bag would work +around under my arm and get in the way of my feet, and that the landing +nets would complicate matters. I tied them all in a solid bunch at last, +with the gun inside. This simplified the problem a good deal, and was an +arrangement for which I had reason to be thankful. + +It was interesting to see our guides load up. Charles, the Strong, had +been well named. He swung a huge basket on his back, his arms through +straps somewhat like those which support an evening gown, and a-top of +this, other paraphernalia was piled. I have seen pack burros in Mexico +that were lost sight of under their many burdens and I remembered them +now, as our guides stood forth ready to move. I still felt sorry for +them (the guides, of course) and suggested once more to Eddie that he +should assume some of their burdens. In fact, I was almost willing to do +so myself, and when at the last moment both Charlie and Del stooped and +took bundles in each hand, I was really on the very point of offering to +carry something, only there was nothing more to carry but the canoes, +and of course they had to be left for the next trip. I was glad, though, +of the generous impulse on my part. There is always comfort in such +things. Eddie and I set out ahead. + +There is something fine and inspiring about a portage. In the first +place, it is likely to be through a deep wood, over a trail not +altogether easy to follow. Then there is the fascinating thought that +you are cutting loose another link from everyday mankind--pushing a +chapter deeper into the wilderness, where only the more adventurous ever +come. Also, there is the romantic gipsy feeling of having one's +possessions in such compass that not only the supplies themselves, but +the very means of transportation may be bodily lifted and borne from one +water link to another of that chain which leads back ever farther into +the unknown. + +I have suggested that a portage trail is not always easy to follow. As a +matter of fact the chances are that it will seldom be easy to follow. It +will seldom be a path fit for human beings. It won't be even a decent +moose path, and a moose can go anywhere that a bird can. A carry is +meant to be the shortest distance between two given places and it +doesn't strive for luxury. It will go under and over logs, through +scratchy thickets and gardens of poison ivy. It will plow through swamps +and quicksands; it will descend into pits; it will skin along the sharp +edge of slippery rocks set up at impossible angles, so that only a +mountain goat can follow it without risking his neck. I believe it would +climb a tree if a big one stood directly in its path. + +We did not get through with entire safety. The guides, shod in their +shoepacks, trained to the business, went along safely enough, though +they lurched a good deal under their heavy cargoes and seemed always on +the verge of disaster. Eddie and I did not escape. I saw Eddie slip, and +I heard him come down with a grunt which I suspected meant damage. It +proved a serious mishap, for it was to one of his reels, a bad business +so early in the game. I fell, too, but I only lost some small areas of +skin which I knew Eddie would replace with joy from a bottle in his +apothecary bag. + +But there were things to be seen on that two-mile carry. A partridge +flew up and whirred away into the bushes. A hermit thrush was calling +from the greenery, and by slipping through very carefully we managed to +get a sight of his dark, brown body. Then suddenly Eddie called to me to +look, and I found him pointing up into a tree. + +"Porky, Porky!" he was saying, by which I guessed he had found a +porcupine, for I had been apprised of the numbers in these woods. "Come, +here's a shot for you," he added, as I drew nearer. "Porcupines damage a +lot of trees and should be killed." + +I gazed up and distinguished a black bunch clinging to the body of a +fairly large spruce, near the top. "He doesn't seem to be damaging that +tree much," I said. + +"No, but he will. They kill ever so many. The State of Maine pays a +bounty for their scalps." + +I looked up again. Porky seemed to be inoffensive enough, and my killing +blood was not much aroused. + +"But the hunters and logmen destroy a good many more trees with their +fires," I argued. "Why doesn't the State of Maine and the Province of +Nova Scotia pay a bounty for the scalps of a few hunters and logmen?" + +But Eddie was insistent. It was in the line of duty, he urged, to +destroy porcupines. They were of no value, except, perhaps, to eat. + +"Will you agree to eat this one if I shoot him?" I asked, unbundling my +rifle somewhat reluctantly. + +"Of course--that's understood." + +I think even then I would have spared Porky's life, but at that moment +he ran a little way up the tree. There was something about that slight +movement that stirred the old savage in me. I threw my rifle to my +shoulder, and with hasty aim fired into the center of the black bunch. + +I saw it make a quick, quivering jump, slip a little, and cling fast. +There was no stopping now. A steady aim at the black ball this time, and +a second shot, followed by another convulsive start, a long slide, then +a heavy thudding fall at our feet--a writhing and a twisting--a moaning +and grieving as of a stricken child. + +And it was not so easy to stop this. I sent shot after shot into the +quivering black, pin-cushioned ball before it was finally still--its +stained, beautifully pointed quills scattered all about. When it was +over, I said: + +"Well, Eddie, they may eat up the whole of Nova Scotia, if they want +to--woods, islands and all, but I'll never shoot another, unless I'm +starving." + +We had none of us starved enough to eat that porcupine. In the first +place he had to be skinned, and there seemed no good place to begin. The +guides, when they came up, informed us that it was easy enough to do +when you knew how, and that the Indians knew how and considered +porcupine a great delicacy. But we were not Indians, at least not in the +ethnological sense, and the delicacy in this instance applied only to +our appetites. I could see that Eddie was anxious to break his vow, now +that his victim was really dead by my hand. We gathered up a few of the +quills--gingerly, for a porcupine quill once in the flesh, is said to +work its way to the heart--and passed on, leaving the black pin cushion +lying where it fell. Perhaps Porky's death saved one or two more trees +for the next Nova Scotia fire. + +There were no trout for luncheon at our half-way halt. The brook there +was a mere rivulet, and we had not kept the single small fish caught +that morning. Still I did not mind. Not that I was tired of trout so +soon, but I began to suspect that it would require nerve and resolution +to tackle them three times a day for a period of weeks, and that it +might be just as well to start rather gradually, working in other things +from time to time. + +I protested, however, when Del produced a can of Columbia River salmon. +That, I said, was a gross insult to every fish in the Nova Scotia +waters. Canned salmon on a fishing trip! The very thought of it was an +offense; I demanded that it be left behind with the porcupine. Never, I +declared, would I bemean myself by eating that cheap article of +commerce--that universally indigenous fish food--here in the home of the +chief, the prince, the _ne plus ultra_ of all fishes--the Nova Scotia +trout. + +So Del put the can away, smiling a little, and produced beans. That was +different. One may eat beans anywhere under the wide sky. + + + + +Chapter Nine + + + _The black rock juts on the hidden pool_ + _And the waters are dim and deep,_ + _Oh, lightly tread--'tis a royal bed,_ + _And a king lies there asleep._ + + + + +Chapter Nine + + +It was well into the afternoon before the canoes reached the end of the +carry--poking out through the green--one on the shoulders of each guide, +inverted like long shields, such as an ancient race might have used as a +protection from arrows. Eddie and I, meantime, had been employed getting +a mess of frogs, for it was swampy just there, and frogs, mosquitoes and +midges possessed the locality. We anointed for the mosquitoes and +"no-see-ums," as the midges are called by the Indians, and used our +little rifles on the frogs. + +I wonder, by the way, what mosquitoes were made for. Other people have +wondered that before, but you can't overdo the thing. Maybe if we keep +on wondering we shall find out. Knowledge begins that way, and it will +take a lot of speculation to solve the mosquito mystery. + +I can't think of anything that I could do without easier than the +mosquito. He seems to me a creature wholly devoid of virtues. He is a +glutton, a poisoner, a spreader of disease, a dispenser of disturbing +music. That last is the hardest to forgive. If he would only be still I +could overlook the other things. I wonder if he will take his voice with +him into the next world. I should like to know, too, which place he is +bound for. I should like to know, so I could take the other road.[2] + +Across Mountain Lake was not far, and then followed another short +carry--another link of removal--to a larger lake, Pescawess. It was +nearly five miles across Pescawess, but we made good time, for there was +a fair wind. Also we had the knowledge that Pescawah Brook flows in on +the other side, and the trout there were said to be large and not often +disturbed. + +We camped a little below this brook, and while the tents were going up +Eddie and I took one of the canoes and slipped away past an island or +two, among the strewn bowlders at the stream's mouth, pausing to cast a +little here and there, though at first with no other result than to get +our lines in a mess together. + +"Now, say, old man," Eddie began, as my line made a turn around his neck +and a half-dozen twists around his tackle, the whole dropping in a heap +in the water, "you mustn't cast like that. You should use the treetop +cast--straight up in the air, when there's a man behind you. Don't you +know you might lacerate a fellow's ear, or put a hook through his lip, +or his nose, or something?" + +I said that I was sorry, and that if he would give me a few points on +the treetop cast, and then avoid sitting in the treetops as much as +possible himself I thought there would be no further danger. + +He was not altogether pacified. The lines were in a bad tangle and he +said it was wasting precious time to be fooling that way. Clearly two +men could not fish from one canoe and preserve their friendship, and +after our lines were duly parted and Eddie had scolded me sufficiently, +we went ashore just below where the swift current tumbles in, and made +our way to the wide, deep, rock-bound pools above. The going was pretty +thick and scratchy, and one had to move deliberately. + +Eddie had more things to carry than I did, for he had brought his gun +and his long-handled net, and these, with his rod, set up and properly +geared with a long leader and two flies, worried him a good deal. The +net had a way of getting hung on twigs. The line and leader displayed a +genius for twisting around small but tough branches and vines, the hooks +caught in unexpected places, and the gun was possessed to get between +his legs. When I had time to consider him, he was swearing steadily and +I think still blaming me for most of his troubles, though the saints +know I was innocent enough and not without difficulties of my own. +Chiefly, I was trying to avoid poison ivy, which is my bane and seemed +plentiful in this particular neck of the woods. + +We were out at last, and the wide, dark pool, enclosed by great black +bowlders and sloping slabs of stone, seemed as if it might repay our +efforts. Not for years, maybe, had an artificial fly been cast in that +water. Perhaps Eddie was still annoyed with me, for he pushed farther up +to other pools, and was presently lost to view. + +I was not sorry of this, for it may be remembered that I had thus far +never caught a trout by casting in open, smooth water, and I was willing +to practice a little alone. I decided to work deliberately, without +haste and excitement, and to get my flies caught in the treetops as +infrequently as possible. I adjusted them now, took a good look behind +and tossed my cast toward the other side of the dark pool. I thought I +did it rather well, too, and I dragged the flies with a twitching +motion, as I had seen Eddie do it, but nothing happened. If there were +trout anywhere in the world, they would be in a pool like this, and if +there was ever an evening for them it was now. It was in the nature of +probability that Eddie would come back with a good string, and I could +not let him find me a confessed failure. So once more I sent the flies +out over the pool--a little farther this time, and twitched them a +little more carefully, but I might have been fishing in a tub, so far as +any tangible fish were concerned. + +A little more line and a reckless back cast landed my tail fly in a +limb--a combination which required time and patience to disengage. By +the time I had worked out the puzzle it began to seem like a warm +evening. Then I snapped the flies into several different corners of the +pool, got hung again on the same limb, jerked and broke the fly and +repeated some of the words I had learned from Eddie as we came through +the brush. + +I was cooler after that, and decided to put on a new and different fly. +I thought a Jenny Lind would be about the thing, and pretty soon was +slapping it about--at first hopefully, then rashly. Then in mere +desperation I changed the top fly and put on a Montreal. Of course I +wouldn't catch anything. I never would catch anything, except by +trolling, as any other duffer, or even a baby might, but I would have +fun with the flies, anyway. So the Montreal went capering out over the +pool, landing somewhere amid the rocks on the other side. And then all +at once I had my hands full of business, for there was a leap and a +splash, and a z-z-z-t of the reel, and a second later my rod was curved +like a buggy whip, the line as taut as wire and weaving and swaying from +side to side with a live, heavy body, the body of a trout--a real +trout--hooked by me with a fly, cast on a quiet pool. + +I wouldn't have lost that fish for money. But I was deadly afraid of +doing so. A good thing for me, then, my practice in landing, of the +evening before. "Easy, now--easy," I said to myself, just as Del had +done. "If you lose this fish you're a duffer, sure enough; also a chump +and several other undesirable things. Don't hurry him--don't give him +unnecessary line in this close place where there may be snags--don't, +above all things, let him get any slack on you. Just a little line, +now--a few inches will do--and keep the tip of your rod up. If you point +it at him and he gets a straight pull he will jump off, sure, or he will +rush and you cannot gather the slack. Work him toward you, now, toward +your feet, close in--your net has a short handle, and is suspended +around your neck by a rubber cord. The cord will stretch, of course, but +you can never reach him over there. Don't mind the reel--you have taken +up enough line. You can't lift out a fish like that on a four-ounce +rod--on any rod short of a hickory sapling. Work him toward you, you +gump! Bring your rod up straighter--straighter--straight! Now for the +net--carefully--oh, you clumsy duffer, to miss him! Don't you know that +you can't thrash him into the net like that?--that you must dip the net +_under_ him? I suppose you thought you were catching mice. You deserve +to lose him altogether. Once more, now, he's right at your feet--a +king!" + +Two long backward steps after that dip, for I must be certain that he +was away from the water's edge. Then I bumped into something--something +soft that laughed. It was Eddie, and he had two fish in his landing +net. + +"Bully!" he said. "You did it first-rate, only you don't need to try to +beat him to death with the landing net. Better than mine," he added, as +I took my trout off the fly. "Suppose now we go below. I've taken a look +and there's a great pool, right where the brook comes out. We can get to +it in the canoe. I'll handle the canoe while you fish." + +That, also, is Eddie's way. He had scolded me and he would make amends. +He had already taken down his rod, and we made our way back through the +brush without much difficulty, though I was still hot with effort and +excitement, and I fear a little careless about the poison ivy. A few +minutes later, Eddie, who handles a canoe--as he does everything else +pertaining to the woods--with grace and skill, had worked our craft +among the rocks into the wide, swift water that came out from under a +huge fallen log--the mouth of Pescawah Brook. + +"Cast there," he said, pointing to a spot just below the log. + +Within twenty minutes from that time I had learned more about +fishing--real trout fishing--than I had known before in all my life. I +had, in Eddie, a peerless instructor, and I had such water for a drill +ground as is not found in every day's, or every week's, or every month's +travel. Besides, there were fish. Singly and in pairs they came--great, +beautiful, mottled fellows--sometimes leaping clear of the water like a +porpoise, to catch the fly before it fell. There were none less than a +pound, and many over that weight. When we had enough for supper and +breakfast--a dozen, maybe--we put back the others that came, as soon as +taken from the hook. The fishing soon ended then, for I believe the +trout have some means of communication, and one or two trout returned to +a pool will temporarily discourage the others. It did not matter. I had +had enough, and once more, thanks to Eddie, returned to the camp, +jubilant. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] When this chapter appeared in _The Outing Magazine_ Frederic +Remington wrote as follows: + +"My dear Paine: Just read your _Outing_ article on the woods and your +speculation on 'why mosquitoes were made,' etc. I know the answer. They +were created to aid civilization--otherwise, no man not an idiot would +live anywhere else than in the woods." + +I am naturally glad to have this word of wisdom from an authority like +Remington, but I still think that Providence could have achieved the +same result and somehow managed to leave the mosquito out of it. + + + + +Chapter Ten + + + _Where the path is thick and the branches twine_ + _I pray you, friend, beware!_ + _For the noxious breath of a lurking vine_ + _May wither your gladness there._ + + + + +Chapter Ten + + +It was raining next morning, but that was not the worst. During the +night I had awakened with a curious, but not entirely unfamiliar +sensation about one of my eyes. There was a slight irritant, itching +tendency, and the flesh felt puffy to the touch. I tried to believe it +was imagination, and went to sleep again. + +But there was no doubt next morning. Imagination is a taunting jade, but +I don't believe she could close one of my eyes and fatten up the +other--not in so short a time. It was poison ivy--that was what it +was--and I had it bad. + +[Illustration: "Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye."] + +When Eddie woke, which he did, finally, he took one look at me and dove +back into his sleeping bag out of pure fear. He said I was a sight, and +he was correct. Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye, but taking my features in sections I could see that he had +not overstated my appearance. Perhaps the situation was amusing, too--at +least Eddie, and even the guides, professed to be entertained--but for +me, huddled against one side of a six by eight tent--a tent otherwise +packed with bags and bundles and traps of various kinds--Eddie's things, +mostly, and Eddie himself among them--with a chill rain coming down +outside, and with a face swollen and aching in a desperate way with +poison, the quality of the humor to me seemed strained when I tried to +distinguish it with the part of an eye I had left. + +Eddie meantime had dived down into his bag of remedies, happy to have a +chance to use any or all of them, and was laying them out on his +sleeping bag in front of him--in his lap, as it were, for he had not +yet arisen--reading the labels and wondering which he should try on me +first. I waited a little, then I said: + +"Never mind those, Eddie, give me your alcohol and witch hazel." + +But then came an embarrassing moment. Running his eye over the bottles +and cans Eddie was obliged to confess that not one of them contained +either alcohol or witch hazel. + +"Eddie," I said reproachfully, "can it be, in a drug store like that, +there is neither alcohol nor witch hazel?" + +He nodded dismally. + +"I meant to bring them," he said, "but the triple extract of gelsemium +would do such a lot of things, and I thought I didn't need them, and +then you made fun of that, and--and----" + +"Never mind, Eddie," I said, "I have an inspiration. If alcohol cures +it, maybe whisky will, and thank Heaven we did bring the whisky!" + +We remained two days in that camp and I followed up the whisky treatment +faithfully. It rained most of the time, so the delay did not matter. +Indeed it was great luck that we were not held longer by that +distressing disorder which comes of the malignant three-leaved plant +known as mercury, or poison ivy. Often it has disqualified me for a week +or more. But the whisky treatment was a success. Many times a day I +bathed my face in the pure waters of the lake and then with the +spirits--rye or Scotch, as happened to be handy. By the afternoon of the +first day I could see to put sirup on my flapjacks, and once between +showers I felt able to go out with Eddie in the canoe, during which +excursion he took a wonderful string of trout in a stagnant-looking, +scummy pool where no one would ever expect trout to lie, and where no +one but Eddie could have taken them at all. + +By the next morning, after a night of sorrow--for my face always pained +and itched worse when everybody was in bed and still, with nothing to +soothe me but the eternal drip, drip from the boughs and from the eaves +of the tent--the swelling was still further reduced, and I felt able to +travel. And I wish to add here in all seriousness that whatever may be +your scruples against the use of liquors, don't go into the woods +without whisky--rye or Scotch, according to preference. Alcohol, of +course, is good for poison ivy, but whisky is better. Maybe it is +because of the drugs that wicked men are said to put into it. Besides, +whisky has other uses. The guides told us of one perfectly rigid person +who, when he had discovered that whisky was being included in his camp +supplies, had become properly incensed, and commanded that it be left at +home. The guides had pleaded that he need not drink any of it, that they +would attend to that part of what seemed to them a necessary camp duty, +but he was petrified in his morals, and the whisky remained behind. + +Well, they struck a chilly snap, and it rained. It was none of your +little summer landscape rains, either. It was a deadly cold, driving, +drenching saturation. Men who had built their houses on the sand, and +had no whisky, were in a bad fix. The waves rose and the tents blew +down, and the rigid, fossilized person had to be carried across an +overflowed place on the back of a guide, lifting up his voice meanwhile +in an effort to convince the Almighty that it was a mistake to let it +rain at this particular time, and calling for whisky at every step. + +It is well to carry one's morals into the woods, but if I had to leave +either behind, I should take the whisky. + +It was a short carry to Lake Pescawah. Beyond that water we carried +again about a quarter of a mile to a lake called Pebbleloggitch--perhaps +for the reason that the Indian who picked out the name couldn't find a +harder one. From Pebbleloggitch we made our way by a long canal-like +stillwater through a land wherein no man--not even an Indian, +perhaps--has ever made his home, for it lies through a weird, lonely +marsh--a sort of meadow which no reaper ever harvested, where none but +the wild moose ever feeds. + +We were nearing the edge of the unknown now. One of the guides, Del, I +think, had been through this stillwater once before, a long time ago. At +the end of it, he knew, lay the upper Shelburne River, which was said to +flow through a sheet of water called Irving Lake. But where the river +entered the lake and where it left it was for us to learn. Already forty +miles or more from our starting point, straight into the wilderness, we +were isolated from all mankind, and the undiscovered lay directly +before. At the end of the stillwater Del said: + +"Well, gentlemen, from this on you know as much of the country as I do. +All I know is what I've heard, and that's not much. I guess most of it +we'll have to learn for ourselves." + + + + +Chapter Eleven + + + _By lonely tarn, mid thicket deep,_ + _The she-moose comes to bear_ + _Her sturdy young, and she doth keep_ + _It safely guarded there._ + + + + +Chapter Eleven + + +We got any amount of fly-casting in the Pebbleloggitch stillwater, but +no trout. I kept Del dodging and twice I succeeded in hooking him, +though not in a vital spot. I could have done it, however, if he had sat +still and given me a fair chance. I could land Del even with the treetop +cast, but the trout refused to be allured. As a rule, trout would not +care to live in a place like that. There would not be enough excitement +and activity. A trout prefers a place where the water is busy--where the +very effort of keeping from being smashed and battered against the rocks +insures a good circulation and a constitution like a steel spring. I +have taken trout out of water that would have pulverized a golf ball in +five minutes. The fiercer the current--the greater the tumult--the more +cruel and savage the rocks, the better place it is for trout. + +Neither do I remember that we took anything in the Shelburne above +Irving Lake, for it was a good deal like the stillwater, with only a +gentle riffle here and there. Besides, the day had become chill, and a +mist had fallen upon this lonely world--a wet white, drifting mist that +was closely akin to rain. On such a day one does not expect trout to +rise, and is seldom disappointed. Here and there, where the current was +slow-moving and unruffled, Eddie, perhaps, would have tried his dry +flies, but never a trout was seen to break water, and it is one of the +tenets of dry-fly fishing that a cast may only be made where a trout has +been seen to rise--even then, only after a good deal of careful +maneuvering on shore to reach the proper spot on the bank without +breaking the news to the trout. It wasn't a pleasant time to go +wriggling through marsh grass and things along the shore, so it is just +as well that there was no excuse for doing it. + +As it was, we paddled rather silently down the still river, considerably +impressed with the thought that we were entering a land to us +unknown--that for far and far in every direction, beyond the white mist +that shut us in and half-obliterated the world, it was likely that there +was no human soul that was not of our party and we were quieted by the +silence and the loneliness on every hand. + +Where the river entered the lake there was no dashing, tumbling water. +In fact, we did not realize that we had reached the lake level until the +shores on either hand receded, slowly at first, and then broadly +widening, melted away and were half lost in the mist. + +The feeling grew upon me, all at once, that we were very high here. +There were no hills or ridges that we could see, and the outlines of +such timber as grew along the shore seemed low. It was as if we had +reached the top of the world, where there were no more hills--where the +trees had been obliged to struggle up to our altitude, barely to fringe +us round. As for course now, we had none. Our map was of the vaguest +sort. Where the outlet was we could only surmise. + +In a general way it was supposed to be at the "other end" of the lake, +where there was said to be an old dam, built when the region was +lumbered, long ago. But as to the shape of the lake, and just where that +"other end" might lie, when every side except the bit of shore nearest +at hand was lost in the wet, chill mist, were matters for conjecture and +experiment. We paddled a little distance and some islands came out of +the gray veil ahead--green Nova Scotia islands, with their ledges of +rock, some underbrush and a few sentinel pines. We ran in close to +these, our guides looking for moose or signs of them. + +I may say here that no expedition in Nova Scotia is a success without +having seen at least one moose. Of course, in the hunting season, the +moose is the prime object, but such is the passion for this animal among +Nova Scotia guides, that whatever the season or the purpose of the +expedition, and however triumphant its result, it is accounted a +disappointment and a failure by the natives when it ends without at +least a glimpse of a moose. + +We were in wonderful moose country now; the uninvaded wild, where in +trackless bog and swamp, or on the lonely and forgotten islands the +she-moose secludes herself to bear and rear her young. That Charlie and +Del were more absorbed in the possibility of getting a sight of these +great, timid, vanishing visions of animal life--and perhaps a longer +view of a little black, bleating calf--than in any exploration for the +other end of the Shelburne River was evident. They clung and hovered +about those islands, poking the canoes into every nook and corner, +speaking in whispers, and sitting up straight at sight of any +dark-looking stump or bunch of leaves. Eddie, too, seemed a good deal +interested in the moose idea. I discovered presently that he was +ambitious to send a specimen of a moose calf, dead or alive, to the +British Museum, and would improve any opportunity to acquire that asset. + +I may say that I was opposed to any such purpose. I am overfond of +Eddie, and I wanted him to have a good standing with the museum people, +but I did not like the idea of slaughtering a little calf moose before +its mother's very eyes, and I did not approve of its capture, either. +Even if the mother moose could be convinced that our intentions were +good, and was willing to have her offspring civilized and in the British +Museum, or Zoo, or some other distinguished place, I still opposed the +general scheme. It did not seem to me that a calf moose tied either +outside or inside of our tent for a period of weeks, to bleat and tear +around, and to kick over and muss up things generally, would be a proper +feature to add to a well-ordered camp, especially if it kept on raining +and we had to bring him inside. I knew that eventually he would own that +tent, and probably demand a sleeping bag. I knew that I should have to +give him mine, or at least share it with him. + +I stated and emphasized these views and insisted that we go over toward +the half-obscured shore, where there appeared to be an opening which +might be the river. We did go over there, at length, and there was, in +fact, an opening, but it was made by a brook entering the lake instead +of leaving it. Our memorandum of information declared that a stream +called the Susketch emptied into the lake somewhere, and we decided to +identify this as the place. We went up a little way to a good looking +pool, but there were no trout--at least, they refused to rise, though +probably the oldest and mossiest inhabitant of that place had never had +such an opportunity before. Back to the lake again, we were pretty soon +hovering about the enchanted islands, which seemed to rise on every +hand. + +It was just the sort of a day to see moose, Del said, and there was no +other matter that would stand in importance against a proposition like +that. I became interested myself, presently, and dropped my voice to a +whisper and sat up at every black spot among the leaves. We had just +about given it up at length, when all at once Del gave the canoe a great +shove inshore, at the same time calling softly to the other canoe, +which had already sheared off into the lake. + +They were with us in an instant and we were clambering out. I hadn't +seen a thing, but Del swore that he had caught a glimpse of something +black that moved and disappeared. + +Of course we were clad in our wet-weather armor. I had on my oilskins, +and what was more, those high, heavy wading boots that came up under my +arms. It is no easy matter to get over even level ground rapidly with a +rig like that, and when it comes to scaling an island, full of ledges +and holes and underbrush and vines, the problem becomes complex. Del and +Charlie, with their shoepacks, distanced me as easily as if I had been +sitting still, while that grasshopper, Eddie, with only the lightest +sort of waders, skipped and scampered away and left me plunging and +floundering about in the brush, with scarcely the possibility of seeing +anything, even if it were directly in front of my nose. + +As a matter of fact, I didn't care anything about seeing moose, and was +only running and making a donkey of myself because the others were doing +it, and I had caught a touch of their disease. + +Suddenly, I heard Charlie call, "There they are! There they go!" and +with a wild redoubled effort I went headlong into a deep pit, +half-filled with leaves and brush, and muck of various sorts. This, of +course, would seem to assassinate any hope I might have of seeing the +moose, but just then, by some occult process, Charles, the Strong, +discovered my disaster, and with that prowess which has made him famous +yanked me out of the mess, stood me on my feet and had me running again, +wallowing through the bushes toward the other side of the little island +whence the moose had fled. + +"There they go--they are swimming!" I heard Del call, and then Eddie: + +"I see em! I see em!" and then Charles's voice, a little ahead of me: + +[Illustration: "Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!"] + +"Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!" + +I reached the shore myself just then--our shore, I mean--on all fours +and full of scratches and bruises, but not too late, for beyond a wide +neck of water, on the mainland, two dark phantoms drifted a little way +through the mist and vanished into the dark foliage behind. + +It was only a glimpse I had and I was battered up and still disordered, +more or less, with the ivy poison. But somehow I was satisfied. For one +thing, I had become infected with a tinge of the native enthusiasm about +seeing the great game of the woods, and then down in my soul I rejoiced +that Eddie had failed to capture the little calf. Furthermore, it was +comforting to reflect that even from the guides' point of view, our +expedition, whatever else might come, must be considered a success. + +We now got down to business. It was well along toward evening, and +though these days were long days, this one, with its somber skies and +heavy mist, would close in early. We felt that it was desirable to find +the lake's outlet before pitching our tents, for the islands make rather +poor camping places and lake fishing is apt to be slow work. We wanted +to get settled in camp on the lower Shelburne before night and be ready +for the next day's sport. + +We therefore separated, agreeing upon a signal of two shots from +whichever of us had the skill or fortune to discover the outlet. The +other canoe faded into the mist below the islands while we paddled +slowly toward the gray green shores opposite. When presently we were all +alone, I was filled, somehow, with the feeling that must have come over +those old Canadian voyageurs who were first to make their way through +the northlands, threading the network of unknown waters. I could not get +rid of the idea that we were pioneers in this desolate spot, and so far +as sportsmen were concerned, it may be that we were. + + + + +Chapter Twelve + + + _The lake is dull with the drifting mist,_ + _And the shores are dim and blind;_ + _And where is the way ahead, to-day,_ + _And what of the path behind?_ + + + + +Chapter Twelve + + +Along the wet, blurred shore we cruised, the mist getting thicker and +more like rain. Here and there we entered some little bay or nook that +from a distance looked as if it might be an outlet. Eventually we lost +all direction and simply investigated at random wherever any appearance +seemed inviting. Once we went up a long slough and were almost ready to +fire the signal shots when we discovered our mistake. It seemed a narrow +escape from the humiliation of giving a false alarm. What had become of +the others we did not know. Evidently the lake was a big one and they +might be miles away. Eddie had the only compass, though this would seem +to be of no special advantage. + +At last, just before us, the shore parted--a definite, wide parting it +was, that when we pushed into it did not close and come to nothing, but +kept on and on, opening out ahead. We went a good way in, to make sure. +The water seemed very still, but then we remembered the flatness of the +country. Undoubtedly this was the outlet, and we had discovered it. It +was only natural that we should feel a certain elation in our having had +the good fortune--the instinct, as it were--to proceed aright. I lifted +my gun and it was with a sort of triumphant flourish that I fired the +two signal shots. + +It may be that the reader will not fully understand the importance of +finding a little thing like the outlet of a lake on a wet, disagreeable +day when the other fellows are looking for it, too; and here, to-day, +far away from that northern desolation, it does not seem even to me a +very great affair whether our canoe or Eddie's made the discovery. But +for some reason it counted a lot then, and I suppose Del and I were +unduly elated over our success. It was just as well that we were, for +our period of joy was brief. In the very instant while my finger was +still touching the trigger, we heard come soggily through the mist, from +far down the chill, gray water, one shot and then another. + +I looked at Del and he at me. + +"They've found something, too," I said. "Do you suppose there are two +outlets? Anyhow, here goes," and I fired again our two shots of +discovery, and a little later two more so that there might be no mistake +in our manifest. I was not content, you see, with the possibility of +being considered just an ordinary ass, I must establish proof beyond +question of a supreme idiocy in the matter of woodcraft. That is my way +in many things. I know, for I have done it often. I shall keep on doing +it, I suppose, until the moment when I am permitted to say, "I die +innocent." + +"They only think they have found something," I said to Del now. "It's +probably the long slough we found a while ago. They'll be up here quick +enough," and I fired yet two more shots, to rub it in. + +But now two more shots came also from Eddie, and again two more. By this +time we had pushed several hundred yards farther into the opening, and +there was no doubt but that it was a genuine river. I was growing every +moment more elated with our triumph over the others and in thinking how +we would ride them down when they finally had to abandon their lead and +follow ours, when all at once Del, who had been looking over the side of +the canoe grew grave and stopped paddling. + +"There seems to be a little current here," he pointing down to the grass +which showed plainly now in the clear water, "yes--there--is--a +current," he went on very slowly, his voice becoming more dismal at +every word, "but it's going the wrong way!" + +I looked down intently. Sure enough, the grass on the bottom pointed +back toward the lake. + +"Then it isn't the Shelburne, after all," I said, "but another river +we've discovered." + +Del looked at me pathetically. + +"It's the Shelburne, all right," he nodded, and there was deep suffering +in his tones, "oh, yes, it's the Shelburne--only it happens to be the +upper end--the place where we came in. That rock is where you stopped to +make a few casts." + +No canoe ever got out of the upper Shelburne River quicker than ours. +Those first old voyageurs of that waste region never made better time +down Irving Lake. Only, now and then, I fired some more to announce our +coming, and to prepare for the lie we meant to establish that we only +had been replying to their shots all along and not announcing anything +new and important of our own. + +But it was no use. We had guilt written on our features, and we never +had been taught to lie convincingly. In fact it was wasted effort from +the start. The other canoe had been near enough when we entered the trap +to see us go in, and even then had located the true opening, which was +no great distance away. They jeered us to silence and they rode us down. +They carefully drew our attention to the old log dam in proof that this +was the real outlet; they pointed to the rapid outpouring current for it +was a swift boiling stream here--and asked us if we could tell which way +it was flowing. For a time our disgrace was both active and complete. +Then came a diversion. Real rain--the usual night downpour--set in, and +there was a scramble to get the tents up and our goods under cover. + +Yet the abuse had told on me. One of my eyes--the last to yield to the +whisky treatment, began to throb a good deal--and I dragged off my wet +clothes, got on a dry garment (the only thing I had left by this time +that was dry) and worked my way laboriously, section by section, into +my sleeping bag, after which Eddie was sorry for me--as I knew he would +be--and brought me a cup of tea and some toast and put a nice piece of +chocolate into my mouth and sang me a song. It had been a pretty +strenuous day, and I had been bruised and cold and wet and scratched and +humiliated. But the tea and toast put me in a forgiving spirit, and the +chocolate was good, and Eddie can sing. I was dry, too, and reasonably +warm. And the rain hissing into the campfire at the door had a soothing +sound. + + + + +Chapter Thirteen + + + _Now take the advice that I do not need--_ + _That I do not heed, alway:_ + _For there's many a fool can make a rule_ + _Which only the wise obey._ + + + + +Chapter Thirteen + + +As usual, the clouds had emptied themselves by morning. The sky was +still dull and threatening, and from the tent door the water of the lake +was gray. But the mist had gone, and the islands came out green and +beautiful. The conditions made it possible to get some clothing decently +smoked and scorched, which is the nearest approach to dryness one is +ever likely to achieve in the woods in a rainy season. + +I may say here that the time will come--and all too soon, in a period of +rain--when you will reach your last dry suit of underwear--and get it +wet. Then have a care. Be content to stay in a safe, dry spot, if you +can find one--you will have to go to bed, of course, to do it until +something is dry--that is, pretty dry. To change from one wet suit to +another only a little less so is conducive neither to comfort nor to a +peaceful old age. Above all, do not put on your night garment, or +garments, for underwear, for they will get wet, too; then your condition +will be desperate. + +I submit the above as good advice. I know it is good advice for I did +not follow it. I have never followed good advice--I have only given it. +At the end of several nights of rain and moist days, I had nothing +really dry but my nightshirt and one slipper and I think Eddie's +condition was not so far removed. What we did was to pick out the least +damp of our things and smoke and scorch them on a pole over the campfire +until they had a sort of a half-done look, like bread toasted over a gas +jet; then suddenly we would seize them and put them on hot and go around +steaming, and smelling of leaf smoke and burnt dry goods--these odors +blended with the fragrance of camphor, tar and pennyroyal, with which we +were presently saturated in every pore. For though it was said to be too +late for black flies and too early for mosquitoes, the rear guard of the +one and the advance guard of the other combined to furnish us with a +good deal of special occupation. The most devoted follower of the +Prophet never anointed himself oftener than we did, and of course this +continuous oily application made it impossible to wash very perfectly; +besides, it seemed a waste to wash off the precious protection when to +do so meant only another immediate and more thorough treatment. + +I will dwell for a moment on this matter of washing. Fishing and +camping, though fairly clean recreations, will be found not altogether +free from soiling and grimy tendencies, and when one does not or cannot +thoroughly remove the evidences several times a day, they begin to tell +on his general appearance. Gradually our hands lost everything original +except their shape. Then I found that to shave took off a good deal of +valuable ointment each time, and I approved of Eddie's ideas in this +direction to the extent of following his example. I believe, though, +that I washed myself longer than he did--that is, at stated intervals. +Of course we never gave up the habit altogether. It would break out +sporadically and at unexpected moments, but I do not recall that these +lapses ever became dangerous or offensive. My recollection is that Eddie +gave up washing as a mania, that morning at the foot of Irving Lake and +that I held out until the next sunrise. Or it may have been only until +that evening--it does not matter. Washing is a good deal a question of +pride, anyway, and pride did not count any more. Even self-respect had +lost its charm. + +[Illustration: "If one's things are well smoked and scorched and scalded +and put on hot in the morning----"] + +[Illustration: "We never failed to hide the whisky."] + +In the matter of clothing, however, I wish to record that I never did +put on my nightdress for an undergarment. I was tempted to do so, daily, +but down within me a still small voice urged the rashness of such a deed +and each night I was thankful for that caution. If one's things are well +smoked and scorched and scalded and put on hot in the morning, he can +forget presently that they are not also dry, and there is a chance that +they may become so before night; but to face the prospect of getting +into a wet garment to sleep, that would have a tendency to destroy the +rare charm and flavor of camp life. In time I clung to my dry nightshirt +as to a life-belt. I wrapped it up mornings as a jewel, buried it deep +in the bottom of my bag, and I locked the bag. Not that Eddie did not +have one of his own--it may be that he had a variety of such things--and +as for the guides, I have a notion that they prefer wet clothes. But +though this was a wild country, where it was unlikely that we should +meet any living soul, there was always the possibility of a stray +prospector or a hunter, and a dry garment in a wet time is a temptation +which should not be put in any man's way. Neither that nor the liquor +supply. When we left our camp--as we did, often--our guns, our tackle, +even our purses and watches, were likely to be scattered about in plain +view; but we never failed to hide the whisky. Whisky is fair loot, and +the woodsman who would scorn to steal even a dry shirt would carry off +whisky and revel in his shame. + +There were quantities of trout in the lower Shelburne, and in a pool +just below the camp, next morning, Eddie and I took a dozen or +more--enough for breakfast and to spare--in a very few minutes. They +were lively fish--rather light in color, but beautifully marked and +small enough to be sweet and tender, that is, not much over a half-pound +weight. In fact, by this time we were beginning to have a weakness for +the smaller fish. The pound-and-upward trout, the most plentiful size, +thus far, were likely to be rather dry and none too tender. When we +needed a food supply, the under-sized fish were more welcome, and when, +as happened only too rarely, we took one of the old-fashioned New +England speckled beauty dimensions--that is to say, a trout of from +seven to nine inches long and of a few ounces weight--it was welcomed +with real joy. Big fish are a satisfaction at the end of a line and in +the landing net, but when one really enters upon a trout diet--when at +last it becomes necessary to serve them in six or seven different ways +to make them go down--the demand for the smallest fish obtainable is +pretty certain to develop, while the big ones are promptly returned +with good wishes and God-speed to their native element. + +For of course no true sportsman ever keeps any trout he cannot use. Only +the "fish-hog" does that. A trout caught on a fly is seldom injured, and +if returned immediately to the water will dart away, all the happier, it +may be, for his recent tug-of-war. He suffers little or no pain in the +tough cartilages about his mouth and gills (a fact I have demonstrated +by hooking the same fish twice, both marks plainly showing on him when +taken) and the new kind of exercise and experience he gets at the end of +the line, and his momentary association with human beings, constitute +for him a valuable asset, perhaps to be retailed in the form of +reminiscence throughout old age. But to fling him into a canoe, to gasp +and die and be thrown away, that is a different matter. That is a crime +worse than stealing a man's lunch or his last dry undershirt, or even +his whisky. + +In the first place, kill your trout the moment you take him out of the +water--that is, if you mean to eat him. If he is too big, or if you +already have enough, put him back with all expedition and let him swim +away. Even if he does warn the other trout and spoil the fishing in that +pool, there are more pools, and then it is likely you have fished enough +in that one, anyway. Come back next year and have another battle with +him. He will be bigger and know better what to do then. Perhaps it will +be his turn to win. + +In the matter of killing a fish there are several ways to do it. Some +might prefer to set him up on the bank and shoot at him. Another way +would be to brain him with an ax. The guides have a way of breaking a +trout's neck by a skillful movement which I never could duplicate. My +own method is to sever the vertebræ just back of the ears--gills, I +mean--with the point of a sharp knife. It is quick and effective. + +I don't know why I am running on with digression and advice this way. +Perhaps because about this period I had had enough experience to feel +capable of giving advice. A little experience breeds a lot of advice. I +knew a man once----[3] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] The publisher wished me to go on with the story at this point. The +man referred to above got his experience in Wall Street. He got enough +in half a day to keep him in advice for forty-seven years. + + + + +Chapter Fourteen + + + _Oh, never a voice to answer here,_ + _And never a face to see--_ + _Mid chill and damp we build our camp_ + _Under the hemlock tree._ + + + + +Chapter Fourteen + + +In spite of the rains the waters of the Shelburne were too low at this +point to descend in the canoes. The pools were pretty small affairs and +the rapids long, shallow and very ragged. It is good sport to run rapids +in a canoe when there is plenty of swift water and a fair percentage of +danger. But these were dangerous only to the canoes, which in many +places would not even float, loaded as we were. It became evident that +the guides would have to wade and drag, with here and there a carry, to +get the boats down to deeper water--provided always there _was_ deeper +water, which we did not doubt. + +Eddie and I set out ahead, and having had our morning's fishing, kept +pretty well to the bank where the walking was fairly good. We felt +pleasant and comfortable and paid not much attention to the stream, +except where a tempting pool invited a cast or two, usually with prompt +returns, though we kept only a few, smaller fish. + +We found the banks more attractive. Men had seldom disturbed the life +there, and birds sang an arm's length away, or regarded us quietly, +without distrust. Here and there a hermit thrush--the sweetest and +shyest of birds--himself unseen, charmed us with his mellow syllables. +Somehow, in the far, unfretted removal of it all, we felt at peace with +every living thing, and when a partridge suddenly dropped down on a limb +not three yards away, neither of us offered to shoot, though we had our +rifles and Eddie his B. M. license to kill and skin and hence to eat, +and though fish were at a discount and game not overplentiful. + +And then we were rewarded by a curious and beautiful exhibition. For the +partridge was a mother bird, and just at our feet there was a peeping +and a scampering of little brown balls that disappeared like magic among +the leaves--her fussy, furry brood. + +I don't think she mistrusted our intent--at least, not much. But she +wanted to make sure. She was not fully satisfied to have us remain just +there, with her babies hiding not two yards away. She dropped on the +ground herself, directly in front of us--so close that one might almost +touch her--and letting one of her wings fall loosely, looked back at us +over her shoulder as if to say, "You see, it is broken. If you wish, you +can catch me, easily." + +So we let her fool us--at least, we let her believe we were +deceived--and made as if to stoop for her, and followed each time when +she ran a few steps farther ahead, until little by little she had led us +away from her family. Then when she was sure that we really did not want +her or her chickens, but cared only to be amused, she ran quickly a +little way farther and disappeared, and we saw her no more. Within a +minute or two from that time she was probably back with her little +folks, and they were debating as to whether we were bird or beast, and +why we carried that curious combination of smells. + +It was such incidents as this that led us on. The morning was gone, +presently, and we had no means of knowing how far we had come. It seemed +to us but a short way. We forgot the windings of the stream, some of +which we had eluded by cut-offs, and how many hard places there would be +for Del and Charlie to get over with the canoes. As a matter of fact we +rather expected them to overtake us at any time, and as the pools became +deeper and longer and the rapids somewhat more navigable we feared to +leave the stream on the chance of being passed. It was about one o'clock +when we reached a really beautiful stretch of water, wide and deep, and +navigable for an indefinite distance. Here we stopped to get fish for +luncheon, and to wait for the boats, which we anticipated at any moment. + +It was a wonderful place to fish. One could wade out and get long casts +up and down, and the trout rose to almost any fly. Eddie caught a white +perch at last and I two yellow ones, not very plentiful in these waters +and most desirable from the food point of view. The place seemed really +inexhaustible. I think there were few trout larger than fourteen inches +in length, but of these there were a great many, and a good supply of +the speckled beauty size. When we had enough of these for any possible +luncheon demand, and were fairly weary of casting and reeling in, we +suddenly realized that we were hungry; also that it was well into the +afternoon and that there were no canoes in sight. Furthermore, in the +enthusiasm of the sport we had both of us more than once stepped beyond +the gunwales of our waders and had our boots full of water, besides +being otherwise wet. Once, in fact, I had slipped off a log on all +fours, in a rather deep place. It began to be necessary that we should +have a camp and be fed. Still we waited hopefully, expecting every +moment to see the canoes push around the bend. + +Eventually we were seized with misgivings. Could the guides have met +with shipwreck in some desperate place and disabled one or both of the +canoes, perhaps losing our stores? The thought was depressing. Was it +possible that they had really passed us during some period when we had +left the water, and were now far ahead? We could not believe it. Could +it be that the river had divided at some unseen point and that we had +followed one fork and they another? It did not seem probable. Perhaps, +after all, we had come farther than we believed, and they had been +delayed by the difficulties of navigation. + +But when another hour passed and they did not appear or answer to our +calls, the reason for their delay did not matter. We were wet, cold and +hungry. Food and fire were the necessary articles. We had not a scrap of +food except our uncooked fish, and it would be no easy matter, without +ax or hatchet, to get a fire started in those rain-soaked woods. Also, +we had no salt, but that was secondary. + +Eddie said he would try to build a fire if I would clean some fish, but +this proved pretty lonesome work for both of us. We decided to both +build and then both clean the fish. We dug down under the leaves for dry +twigs, but they were not plentiful. Then we split open some dead spruce +branches and got a few resinous slivers from the heart of them, a good +many in fact, and we patiently gathered bits of reasonably dry bark and +branches from under the sheltered side of logs and rocks and leaning +trees. + +We meant to construct our fire very carefully and we did. We scooped a +little hollow in the ground for draught, and laid in some of the drier +pieces of bark, upon which to pile our spruce slivers. Upon these in +turn we laid very carefully what seemed to be our driest selections of +twigs, increasing the size with each layer, until we laid on limbs of +goodly bulk and had a very respectable looking heap of fuel, ready for +lighting on the windward side. + +Our mistake was that we did not light it sooner. The weight of our +larger fuel had pressed hard upon our little heap of spruce slivers and +flattened it, when it should have remained loose and quickly +inflammable, with the larger fuel lying handy, to be added at the +proper moment. As it was, the tiny blaze had a habit of going out just +about the time when it ought to have been starting some bigger material. +When we did get a sickly flame going up through the little damp mess of +stuff, there was a good deal more smoke than fire and we were able to +keep the blaze alive only by energetic encouragement in the form of +blowing. + +First Eddie would get down on his hands, with his chin against the +ground and blow until he was apoplectic and blind with smoke, and then I +would take my turn. I never saw two full-grown men so anxious over a +little measly fire in my life. We almost forgot that we were perishing +with cold and hunger ourselves in our anxiety to keep the spark of life +in that fire. + +We saved the puny thing, finally, and it waxed strong. Then we put in a +good deal of time feeding and nursing our charge and making it warm and +comfortable before we considered ourselves. And how did the ungrateful +thing repay us? By filling our eyes with smoke and chasing us from side +to side, pursuing us even behind trees to blind and torture us with its +acrid smarting vapors. In fact, the perversity of campfire smoke remains +one of the unexplained mysteries. I have seen a fire properly built +between two tents--with good draught and the whole wide sky to hold the +smoke--suddenly send a column of suffocating vapor directly into the +door of the tent, where there was no draught, no room, no demand at all +for smoke. I have had it track me into the remotest corner of my +sleeping-bag and have found it waiting for me when I came up for a +breath of air. I have had it come clear around the tent to strangle me +when I had taken refuge on the back side. I have had it follow me +through the bushes, up a tree, over a cliff---- + +As I was saying, we got the fire going. After that the rest was easy. It +was simply a matter of cleaning a few trout, sticking them on sticks and +fighting the smoke fiend with one hand while we burnt and blackened the +trout a little with the other, and ate them, _sans_ salt, _sans_ fork, +_sans_ knife, _sans_ everything. Not that they were not good. I have +never eaten any better raw, unsalted trout anywhere, not even at +Delmonico's. + +[Illustration: "It's all in a day's camping, of course."] + +The matter of getting dry and warm was different. It is not the +pleasantest thing in the world, even by a very respectable fire such as +we had now achieved, to take off all of one's things without the +protection of a tent, especially when the woods are damp and trickly and +there is a still small breath of chill wind blowing, and to have to hop +and skip, on one foot and then on the other, to keep the circulation +going while your things are on a limb in the smoke, getting scalded and +fumigated, and black edged here and there where the flame has singed up +high. It's all in a day's camping, of course, and altogether worth +while, but when the shades of night are closing in and one is still +doing a spectral dance about a dying fire, in a wet wood, on a stomach +full of raw trout, then the camping day seems pretty long and there is +pressing need of other diversion. + +It was well toward night when we decided that our clothes were scorched +enough for comfortable wear, and a late hour it was, for the June days +in the north woods are long. We had at no time lost sight of the river, +and we began to realize the positive necessity of locating our guides +and canoes. We had given up trying to understand the delay. We decided +to follow back up the river until we found them, or until we reached +some other branch which they might have chosen. It was just as we were +about to begin this discouraging undertaking that far up the bend we +heard a call, then another. We answered, both together, and in the reply +we recognized the tones of Charles the Strong. + +Presently they came in sight--each dragging a canoe over the last riffle +just above the long hole. A moment later we had hurried back to meet two +of the weariest, wettest, most bedraggled mortals that ever poled and +dragged and carried canoe. All day they had been pulling and lifting; +loading, unloading and carrying those canoes and bags and baskets over +the Shelburne riffles, where not even the lightest craft could float. +How long had been the distance they did not know, but the miles had +been sore, tedious miles, and they had eaten nothing more than a +biscuit, expecting at every bend to find us waiting. + +It was proper that we should make camp now at the first inviting place. +We offered to stop right there, where our fire was already going, but it +was decided that the ground was a poor selection, being rather low. We +piled into the canoes and shot down the long hole, while the light of +evening was fading from the sky. Several hundred yards below, the water +widened and the bank sloped higher. It seemed an attractive spot and we +already knew the fishing in these waters. But as a final test Eddie made +a cast as we rounded, tossing his flies into an inviting swirl just +below a huge bowlder. For some reason we had put on three flies, and +when he finally got his mess of fish into the net, there were three +trout--all good ones--one on each fly. + +We decided to camp there, for good luck, and to stay until we were fully +repaired for travel. No camp was ever more warmly welcomed, or ever will +be more fondly remembered by us all. + + + + +Chapter Fifteen + + + _To-night, to-night, the frost is white,_ + _Under the silver moon;_ + _And lo, I lie, as the hours go by,_ + _Freezing to death in June._ + + + + +Chapter Fifteen + + +The reader will have gathered by this time that I had set out with only +a hazy idea of what camping in Nova Scotia would be like. I think I had +some notion that our beds would be down in the mud as often as not, and +sticky and disagreeable--something to be endured for the sake of the +day's sport. Things were not as I expected, of course. Things never are. +Our beds were not in the mud--not often--and there were days--chill, +wet, disheartening days--when I looked forward to them and to the +campfire blaze at the tent door with that comfort which a child finds in +the prospect of its mother's arm. + +On the whole, I am sure our camps were more commodious than I had +expected them to be; and they were pretentious affairs, considering that +we were likely to occupy them no more than one night. We had three +tents--Eddie's, already described; a tent for the guides, of about the +same proportions, and a top or roof tent, under which we dined when it +rained. Then there was a little porch arrangement which we sometimes put +out over the front, but we found it had the bad habit of inviting the +smoke to investigate and permeate our quarters, so we dedicated the +little porch fly to other uses. A waterproof ground cloth was spread +between our stretcher beds, and upon the latter, as mentioned before, +were our sleeping-bags; also our various bundles, cozily and +conveniently bestowed. It was an inviting interior, on the whole +something to anticipate, as I have said. + +Yet our beds were not perfect. Few things are. I am a rather large man, +and about three o'clock in the morning I was likely to wake up somewhat +cramped and pinched together from being so long in the little canvas +trough, with no good way of putting out my arms; besides being a little +cold, maybe, because about that hour the temperature seemed to make a +specialty of dropping low enough to get underneath one's couch and creep +up around the back and shoulders. It is true it was June, but June +nights in Nova Scotia have a way of forgetting that it is drowsy, +scented summertime; and I recall now times when I looked out through the +tent flap and saw the white frost gleaming on the trees, and wondered if +there was any sum of money too big to exchange for a dozen blankets or +so, and if, on the whole, perishing as I was, I would not be justified +in drugging Eddie in taking possession of his sleeping-bag. He had +already given me one of the woolen pockets, for compared with mine his +was a genuine Arctic affair, and, I really believe, kept him +disgustingly warm, even when I was freezing. I was grateful, of course, +for I should have perished early in the fight without it. I was also +appreciative. I knew just how much warmer a few more of those soft, +fleecy pockets would make me, especially on those nights when I woke +about the cheerless hour of three, to find the world all hard and white, +with the frost fingers creeping down my shoulder blades and along my +spine. Then it was I would work around and around--slowly and with due +deliberation of movement, for a sleeping-bag is not a thing of sudden +and careless revolution--trying to find some position or angle wherein +the cold would not so easily and surely find my vitals. At such a time, +the desire for real comfort and warmth is acute, and having already one +of Eddie's pockets and realizing its sterling worth--also that no more +than two feet away from me he lay warm and snug, buried in the undue +luxury of still other pockets--I may confess now I was goaded almost to +the point of arising and taking peremptory possession of the few paltry +pockets that would make my lot less hard. + +[Illustration: "Nightly he painted my scratches with new skin."] + +Sooner or later, I suppose, I should have murdered Eddie for his +blankets if he had not been good to me in so many ways. Daily he gave me +leaders, lines, new flies and such things; nightly he painted my +scratches with new skin. On the slightest provocation he would have +rubbed me generously with liniment, for he had a new, unopened bottle +which he was dying to try. Then there was scarcely an evening after I +was in bed--I was always first to go, for Eddie liked to prepare his bed +unhurriedly--that he did not bring me a drink, and comfort me with +something nice to eat, and maybe sing a little while he was "tickling" +his own bed (there is no other name for it), and when he had finished +with the countless little tappings, and pattings, and final touches +which insured the reposeful comfort of his couch, he would place the +candle lantern just between, where each could see equally well and so +read a little in order that we might compose our minds for rest. + + + + +Chapter Sixteen + + + _Now snug, the camp--the candle-lamp,_ + _Alighted stands between--_ + _I follow "Alice" in her tramp_ + _And you your "Folly Queen."_ + + + + +Chapter Sixteen + + +In the matter of Eddie's reading, however, I was not wholly satisfied. +When we had been leaving the little hotel, he had asked me, suddenly, +what I would take for reading in the woods. He added that he always read +a little at night, upon retiring, and from his manner of saying it, I +assumed that such reading might be of a religious nature. + +Now, I had not previously thought of taking anything, but just then I +happened to notice lying upon the table a copy of "Alice in Wonderland," +evidently belonging to the premises, and I said I would take that. I had +not foregathered with Alice and the White Rabbit for a good while, and +it seemed to me that in the depths of an enchanted wood I might properly +and profitably renew their acquaintance. The story would hardly offend +Eddie, even while he was finding solace in his prayer-book. + +I was only vaguely troubled when on the first night of our little +reading exercise I noticed that Eddie's book was not of the sort which I +had been led to expect, but was a rather thick, suspicious-looking +affair, paper-bound. Still, I reflected, it might be an ecclesiastical +treatise, or even what is known as a theological novel, and being +absorbed just then in an endeavor to accompany Alice into the wonderful +garden I did not investigate. + +What was my surprise--my shock, I may say--next morning, on picking up +the volume, to discover that it was printed in a foreign language, and +that language French--always a suspicious thing in print--and to learn +further, when by dint of recalling old school exercises, I had spelled +out the author's name and a sentence here and there, that not only was +it in that suspicious language, but that it was a novel, and of a +sort--well, of course there is only one thing worse than an English +translation of a French novel, and that is a French novel which cannot +be translated--by any one in this country, I mean, who hopes to keep out +of jail. + +I became absorbed in an endeavor to unravel a passage here and there +myself. But my French training had not fitted me for the task. My +lessons had been all about the silk gloves of my uncle's children or of +the fine leather shoes of my mother's aunt, and such innocent things. I +could find no reference to them in Eddie's book. In fact I found on +almost every page reference to things which had nothing to do with +wardrobe of any sort, and there were words of which I had the deepest +suspicion. I was tempted to fling the volume from me with a burning +blush of shame. Certainly it was necessary to protest against the +introduction of the baleful French novel into this sylvan retreat. + +I did so, later in the day, but it was no use. Eddie had already gulped +down some twenty pages of the poison and would not listen to reason. +There was a duchess in the book, and I knew immediately from the lame +excuses he made for this person that she was not at all a proper +associate for Eddie, especially in this remote place. I pleaded in vain. +He had overtaken the duchess on the third page, and the gaud of her +beauty was in his eyes. So it came to pass that while I was following +gentle little Alice and the White Rabbit through a land of wonder and +dreams, Eddie, by the light of the same candle, was chasing this +butterfly of folly through a French court at the rate of some twenty +finely printed pages every night, translating aloud here and there, +until it sometimes became necessary for me to blow out the candle +peremptorily, in order that both of us might compose our minds for +needed slumber. + +Perhaps I am dwelling unnecessarily upon our camp detail, but, after +all, the tent, with its daily and nightly round becomes a rather +important thing when it is to be a habitation for a period of weeks of +sun and storm; and any little gem of experience may not be wholly +unwasted. + +Then there is the matter of getting along without friction, which seems +important. A tent is a small place, and is likely to contain a good many +things--especially in bad weather--besides yourselves. If you can manage +to have your things so the other fellow will stumble over them as +infrequently as possible, it is just as well for him, and safer for you. +Also, for the things. Then, too, if you will make your beds at separate +times, as we did, one remaining outside, or lying in a horizontal +position among his own supplies while the other is in active operation, +you are less likely to rub against each other, which sometimes means to +rub in the wrong direction, with unhappy results. Of course forbearance +is not a bad asset to have along, and a small measure of charity and +consideration. It is well to take one's sense of humor, too, and any +little remnant of imagination one may have lying about handy at the +moment of starting. Many a well-constructed camp has gone to wreck +during a spell of bad weather because one or more of its occupants did +not bring along imagination and a sense of humor, or failed to produce +these articles at the critical moment. Imagination beautifies many a +desolate outlook--a laugh helps over many a hard place. + + + + +Chapter Seventeen + + + _Oh, the pulses leap where the fall is steep,_ + _And the rocks rise grim and dark,_ + _With the swirl and sweep of the rapids deep,_ + _And the joy of the racing bark._ + + + + +Chapter Seventeen + + +We established a good camp on the Shelburne and remained in it for +several days. For one thing, our canoes needed a general overhauling +after that hard day on the rocks. Also, it rained nightly, and now and +then took a turn at it during the day, to keep in practice. + +We minded the rain, of course, as it kept us forever cooking our +clothes, and restrained a good deal of activity about the camp. Still, +we argued that it was a good thing, for there was no telling what sort +of water lay ahead and a series of rock-strewn rapids with low water +might mean trouble. + +On the whole, we were willing to stay and put up with a good deal for +the sport in that long pool. There may be better fishing on earth than +in the Shelburne River between Irving and Sand lakes, but it will take +something more than mere fisherman's gossip to convince either Eddie or +me of that possibility. We left the guides and went out together one +morning, and in less than three hours had taken full fifty fish of a +pound each, average weight. We took off our top flies presently and +fished with only one, which kept us busy enough, and always one of us +had a taut line and a curved rod; often both at one time. + +We began to try experiments at last, and I took a good fish on one of +the funny little scale-winged flies (I had happily lost the Jock Scott +with two hooks early in the campaign) and finally got a big fellow by +merely tying a bit of white absorbent cotton to a plain black hook. + +Yet curious are the ways of fish. For on the next morning--a perfect +trout day, with a light southwest wind and running clouds, after a night +of showers--never a rise could we get. We tried all the casts of the day +before--the Parmcheenie, the Jenny Lind, the Silver Doctor and the Brown +Hackle. It was no use. Perhaps the half a hundred big fellows we had +returned to the pool had warned all the others; perhaps there was some +other unwritten, occult law which prohibited trout from feasting on this +particular day. Finally Eddie, by some chance, put on a sort of a Brown +Hackle affair with a red piece of wool for a tail--he called it a Red +Tag fly, I think--and straightway from out of the tarry black depths +there rose such a trout as neither of us had seen the day before. + +After that, there was nothing the matter with Eddie's fishing. What +there was about this brown, red-tailed joke that tickled the fancy of +those great silly trout, who would have nothing to do with any other +lure, is not for me to say. The creature certainly looked like nothing +that ever lived, or that they could ever have imagined before. It seemed +to me a particularly idiotic combination and I could feel my respect +for the intelligence of trout waning. Eddie agreed with me as to that. +He said he had merely bought the thing because it happened to be the +only fly he didn't have in his collection and there had been a vacant +place in his fly-book. He said it was funny the trout should go for it +as they did, and he laughed a good deal about it. I suppose it was +funny, but I did not find it very amusing. And how those crazy-headed +trout did act. In vain I picked out flies with the red and brown colors +and tossed them as carefully as I could in just the same spots where +Eddie was getting those great whoppers at every cast. Some mysterious +order from the high priest of all trout had gone forth that morning, +prohibiting every sort and combination of trout food except this absurd +creature of which the oldest and mossiest trout had never dreamed. That +was why they went for it. It was the only thing not down on the list of +proscribed items. + +There was nothing for me to do at last but to paddle Eddie around and +watch him do some of the most beautiful fishing I have ever seen, and to +net his trout for him, and take off the fish, and attend to any other +little wants incident to a fisherman's busy day. I did it with as good +grace as I could, of course, and said I enjoyed it, and tried not to be +nasty and disagreeable in my attitude toward the trout, the water, +Eddie, and the camp and country in general. But, after all, it is a +severe test, on a day like that, to cast and cast and change flies until +you have wet every one in your book, without even a rise, and to see the +other chap taking great big black and mottled fellows--to see his rod +curved like a whip and to watch the long, lithe body leaping and +gleaming in the net. + +But the final test, the climax, was to come at evening. For when the +fish would no longer rise, even to the Red Tag, we pulled up to the +camp, where Eddie of course reported to the guides his triumph and my +discomfiture. Then, just as he was opening his fly-book to put the +precious red-tailed mockery away, he suddenly stopped and stared at me, +hesitated, and held up another--that is, two of them, side by side. + +"So help me!" he swore, "I didn't know I had it! I must have forgotten I +had one, and bought another, at another time. Now, I had forgotten that, +too. So help me!" + +If I hadn't known Eddie so well--his proclivity for buying, and +forgetting, and buying over again--also his sterling honor and general +moral purity--the fishes would have got him then, Red Tag and all. As it +was, I condescended to accept the second fly. I agreed that it was not +such a bad production, after all, though I altered my opinion again, +next morning, for whatever had been the embargo laid on other varieties +of trout bait the day before, it was on now, and there was a general +rising to anything we offered--Doctors, Parmcheenie, Absorbent +Cotton--any old thing that skimmed the water and looked big and +succulent. + +We broke camp that morning and dropped down toward the next lake--Sand +Lake, it would be, by our crude map and hazy directions. There are no +better rapids and there is no more lively fishing than we had on that +run. There was enough water for us to remain in the canoes, and it was +for the most part whirling, swirling, dashing, leaping water--shooting +between great bowlders--plunging among cruel-looking black +rocks--foaming into whirlpools below, that looked ready to swamp our +light craft, with stores, crew, tackle, everything. + +It was my first exhibition of our guides' skill in handling their +canoes. How they managed to just evade a sharp point of rock on one side +and by a quick twist escape shipwreck from a bowlder or mass of bowlders +on the other, I fail to comprehend. Then there were narrow boiling +channels, so full of obstructions that I did not believe a chip could go +through with entire safety. Yet somehow Del the Stout and Charles the +Strong seemed to know, though they had never traveled this water before, +just where the water would let the boats pass, just where the stones +were wide enough to let us through--touching on both sides, sometimes, +and ominously scraping on the bottom, but sliding and teetering into the +cauldron below, where somehow we did not perish, perhaps because we +shot so quickly through the foam. In the beginning I remembered a few +brief and appropriate prayers, from a childhood where such things were a +staff of comfort, and so made my peace with the world each time before +we took the desperate plunge. But as nothing seemed to happen--nothing +fatal, I mean--I presently gave myself up to the pure enjoyment of the +tumult and exhilaration, without disturbing myself as to dangers here or +hereafter. + +I do not believe the times that the guides got out of the canoes to ease +them over hard places would exceed twice, and not oftener than that were +we called on to assist them with the paddles. Even when we wished to do +so, we were often requested to go on fishing, for the reason, I suppose, +that in such a place one's unskilled efforts are likely to be +misdirected with fatal results. Somewhat later we were to have an +example of this kind--but I anticipate. + +We went on fishing. I never saw so many fish. We could take them as we +shot a rapid, we could scoop them in as we leaped a fall. They seemed to +be under every stone and lying in wait. There were great black fellows +in every maelstrom; there were groups holding receptions for us in the +stillwater pools below. It is likely that that bit of the Shelburne +River had not been fished before within the memory of any trout then +living, and when those red and blue and yellow flies came tumbling at +them, they must have thought it was great day in the morning and that +the white-faced prophets of big feeding had come. For years, the trout +we returned to those pools will tell their friends and descendants of +the marvels and enchantments of that day. + +I had given up my noibwood as being too strenuous in its demands for +constant fishing, but I laid aside the light bamboo here in this +high-pressure current and with this high-speed fishing, where trout +sometimes leaped clear of the water for the fly cast on the foam far +ahead, to be swinging a moment later at the end of the line almost as +far behind. No very delicate rod would improve under a strain like that, +and the tough old noibwood held true, and nobody cared--at least I +didn't--whether the tip stayed set or not. It was bent double most of +the time, anyway, and the rest of the time didn't matter. + +I don't know how many fish I took that day, but Eddie kept count of his, +and recorded a total of seventy-four between camp and the great, +splendid pool where the Shelburne foams out into Sand Lake, four miles +or such a matter, below. + +I do know that we lost two landing nets in that swift water, one apiece, +and this was a serious matter, for there were but two more, both +Eddie's, and landing nets in the wilderness are not easy to replace. Of +fish we kept possibly a dozen, the smallest ones. The others--larger and +wiser now--are still frolicking in the waters of the Shelburne, unless +some fish-hog has found his way to that fine water, which I think +doubtful, for a fish-hog is usually too lazy and too stingy to spend the +effort and time and money necessary to get there. + + + + +Chapter Eighteen + + + _There's nothing that's worse for sport, I guess,_ + _Than killing to throw away;_ + _And there's nothing that's better for recklessness_ + _Than having a price to pay._ + + + + +Chapter Eighteen + + +We had other camp diversions besides reading. We had shooting matches, +almost daily, one canoe against the other, usually at any stop we +happened to make, whether for luncheon or to repair the canoes, or +merely to prospect the country. On rainy days, and sometimes in the +evening, we played a game of cards known under various names--I believe +we called it pedro. At all events, you bid, and buy, and get set back, +and have less when you get through than you had before you began. +Anyhow, that is what my canoe did on sundry occasions. I am still +convinced that Del and I played better cards than the other canoe, +though the score would seem to show a different result. We were +brilliant and speculative in our playing. They were plodders and not +really in our class. Genius and dash are wasted on such persons. + +I am equally certain that our shooting was much worse than theirs, +though the percentage of misses seemed to remain in their favor. In the +matter of bull's-eyes--whenever such accidents came along--they happened +to the other canoe, but perhaps this excited our opponents, for there +followed periods of wildness when, if their shots struck anywhere, it +was impossible to identify the places. At such periods Eddie was likely +to claim that the cartridges were blanks, and perhaps they were. As for +Del and me, our luck never varied like that. It remained about equally +bad from day to day--just bad enough to beat the spectacular fortunes of +Eddie and Charles the Strong. + +In the matter of wing-shooting, however--that is to say, shooting when +we were on the wing and any legitimate quarry came in view--my +recollection is that we ranked about alike. Neither of us by any chance +ever hit anything at all, and I have an impression that our misses were +about equally wide. Eddie may make a different claim. He may claim that +he fired oftener and with less visible result than I. Possibly he did +fire oftener, for he had a repeating rifle and I only a single shot, but +so far as the result is concerned, if he states that his bullets flew +wider of the mark, such a claim is the result of pure envy, perhaps +malice. Why, I recall one instance of a muskrat whose skin Eddie was +particularly desirous of sending to those museum folks in London--all +properly mounted, with their names (Eddie's and the muskrat's) on a neat +silver plate, so that it could stand there and do honor to us for a long +time--until the moths had eaten up everything but the plate, perhaps, +and Eddie struck the water within two or three feet of it (the muskrat, +of course) as much as a dozen times, while such shots as I let go didn't +hit anything but the woods or the sky and are, I suppose, still buried +somewhere in the quiet bosom of nature. I am glad to unload that +sentence. It was getting top-heavy, with a muskrat and moths and a +silver plate in it. I could shoot some holes in it with a little +practice, but inasmuch as we didn't get the muskrat, I will let it stand +as a stuffed specimen. + +I am also glad about the muskrat. Had he perished, our pledge would have +compelled us to eat him, and although one of Eddie's text-books told a +good deal about their food value and seven different ways of cooking +them, I was averse to experimenting even with one way. I have never +really cared for muskrats since as a lad I caught twenty of them one +night in a trammel net. Up to that hour the odor of musk had never been +especially offensive to me, but twenty muskrats in a net can compound a +good deal of perfumery. We had to bury the net, and even then I never +cared much about it afterwards. The sight of it stirred my imagination, +and I was glad when it was ripped away from us by a swift current one +dark night, it being unlawful to set a trammel net in that river, and +therefore sinful, by daylight. + +It was on Sand Lake that Eddie gave the first positive demonstration of +his skill as a marksman. Here, he actually made a killing. True, it was +not a wing shot, but it was a performance worthy of record. A chill wet +wind blew in upon us as we left the river, and a mist such as we had +experienced on Irving Lake, with occasional drifts of rain, shut us in. +At first it was hard to be certain that we were really on a lake, for +the sheet of water was long and narrow, and it might be only a widening +of the river. But presently we came to an island, and this we accepted +as identification. It was the customary island, larger than some, but +with the bushes below, the sentinel pines, and here and there a gaunt +old snag--bleached and dead and lifting its arms to the sky. On one of +these dead ones we made out, through the mist, a strange dark bunch +about the size of a barn door and of rather irregular formation. +Gradually nearing, we discovered the bunch to be owls--great horned +owls--a family of them, grouped on the old tree's limbs in solid +formation, oblivious to the rain, to the world, to any thought of +approaching danger. + +Now, the great horned owl is legitimate quarry. The case against him is +that he is a bird of prey--a destroyer of smaller birds and an enemy of +hen roosts. Of course if one wanted to go deeply into the ethics of the +matter, one might say that the smaller birds and the chickens are +destroyers, too, of bugs and grasshoppers and things, and that a life is +a life, whether it be a bird or a bumble-bee, or even a fish-worm. But +it's hard to get to the end of such speculations as that. Besides, the +owl was present, and we wanted his skin. Eddie crept close in with his +canoe, and drew a careful bead on the center of the barn door. There +was an angry little spit of powder in the wet, a wavering movement of +the dark, mist-draped bunch, a slow heaving of ghostly pinions and four +silent, feathered phantoms drifted away into the white gloom. But there +was one that did not follow. In vain the dark wings heaved and fell. +Then there came a tottering movement, a leap forward, and +half-fluttering, half-plunging, the heavy body came swishing to the +ground. + +Yet unused to the battle as he was, for he was of the younger brood, he +died game. When we reached him he was sitting upright, glaring out of +his great yellow eyes, his talons poised for defense. Even with Eddie's +bottle of new skin in reserve, it was not considered safe to approach +too near. We photographed him as best we could, and then a shot at close +range closed his brief career. + +I examined the owl with considerable interest. In the first place I had +never seen one of this noble species before, and this was a beautiful +specimen. Also, his flesh, being that of a young bird, did not appeal to +warrant the expression tough as a boiled owl, which the others +remembered almost in a chorus when I referred to our agreement +concerning the food test of such game as we brought down. I don't think +any of us wanted to eat that owl. I know I didn't, but I had weakened +once--on the porcupine, it may be remembered--and the death of that +porcupine rested heavily upon me, especially when I remembered how he +had whined and grieved in the moment of dying. I think I had a notion +that eating the owl would in some measure atone for the porcupine. I +said, with such firmness as I could command, and all day I repeated at +intervals, that we would eat the owl. + +We camped rather early that afternoon, for it was not pleasant traveling +in the chill mist, and the prospect of the campfire and a snug tent was +an ever-present temptation. I had suggested, also, that we ought to go +ashore in time to cook the owl for supper. It might take time to cook +him. + +We did not especially need the owl. We had saved a number of choice +small trout and we were still able to swallow them when prepared in a +really palatable form. Eddie, it is true, had condemned trout at +breakfast, and declared he would have no more of them, but this may have +been because there were flapjacks. He showed no disposition to condemn +them now. When I mentioned the nice, tender owl meat which we were to +have, he really looked longingly at the trout and spoke of them as juicy +little fellows, such as he had always liked. I agreed that they would be +good for the first course, and that a bird for supper would make out a +sumptuous meal. I have never known Eddie to be so kind to me as he was +about this time. He offered me some leaders and flies and even presented +me with a silver-mounted briar-root pipe, brought all the way from +London. I took the things, but I did not soften my heart. I was born in +New England and have a conscience. I cannot be bribed like that. + +I told the guides that it would be better to begin supper right away, in +order that we might not get too hungry before the owl was done. I +thought them slow in their preparations for the meal. It was curious, +too, for I had promised them they should have a piece of the bird. Del +was generous. He said he would give his to Charles. That he never really +cared much for birds, anyhow. Why, once, he said, he shot a partridge +and gave it away, and he was hungry, too. He gave it to a boy that +happened along just then, and when another partridge flew up he didn't +even offer to shoot it. We didn't take much stock in that story until it +dawned upon us that he had shot the bird out of season, and the boy had +happened along just in time to be incriminated by accepting it as a +present. It was better to have him as a partner than a witness. + +As for Charles, he affected to be really eager for owl meat. He said +that all his life he had looked forward to this time. Still, he was +slow, I thought. He seemed about as eager for supper as a boy is to +carry in the evening wood. He said that one of the canoes leaked a +little and ought to be pitched right away. I said it was altogether too +damp for such work and that the canoe would wait till morning. Then he +wanted to look up a spring, though there were two or three in plain +sight, within twenty yards of the camp. I suspected at last that he was +not really anxious to cook the owl and was trying to postpone the matter +until it was too late for him (the owl) to get properly done before +bedtime. Then I became firm. I said that a forest agreement was sacred. +That we were pledged to the owl before we shot him, and that we would +keep our promise to the dead, even to the picking of his bones. + +Wood was gathered then, and the fire blazed. The owl's breast--fat and +fine it looked--was in the broiler, and on the fire. There it +cooked--and cooked. Then it cooked some more and sent up an appetizing +smell. Now and then, I said I thought the time for it had come, but +there was a burden of opinion that more cooking would benefit the owl. +Meantime, we had eaten a pan or two of trout and a few other things--the +bird of course being later in the bill of fare. At most dinners I have +attended, this course is contemplated with joy. It did not seem to be on +this occasion. Eddie agreed with Del that he had never cared much for +bird, anyway, and urged me to take his share. I refused to deprive him +of it. Then he said he didn't feel well, and thought he really ought not +to eat anything more. I said grimly that possibly this was true, but +that he would eat the owl. + +It was served then, fairly divided and distributed, as food is when men +are on short rations. I took the first taste--I was always +venturesome--a little one. Then, immediately, I wished I had accepted +Eddie's piece. But meantime he had tasted, too--a miserly taste--and +then I couldn't have got the rest of it for money. + +For there was never anything so good as that breast of young owl. It was +tender, it was juicy, it was as delicately flavored as a partridge, +almost. Certainly it was a dainty morsel to us who had of late dealt so +largely in fish diet. Had we known where the rest of that brood of owls +had flown to we should have started after them, then and there. + + Extract from my diary that night: "Eddie has been taken with + a slight cramp, and it has occurred to him that the owl + meat, though appetizing, may be poisonous. He is searching + his medicine bag for remedies. His disaster is merely + punishment for the quantity of other food he ate beforehand, + in his futile effort to escape the owl." + + + + +Chapter Nineteen + + + _Then scan your map, and search your plans,_ + _And ponder the hunter's guess--_ + _While the silver track of the brook leads back_ + _Into the wilderness._ + + + + +Chapter Nineteen + + +We looked for moose again on Sand Lake, but found only signs. On the +whole, I thought this more satisfactory. One does not have to go +galloping up and down among the bushes and rocks to get a glimpse of +signs, but may examine them leisurely and discuss the number, character +and probable age of these records, preserving meanwhile a measure of +repose, not to say dignity. + +Below Sand Lake a brook was said to enter. Descending from the upper +interior country, it would lead us back into regions more remote than +any heretofore traveled. So far as I could learn, neither of our guides +had ever met any one who even claimed in know this region, always +excepting the imaginative Indian previously mentioned. Somewhere in +these uncharted wilds this Indian person had taken trout "the size of +one's leg." + +Regardless of the dimensions of this story, it had a fascination for us. +We wished to see those trout, even if they had been overrated. We had +been hurrying, at least in spirit, to reach the little water gateway +that opened to a deeper unknown where lay a chain of lakes, vaguely set +down on our map as the Tobeatic[4] waters. At some time in the past the +region had been lumbered, but most of the men who cut the timber were +probably dead now, leaving only a little drift of hearsay testimony +behind. + +It was not easy to find the entrance to the hidden land. The foliage was +heavy and close along the swampy shore, and from such an ambush a still +small current might flow unnoticed, especially in the mist that hung +about us. More than once we were deceived by some fancied ripple or the +configuration of the shore. Del at length announced that just ahead was +a growth of a kind of maple likely to indicate a brook entrance. The +shore really divided there and a sandy waterway led back somewhere into +a mystery of vines and trees. + +We halted near the mouth of the little stream for lunch and +consultation. It was not a desirable place to camp. The ground was low +and oozy and full of large-leaved greenhousy-looking plants. The recent +rains had not improved the character of the place. There was poison ivy +there, too, and a delegation of mosquitoes. We might just as well have +gone up the brook a hundred yards or so, to higher and healthier ground, +but this would not have been in accord with Eddie's ideas of +exploration. Explorers, he said, always stopped at the mouth of rivers +to debate, and to consult maps and feed themselves in preparation for +unknown hardships to come. So we stopped and sat around in the mud, and +looked at some marks on a paper--made by the imaginative Indian, I +think--and speculated as to whether it would be possible to push and +drag the canoes up the brook, or whether everything would have to go +overland. + +Personally, the prospect of either did not fill me with enthusiasm. The +size of the brook did not promise much in the way of important waters +above or fish even the size of one's arm. However, Tobeatic exploration +was down on the cards. Our trip thus far had furnished only a hint of +such mystery and sport as was supposed to lie concealed somewhere beyond +the green, from which only this little brooklet crept out to whisper the +secret. Besides, I had learned to keep still when Eddie had set his +heart on a thing. I left the others poring over the hieroglyphic map, +and waded out into the clean water of the brook. As I looked back at Del +and Charlie, squatting there amid the rank weeds, under the dark, +dripping boughs, with Eddie looking over their shoulders and pointing at +the crumpled paper, spread before them, they formed a picturesque +group--such a one as Livingstone or Stanley and their followers might +have made in the African jungles. When I told Eddie of this he grew +visibly prouder and gave me two new leaders and some special tobacco. + +We proceeded up the stream, Eddie and I ahead, the guides pushing the +loaded canoes behind. It was the brook of our forefathers--such a stream +as might flow through the valley meadows of New England, with trout of +about the New England size, and plentiful. Lively fellows, from seven to +nine inches in length, rose two and three at almost every cast. We put +on small flies and light leaders and forgot there were such things as +big trout in Nova Scotia. It was joyous, old-fashioned fishing--a real +treat for a change. + +We had not much idea how far we were to climb this water stairway, and +as the climb became steeper, and the water more swift, the guides pushed +and puffed and we gave them a lift over the hard places--that is, Eddie +did. I was too tired to do anything but fish. + +As a rule, the water was shallow, but there were deep holes. I found one +of them presently, by mistake. It was my habit to find holes that +way--places deeper than my waders, though the latter came to my +shoulders. It seemed necessary that several times daily I should get my +boots full of water. When I couldn't do it in any other way I would fall +over something and let the river run into them for a while. I called to +Eddie from where I was wallowing around, trying to get up, with my usual +ballast. + +"Don't get in here!" I said. + +He was helping the boys over a hard place just then, tugging and +sweating, but he paused long enough to be rude and discourteous. + +"I don't have to catch my trout in my boots," he jeered, and the guides +were disrespectful enough to laugh. I decided that I would never try to +do any of them a good turn again. Then suddenly everything was +forgotten, for a gate of light opened out ahead, and presently we pushed +through and had reached the shores of as lovely a sheet of water as lies +in the great north woods. It was Tupper Lake, by our calculation, and it +was on the opposite side that Tobeatic Brook was said to enter. There, +if anywhere, we might expect to find the traditional trout. So far as we +knew, no one had looked on these waters since the old lumbering days. +Except for exploration there was no reason why any one should come. Of +fish and game there were plenty in localities more accessible. To me, I +believe the greatest joy there, as everywhere in the wilderness--and it +was a joy that did not grow old--was the feeling that we were in a +region so far removed from clanging bells and grinding wheels and all +the useful, ugly attributes of mankind. + +We put out across the lake. The land rose rather sharply beyond, and +from among the trees there tumbled out a white foaming torrent that made +a wide swirling green pool where it entered. We swept in below this +aquarium, Eddie taking one side and I the other. We had on our big flies +now and our heavy leaders. They were necessary. Scarcely had a cast gone +sailing out over the twisting water when a big black and gold shape +leaped into the air and Eddie had his work cut out for him. A moment +later my own reel was singing, and I knew by the power and savage rushes +that I had something unusual at the other end. + +"Trout as big as your leg!" we called across to each other, and if they +were not really as big as that, they were, at all events, bigger than +anything so far taken--as big as one's arm perhaps--one's forearm, at +least, from the hollow of the elbow to the fingertips. You see how +impossible it is to tell the truth about a trout the first time. I never +knew a fisherman who could do it. There is something about a fish that +does not affiliate with fact. Even at the market I have known a fish to +weigh more than he did when I got him home. We considered the +imaginative Indian justified, and blessed him accordingly. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Pronounced To-be-at-ic + + + + +Chapter Twenty + + + _You may slip away from a faithful friend_ + _And thrive for an hour or two,_ + _But you'd better be fair, and you'd better be square,_ + _Or something will happen to you._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty + + +We took seventeen of those big fellows before we landed, enough in all +conscience. A point just back of the water looked inviting as a place to +pitch the tents, and we decided to land, for we were tired. Yet curious +are the ways of fishermen: having had already too much, one becomes +greedy for still more. There was an old dam just above, unused for a +generation perhaps, and a long, rotting sluiceway through which poured a +torrent of water. It seemed just the place for the king of trouts, and I +made up my mind to try it now before Eddie had a chance. You shall see +how I was punished. + +I crept away when his back was turned, taking his best and +longest-handled landing net (it may be remembered I had lost mine), for +it would be a deep dip down into the sluice. The logs around the +premises were old and crumbly and I had to pick my way with care to +reach a spot from which it would be safe to handle a big trout. I knew +he was there. I never had a stronger conviction in my life. The +projecting ends of some logs which I chose for a seat seemed fairly +permanent and I made my preparations with care. I put on a new leader +and two large new flies. Then I rested the net in a handy place, took a +look behind me and sent the cast down the greased lightning current that +was tearing through the sluice. + +I expected results, but nothing quite so sudden. Neither did I know that +whales ever came so far up into fresh-water streams. I know it was a +whale, for nothing smaller could have given a yank like that; besides, +in the glimpse I had of him he looked exactly like pictures I have seen +of the leviathan who went into commission for three days to furnish +passage for Jonah and get his name in print. I found myself suddenly +grabbing at things to hold on to, among them being Eddie's long-handled +net, which was of no value as ballast, but which once in my hand I could +not seem to put down again, being confused and toppling. + +As a matter of fact there was nothing satisfactory to get hold of in +that spot. I had not considered the necessity of firm anchorage when I +selected the place, but with a three-ton trout at the end of a long +line, in a current going a thousand miles a minute, I realized that it +would be well to be lashed to something permanent. As it was, with my +legs swinging over that black mill-race, my left hand holding the rod, +and my right clutching the landing net, I was in no position to +withstand the onset of a battle such as properly belongs to the North +Pacific Ocean where they have boats and harpoons and long coiled lines +suitable to such work. + +[Illustration: "I remember seeing the sluice, black and swift, suddenly +rise to meet me."] + +Still, I might have survived--I might have avoided complete disaster, I +think--if the ends of those two logs I selected as a seat had been as +sound as they looked. Of course they were not. They were never intended +to stand any such motions as I was making. In the brief moment allowed +me for thought I realized this, but it was no matter. My conclusions +were not valuable. I remember seeing the sluice, black, and swift, +suddenly rise to meet me, and of dropping Eddie's net as I went down. +Then I have a vision of myself shooting down that race in a wild +toboggan ride, and a dim, splashy picture of being pitched out on a heap +of brush and stones and logs below. + +When I got some of the water out of my brains so I could think with +them, I realized, first, that I was alive, still clutching my rod and +that it was unbroken. Next, that the whale and Eddie's landing net were +gone. I did not care so especially much about the whale. He had annoyed +me. I was willing to part with him. Eddie's net was a different matter. +I never could go back without that. After all his goodness to me I had +deceived him, slipped away from him, taken his prized net--and lost it. +I had read of such things; the Sunday-school books used to be full of +similar incidents. And even if Eddie forgave me, as the good boy in the +books always did, my punishment was none the less sure. My fishing was +ended. There was just one net left. Whatever else I had done, or might +do, I would never deprive Eddie of his last net. I debated whether I +should go to him, throw myself on his mercy--ask his forgiveness and +offer to become his special guide and servant for the remainder of the +trip--or commit suicide. + +But presently I decided to make one try, at least, to find the net. It +had not been thrown out on the drift with me, for it was not there. +Being heavy, it had most likely been carried along the bottom and was at +present lodged in some deep crevice. It was useless, of course; still, I +would try. + +I was not much afraid of the sluice, now that I had been introduced to +it. I put my rod in a place of safety and made my way to the upper end +of the great trough. Then I let myself down carefully into the racing +water, bracing myself against the sides and feeling along the bottom +with my feet. It was uncertain going, for the heavy current tried hard +to pull me down. But I had not gone three steps till I felt something. I +could not believe it was the net. I carefully steadied myself and--down, +down to my elbow. Then I could have whooped for joy, for it _was_ the +net. It had caught on an old nail or splinter, or something, and held +fast. + +Eddie was not at the camp, and the guides were busy getting wood. I was +glad, for I was wet and bruised and generally disturbed. When I had +changed my things and recovered a good deal, I sat in the shade and +smoked and arranged my fly-book and other paraphernalia, and brooded on +the frailty of human nature and the general perversity and cussedness of +things at large. I had a confession all prepared for Eddie, long before +he arrived. It was a good confession--sufficiently humble and truthful +without being dangerous. I had tested it carefully and I did not believe +it could result in any disagreeable penance or disgrace on my part. It +takes skill to construct a confession like that. But it was wasted. When +Eddie came in, at last, he wore a humble hang-dog look of his own, and I +did not see the immediate need of _any_ confession. + +"I didn't really intend to run off from you," he began sheepishly. "I +only wanted to see what was above the dam, and I tried one or two of the +places up there, and they were all so bully I couldn't get away. Get +your rod, I want to take you up there before it gets too late." + +So the rascal had taken advantage of my brief absence and slipped off +from me. In his guilty haste he had grabbed the first landing net he had +seen, never suspecting that I was using the other. Clearly I was the +injured person. I regarded him with thoughtful reproach while he begged +me to get my rod and come. He would take nothing, he said, but a net, +and would guide for me. I did not care to fish any more that day; but I +knew Eddie--I knew how his conscience galled him for his sin and would +never give him peace until he had made restitution in full. I decided to +be generous. + +We made our way above the dam, around an old half-drained pond, and +through a killing thicket of vines and brush to a hidden pool, faced +with slabs and bowlders. There, in that silent dim place I had the most +beautiful hour's fishing I have ever known. The trout were big, gamy +fellows and Eddie was alert, obedient and respectful. It was not until +dusk that he had paid his debt to the last fish--had banished the final +twinge of remorse. + +Our day, however, was not quite ended. We must return to camp. The +thicket had been hard to conquer by daylight. Now it was an impenetrable +wall of night and thorns. Across the brook looked more open and we +decided to go over, but when we got there it proved a trackless, swampy +place, dark and full of pitfalls and vines. Eddie, being small and +woods-broken could work his way through pretty well, but after a few +discouragements I decided to wade down the brook and through the shallow +pond above the dam. At least it could not be so deadly dark there. + +It was heart-breaking business. I went slopping and plunging among +stumps and stones and holes. I mistook logs for shadows and shadows for +logs with pathetic results. The pond that had seemed small and shallow +by daylight was big enough and deep enough now. A good deal of the way I +went on my hands and knees, but not from choice. A nearby owl hooted at +me. Bats darted back and forth close to my face. If I had not been a +moral coward I should have called for help. Eddie had already reached +camp when I arrived and had so far recovered his spiritual status that +he jeered at my condition. I resolved then not to mention the sluice and +the landing net at all--ever. I needed an immediate change of garments, +of course--the third since morning.[5] It had been a hard, eventful day. +Such days make camping remembered--and worth while. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] I believe the best authorities say that one change is enough to take +on a camping trip, and maybe it is--for the best authorities. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-one + + + _Oh, it's well to live high as you can, my boy,_ + _Wherever you happen to roam,_ + _But it's better to have enough bacon and beans_ + _To take the poor wanderers home._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-one + + +By this time we had reached trout diet _per se_. I don't know what _per +se_ means, but I have often seen it used and it seems to fit this case. +Of course we were not entirely out of other things. We had flour for +flapjacks, some cornmeal for mush and Johnnie-cake, and enough bacon to +impart flavor to the fish. Also, we were not wholly without beans--long +may they wave--the woods without them would be a wilderness indeed. But +in the matter of meat diet it was trout _per se_, as I have said, unless +that means we did not always have them; in which case I will discard +those words. We did. We had fried trout, broiled trout, boiled trout, +baked trout, trout on a stick and trout chowder. We may have had them +other ways--I don't remember. I know I began to imagine that I was +sprouting fins and gills, and daily I felt for the new bumps on my head +which I was certain must result from this continuous absorption of brain +food. There were several new bumps, but when I called Eddie's attention +to them, he said they were merely the result of butting my head so +frequently against logs and stumps and other portions of the scenery. +Then he treated them with liniment and new skin. + +Speaking of food, I believe I have not mentioned the beefsteak which we +brought with us into the woods. It was Eddie's idea, and he was its +self-appointed guardian and protector. That was proper, only I think he +protected it too long. It was a nice sirloin when we started--thick and +juicy and of a deep rich tone. Eddie said a little age would improve it, +and I suppose he was right--he most always is. He said we would +appreciate it more, too, a little later, which seemed a sound doctrine. + +Yet, somehow, that steak was an irritation. It is no easy matter to +adjust the proper age of a steak to the precise moment of keen and +general appreciation. We discussed the matter a good deal, and each time +the steak was produced as a sort of Exhibit A, and on each occasion +Eddie decided that the time was not ripe--that another day would add to +its food value. I may say that I had no special appetite for steak, not +yet, but I did not want to see it carried off by wild beasts, or offered +at last on a falling market. + +Besides, the thing was an annoyance as baggage. I don't know where we +carried it at first, but I began to come upon it in unexpected places. +If I picked up a yielding looking package, expecting to find a dry +undergarment, or some other nice surprise, it turned out to be that +steak. If I reached down into one of the pack baskets for a piece of +Eddie's chocolate, or some of his tobacco--for anything, in fact--I +would usually get hold of a curious feeling substance and bring up that +steak. I began to recognize its texture at last, and to avoid it. +Eventually I banished it from the baskets altogether. Then Eddie took to +hanging it on a limb near the camp, and if a shower came up suddenly he +couldn't rest--he must make a wild rush and take in that steak. I +refused at last to let him bring it into the tent, or to let him hang it +on a nearby limb. But this made trouble, for when he hung it farther +away he sometimes forgot it, and twice we had to paddle back a mile or +so to get that steak. Also, sometimes, it got wet, which was not good +for its flavor, he said; certainly not for its appearance. + +In fact, age told on that steak. It no longer had the deep rich glow of +youth. It had a weather-beaten, discouraged look, and I wondered how +Eddie could contemplate it in that fond way. It seemed to me that if the +time wasn't ripe the steak was, and that something ought to be done +about a thing like that. My suggestions did not please Eddie. + +I do not remember now just when we did at last cook that steak. I prefer +to forget it. Neither do I know what Eddie did with his piece. I buried +mine. + +[Illustration: "When I awoke, a savory smell was coming in the tent."] + +Eddie redeemed himself later--that is to say, he produced something I +could eat. He got up early for the purpose. When I awoke, a savory smell +was coming in the tent. Eddie was squatted by the fire, stirring +something in a long-handled frying pan. Neither he nor the guides were +communicative as to its nature, but it was good, and I hoped we would +have it often. Then they told me what it was. It was a preparation with +cream (condensed) of the despised canned salmon which I had denounced +earlier in the trip as an insult to live, speckled trout. You see how +one's point of view may alter. I said I was sorry now we hadn't brought +some dried herring. The others thought it a joke, but I was perfectly +serious. + +In fact, provisioning for a camping trip is a serious matter. Where a +canoe must carry a man and guide, with traps and paraphernalia, and +provisions for a three-weeks' trip, the problem of condensation in the +matter of space and weight, with amplitude in the matter of quantity, +affords study for a careful mind. We started out with a lot of can and +bottle goods, which means a good deal of water and glass and tin, all of +which are heavy and take up room. I don't think ours was the best way. +The things were good--too good to last--but dried fruits--apricots, +prunes and the like--would have been nearly as good, and less +burdensome. Indeed by the end of the second week I would have given five +cents apiece for a few dried prunes, while even dried apples, which I +had learned to hate in childhood, proved a gaudy luxury. Canned beans, +too, I consider a mistake. You can't take enough of them in that form. +No two canoes can safely carry enough canned beans to last two fishermen +and two Nova Scotia guides for three weeks. As for jam and the like, +why it would take one canoe to carry enough marmalade to supply Del the +Stout alone. If there is any such thing as a marmalade cure, I hope Del +will take it before I am ready to go into the woods again. Otherwise I +shall tow an extra canoe or a marmalade factory. + +As I have said, dried things are better; fruits, beans, rice, beef, +bacon--maple sugar (for sirup), cornmeal and prepared flour. If you want +to start with a few extras in the way of canned stuff, do it, but be +sure you have plenty of the staples mentioned. You will have enough +water and tin and glass to carry with your condensed milk, your vinegar, +a few pickles, and such other bottle refreshments as your tastes and +morals will permit. Take all the variety you can in the way of dried +staples--be sure they are staples--but cut close on your bulky tinned +supplies. It is better to be sure of enough Johnnie-cake and bacon and +beans during the last week out than to feast on plum-pudding and +California pears the first. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-two + + + _Oh, it's up and down the island's reach,_ + _Through thicket and gorge and fen,_ + _With never a rest in their fevered quest,_ + _Hurry the hunter men._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-two + + +I would gladly have lingered at Tobeatic Dam. It was an ideal place, +wholly remote from everything human--a haunt of wonderful trout, +peaceable porcupines and tame birds. The birds used to come around the +tent to look us over and ask questions, and to tell us a lot about what +was going on in the back settlements--those mysterious dim places where +bird and beast still dwell together as in the ancient days, their round +of affairs and gossip undisturbed. I wanted to rest there, and to heal +up a little before resuming the unknown way. + +But Eddie was ruthless--there were more worlds to conquer. The spirit of +some old ancestor who probably set out to discover the Northwest Passage +was upon him. Lower Tobeatic Lake was but a little way above. We pushed +through to it without much delay. It was an extensive piece of water, +full of islands, lonely rocks and calling gulls, who come to this inland +isolation to rear their young. + +The morning was clear and breezy and we set on up the lake in the +canoes, Eddie, as usual, a good way in advance. He called back to us now +and then that this was great moose country, and to keep a sharp lookout +as we passed the islands. I did not wish to see moose. The expedition +had already acquitted itself in that direction, but Eddie's voice was +eager, even authoritative, so we went in close and pointed at signs and +whispered in the usual way. I realized that Eddie had not given up the +calf moose idea and was still anxious to shine with those British Museum +people. It seemed to me that such ambitions were not laudable. I +considered them a distinct mar to a character which was otherwise almost +perfect. It was at such times that my inclination to drown or poison +Eddie was stronger than usual. + +He had been behind an island a good while when we thought we heard a +shot. Presently we heard it again, and were sure. Del was instantly all +ablaze. Two shots had been the signal for moose. + +We went around there. I suppose we hurried. I know it was billowy off +the point and we shipped water and nearly swamped as we rounded. Behind +the island, close in, lay the other canoe, Eddie waving to us excitedly +as we came up. + +"Two calf meese!" he called (meese being Eddie's plural of +moose--everybody knows that mooses is the word). "Little helpless +fellows not more than a day or two old. They're too young to swim of +course, so they can't get on the island. We've got em, sure!" + +"Did you hit either of them?" I asked anxiously. + +"No, of course not! I only fired for a signal. They are wholly at our +mercy. They were right here just a moment ago. The mother ran, and they +hardly knew which way to turn. We can take them alive." + +"But, Eddie," I began, "what will you do with them? They'll have to be +fed if we keep them, and will probably want to occupy the tents, and +we'll have to take them in the canoes when we move." + +He was ready for this objection. + +"I've been thinking," he said with decision. "Dell and Charlie can take +one of the canoes, with the calves in it, and make straight for Milford +by the shortest cut. While they're gone we'll be exploring the upper +lake." + +This was a brief, definite plan, but it did not appeal to me. In the +first place, I did not wish to capture those little mooses. Then, too, I +foresaw that during the considerable period which must elapse before the +guides returned, somebody would have to cook and wash dishes and perform +other menial camp labor. I suspected Eddie might get tired of doing +guide work as a daily occupation. Also, I was sorry for Charlie and Del. +I had a mental picture of them paddling for dear life up the Liverpool +River with two calf mooses galloping up and down the canoe, bleating +wildly, pausing now and then to lap the faces of the friendly guides and +perhaps to bite off an ear or some other handy feature. Even the wild +animals would form along the river bank to view a spectacle like that, +and I imagined the arrival at the hotel would be something particularly +showy. I mentioned these things and I saw that for once the guides were +with me. They did not warm to the idea of that trip up the Liverpool and +the gaudy homecoming. Eddie was only for a moment checked. + +"Well, then," he said, "we'll kill and skin them. We can carry the +skins." + +This was no better. I did not want those little mooses slaughtered, and +said so. But Eddie was roused now, and withered me with judicial +severity. + +"Look here," he said, and his spectacles glared fiercely. "I'm here as a +representative of the British Museum, in the cause of science, not to +discuss the protection of dumb creatures. That's another society." + +I submitted then, of course. I always do when Eddie asserts his official +capacity like that. The authority of the British Museum is not to be +lightly tampered with. So far as I knew he could have me jailed for +contempt. We shoved our canoes in shore and disembarked. Eddie turned +back. + +"We must take something to tie their hind legs," he said, and fished out +a strap for that purpose. The hope came to me that perhaps, after all, +he might not need the strap, but I was afraid to mention it. + +I confess I was unhappy. I imagined a pathetic picture of a little +innocent creature turning its pleading eyes up to the captor who with +keen sheath-knife would let slip the crimson tide. I had no wish to go +racing through the brush after those timid victims. + +[Illustration: "I do not like to come upon snakes in that manner."] + +I did, however. The island was long and narrow. We scattered out across +it in a thin line of battle, and starting at one end swept down the +length of it with a conquering front. That sounds well, but it fails to +express what we did. We did not sweep, and we did not have any front to +speak of. The place was a perfect tangle and chaos of logs, bushes, +vines, pits, ledges and fallen trees. To beat up that covert was a hot, +scratchy, discouraging job, attended with frequent escapes from accident +and damage. I was satisfied I had the worst place in the line, for I +couldn't keep up with the others, and I tried harder to do that than I +did to find the little mooses. I didn't get sight of the others after we +started. Neither did I catch a glimpse of those little day-old calves, +or of anything else except a snake, which I came upon rather suddenly +when I was down on my hands and knees, creeping under a fallen tree. I +do not like to come upon snakes in that manner. I do not care to view +them even behind glass in a museum. An earthquake might strike that +museum and break the glass and it might not be easy to get away. I wish +Eddie had been collecting snake skins for _his_ museum. I would have +been willing for him to skin that one alive. + +I staggered out to the other end of the island, at last, with only a +flickering remnant of life left in me. I thought Eddie would be +grateful for all my efforts when I was not in full sympathy with the +undertaking; but he wasn't. He said that by not keeping up with the line +I had let the little mooses slip by, and that we would have to make the +drive again. I said he might have my route and I would take another. It +was a mistake, though. I couldn't seem to pick a better one. When we had +chased up and down that disordered island--that dumping ground of +nature--for the third time; when I had fallen over every log and stone, +and into every hole on it, and had scraped myself in every brush-heap, +and not one of us had caught even an imaginary glimpse of those little, +helpless, day-old meese, or mooses, or mice for they were harder to find +than mice--we staggered out, limp and sore, silently got into our canoes +and drifted away. Nobody spoke for quite a while. Nobody had anything to +say. Then Charlie murmured reflectively, as if thinking aloud: + +"Little helpless fellows--not more than a day or two old----" + +And Del added--also talking to himself: + +"Too young to swim, of course--wholly at our mercy." Then, a moment +later, "It's a good thing we took that strap to tie their hind legs." + +Eddie said nothing at all, and I was afraid to. Still, I was glad that +my vision of the little creatures pleading for their lives hadn't been +realized, or that other one of Del and Charlie paddling for dear life +up the Liverpool, with those little mooses bleating and scampering up +and down the canoe. + +What really became of those calves remains a mystery. Nature teaches her +wild children many useful things. Their first indrawn breath is laden +with knowledge. Perhaps those wise little animals laughed at us from +some snug hiding. Perhaps they could swim, after all, and followed their +mother across the island, and so away. Whatever they did, I am glad, +even if the museum people have me arrested for it. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-three + + + _When the utmost bound of the trail is found--_ + _The last and loneliest lair--_ + _The hordes of the forest shall gather round_ + _To bid you a welcome there._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-three + + +I do not know what lies above the Tobeatic lakes, but the strip of +country between is the true wilderness. It is a succession of swamps and +spruce thickets--ideal country for a moose farm or a mosquito hatchery, +or for general exploration, but no sort of a place for a Sunday-school +picnic. Neither is it a good place to fish. The little brook between the +lakes runs along like a chain pump and contains about as many trout. +There are one or two pretty good pools, but the effort to reach them is +too costly. + +We made camp in as dry a place as we could find, but we couldn't find a +place as big as the tent that didn't have a spring or a water hole. In +fact, the ground was a mass of roots, great and small, with water +everywhere between. A spring actually bubbled up between our beds, and +when one went outside at night it was a mercy if he did not go plunging +into some sort of a cold, wet surprise, with disastrous and profane +results. Being the worst camp and the worst country and the poorest +fishing we had found, we remained there two days. But this was as it +should be. We were not fishermen now, but explorers; and explorers, +Eddie said, always court hardships, and pitch their camps in the midst +of dangers. + +Immediately after our arrival, Eddie and I took one side of the brook +and the guides the other, and we set out to discover things, chiefly the +upper lake. Of course we would pick the hardest side. We could be +depended on to do that. The brook made a long bend, and the guides, who +were on the short side, found fairly easy going. Eddie and I, almost +immediately, were floundering in a thick miry swamp, where it was hot +and breezeless, and where the midges, mooseflies and mosquitoes gave us +a grand welcome. I never saw anybody so glad to be discovered as those +mooseflies. They were as excited as if we were long lost relatives who +had suddenly turned up with a fortune. They swarmed about us and clung +to us and tapped us in any convenient place. I did not blame them, of +course. Moose diet, year in and year out, would make them welcome +anything by way of a change. And what droves of moose there must be in +that swamp to support such a muster of flies! Certainly this was the +very heart of the moose domain. + +Perhaps the reader who has never seen a moosefly may not appreciate the +amplitude and vigor of our welcome. The moosefly is a lusty fellow with +mottled wings. I believe he is sometimes called the deerfly, though as +the moose is bigger and more savage than the deer, it is my opinion that +the moosefly is bigger and more savage than any fly that bites the deer. +I don't think the deer could survive him. He is about the size of the +green-headed horsefly, but of more athletic build. He describes rapid +and eager circles about one's head, whizzing meanwhile in a manner which +some may like, but which I could not learn to enjoy. His family is large +and he has many friends. He brings them all along to greet you, and they +all whiz and describe circles at once, and with every circle or two he +makes a dip and swipes up about a gill of your lifeblood and guzzles it +down, and goes right on whizzing and circling until he picks out a place +for the next dip. Unlike the mosquito, the moosefly does not need to +light cautiously and patiently sink a well until he strikes a paying +vein. His practice on the moose has fitted him for speedier methods. The +bill with which he is accustomed to bore through a tough moosehide in a +second or two will penetrate a man in the briefest fraction of the time. + +We got out of that swamp with no unnecessary delay and made for a spruce +thicket. Ordinarily one does not welcome a spruce thicket, for it +resembles a tangle of barbed wires. But it was a boon now. We couldn't +scratch all the places at once and the spruce thicket would help. We +plunged into it and let it dig, and scrape, and protect us from those +whizzing, circling blood-gluttons of the swamp. Yet it was cruel going. +I have never seen such murderous brush. I was already decorated with +certain areas of "New Skin," but I knew that after this I should need a +whole one. Having our rods and guns made it harder. In places we were +obliged to lie perfectly flat to worm and wriggle through. And the heat +was intense and our thirst a torture. Yet in the end it was worth while +and the payment was not long delayed. Just beyond the spruce thicket ran +a little spring rivulet, cold as ice. Lying on its ferny margin we drank +and drank, and the gods themselves cannot create a more exquisite joy +than that. We followed the rivulet to where it fed the brook, a little +way below. There we found a good-sized pool, and trout. Also a cool +breeze and a huge bowlder--complete luxury. We rested on the big +stone--I mean I did--and fished, while Eddie was trying to find the way +out. I said I would wait there until a relief party arrived. It was no +use. Eddie threatened to leave me at last if I didn't come on, and I had +no intention of being left alone in that forgotten place. + +We struggled on. Finally near sunset of that long, hard June day, we +passed out of the thicket tangle, ascended a slope and found ourselves +in an open grove of whispering pines that through all the years had +somehow escaped the conflagration and the ax. Tall colonnades they +formed--a sort of Grove of Dodona which because of some oracle, perhaps, +the gods had spared and the conquering vandals had not swept away. From +the top of the knoll we caught a glimpse of water through the trees, and +presently stood on the shore of Little Tobeatic Lake. + +So it was we reached the end of our quest--the farthest point in the +unknown. I hardly know what I had expected: trout of a new species and +of gigantic size, perhaps, or a strange race of men. Whatever it was, I +believe I felt a bit disappointed. + +I believe I did not consider it much of a discovery. It was a good deal +like other Nova Scotia lakes, except that it appeared to be in two +sections and pretty big for its name. But Eddie was rejoiced over our +feat. The mooseflies and spruce thickets and the miry swamps we had +passed, for him only added relish to this moment of supreme triumph. +Eddie would never be the man to go to the Arctics in an automobile or an +airship. That would be too easy. He would insist on more embroideries. +He would demand all the combined hardships of the previous expeditions. +I am at present planning a trip to the South Pole, but I shall leave +Eddie at home. And perhaps I shall also be disappointed when I get to +the South Pole and find it only a rock in a snowdrift. + +We crossed the brook and returned to camp the short way. We differed a +good deal as to the direction, and separated once or twice. We got lost +at last, for the way was so short and easy that we were below the camp +before we knew it. When at last we heard the guides calling (they had +long since returned) we came in, blaming each other for several things +and were scarcely on speaking terms for as much as five minutes. It was +lucky that Charles found a bottle of Jamaica rum and a little pot of +honey just then. A mixture of rum and honey will allay irritation due to +moosefly and mosquito bites, and to a variety of other causes if +faithfully applied. + +The matter of mosquitoes was really serious that night. We kept up +several smudge fires and sat among them and smoked ourselves like +herring. Even then we were not immune. When it came time for bed we +brushed the inside of the tent and set our pipes going. Then Eddie +wanted to read, as was his custom. I objected. I said that to light a +candle would be to invite all those mosquitoes back. He pleaded, but for +once I was firm. He offered me some of his best things, but I refused to +sell my blood in that way. Finally he declared he had a spread of +mosquito net and would put it over the door and every possible opening +if I would let him read. I said he might put up the netting and if I +approved the job I would then consider the matter. He got out the net--a +nice new piece--and began to put it up. + +It was a tedious job, arranging that net and fastening it properly by +the flickering firelight so that it covered every crack and crevice. +When he pulled it down in one place it left an opening in another and +had to be poked and pinned and stuffed in and patted down a great many +times. From my place inside the tent I could see his nimble shadow on +the canvas like some big insect, bobbing and flitting up and down and +from side to side. It reminded me of a persistent moth, dipping and +dodging about a screen. I drowsily wondered if he would ever get it +fixed, and if he wasn't getting hot and tired, for it was a still, +sticky night. Yet I suppose I did not realize how hot and tired one +might get on such a night, especially after a hard day. When he ceased +his lightsome movements at last and crept as carefully as a worm under +the net, I expected him to light the candle lamp and read. He did not do +so. He gave one long sighing groan of utter exhaustion, dropped down on +his bed without removing his clothes and never stirred again until +morning. + +The net was a great success. Only two mosquitoes got in and they bit +Eddie. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-four + + + _Apollo has tuned his lute again,_ + _And the pipes of Pan are near,_ + _For the gods that fled from the groves of men_ + _Gather unheeded here._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-four + + +It was by no means an unpleasant camp, first and last. It was our +"Farthest North" for one thing, our deepest point in the wilderness. It +would require as much as three or four days travel, even by the quickest +and most direct route to reach any human habitation, and in this thought +there was charm. It was a curious place, too, among those roots and +springs, and the brook there formed a rare pool for bathing. While the +others were still asleep I slipped down there for my morning dip. It was +early, but in that latitude and season the sun had already risen and +filtered in through the still treetops. Lying back in that natural basin +with the cool, fresh water slipping over and about one, and all the +world afar off and unreal, was to know the joy of the dim, forgotten +days when nymphs and dryads sported in hidden pools or tripped to the +pipes of Pan. Hemlock and maple boughs lacing above, with blue sky +between--a hermit thrush singing: such a pool Diana might have found, +shut away in some remote depths of Arcady. I should not have been much +surprised to have heard the bay of her hounds in that still early +morning, and to have seen her and her train suddenly appear--pursuing a +moose, maybe, or merely coming down for a morning swim. Of course I +should have secluded myself had I heard them coming. I am naturally a +modest person. Besides, I garner from the pictures that Diana is likely +to be dangerous when she is in her moods. Eddie bathed, too, later, but +the spell was gone then. Diana was far away, the stillness and sun-glint +were no more in the treetops, the hermit thrush was no longer in the +neighborhood. Eddie grumbled that the water was chilly and that the +stones hurt his feet. An hour, sometimes--a moment, even--makes all the +difference between romance and reality. Finally, even the guides bathed! +We let off fireworks in celebration! + +We carried the canoes to the lake that morning and explored it, but +there was not much to see. The lake had no inlet that we could find, and +Eddie and I lost a dollar apiece with the guides betting on the shape of +it, our idea being based upon the glimpse of the evening before. I don't +care much for lakes that change their shape like that, and even Eddie +seemed willing to abandon this unprofitable region. I suspected, +however, that his willingness to take the back track was mainly due to +the hope of getting another try at the little mooses, but I resolved to +indulge myself no further in any such pastime. + +[Illustration: "We went down that long, lovely lake in a luxury of idle +bliss."] + +It was hard to drag Eddie by those islands. He wanted to cruise around +every one of them and to go ashore and prospect among the débris. He +vowed at last that he would come back with Charles from our next camp +and explore on his own account. Then, there being a fine breeze directly +behind us, he opened out a big umbrella which he had brought along for +just such a time, we hitched our canoe on behind, and with that bellying +black sail on the forward bow, went down that long, lovely lake in a +luxury of idle bliss. + +We camped at our old place by the falls and next morning Eddie did in +fact return to have another go at the calves. Del was willing to stay at +the camp, and I said I would have a quiet day's fishing nearby. It +proved an unusual day's fishing for those waters. White perch are not +plentiful there, but for some reason a school of them had collected just +by our camp. I discovered them by accident and then gave up everything +else to get as many of them as possible, for they were a desirable +change from trout, and eagerly welcomed. I fished for them by spells all +day. Del and I had them for luncheon and we saved a great pan full to be +ready for supper, when the others should return. + +It was dusk when the other canoe came in. Our companions were very +tired, also wet, for it had been a misty day, with showers. Eddie was a +bit cross, too. They had seen some calves, he said, but could not get +them. His guide agreed with this statement, but when questioned +separately their statements varied somewhat as to the reasons of +failure. It did not matter. Eddie was discouraged in the calf moose +project, I could see that. Presently I began boasting of the big day's +sport I had enjoyed, and then to show off I said, "This is how I did +it." + +Eddie was washing his hands in my perch pool and I had no idea of +getting anything--one is not likely to when he wishes to exhibit +himself--but I made a cast with the light tackle with two flies on it +and immediately had my hands full. For once, I did actually show off +when I undertook to do it. I think the only two big perch in that pool +seized those flies, and for the next five or ten minutes they were +making my reel sing and giving me such sport as only two big white perch +on a light tackle can. I brought them to the net at last and Eddie +looked on with hungry, envious eyes. + +"You don't mean to say you've been taking those things all day," he +said. + +"All day, more or less. I merely gave this little exhibition to wind up +on." + +But of course I had to show him the size of the others, then, and he was +appeased to the extent of forgetting most of his troubles in a square +meal. That quiet day with the white perch, ending as it did with a grand +finale, remains one of my fondest memories. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-five + + + _You may pick your place--you may choose your hour--_ + _You may put on your choicest flies;_ + _But never yet was it safe to bet_ + _That a single trout would rise._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-five + + +Back across Tupper Lake and down Sand Brook to the Shelburne. Eddie left +the further wilderness with a sigh, for he felt that his chance of +getting a moose calf for those museum people was getting slim. A +distance--I have forgotten the number of miles--down the Shelburne would +bring us to country known to the guides and not remote enough for moose +at this season. As Eddie is no longer in this country, I may confess, +now, that I was glad. + +It was beautiful going, down Sand Brook. There was plenty of water and +the day was perfect. There is nothing lovelier in the world than that +little limpid stream with its pebbly riffles and its sunlit pools. +Sometimes when I think of it now I am afraid that it is no longer there +in that far still Arcady, or that it may vanish through some enchantment +before I can ever reach it again. Indeed as I am writing here to-day I +am wondering if it is really there--hidden away in that quiet unvisited +place, when no one is there to see it, and to hear it sing and +whisper--if anything is anywhere, unless some one is there to see and +hear. But these are deep waters. I am prone to stumble, as we have +seen, and somehow my tallest waders never take me through. + +I have already said, and repeated, I think, that there is no better +trout fishing than in the Shelburne. The fish now were not quite so +heavy as they had been higher up, but they were very many. The last half +of the miracle of the loaves and fishes would not have been necessary +here had the multitudes been given some tackle and a few cans of bait. +When we were a little above Kempton Dam, Del pointed out the first place +familiar to him. The woods were precisely the same--the waters just as +fair and fruitful--the locality just as wild; but somehow as we rounded +that bend a certain breath of charm vanished. The spell of perfect +isolation was gone. I had the feeling that we had emerged from the +enchanted borders of No Man's Land--that we were entering a land of real +places, with the haunts and habitations of men. + +Kempton Dam itself had been used to catch logs, not so long ago, and +Eddie had visited it on a previous occasion. He still had a fond memory +of a very large trout--opinions differed a trifle as to its exact +size--which he had taken there in a certain pool of golden water, and it +was evident from his talk that he expected to take that trout again, or +some member of its family, or its ghost, maybe, immediately upon +arrival. + +It certainly proved an attractive place, and there were any number of +fish. They were not especially large, however. Even the golden water was +fruitful only as to numbers. We waded among the rocks or stood on the +logs, and cast and reeled and netted and returned fish to the water +until we were fairly surfeited. By that time the guides had the camp +ready, and as it was still early we gave them the rods and watched the +sport. + +Now a fly-casting tournament at home is a tame entertainment when one +has watched the fishing of Nova Scotia guides. To see a professional +send a fly sailing out a hundred feet or so in Madison Square Garden is +well enough, and it is a meritorious achievement, no doubt, but there is +no return except the record and the applause. To see Del the Stout and +Charles the Strong doing the same thing from that old log dam was a +poem, a picture, an inspiration. Above and below, the rushing water; +overhead, the blue sky; on either side, the green of June--the treetops +full of the setting sun. Out over the foaming current, skimming just +above the surface, the flies would go sailing, sailing--you thought they +would never light. They did not go with a swish and a jump, but seemed +noiselessly to drift away, as if the lightly swinging rod had little to +do with the matter, as if they were alive, in fact, looking for a place +to settle in some cozy nook of water where a trout would be sure to be. +And the trout were there. It was not the empty tub-fishing of a +sportsman's show. The gleam and splash in the pool that seemed +remote--that was perhaps thirty yards away in fact--marked the casting +limit, and the sharp curve of the rod, and the play to land were more +inspiring than any measure of distance or clapping of hands. + +Charles himself became so inspired at length with his handsome fishing +that he made a rash statement. He declared that he could take five trout +in fifteen minutes. He offered to bet a dollar that he could do it. I +rather thought he could myself, for the fish were there, and they were +not running over large. Still, it was no easy matter to land them in +that swift water, and it would be close work. The show would be worth a +dollar, even if I lost. Wherefore, I scoffed at his boast and took the +bet. + +No stipulations were made as to the size of the trout, nor the manner in +which they should be taken, nor as to any special locality. It was +evident from our guide's preparation that he had evolved certain ideas +of his own in the matter. Previously he had been trying to hook a big +fish, but it was pretty evident that he did not want any big fish now. +There was a little brook--a run-around, as it were--that left the main +water just below the dam and came in again at the big pool several +hundred yards below. We had none of us touched this tumbling bit of +water. It was his idea that it would be full of little trout. He wanted +something he could lift out with no unnecessary delay, for time that is +likely to be worth over six cents a minute is too expensive to waste in +fancy sportsmanship. He selected a short rod and put on some tiny flies. +Then he took his position; we got out our watches and called time. + +Now, of course, one of the most uncertain things in life to gamble on is +fishing. You may pick your place, your day and your time of day. The +combination may seem perfect. Yet the fact remains that you can never +count with certainty on the result. One might suppose that our guide had +everything in his favor. Up to the very moment of his wager he had been +taking trout about as rapidly as he could handle them, and from water +that had been fished more or less all the afternoon. He knew the +particular fly that had been most attractive on this particular day and +he had selected a place hitherto unfished--just the sort of a place +where small trout seemed likely to abound. With his skill as an angler +it would not have surprised me if he had taken his five trout and had +more than half the time to spare. + +I think he expected to do that himself. I think he did, for he went at +it with that smiling _sang froid_ with which one does a sleight of hand +trick after long practice. He did not show any appearance of haste in +making his first cast, but let the flies go gently out over a little +eddying pool and lightly skim the surface of the water, as if he were +merely amusing himself by tantalizing those eager little trout. Yet for +some reason nothing happened. Perhaps the little trout were attending a +party in the next pool. There came no lively snap at those twitching +flies--there was not even a silver break on the surface of the water. + +I thought our guide's smile faded the least trifle, and that he let the +flies go a bit quicker next time. Then when nothing, absolutely nothing, +happened again, his look became one of injured surprise. He abandoned +that pool and stepping a rock or two downstream, sent the flies with a +sharp little flirt into the next--once--twice--it was strange--it was +unaccountable, but nothing--not a single thing happened again. It was +the same with the next pool, and the next. + +There were no special marks of self-confidence, or anything that even +resembled deliberation, after this. It was business, strictly business, +with the sole idea of taking five fish out of that run, or getting down +to a place where five fish could be had. It was a pretty desperate +situation, for it was a steep run and there was no going back. To +attempt that would be to waste too much precious time. The thing to do +was to fish it straight through, with no unnecessary delay. There was no +doubt but that this was our guide's programme. The way he deported +himself showed that. Perhaps he was not really in a hurry--I want to be +just--but he acted as if he was. I have never seen a straddle-bug, but +if I ever meet one I shall recognize him, for I am certain he will look +exactly like Charles the Strong going down Tommy Kempton's Run. He was +shod in his shoepacks, and he seemed to me to have one foot always in +the air wildly reaching out for the next rock--the pair of flies, +meanwhile, describing lightning circles over every pool and riffle, +lingering just long enough to prove the futility of the cast, to be +lying an instant later in a new spot, several yards below. If ever there +is a tournament for swift and accurate fly-casting down a flight of +rugged stone stairs I want to enter Charles for first honors against the +world. But I would not bet on any fish--I want that stipulated. I would +not gamble to that extent. I would not gamble even on one fish after +being a witness to our guide's experience. + +That was a mad race. The rest of us kept a little to one side, out of +his way, and not even Del and Eddie could keep up with him. And with all +that wild effort not a fish would rise--nor even break water. It was +strange--it was past believing--I suppose it was even funny. It must +have been, for I seem to recall that we fairly whooped our joy at his +acrobatic eagerness. Why, with such gymnastics, Charles did not break +his neck I cannot imagine. With the utmost watchfulness I barely missed +breaking mine as much as a dozen times. + +The time was more than half-expired when we reached the foot of the run, +and still no fish, not even a rise. Yet the game was not over. It was +supposable that this might be the place of places for fish. Five fish in +five minutes were still possible, if small. The guide leaped and waded +to a smooth, commanding stone and cast--once--twice, out over the +twisting water. Then, suddenly, almost in front of him, it seemed, a +great wave rolled up from the depths--there was a swish and a quick +curving of the rod--a monstrous commotion, and a struggle in the water. +It was a king of fish, we could all see that, and the rest of us gave a +shout of approval. + +But if Charles was happy, he did not look it. In fact, I have never seen +any one act so unappreciative of a big fish, nor handle it in so +unsportsmanlike a manner. If I remember his remark it had damn and hell +mixed up in it, and these words were used in close association with that +beautiful trout. His actions were even worse. He made no effort to play +his catch--to work him gradually to the net, according to the best form. +Nothing of the kind. You'd have supposed our guide had never seen a big +trout before by the way he got hold of that line and yanked him in, hand +over hand, regardless of the danger to line and leader and to those +delicate little flies, to say nothing of the possibility of losing a +fish so handled. Of course the seconds were flying, and landing a fish +of that size is not an especially quick process. A three-pound trout in +swift water has a way of staying there, even when taken by the main +strength and awkwardness system. When only about a yard of line +remained between Charlie and the fish, the latter set up such a +commotion, and cut up such a series of antics, that it was impossible +for one man to hold him and net him, though the wild effort which our +guide made to do so seemed amusing to those who were looking on. In +fact, if I had not been weak with laughing I might have gone to his +rescue sooner. One may be generous to a defeated opponent, and the time +limit was on its last minute now. As it was, I waded over presently and +took the net. A moment later we had him--the single return in the +allotted time, but by all odds the largest trout thus far of the +expedition. You see, as I have said, fish are uncertain things to gamble +on. Trying for five small ones our fisherman captured one large fish, +which at any other moment of the expedition would have been more +welcome. Yet even he was an uncertain quantity, for big, strong and +active as he was, he suddenly gave a great leap out of the net and was +back in the water again. Still, I let him be counted. That was generous. + +You might have supposed after that demonstration, Eddie would have been +somewhat reticent about backing his skill as a fisherman. But he wasn't. +He had just as much faith in his angling, and in his ability to pick +good water as if he hadn't seen his guide go down to ignominy and +defeat. He knew a place just above the dam, he said, where he could make +that bet good. Would I give him the same terms? I would--the offer was +open to all comers. I said it was taking candy from children. + +[Illustration: "It was worth the dollar to watch the way he sought to +wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout."] + +We went up to Eddie's place and got out the watches. Eddie had learned +something from his guide's exhibition. He had learned not to prance +about over a lot of water, and not to seem to be in a hurry. It was such +things that invited mirth. He took his position carefully between two +great bowlders and during the next fifteen minutes gave us the most +charming exhibition of light and delicate fly-casting I have ever +witnessed. It was worth the dollar to watch the way in which he sought +to wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout, and to study the deft +dispatch and grace with which he landed a fish, once hooked. Still he +hadn't learned quite enough. He hadn't learned to take five trout in +fifteen minutes in that particular place and on that particular evening. +Perhaps it was a little late when he began. Perhaps fifteen minutes is a +shorter period than it sometimes seems. Three trout completed his score +at the end of the allotted time--all fairly large. + +Yet I must not fail to add here that a few days later, in other water, +both Eddie and his guide made good their wager. Each took his five +trout--small ones--in fifteen minutes, and had time to spare. As I have +remarked once or twice already, one of the most uncertain things in life +to gamble on is fishing. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-six + + + _Oh, the waves they pitch and the waves they toss,_ + _And the waves they frighten me;_ + _And if ever I get my boat across_ + _I'll go no more to sea._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-six + + +We were met by a surprise at our camp. Two men sat there, real men, the +first we had seen since we entered the wilderness. Evidently they were +natives by their look--trappers or prospectors of some sort. They turned +out to be bear hunters, and they looked rather hungrily at the +assortment of fish we had brought in--enough for supper and breakfast. +Perhaps they had not been to fish so frequently as to bear. I believe +they were without tackle, or maybe their luck had been poor--I do not +remember. At all events it developed presently that they needed fish, +also that they had a surplus of butter of a more recent period than the +little dab we had left. They were willing to dicker--a circumstance that +filled us with an enthusiasm which we restrained with difficulty. In +fact, Del did not restrain his quite enough. He promptly offered them +all the fish we had brought in for their extra pound of butter, when we +could just as easily have got it for half the number of fish. Of course +the fish did not seem especially valuable to us, and we were willing +enough to make a meal without them. Still, one can never tell what will +happen, and something like six dollars worth of trout--reckoned by New +York prices--seems an unnecessary sum to pay for a pound of butter, +even in the Nova Scotia woods, though possibly trout will never be worth +quite that much there. + +All the same, the price had advanced a good deal by next morning, for +the wind had shifted to the northeast and it was bleak and blustery. +Everybody knows the old rhyme about the winds and the fish--how, when +the winds are north or east, the fish bite least, and how, when the +winds are south and west, the fish bite best. There isn't much poetry in +the old rhyme, but it's charged with sterling truth. Just why a +northerly or easterly wind will take away a fish's appetite, I think has +never been explained, or why a southerly and westerly wind will start +him out hunting for food. But it's all as true as scripture. I have seen +trout stop rising with a shifting of the wind to the eastward as +suddenly as if they had been summoned to judgment, and I have seen them +begin after a cold spell almost before the wind had time to get settled +in its new quarter. Of course it had been Del's idea that we could +easily get trout enough for breakfast. That was another mistake--we +couldn't. We couldn't take them from the river, and we couldn't take +them from our bear hunters, for they had gone. We whipped our lines +around in that chill wind, tangled our flies in treetops, endangered our +immortal souls, and went back to the tents at last without a single +thing but our appetites. Then we took turns abusing Del for his +disastrous dicker by which he had paid no less than five dollars and +seventy-five cents a pound too much for butter, New York market +schedule. Our appetites were not especially for trout--only for hearty +food of some kind, and as I have said before, we had reached a place +where fish had become our real staple. The conditions were particularly +hard on Del himself, for he is a hearty man, and next to jars of +marmalade, baskets of trout are his favorite forage. + +In fact, we rather lost interest in our camp, and disagreeable as it +was, we decided to drop down the river to Lake Rossignol and cross over +to the mouth of the Liverpool. It was a long six-mile ferriage across +Rossignol and we could devote our waste time to getting over. By the end +of the trip the weather might change. + +The Shelburne is rough below Kempton Dam. It goes tearing and foaming in +and out among the black rocks, and there are places where you have to +get out of the canoes and climb over, and the rocks are slippery and +sometimes there is not much to catch hold of. We shot out into the lake +at last, and I was glad. It was a mistake, however, to be glad just +then. It was too soon. The wind had kicked up a good deal of water, and +though our canoes were lighter than when we started, I did not consider +them suited to such a sea. They pitched about and leaped up into the +air, one minute with the bow entirely out of water, and the next with +it half-buried in the billow ahead. Every other second a big wave ran on +a level with the gunwale, and crested its neck and looked over and +hissed, and sometimes it spilled in upon us. It would not take much of +that kind of freight to make a cargo, and anything like an accident in +that wide, gray billowy place was not a nice thing to contemplate. A +loaded canoe would go down like a bullet. No one clad as we were could +swim more than a boat's length in that sea. + +As we got farther on shore the waves got worse. If somebody had just +suggested it I should have been willing to turn around and make back for +the Shelburne. Nobody suggested it, and we went on. It seemed to me +those far, dim shores through the mist, five miles or more away, would +never get any closer. I grew tired, too, and my arms ached, but I could +not stop paddling. I was filled with the idea that if I ever stopped +that eternal dabbing at the water, my end of the canoe would never ride +the next billow. Del reflected aloud, now and then, that we had made a +mistake to come out on such a day. When I looked over at the other canoe +and saw it on the top of a big wave with both ends sticking out in the +air, and then saw it go down in a trough of black, ugly water, I +realized that Del was right. I knew our canoe was doing just such +dangerous things as that, and I would have given any reasonable sum for +an adequate life preserver, or even a handy pine plank--for anything, +in fact, that was rather more certain to stay on top of the water than +this billow-bobbing, birch-bark peanut shell of a canoe. + +I suppose I became unduly happy, therefore, when at last we entered the +mouth of the Liverpool. I was so glad that I grew gay, and when we +started up the rapids I gave Del a good lift here and there by pushing +back against the rocks with my paddle, throwing my whole weight on it +sometimes, to send the canoe up in style. It is always unwise for me to +have a gay reaction like that, especially on Friday, which is my unlucky +day. Something is so liable to happen. We were going up a particularly +steep piece of water when I got my paddle against a stone on the bottom +and gave an exceptionally strong push. I don't know just what happened +next. Perhaps my paddle slipped. Del says it did. I know I heard him +give a whoop, and I saw the river coming straight up at me. Then it came +pouring in over the side, and in about a minute more most of our things +were floating downstream, with Del grabbing at them, and me clinging to +the upset canoe, trying to drag it ashore. + +We camped there. It was a good place, one of the best yet selected. +Still, I do not recommend selecting a camp in that way. If it did not +turn out well, it might be a poor place to get things dry. One needs to +get a good many things dry after a selection like that, especially on a +cold day. It was a cold night, too. I dried my under things and put +them all on. + +"Did you ever sleep in your clothes in the woods?" I have been asked. + +I did. I put on every dry thing I had that night, and regretted I had +left anything at home. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-seven + + + _It is better to let the wild beast run,_ + _And to let the wild bird fly:_ + _Each harbors best in his native nest,_ + _Even as you and I._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-seven + + +Perhaps it was the cold weather that brought us a visitor. There was a +tree directly over our tent, and in the morning--a sharp sunny morning, +with the wind where it should be, in the west--we noticed on going out +that a peculiar sort of fruit had grown on this tree over night. On one +of the limbs just above the tent was a prickly looking ball, like a +chestnut burr, only black, and about a hundred times as big. It was a +baby porcupine, who perhaps had set out to see the world on his own +account--a sort of prodigal who had found himself without funds, and +helpless, on a cold night. No doubt he climbed up there to look us over, +with a view of picking out a good place for himself; possibly with the +hope of being invited to breakfast. + +Eddie was delighted with our new guest. He declared that he would take +him home alive, and feed him and care for him, and live happy ever +after. He got a pole and shook our visitor down in a basket, and did a +war-dance of joy over his new possession. He was a cute little +fellow--the "piggypine" (another of Eddie's absurd names)--with bright +little eyes and certain areas of fur, but I didn't fancy him as a pet. +He seemed to me rather too much of a cross between a rat and a pin +cushion to be a pleasant companion in the intimate relations of one's +household. I suspected that if in a perfectly wild state he had been +prompted to seek human companionship and the comforts of civilized life, +in a domestic atmosphere he would want to sit at the table and sleep +with somebody. I did not believe Eddie's affection would survive these +familiarities. I knew how surprised and annoyed he might be some night +to roll over suddenly on the piggypine and then have to sit up the rest +of the night while a surgeon removed the quills. I said that I did not +believe in taming wild creatures, and I think the guides were with me in +this opinion. I think so because they recited two instances while we +were at breakfast. Del's story was of some pet gulls he once owned. He +told it in that serious way which convinced me of its truth. Certain +phases of the narrative may have impressed me as being humorous, but it +was clear they were not so regarded by Del. His manner was that of one +who records history. He said: + +"One of the children caught two young gulls once, in the lake, and +brought them to the house and said they were going to tame them. I +didn't think they would live, but they did. You couldn't have killed +them without an ax. They got tame right away, and they were all over the +house, under foot and into everything, making all kinds of trouble. But +that wasn't the worst--the worst was feeding them. It wasn't so bad +when they were little, but they grew to beat anything. Then it began to +keep us moving to get enough for them to eat. They lived on fish, +mostly, and at first the children thought it fun to feed them. They used +to bait a little dip net and catch minnows for the gulls, and the gulls +got so they would follow anybody that started out with that dip net, +calling and squealing like a pair of pigs. But they were worse than +pigs. You can fill up a pig and he will go to sleep, but you never could +fill up those gulls. By and by the children got tired of trying to do it +and gave me the job. I made a big dip net and kept it set day and night, +and every few minutes all day and the last thing before bedtime I'd go +down and lift out about a pailful of fish for those gulls, and they'd +eat until the fish tails stuck out of their mouths, and I wouldn't more +than have my back turned before they'd be standing on the shore of the +lake, looking down into that dip net and hollering for more. I got so I +couldn't do anything but catch fish for those gulls. It was a busy +season, too, and besides the minnows were getting scarce along the lake +front, so I had to get up early to get enough to feed them and the rest +of the family. I said at last that I was through feeding gulls. I told +the children that either they'd have to do it, or that the gulls would +have to go to work like the rest of the family and fish for themselves. +But the children wouldn't do it, nor the gulls, either. Then I said I +would take those birds down in the woods and leave them somewhere. I +did that. I put them into a basket and shut them in tight and took them +five miles down the river and let them loose in a good place where there +were plenty of fish. They flew off and I went home. When I got to the +house they'd been there three hours, looking at the dip net and +squalling, and they ate a pail heaping full of fish, and you could have +put both gulls into the pail when they got through. I was going on a +long trip with a party next morning, and we took the gulls along. We fed +them about a bushel of trout and left them seventeen miles down the +river, just before night, and drove home in the dark. I didn't think the +gulls would find their way back that time, but they did. They were there +before daybreak, fresh and hungry as ever. Then I knew it was no use. +The ax was the only thing that would get me out of that mess. The +children haven't brought home any wild pets since." + +That you see is just unembellished history, and convincing. I regret +that I cannot say as much for Charlie's narrative. It is a likely story +enough, as such things go, but there are points about it here and there +which seem to require confirmation. I am told that it is a story well +known and often repeated in Nova Scotia, but even that cannot be +accepted as evidence of its entire truth. Being a fish-story it would +seem to require something more. This is the tale as Charlie told it. + +"Once there was a half-breed Indian," he said, "who had a pet trout +named Tommy, which he kept in a barrel. But the trout got pretty big and +had to have the water changed a good deal to keep him alive. The Indian +was too lazy to do that, and he thought he would teach the trout to live +out of water. So he did. He commenced by taking Tommy out of the barrel +for a few minutes at a time, pretty often, and then he took him out +oftener and kept him out longer, and by and by Tommy got so he could +stay out a good while if he was in the wet grass. Then the Indian found +he could leave him in the wet grass all night, and pretty soon that +trout could live in the shade whether the grass was wet or not. By that +time he had got pretty tame, too, and he used to follow the Indian +around a good deal, and when the Indian would go out to dig worms for +him, Tommy would go along and pick up the worms for himself. The Indian +thought everything of that fish, and when Tommy got so he didn't need +water at all, but could go anywhere--down the dusty road and stay all +day out in the hot sun--you never saw the Indian without his trout. Show +people wanted to buy Tommy, but the Indian said he wouldn't sell a fish +like that for any money. You'd see him coming to town with Tommy +following along in the road behind, just like a dog, only of course it +traveled a good deal like a snake, and most as fast. + +"Well, it was pretty sad the way that Indian lost his trout, and it was +curious, too. He started for town one day with Tommy coming along +behind, as usual. There was a bridge in the road and when the Indian +came to it he saw there was a plank off, but he went on over it without +thinking. By and by he looked around for Tommy and Tommy wasn't there. +He went back a ways and called, but he couldn't see anything of his pet. +Then he came to the bridge and saw the hole, and he thought right away +that maybe his trout had got in there. So he went to the hole and looked +down, and sure enough, there was Tommy, floating on the water, +bottom-side up. He'd tumbled through that hole into the brook and +drowned." + +I think these stories impressed Eddie a good deal. I know they did me. +Even if Charlie's story was not pure fact in certain minor details, its +moral was none the less evident. I saw clearer than ever that it is not +proper to take wild creatures from their native element and make pets of +them. Something always happens to them sooner or later. We were through +breakfast and Eddie went over to look at his porcupine. He had left it +in a basket, well covered with a number of things. He came back right +away--looking a little blank I thought. + +"He's gone!" he said. "The basket's just as I left it, all covered up, +but he isn't in it." + +We went over to look. Sure enough, our visitor had set out on new +adventures. How he had escaped was a mystery. It didn't matter--both he +and Eddie were better off. + +But that was a day for animal friends. Where we camped for luncheon, +Eddie and I took a walk along the river bank and suddenly found +ourselves in a perfect menagerie. We were among a regular group of grown +porcupines--we counted five of them--and at the same time there were two +blue herons in the water, close by. A step away a pair of partridges ran +through the brush and stood looking at us from a fallen log, while an +old duck and her young came sailing across the river. We were nearing +civilization now, but evidently these creatures were not much harassed. +It was like the Garden of Eden before the Fall. It is true the old duck +swam away, calling to her brood, when she saw us; the partridges +presently hid in the brush, and the blue herons waded a bit further off. +But the porcupines went on galumphing around us, and none of the +collection seemed much disturbed. During the afternoon we came upon two +fishermen, college boys, camping, who told us they had seen some young +loons in a nest just above, and Eddie was promptly seized with a desire +to possess them. + +In fact we left so hastily that Del forgot his extra paddle, and did not +discover the loss until we were a half-mile or so upstream. Then he said +he would leave me in the canoe to fish and would walk back along the +shore. An arm of the river made around an island just there, and it +looked like a good place. There seemed to be not much current in the +water, and I thought I could manage the canoe in such a spot and fish, +too, without much trouble. + +[Illustration: "I never realized before what a crazy thing a canoe can +be when you want it to do something out of its regular line of work."] + +It was not as easy as it looked. Any one who has tried to handle a canoe +from the front end with one hand and fish with the other will tell you +so. I couldn't seem to keep out of the brush along the shore, and I +couldn't get near some brush in the middle of the river where I believed +there were trout. I was right about the trout being there, too. Eddie +proved that when he came up with his canoe. He had plenty of business +with big fellows right away. But the fact didn't do me any good. Just +when I would get near the lucky place and ready to cast, a twitch in the +current or a little puff of wind would get hold of the stern of my +craft, which rode up out of the water high and light like a sail, and my +flies would land in some bushes along the bank, or hang in a treetop, or +do some other silly thing which was entertaining enough to Eddie and his +guide, apparently, but which did not amuse me. I never realized before +what a crazy thing a canoe can be when you want it to do something out +of its regular line of work. A canoe is a good sort of a craft in its +place, and I would not wish to go into the woods without one, but it is +limited in its gifts, very limited. It can't keep its balance with any +degree of certainty when you want to stand up and fish, and it has no +sort of notion of staying in one place, unless it's hauled out on the +bank. If that canoe had been given the versatility of an ordinary +flat-bottomed john-boat I could have got along better than I did. I said +as much, and disparaged canoes generally. Eddie declared that he had +never heard me swear with such talent and unreserve. He encouraged me by +holding up each fish as he caught it and by suggesting that I come over +there. He knew very well that I couldn't get there in a thousand years. +Whenever I tried to do it that fool of a canoe shot out at a tangent and +brought up nowhere. Finally in an effort to reconstruct my rod I dropped +a joint of the noibwood overboard, and it went down in about four +hundred feet of water. Then I believe I did have a few things to say. I +was surprised at my own proficiency. It takes a crucial moment like that +to develop real genius. I polished off the situation and I trimmed up +the corners. Possibly a touch of sun made me fluent, for it was hot out +there, though it was not as hot as a place I told them about, and I +dwelt upon its fitness as a permanent abiding place for fishermen in +general and for themselves in particular. When I was through and empty I +see-sawed over to the bank and waited for Del. I believe I had a +feverish hope that they would conclude to take my advice, and that I +should never see their canoe and its contents again. + +There are always compensations for those who suffer and are meek in +spirit. That was the evening I caught the big fish, the fish that Eddie +would have given a corner of his immortal soul (if he has a soul, and if +it has corners) to have taken. It was just below a big fall--Loon Lake +Falls I think they call it--and we were going to camp there. Eddie had +taken one side of the pool and I the other and neither of us had caught +anything. Eddie was just landing, when something that looked big and +important, far down the swift racing current, rose to what I had +intended as my last cast. I had the little four-ounce bamboo, but I let +the flies go down there--the fly, I mean, for I was casting with one (a +big Silver Doctor)--and the King was there, waiting. He took it with a +great slop and carried out a long stretch of line. It was a test for the +little rod. There had been unkind remarks about the tiny bamboo whip; +this was to be justification; a big trout on a long line, in deep, swift +water--the combination was perfect. Battle now, ye ruler of the rapids! +Show your timber now, thou slender wisp of silk and cane! + +But we have had enough of fishing. I shall not dwell upon the details of +that contest. I may say, however, that I have never seen Del more +excited than during the minutes--few or many, I do not know how few or +how many--that it lasted. Every guide wants his canoe to beat, and it +was evident from the first that this was the trout of the expedition. I +know that Del believed I would never bring that fish to the canoe, and +when those heavy rushes came I was harrassed with doubts myself. Then +little by little he yielded. When at last he was over in the slower +water--out of the main channel--I began to have faith. + +So he came in, slowly, slowly, and as he was drawn nearer to the boat, +Del seized the net to be ready for him. But I took the net. I had been +browbeaten and humiliated and would make my triumph complete. I brought +him to the very side of the boat, and I lifted him in. This time the big +fish did not get away. We went to where the others had been watching, +and I stepped out and tossed him carelessly on the ground, as if it were +but an everyday occurrence. Eddie was crushed. I no longer felt +bitterness toward him. + +I think I shall not give the weight of that fish. As already stated, no +one can tell the truth concerning a big fish the first trial, while more +than one attempt does not look well in print, and is apt to confuse the +reader. Besides, I don't think Eddie's scales were right, anyway. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-eight + + + _Then breathe a sigh and a long good-by_ + _To the wilderness to-day,_ + _For back again to the trails of men_ + _Follows the waterway._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-eight + + +Through the Eel-wier--a long and fruitful rapid--we entered our old +first lake, Kedgeemakoogee, this time from another point. We had made an +irregular loop of one hundred and fifty miles or more--a loop that had +extended far into the remoter wilderness, and had been marked by what, +to me, were hard ventures and vicissitudes, but which, viewed in the +concrete, was recorded in my soul as a link of pure happiness. We were +not to go home immediately. Kedgeemakoogee is large and there are +entering streams, at the mouth of which the sport at this season was +good. Besides, the teams that were to come for us would not be due yet +for several days, if we had kept proper account of time. + +It was above the Eel-weir, at George's Run, that Eddie had his first and +only success with dry flies. It was just the place--a slow-moving +current between two islands, with many vicious and hungry trout. They +would rise to the ordinary fly, two at a cast, and when Eddie put on the +dry fly--the artificial miller that sits upright on the water and is an +exact imitation of the real article--and let it go floating down, they +snapped it up eagerly. It is beautiful fishing--I should really have +liked to try it a little. But Eddie had been good to me in so many ways: +I hadn't the heart to ask him for one of his precious dry flies. + +During our trip across Kedgeemakoogee, Del--inspired perhaps by the fact +that we were getting nearer to the walks and wiles of men--gave me some +idea of Nova Scotia political economies. He explained the system of +government there, the manner of voting and the like. The representation +is by districts, of course, similar to our own, and the parties have +similar methods of making the vote of these districts count on the right +side. In Queens, for instance, where we had been most, if not all, of +the time, the voters are very scattering. I had suspected this, for in +our one hundred and fifty miles travel we had seen but two natives, and +only one of these was believed to have political residence. Del said the +district had been gerrymandered a good deal to make the votes count +right, and it was plain enough that if this man was the only voter in +that much country, and he chasing bears most of the time, they would +have to gerrymander around a good deal to keep up with him. Del said +that when election time came they would go gunning for that voter over +the rocks and through the burnt timber, and would beat up the brush for +him as if he were a moose, and valuable. Somehow politics did not seem +to belong in this place, but either Del exaggerated, this time, or there +is a good deal of it to the individual. I suppose it's well to have it +condensed in that way. + +We camped that night at Jim Charles's Point, our old first camp, and it +was like getting home after long absence. For the time seemed an age +since we had left there. It was that. Any new and wonderful experience +is long--as long as eternity--whether it be a day or a decade in +duration. Next morning, across to the mouth of West River--a place of +many fish and a rocky point for our camp, with deep beds of sweet-fern, +but no trees. That rocky open was not the best selection for tents. +Eddie and his guide had gone up the river a little way when a sudden +shower came up, with heavy darkness and quick wind. Del and I were +stowing a few things inside that were likely to get wet, when all at +once the tents became balloons that were straining at their guy ropes, +and then we were bracing hard and clinging fast to the poles to keep +everything from sailing into the sky. + +It was a savage little squall. It laid the bushes down and turned the +lake white in a jiffy. A good thing nobody was out there, under that +black sky. Then the wind died and there came a swish of rain--hard rain +for a few minutes. After that the sun once more, the fragrance of the +fern and the long, sweet afternoon. + +Looking at those deep tides of sweet-fern, I had an inspiration. My +stretcher had never been over comfortable. I longed to sleep flat. Why +not a couch of this aromatic balm? It was dry presently, and spreading +the canvas strip smoothly on the ground I covered it with armfuls of the +fern, evenly laid. I gathered and heaped it higher until it rose deep +and cushiony; then I sank down upon it to perfect bliss. + +This was Arcady indeed: a couch as soft and as fragrant as any the gods +might have spread by the brooks of Hymettus in that far time when they +stole out of Elysium to find joy in the daughters of men. Such a couch +Leda might have had when the swan came floating down to bestow celestial +motherhood. I buried my face in the odorous mass and vowed that never +again would I cramp myself in a canvas trough between two sticks, and I +never did. I could not get sweet-fern again, but balsam boughs were +plentiful, and properly laid in a manner that all guides know, make a +couch that is wide and yielding and full of rest. + +Up Little River, whose stones like the proverbial worm, turned when we +stepped on them and gave Eddie a hard fall; across Frozen Ocean--a place +which justified its name, for it was bitterly cold there and we did +nothing but keep the fire going and play pedro (to which end I put on +most of my clothes and got into my sleeping-bag)--through another stream +and a string of ponds, loitering and exploring until the final day. + +It was on one reach of a smaller stream that we found the Beaver +Dam--the only one I ever saw, or am likely to see, for the race that +builds them is nearly done. I had been walking upstream and fishing some +small rapids above the others when I saw what appeared to be a large +pool of still water just above. I made my way up there. It was in +reality a long stillwater, but a pond rather than a pool. It interested +me very much. The dam was unlike any I had ever seen. For one thing, I +could not understand why a dam should be in that place, for there was no +sign of a sluice or other indication of a log industry; besides, this +dam was not composed of logs or of stone, or anything of the sort. It +was a woven dam--a dam composed of sticks and brush and rushes and +vines, some small trees, and dirt--made without much design, it would +seem, but so carefully put together and so firmly bound that no piece of +it could work loose or be torn away. I was wondering what people could +have put together such a curious and effective thing as that, when Del +came up, pushing the canoe. He also was interested when he saw it, but +he knew what it was. It was a beaver dam, and they were getting mighty +scarce. There was a law against killing the little fellows, but their +pelts were worth high prices, and the law did not cover traffic in them. +So long as that was the case the beavers would be killed. + +I had heard of beaver dams all my life, but somehow I had not thought of +their being like this. I had not thought of those little animals being +able to construct a piece of engineering that, in a swift place like +this, could stand freshet and rot, year after year, and never break +away. Del said he had never known one of them to go out. The outlet was +in the right place and of the proper size. He showed me some new pieces +which the builders had recently put into the work, perhaps because it +seemed to be weakening there. He had watched once and had seen some +beavers working. They were as intelligent as human beings. They could +cut a tree of considerable size, he said, and make it fall in any chosen +direction. Then he showed me some pieces of wood from which they had +gnawed the sweet bark, and he explained how they cut small trees and +sank lengths of them in the water to keep the bark green and fresh for +future use. I listened and marveled. I suppose I had read of these +things, but they seemed more wonderful when I was face to face with the +fact. + +The other canoe came up and it was decided to cut a small section out of +the dam to let us through. I objected, but was assured that the beavers +were not very busy, just now, and would not mind--in fact might rather +enjoy--a repair job, which would take them but a brief time. + +"They can do it sometime while I'm making a long carry," Charlie said. + +But it was no easy matter to cut through. Charlie and Del worked with +the ax, and dragged and pulled with their hands. Finally a narrow breach +was made, but it would have been about as easy to unload the canoes and +lift them over. Half-way up the long hole we came to the lodge--its top +rising above the water. Its entrance, of course, was below the surface, +but the guides said there is always a hole at the top, for air. It was a +well-built house--better, on the whole, than many humans construct. + +"They'll be scrambling around, pretty soon," Charlie said, "when they +find the water getting lower in their sitting room. Then they'll send +out a repair gang. Poor little fellers! Somebody'll likely get 'em +before we come again. I know one chap that got seven last year. It's too +bad." + +Yes, it is too bad. Here is a wonderful race of creatures--ingenious, +harmless--a race from which man doubtless derived his early lessons in +constructive engineering. Yet Nova Scotia is encouraging their +assassination by permitting the traffic in their skins, while she salves +her conscience by enacting a law against their open slaughter. Nova +Scotia is a worthy province and means well. She protects her moose and, +to some extent, her trout. But she ought to do better by the beavers. +They are among her most industrious and worthy citizens. Their homes and +their industries should be protected. Also, their skins. It can't be +done under the present law. You can't put a price on a man's head and +keep him from being shot, even if it is against the law. Some fellow +will lay for him sure. He will sneak up and shoot him from behind, just +as he would sneak up and shoot a beaver, and he will collect his reward +in either case, and the law will wink at him. Maybe it would be no +special crime to shoot the man. Most likely he deserved it, but the +beaver was doing nobody any harm. Long ago he taught men how to build +their houses and their dams, and to save up food and water for a dry +time. Even if we no longer need him, he deserves our protection and our +tender regard.[6] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] I have just learned from Eddie that Nova Scotia has recently enacted +a new law, adequately protecting the beaver. I shall leave the above, +however, as applying to other and less humane districts, wherever +located. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-nine + + _Once more, to-night, the woods are white_ + _That lee so dim and far,_ + _Where the wild trout hide and the moose abide_ + _Under the northern star._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-nine + + +Perhaps the brightest spot of that sad period when we were making ready +to leave the woods, with all their comfort, their peace and their +religion, and go back to the harrying haunts of men, to mingle with the +fever and fret of daily strife, is the memory of a trip to Jeremy's Bay. +I don't know in the least where Jeremy's Bay is, but it is somewhere +within an hour's paddle of Jim Charles's Point, and it is that hour and +the return that sticks with me now. + +It was among the last days of June--the most wonderful season in the +north woods. The sun seems never ready to set there, then, and all the +world is made of blues and greens and the long, lingering tones of +evening. + +We had early tea in preparation for the sunset fishing. It was best, Del +said, in Jeremy's Bay about that time. So it was perhaps an hour earlier +when we started, the canoes light. + +In any one life there are not many evenings such as that. It is just as +well, for I should account it a permanent sadness if they became +monotonous. Perhaps they never would. Our course lay between shores--an +island on the one hand, the mainland on the other. When we rounded the +point, we were met by a breeze blown straight from the sunset--a breath +that was wild and fresh and sweet, and billowed the water till it caught +every hue and shimmering iridescence that the sky and shores and setting +sun could give. + +We were eager and rested, for we had done little that day, and the empty +canoes slipped like magic into a magical sea of amethyst and emerald +gold, the fresh breeze filling us with life and ecstasy until we seemed +almost to fly. The eyes could not look easily into the glory ahead, +though it was less easy to look away from the enchantment which lay +under the sunset. The Kingdom of Ponemah was there, and it was as if we +were following Hiawatha to that fair and eternal hunting-ground. + +Yet when one did turn, the transformation was almost worth while. The +colors were all changed. They were more peaceful, more like reality, +less like a harbor of dreams and visions too fair for the eyes of man to +look upon. A single glance backward, and then away once more between +walls of green, billowing into the sunset--away, away to Jeremy's Bay! + +The sun was just on the horizon when we reached there--the water already +in shadow near the shore. So deep and vivid were its hues that we seemed +to be fishing in dye-stuff. And the breeze went out with the sun, and +the painted pool became still, ruffled only where the trout broke water +or a bird dipped down to drink. + +I will not speak of the fishing there. I have already promised that I +would not speak of fishing again. But Jeremy's Bay is a spot that few +guides know and few fishermen find. It was our last real fishing, and it +was worthy. Then home to camp, between walls of dusk--away, away from +Jeremy's Bay--silently slipping under darkening shores--silently, and a +little sadly, for our long Day of Joy was closing in--the hour of return +drew near. + +And postpone it as you will, the final moment must come--the time when +the rod must be taken down for good; the leaders stripped and coiled in +their box, the fly-book tenderly gone over and the last flies you have +used fitted into place and laid away. + +One does not go through that final ritual without a little sentiment--a +little tugging about the heart. The flies were all new and trim and +properly placed when you set out. They were a gay array and you were as +proud of them as of a little garden. They are in disarray now. They have +an unkempt look. The shells are shredded, the feathers are caked and +bitten, the hackle is frazzled and frayed out. Yet you are even more +proud of them than in the beginning. Then they were only a promise, fair +and beautiful to look upon; now they conjure up pictures of supreme +fulfillment--days and moments so firmly set upon the past that they +shall not soon fade away. That big Silver Doctor--from which the shell +has twice been broken, and the feathers wrapped and rewrapped--that must +have been wound with a special blessing, for when all else failed it was +a certain lure. The big trout below Loon Lake rose to that fly, and +accordingly this battered thing will forever be preserved. This scarlet +Breck, with almost every gay feather gone and the silver wrapping +replaced with tinfoil--even when it displayed a mere shred of its former +glory it proved far more fatal than many a newer fly. How vividly it +recalls a certain wild pool of strange, dim lucence where, for me, the +trout would take no other lure. And this Montreal--it has become a magic +brush that paints a picture of black rocks and dark water, and my first +trout taken on a cast. For a hundred years, if I live that long, this +crumpled book and these broken, worn-out flies will bring back the +clear, wild water and the green shores of a Nova Scotia June, the +remoter silences of the deeper forest, the bright camps by twisting +pools and tumbling falls, the flash of the leaping trout, the feel of +the curved rod and the music of the singing reel. + +I shall always recall Eddie, then, and I shall bless him for many +things--and forgive him for others. I shall remember Del, too, the +Stout, and Charles the Strong, and that they made my camping worth +while. I was a trial to them, and they were patient--almost unreasonably +so. I am even sorry now for the time that my gun went off and scared +Del, though it seemed amusing at the moment. When the wind beats up and +down the park, and the trees are bending and cracking with ice; when I +know that once more the still places of the North are white and the +waters fettered--I shall shut my eyes and see again the ripple and the +toss of June, and hear once more the under voices of the falls. And some +day I shall return to those far shores, for it is a place to find one's +soul. + +Yet perhaps I should not leave that statement unqualified, for it +depends upon the sort of a soul that is to be found. The north wood does +not offer welcome or respond readily to the lover of conventional luxury +and the smaller comforts of living. Luxury is there, surely, but it is +the luxury that rewards effort, and privation, and toil. It is the +comfort of food and warmth and dry clothes after a day of endurance--a +day of wet, and dragging weariness, and bitter chill. It is the bliss of +reaching, after long, toilsome travel, a place where you can meet the +trout--the splendid, full-grown wild trout, in his native home, knowing +that you will not find a picnic party on every brook and a fisherman +behind every tree. Finally, it is the preciousness of isolation, the +remoteness from men who dig up and tear down and destroy, who set +whistles to tooting and bells to jingling--who shriek themselves hoarse +in the market place and make the world ugly and discordant, and life a +short and fevered span in which the soul has a chance to become no more +than a feeble and crumpled thing. And if that kind of a soul pleases +you, don't go to the woods. It will be only a place of mosquitoes, and +general wetness, and discomfort. You won't care for it. You will hate +it. But if you are willing to get wet and stay wet--to get cold and stay +cold--to be bruised, and scuffed, and bitten--to be hungry and thirsty +and to have your muscles strained and sore from unusual taxation: if you +will welcome all these things, not once, but many times, for the sake of +moments of pure triumph and that larger luxury which comes with the +comfort of the camp and the conquest of the wilderness, then go! The +wilderness will welcome you, and teach you, and take you to its heart. +And you will find your own soul there; and the discovery will be worth +while! + + +THE END + + + + +Interesting Fiction + + +_Bar-20_ + + _By CLARENCE E. MULFORD_ + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + The doings of the famous outfit of Bar-20, an old-time ranch + in Arizona, are here recorded. Fifth edition. + + _The Cleveland News_: "The author knows old Arizona as Harte + knew Poverty Row and Poker Flat." _Cleveland Plain Dealer_: + "After the style of Mr. Wister." + + +_The Orphan_ + + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + This stirring tale deals with the same characters, time, and + country as the former success, "Bar-20." It is a yarn + decidedly worth while. Greater even than the author's first + book. Third edition. + + _The Salt Lake City Tribune says_: "This is a live, virile + story of the boundless West ... of very great + attractiveness." + + +_At the Foot of the Rainbow_ + + _By GENE STRATTON-PORTER_ + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + The scene of this charming, idyllic love story is laid in + Central Indiana. It is for the man who loves the earth under + his foot, the splash of the black bass, the scent of the + pine wood, and the hum of earth close to his ear. + + _The New York Times says_: "The novel is imbued throughout + with a poet's love of nature, and its pathos and tender + sentiment place it in the category of heart romances." + + +_The Way of a Man_ + + _By EMERSON HOUGH_ + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + A great, strong, masterful romance of American life in the + early sixties. Love, romance and adventure are paramount in + this wonderful story. + + _The Chicago Record-Herald says_: "A story that grips the + reader's attention, whets his appetite, and leaves him ever + eager for more." + + +_The Sportsman's Primer_ + + _By NORMAN H. CROWELL_ + _Illustrated, decorative cover design, boards. Price, $1.25._ + + For the man who enjoys sport of all kinds--for every person + who has even an "ounce" of humor--this book will prove a + gold mine of fun. + + _The St Louis Republic says_: "Most enjoyable." + + _Albany Times-Union says_: "One of the jolliest of fun + making books." + + +_THE OUTING PUBLISHING CO._ +_35-37 WEST 31ST STREET, NEW YORK_ + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tent Dwellers, by Albert Bigelow Paine + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TENT DWELLERS *** + +***** This file should be named 33846-8.txt or 33846-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/8/4/33846/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. 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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 + + +Title: The Tent Dwellers + +Author: Albert Bigelow Paine + +Illustrator: Hy. Watson + +Release Date: October 7, 2010 [EBook #33846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TENT DWELLERS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Internet +Archive. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>The Tent Dwellers</h1> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 438px;"> +<img src="images/ill_001.jpg" width="438" height="600" alt=""He was swearing steadily and I think still blaming me +or most of his troubles."—Page 83." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He was swearing steadily and I think still blaming me +for most of his troubles."—<i>Page 83</i>.</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>THE TENT</h1> + +<h1>DWELLERS</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>Author of "The Van Dwellers," "The Lucky Piece," etc</i>.</p> + +<h2><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HY. WATSON</i></h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 197px;"> +<img src="images/ill_002.jpg" width="197" height="250" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h4>NEW YORK</h4> + +<h4>THE OUTING PUBLISHING CO.</h4> + +<h4>MCMVIII</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1908, by</span></p> + +<p class="center">THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_One"><b>Chapter One</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Two"><b>Chapter Two</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Three"><b>Chapter Three</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Four"><b>Chapter Four</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Five"><b>Chapter Five</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Six"><b>Chapter Six</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Seven"><b>Chapter Seven</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Eight"><b>Chapter Eight</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Nine"><b>Chapter Nine</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Ten"><b>Chapter Ten</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Eleven"><b>Chapter Eleven</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twelve"><b>Chapter Twelve</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Thirteen"><b>Chapter Thirteen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Fourteen"><b>Chapter Fourteen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Fifteen"><b>Chapter Fifteen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Sixteen"><b>Chapter Sixteen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Seventeen"><b>Chapter Seventeen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Eighteen"><b>Chapter Eighteen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Nineteen"><b>Chapter Nineteen</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty"><b>Chapter Twenty</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-one"><b>Chapter Twenty-one</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-two"><b>Chapter Twenty-two</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-three"><b>Chapter Twenty-three</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-four"><b>Chapter Twenty-four</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-five"><b>Chapter Twenty-five</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-six"><b>Chapter Twenty-six</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-seven"><b>Chapter Twenty-seven</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-eight"><b>Chapter Twenty-eight</b></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#Chapter_Twenty-nine"><b>Chapter Twenty-nine</b></a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_One" id="Chapter_One"></a>Chapter One</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Come, shape your plans where the fire is bright,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the shimmering glasses are—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>When the woods are white in the winter's night,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Under the northern star.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter One</h2> + +<p>It was during the holiday week that Eddie proposed the matter. That is +Eddie's way. No date, for him, is too far ahead to begin to plan +anything that has vari-colored flies in it, and tents, and the prospect +of the campfire smell. The very mention of these things will make his +hair bristle up (rather straight, still hair it is and silvered over +with premature wisdom) and put a new glare into his spectacles (rather +wide, round spectacles they are) until he looks even more like an +anarchist than usual—more indeed than in the old Heidelberg days, when, +as a matter of truth, he is a gentle soul; sometimes, when he has +transgressed, or thinks he has, almost humble.</p> + +<p>As I was saying, it was during the holidays—about the end of the week, +as I remember it—and I was writing some letters at the club in the +little raised corner that looks out on the park, when I happened to +glance down toward the fireplace, and saw Eddie sitting as nearly on his +coat collar as possible, in one of the wide chairs, and as nearly in the +open hickory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> fire as he could get, pawing over a book of Silver +Doctors, Brown Hackles and the like, and dreaming a long, long dream.</p> + +<p>Now, I confess there is something about a book of trout flies, even at +the year's end, when all the brooks are flint and gorged with white, +when all the north country hides under seamless raiment that stretches +even to the Pole itself—even at such a time, I say, there is something +about those bits of gimp, and gut, and feathers, and steel, that prick +up the red blood of any man—or of any woman, for that matter—who has +ever flung one of those gaudy things into a swirl of dark water, and +felt the swift, savage tug on the line and heard the music of the +singing reel.</p> + +<p>I forgot that I was writing letters and went over there.</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it, Eddie," I said. "Where are you going, this time?"</p> + +<p>Then he unfolded to me a marvelous plan. It was a place in Nova +Scotia—he had been there once before, only, this time he was going a +different route, farther into the wilderness, the deep unknown, +somewhere even the guides had never been. Perhaps stray logmen had been +there, or the Indians; sportsmen never. There had been no complete +surveys, even by the government. Certain rivers were known by their +outlets, certain lakes by name. It was likely that they formed the usual +network and that the circuit could be made by water, with occasional +carries.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Unquestionably the waters swarmed with trout. A certain +imaginative Indian, supposed to have penetrated the unknown, had +declared that at one place were trout the size of one's leg.</p> + +<p>Eddie became excited as he talked and his hair bristled. He set down a +list of the waters so far as known, the names of certain guides, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +number of articles of provision and an array of camp paraphernalia. +Finally he made maps and other drawings and began to add figures. It was +dusk when we got back. The lights were winking along the park over the +way, and somewhere through the night, across a waste of cold, lay the +land we had visited, still waiting to be explored. We wandered out into +the dining room and settled the matter across a table. When we rose from +it, I was pledged—pledged for June; and this was still December, the +tail of the old year.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Two" id="Chapter_Two"></a>Chapter Two</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And let us buy for the days of spring,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>While yet the north winds blow!</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>For half the joy of the trip, my boy,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Is getting your traps to go.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Two</h2> + +<p>Immediately we, that is to say, Eddie, began to buy things. It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +Eddie's way to read text-books and to consult catalogues with a view of +making a variety of purchases. He has had a great deal of experience in +the matter of camp life, but being a modest man he has a fund of respect +for the experience of others. Any one who has had enough ability, or +time, to write a book on the subject, and enough perseverance, or money, +to get it published, can preach the gospel of the woods to Eddie in the +matter of camp appointments; and even the manufacturers' catalogues are +considered sound reading. As a result, he has accumulated an amazing +collection of articles, adapted to every time and season, to every +change of wind and temperature, to every spot where the tent gleams +white in the campfire's blaze, from Greenland's icy mountains to India's +coral strand. Far be it from me to deride or deprecate this tendency, +even though it were a ruling passion. There are days, and nights, too, +recalled now with only a heart full of gratitude because of Eddie's +almost inexhaustible storehouse of comforts for soul and flesh—the +direct result of those text-books and those catalogues, and of the wild, +sweet joy he always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> found in making lists and laying in supplies. Not +having a turn that way, myself, he had but small respect for my ideas of +woodcraft and laid down the law of the forest to me with a firm hand. +When I hinted that I should need a new lancewood rod, he promptly +annulled the thought. When I suggested that I might aspire as far as a +rather good split bamboo, of a light but serviceable kind, he dispelled +the ambition forthwith.</p> + +<p>"You want a noibwood," he said. "I have just ordered one, and I will +take you to the same place to get it."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_003.jpg" width="500" height="376" alt=""It was a field day for Eddie and he bought more."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"It was a field day for Eddie and he bought more."</span> +</div> + +<p>I had never heard of this particular variety of timber, and it seemed +that Eddie had never heard of it, either, except in a catalogue and from +the lips of a dealer who had imported a considerable amount of the +material. Yet I went along, meekly enough, and ordered under his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +direction. I also selected an assortment of flies—the prettiest he +would let me buy. A few others which I had set my heart on I had the +dealer slip in when Eddie wasn't looking. I was about to buy a curious +thing which a trout could not come near without fatal results, when the +wide glare of his spectacles rested on me and my courage failed. Then he +selected for me a long landing net, for use in the canoe, and another +with an elastic loop to go about the neck, for wading; leaders and +leader-boxes and the other elementary necessaries of angling in the +northern woods. Of course such things were as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> A, B, C to Eddie. He had +them in infinite variety, but it was a field day and he bought more. We +were out of the place at last, and I was heaving a sigh of relief that +this part of it was over and I need give the matter no further thought, +when Eddie remarked:</p> + +<p>"Well, we've made a pretty good start. We can come down here a lot of +times between now and June."</p> + +<p>"But what for?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, for things. You haven't a sleeping bag yet, and we'll be thinking +of other stuff right along. We can stay over a day in Boston, too, and +get some things there. I always do that. You want a good many things. +You can't get them in the woods, you know."</p> + +<p>Eddie was right about having plenty of time, for this was January. He +was wrong, however, about being unable to get things in the woods. I +did, often. I got Eddie's.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Three" id="Chapter_Three"></a>Chapter Three</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Now the gorges break and the streamlets wake</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the sap begins to flow,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And each green bud that stirs my blood</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Is a summons, and I must go.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Three</h2> + +<p>Eddie could not wait until June. When the earliest April buds became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +tiny, pale-green beads—that green which is like the green of no other +substance or season—along certain gray branches in the park across the +way, when there was a hint and flavor of stirring life in the morning +sun, then there came a new bristle into Eddie's hair, a new gleam into +his glasses, and I felt that the wood gods were calling, and that he +must obey.</p> + +<p>"It is proper that one of us should go on ahead," he argued, "and be +arranging for guides, canoes and the like at the other end."</p> + +<p>I urged that it was too soon—that the North was still white and hard +with cold—that preliminaries could be arranged by letter. I finally +suggested that there were still many things he would want to buy. He +wavered then, but it was no use. Eddie can put on a dinner dress with +the best and he has dined with kings. But he is a cave-, a cliff- and a +tree-dweller in his soul and the gods of his ancestors were not to be +gainsaid. He must be on the ground, he declared, and as for the +additional articles we might need, he would send me lists. Of course, I +knew he would do that, just as I knew that the one and mighty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> reason +for his going was to be where he could smell the first breath of the +budding North and catch the first flash and gleam of the waking trout in +the nearby waters.</p> + +<p>He was off, then, and the lists came as promised. I employed a sort of +general purchasing agent at length to attend to them, though this I +dared not confess, for to Eddie it would have been a sacrilege not easy +to forgive. That I could delegate to another any of the precious +pleasure of preparation, and reduce the sacred functions of securing +certain brands of eating chocolate, camp candles, and boot grease (three +kinds) to a commercial basis, would, I felt, be a thing almost +impossible to explain. The final list, he notified me, would be mailed +to a hotel in Boston, for the reason, he said, that it contained things +nowhere else procurable; though I am convinced that a greater reason was +a conviction on his part that no trip could be complete without buying a +few articles in Boston at the last hour before sailing, and his desire +for me to experience this concluding touch of the joy of preparation. +Yet I was glad, on the whole, for I was able to buy secretly some things +he never would have permitted—among them a phantom minnow which looked +like a tin whistle, a little four-ounce bamboo rod, and a gorgeous Jock +Scott fly with two hooks. The tin whistle and the Jock Scott looked +deadly, and the rod seemed adapted to a certain repose of muscle after a +period<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> of activity with the noibwood. I decided to conceal these +purchases about my person and use them when Eddie wasn't looking.</p> + +<p>But then it was sailing time, and as the short-nosed energetic steamer +dropped away from the dock, a storm (there had been none for weeks +before) set in, and we pitched and rolled, and through a dim disordered +night I clung to my berth and groaned, and stared at my things in the +corner and hated them according to my condition. Then morning brought +quiet waters and the custom house at Yarmouth, where the tourist who is +bringing in money, and maybe a few other things, is made duly welcome +and not bothered with a lot of irrelevant questions. What Nova Scotia +most needs is money, and the fisherman and the hunter, once through the +custom house, become a greater source of revenue than any tax that could +be laid on their modest, not to say paltry, baggage, even though the +contents of one's trunk be the result of a list such as only Eddie can +prepare. There is a wholesome restaurant at Yarmouth, too, just by the +dock, where after a tossing night at sea one welcomes a breakfast of +good salt ham, with eggs, and pie—two kinds of the latter, pumpkin and +mince.</p> + +<p>I had always wondered where the pie-belt went, after it reached Boston. +Now I know that it extends across to Yarmouth and so continues up +through Nova Scotia to Halifax. Certain New Englanders more than a +hundred years ago, "went down to Nova<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> Scotia," for the reason that they +fostered a deeper affection for George, the King, than for George of the +Cherry Tree and Hatchet. The cherry limb became too vigorous in their +old homes and the hatchet too sharp, so they crossed over and took the +end of the pie-belt along. They maintained their general habits and +speech, too, which in Nova Scotia to-day are almost identical with those +of New England. But I digress—a grave and besetting sin.</p> + +<p>I had hoped Eddie would welcome me at the railway station after the long +forenoon's ride—rather lonely, in spite of the new land and the fact +that I made the acquaintance of a fisherman who taught me how to put +wrappings on a rod. Eddie did not meet me. He sent the wagon, instead, +and I enjoyed a fifteen-mile ride across June hills where apple blossoms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +were white, with glimpses of lake and stream here and there; through +woods that were a promise of the wilderness to come; by fields so +thickly studded with bowlders that one to plant them must use drill and +dynamite, getting my first impression of the interior of Nova Scotia +alone. Then at last came a church, a scattering string of houses, a +vista of lakes, a neat white hotel and the edge of the wilderness had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +been reached. On the hotel steps a curious, hairy, wild-looking figure +was capering about doing a sort of savage dance—perhaps as a +preparation for war. At first I made it out to be a counterpart of +pictures I had seen of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. Then I +discovered that it wore wide spectacles and these in the fading sunlight +sent forth a familiar glare. So it was Eddie, after all, and no edged +tool had touched hair or beard since April. I understood, now, why he +had not met me at the station.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Four" id="Chapter_Four"></a>Chapter Four</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Now, the day is at hand, prepare, prepare—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Make ready the boots and creel,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And the rod so new and the fly-book, too,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>The line and the singing reel.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Four</h2> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_004.jpg" width="500" height="380" alt=""Eddie's room and contents ... was a marvel and a +revelation."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Eddie's room and contents ... was a marvel and a +revelation."</span> +</div> + +<p>Eddie's room and contents, with Eddie in the midst of them, was a marvel +and a revelation. All the accouterments of former expeditions of +whatever sort, all that he had bought for this one, all that I had +shipped from week to week, were gathered there. There were wading boots +and camp boots and moccasins and Dutch bed-slippers and shoepacks—the +last-named a sort of Micmac Indian cross between a shoe and a moccasin, +much affected by guides, who keep them saturated with oil and wear them +in the water and out—there were nets of various sizes and sorts, from +large minnow nets through a line of landing nets to some silk head nets, +invented and made by Eddie himself, one for each of us, to pull on day +or night when the insect pests were bad. There was a quantity of +self-prepared ointment, too, for the same purpose, while of sovereign +remedies, balms and anodynes for ills and misfortunes, Eddie's +collection was as the sands of the sea. Soothing lotions there were for +wounds new and old; easing draughts for pains internal and external; +magic salves such as were used by the knights of old romance, Amadis de +Gaul and others, for the instant cure of ghastly lacerations made by man +or beast, and a large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> fresh bottle of a collodion preparation with +which the victim could be painted locally or in general, and stand forth +at last, good as new—restored, body, bones and skin. In addition there +was a certain bottle of the fluid extract of gelsemium, or something +like that, which was recommended for anything that the rest of the +assortment could do, combined. It was said to be good for everything +from a sore throat to a snake bite—the list of its benefits being +recorded in a text-book by which Eddie set great store.</p> + +<p>"Take it, by all means, Eddie," I said, "then you won't need any of the +others."</p> + +<p>That settled it. The gelsemium was left behind.</p> + +<p>I was interested in Eddie's rods, leaning here and there on various +parcels about the room. I found that the new noibwood, such as I had +ordered, was only a unit in a very respectable aggregate—rather an +unimportant unit it appeared by this time, for Eddie calmly assured me +that the tip had remained set after landing a rather small trout in a +nearby stream and that he did not consider the wood altogether suitable +for trout rods. Whereupon I was moved to confess the little bamboo stick +I had bought in Boston, and produced it for inspection. I could see that +Eddie bristled a bit as I uncased it and I think viewed it and wiggled +it with rather small respect. Still, he did not condemn it utterly and I +had an impulse to confess the other things, the impossible little +scale-wing flies, the tin whistle and the Jock Scott with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> two hooks. +However, it did not seem just the psychological moment, and I refrained.</p> + +<p>As for Eddie's flies, viewed together, they were a dazzling lot. There +were books and books of them—American, English, Scotch and what not. +There was one book of English dry-flies, procured during a recent +sojourn abroad, to be tried in American waters. One does not dance and +jiggle a dry-fly to give it the appearance of life—of some unusual +creature with rainbow wings and the ability to wriggle upstream, even +against a swift current. The dry-fly is built to resemble life itself, +color, shape and all, and is cast on a slow-moving stream where a trout +is seen to rise, and allowed to drift with the gently flowing current +exactly over the magic spot. All this Eddie explained to me and let me +hold the book a little time, though I could see he did not intend to let +me use one of the precious things, and would prefer that I did not touch +them.</p> + +<p>He was packing now and I wandered idly about this uncatalogued museum of +sporting goods. There was a heap of canvas and blankets in one corner—a +sleeping bag, it proved, with an infinite number of compartments, or +layers; there were hats of many shapes, vests of many fabrics, coats of +many colors. There were things I had seen before only in sporting goods +windows; there were things I had never seen before, anywhere; there were +things of which I could not even guess the use. In the center of +everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> were bags—canvas and oil-skin receptacles, vigorously named +"tackle bag," "wardrobe," "war bag" and the like—and into these the +contents of the room were gradually but firmly disappearing, taking +their pre-destined place according to Eddie's method—for, after all, it +was a method—and as I looked at Eddie, unshaven for weeks, grizzled and +glaring, yet glowing with deep kindliness and the joy of anticipation, I +could think of nothing but Santa Claus, packing for his annual journey +that magic bag which holds more and ever more, and is so deep and so +wide in its beneficence that after all the comforts and the sweets of +life are crowded within, there still is room for more a-top. Remembering +my own one small bag which I had planned to take, with side pockets for +tackle, and a place between for certain changes of raiment, I felt my +unimportance more and more, and the great need of having an outfit like +Eddie's—of having it in the party, I mean, handy like, where it would +be easy to get hold of in time of need. I foresaw that clothes would +want mending; also, perhaps, rods; and it was pleasant to note that my +tent-mate would have boxes of tools for all such repairs.</p> + +<p>I foresaw, too, that I should burn, and bruise, and cut myself and that +Eddie's liniments and lotions and New Skin would come in handy. It +seemed to me that in those bags would be almost everything that human +heart could need or human ills require, and when we went below where Del +and Charlie, our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> appointed guides, were crowding certain other bags +full of the bulkier stores—packages, cans and bottles, and when I gazed +about on still other things—tents, boots, and baskets of camp +furniture—I had a sense of being cared for, though I could not but +wonder how two small canoes were going to float all that provender and +plunder and four strong men.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Five" id="Chapter_Five"></a>Chapter Five</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Then away to the heart of the deep unknown,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Where the trout and the wild moose are—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Where the fire burns bright, and tent gleams white</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Under the northern star.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Five</h2> + +<p>It was possible to put our canoes into one of the lakes near the hotel +and enter the wilderness by water—the Liverpool chain—but it was +decided to load boats and baggage into wagons and drive through the +woods—a distance of some seventeen uneven miles—striking at once for +the true wilderness where the larger trout were said to dwell and the +"over Sunday" fisherman does not penetrate. Then for a day or two we +would follow waters and portages familiar to our guides, after which we +would be on the borders of the unknown, prepared to conquer the +wilderness with an assortment of fishing rods, a supply of mosquito +ointment and a pair of twenty-two caliber rifles, these being our only +guns.</p> + +<p>It seems hardly necessary to say that we expected to do little shooting. +In the first place it was out of season for most things, though this did +not matter so much, for Eddie had in some manner armed himself with a +commission from the British Museum to procure specimens dead or alive, +and this amounted to a permit to kill, and skin, and hence to eat, +promiscuously and at will. But I believe as a party, we were averse to +promiscuous killing; besides it is well to be rather nice in the matter +of special permits.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> Also, we had come, in the main, for trout and +exploration. It was agreed between us that, even if it were possible to +hit anything with our guns, we would not kill without skinning, and we +wouldn't skin without eating, after which resolution the forest things +probably breathed easier, for it was a fairly safe handicap.</p> + +<p>I shall not soon forget that morning drive to Jake's Landing, at the +head of Lake Kedgeemakoogee, where we put in our canoes. My trip on the +train along the coast, and the drive through farming country, more or +less fertile, had given me little conception of this sinister +land—rock-strewn and barren, seared by a hundred forest fires. Whatever +of green timber still stands is likely to be little more than brush. +Above it rise the bare, gaunt skeletons of dead forests, bleached with +age, yet blackened by the tongues of flame that burned out the life and +wealth of a land which is now little more than waste and desolation—the +haunt of the moose, the loon and the porcupine, the natural home of the +wild trout.</p> + +<p>It is true, that long ago, heavy timber was cut from these woods, but +the wealth thus obtained was as nothing to that which has gone up in +conflagrations, started by the careless lumbermen and prospectors and +hunters of a later day. Such timber as is left barely pays for the +cutting, and old sluices are blocked and old dams falling to decay. No +tiller of the soil can exist in these woods, for the ground is heaped +and drifted and windrowed with slabs and bowlders,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> suggesting the wreck +of some mighty war of the gods—some titanic missile-flinging combat, +with this as the battle ground. Bleak, unsightly, unproductive, mangled +and distorted out of all shape and form of loveliness, yet with a +fierce, wild fascination in it that amounts almost to beauty—that is +the Nova Scotia woods.</p> + +<p>Only the water is not like that. Once on the stream or lake and all is +changed. For the shores are green; the river or brook is clear and +cold—and tarry black in the deep places; the water leaps and dashes in +whirlpools and torrents, and the lakes are fairy lakes, full of green +islands—mere ledges, many of them, with two or three curious sentinel +pines—and everywhere the same clear, black water, and always the trout, +the wonderful, wild, abounding Nova Scotia trout.</p> + +<p>To Jake's Landing was a hard, jolting drive over a bad road, with only a +break here and there where there is a house or two, and maybe a sawmill +and a post-office, the last sentinels of civilization. It was at +Maitland, the most important of these way stations, that we met Loon. +Maitland is almost a village, an old settlement, in fact, with a store +or two, some pretty houses and a mill. Loon is a dog of the hound +variety who makes his home there, and a dear and faithful friend of +Eddie's, by the latter's account. Indeed, as we drew near Maitland, +after announcing that he would wish to stop at the Maitland stores to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +procure some new things he had thought of, Eddie became really boastful +of an earlier friendship with Loon. He had met Loon on a former visit, +during his (Loon's) puppyhood days, and he had recorded the meeting in +his diary, wherein Loon had been set down as "a most intelligent and +affectionate young dog." He produced the diary now as evidence, and I +could see that our guides were impressed by this method of systematic +and absolute record which no one dare dispute. He proceeded to tell us +all he knew about Loon, and how glad Loon would be to see him again, +until we were all jealous that no intelligent and affectionate hound dog +was waiting for us at Maitland to sound the joy of welcome and to speed +us with his parting bark.</p> + +<p>Then all at once we were at Maitland and before Loon's home, and sure +enough there in the front yard, wagging both body and tail, stood Loon. +It took but one glance for Eddie to recognize him. Perhaps it took no +more than that for Loon to recognize Eddie. I don't know; but what he +did was this: He lifted up his voice as one mourning for a lost soul and +uttered such a series of wails and lamentations as only a hound dog in +the deepest sorrow can make manifest.</p> + +<p>"Wow-ow-oo-ow-wow-oo-oo-o."</p> + +<p>The loon bird sends a fairly unhappy note floating down the wet, chill +loneliness of a far, rainy lake, but never can the most forlorn of loons +hope to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> approach his canine namesake of Maitland. Once more he broke +out into a burst of long-drawn misery, then suddenly took off under the +house as if he had that moment remembered an appointment there, and +feared he would be late. But presently he looked out, fearfully enough, +and with his eyes fixed straight on Eddie, set up still another of those +heart-breaking protests.</p> + +<p>As for Eddie, I could see that he was hurt. He climbed miserably down +from the wagon and crept gently toward the sorrowing hound.</p> + +<p>"Nice Loon—nice, good Loon. Don't you remember me?"</p> + +<p>"Wow-ow-oo-ow-wow-oo-oo-o," followed by another disappearance under the +house.</p> + +<p>"Come, Loon, come out and see your old friend—that's a good dog!"</p> + +<p>It was no use. Loon's sorrow would not be allayed, and far beyond +Maitland we still heard him wailing it down the wind.</p> + +<p>Of course it was but natural that we should discuss the matter with +Eddie. He had assured us that dogs never forget, and we pressed him now +to confess what extreme cruelty or deceit he had practiced upon Loon in +his puppyhood, that the grown hound dog had remembered, and reproached +him for to-day. But for the most part Eddie remained silent and seemed +depressed. Neither did he again produce his diary, though we urged him +to do so, in order that he might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> once more read to us what he had +recorded of Loon. Perhaps something had been overlooked, something that +would make Loon's lamentations clear. I think we were all glad when at +last there came a gleam through the trees and we were at Jake's Landing, +where our boats would first touch the water, where we would break our +bread in the wilderness for the first time.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_005.jpg" width="500" height="394" alt=""Eddie produced his jug of fly mixture and we anointed +ourselves for the first time, putting on a pungent fragrance."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Eddie produced his jug of fly mixture and we anointed +ourselves for the first time, putting on a pungent fragrance."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was not much of a place to camp. There was little shade, a good deal +of mud, and the sun was burning hot. There was a remnant of black flies, +too, and an advance guard of mosquitoes. Eddie produced his jug of fly +mixture and we anointed ourselves for the first time, putting on a +pungent fragrance which was to continue a part of us, body and bone, so +long as the wilderness remained our shelter. It was greasy and sticky +and I could not muster an instant liking for the combined fragrance of +camphor, pennyroyal and tar. But Eddie assured me that I would learn to +love it, and I was willing to try.</p> + +<p>I was more interested in the loading of the canoes. Del, stout of muscle +and figure—not to say fat, at least not over fat—and Charlie, light of +weight and heart—sometimes known as Charles the Strong—were packing +and fitting our plunder into place, condensing it into a tight and solid +compass in the center of our canoes in a way that commanded my respect +and even awe. I could see, however, that when our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> craft was loaded the +water line and the gunwale were not so far apart, and I realized that +one would want to sit decently still in a craft like that, especially in +rough water.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Eddie had coupled up a rod and standing on a projecting log +was making a few casts. I assumed that he was merely giving us an +exhibition of his skill in throwing a fly, with no expectation of really +getting a rise in this open, disturbed place. It was fine, though, to +see his deft handling of the rod and I confess I watched him with +something of envy. I may confess, too, that my own experience with fly +casting had been confined to tumbling brooks with small pools and +overhanging boughs, where to throw a fly means merely to drop it on a +riffle, or at most to swing it out over a swirling current below a fall. +I wondered as I watched Eddie if I ever should be able to send a fly +sailing backward and then shoot it out forward a matter of twenty yards +or so with that almost imperceptible effort of the wrist; and even if I +did learn the movement, if I could manage to make the fly look real +enough in such smooth, open water as this to fool even the blindest and +silliest of trout.</p> + +<p>But, suddenly, where Eddie's fly—it was a Silver Doctor, I think—fell +lightly on the water, there was a quick swirl, a flash and then a +widening circle of rings.</p> + +<p>"You got him comin'," commented Charlie, who, it seems, had been +noticing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>The fly went skimming out over the water again and softly as thistle +seed settled exactly in the center of the circling rings. But before it +touched, almost, there came the flash and break again, and this time +there followed the quick stiffening of the rod, a sudden tightening of +the line, and a sharp, keen singing of the reel.</p> + +<p>"That's the time," commented Charlie and reached for a landing net.</p> + +<p>To him it was as nothing—a thing to be done a hundred times a day. But +to me the world heaved and reeled with excitement. It was the first +trout of the expedition, the first trout I had ever seen taken in such +water, probably the largest trout I had ever seen taken in any water. In +the tension of the moment I held my breath, or uttered involuntary +comments.</p> + +<p>It was beautiful to see Eddie handle that trout. The water was open and +smooth and there is no gainsaying Eddie's skill. Had he been giving an +exhibition performance it could not have been more perfect. There was no +eagerness, no driving and dragging, no wild fear of the fish getting +away. The curved rod, the taut swaying line, and the sensitive hand and +wrist did the work. Now and again there was a rush, and the reel sang as +it gave line, but there was never the least bit of slack in the recover. +Nearer and nearer came the still unseen captive, and then presently our +fisherman took the net from his guide,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> there was a little dipping +movement in the water at his feet and the first trout of the expedition +was a visible fact—his golden belly and scarlet markings the subject of +admiration and comment.</p> + +<p>It was not a very big fish by Nova Scotia standards—about +three-quarters of a pound, I believe; but it was the largest trout I had +ever seen alive, at that time, and I was consumed with envy. I was also +rash. A little more, and I had a rod up, was out on a log engaged in a +faithful effort to swing that rod exactly like Eddie's and to land the +fly precisely in the same place.</p> + +<p>But for some reason the gear wouldn't work. In front of me, the fly fell +everywhere but in the desired spot, and back of me the guides dodged and +got behind bushes. You see, a number three steel hook sailing about +promiscuously in the air, even when partially concealed in a fancy bunch +of feathers, is a thing to be avoided. I had a clear field in no time, +but perhaps Eddie had caught the only fish in the pool, for even he +could get no more rises. Still I persisted and got hot and fierce, and +when I looked at Eddie I hated him because he didn't cut his hair, and +reflected bitterly that it was no wonder a half-savage creature like +that could fish. Finally I hooked a tree top behind me and in jerking +the fly loose made a misstep and went up to my waist in water. The +tension broke then—I helped to break it—and the fishing trip had +properly begun.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>The wagons had left us now, and we were alone with our canoes and our +guides. Del, the stout, who was to have my especial fortunes in hand, +knelt in the stern of the larger canoe and I gingerly entered the bow. +Then Eddie and his guide found their respective places in the lighter +craft and we were ready to move. A moment more and we would drop down +the stream to the lake, and so set out on our long journey.</p> + +<p>I recall now that I was hot and wet and still a little cross. I had +never had any especial enthusiasm about the expedition and more than +once had regretted my pledge made across the table at the end of the old +year. Even the bustle of preparation and the journey into a strange land +had only mildly stirred me, and I felt now that for me, at least, things +were likely to drag. There were many duties at home that required +attention. These woods were full of mosquitoes, probably malaria. It was +possible that I should take cold, be very ill and catch no fish +whatever. But then suddenly we dropped out into the lake Kedgeemakoogee, +the lake of the fairies—a broad expanse of black water, dotted with +green islands, and billowing white in the afternoon wind, and just as we +rounded I felt a sudden tug at the end of my line which was trailing out +behind the canoe.</p> + +<p>In an instant I was alive. Del cautioned me softly from the stern, for +there is no guide who does not wish his charge to acquit himself well.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Easy now—easy," he said. "That's a good one—don't hurry him."</p> + +<p>But every nerve in me began to tingle—every drop of blood to move +faster. I was eaten with a wild desire to drag my prize into the boat +before he could escape. Then all at once it seemed to me that my line +must be fast, the pull was so strong and fixed. But looking out behind, +Del saw the water break just then—a sort of double flash.</p> + +<p>"Good, you've got a pair," he said. "Careful, now, and we'll save 'em +both."</p> + +<p>To tell the truth I had no hope of saving either, and if I was careful I +didn't feel so. When I let the line go out, as I was obliged to, now and +then, to keep from breaking it altogether, I had a wild, hopeless +feeling that I could never take it up again and that the prize was just +that much farther away. Whenever there came a sudden slackening I was +sickened with a fear that the fish were gone, and ground the reel handle +feverishly. Fifty yards away the other canoe, with Eddie in the bow, had +struck nothing as yet, and if I could land these two I should be one +ahead on the score. It seems now a puny ambition, but it was vital then. +I was no longer cold, or hot, or afraid of malaria, or mosquitoes, or +anything of the sort. Duties more or less important at home were +forgotten. I was concerned only with those two trout that had fastened +to my flies, the Silver Doctor and the Parmcheenie Belle, out there in +the black, tossing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> water, and with the proper method of keeping my line +taut, but not too taut, easy, but not too easy, with working the prize +little by little within reach of the net. Eddie, suddenly seeing my +employment, called across congratulations and encouragement. Then, +immediately, he was busy too, with a fish of his own, and the sport, the +great, splendid sport of the far north woods, had really begun.</p> + +<p>I brought my catch near the boatside at last, but it is no trifling +matter to get two trout into a net when they are strung out on a +six-foot leader, with the big trout on the top fly. Reason dictates that +the end trout should go in first and at least twice I had him in, when +the big fellow at the top gave a kick that landed both outside. It's a +mercy I did not lose both, but at last with a lucky hitch they were duly +netted, in the canoe, and I was weak and hysterical, but triumphant. +There was one of nearly a pound and a half, and the other a strong +half-pound, not guess weight, but by Eddie's scales, which I confess I +thought niggardly. Never had I taken such fish in the Adirondack or +Berkshire streams I had known, and what was more, these were two at a +time!<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>Eddie had landed a fine trout also, and we drew alongside, now, for +consultation. The wind had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> freshened, the waves were running higher, +and with our heavy canoes the six-mile paddle across would be a risky +undertaking. Why not pitch our first night's camp nearby, here on Jim +Charles point—a beautiful spot where once long ago a half-civilized +Indian had made his home? In this cove before dark we could do abundant +fishing.</p> + +<p>For me there was no other plan. I was all enthusiasm, now. There were +trout here and I could catch them. That was enough. Civilization—the +world, flesh and the devil—mankind and all the duties of life were as +nothing. Here were the woods and the waters. There was the point for the +campfire and the tents. About us were the leaping trout. The spell of +the forest and the chase gripped me body and soul. Only these things +were worth while. Nothing else mattered—nothing else existed.</p> + +<p>We landed and in a little while the tents were white on the shore, Del +and Charlie getting them up as if by conjury. Then once more we were out +in the canoes and the curved rod and the taut line and the singing reel +dominated every other force under the wide sky. It was not the truest +sport, maybe, for the fish were chiefly taken with trolling flies. But +to me, then, it did not matter. Suffice it that they were fine and +plentiful, and that I was two ahead of Eddie when at last we drew in for +supper.</p> + +<p>That was joy enough, and then such trout—for there are no trout on +earth like those one catches<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> himself—such a campfire, such a cozy tent +(Eddie's it was, from one of the catalogues), with the guides' tent +facing, and the fire between. For us there was no world beyond that +circle of light that on one side glinted among boughs of spruce and +cedar and maple and birch, and on the other, gleamed out on the black +water. Lying back on our beds and smoking, and looking at the fire and +the smoke curling up among the dark branches toward the stars, and +remembering the afternoon's sport and all the other afternoons and +mornings and nights still to come, I was moved with a deep sense of +gratitude in my heart toward Eddie.</p> + +<p>"Eddie," I murmured, "I forgive you all those lists, and everything, +even your hair. I begin to understand now something of how you feel +about the woods and the water, and all. Next time——"</p> + +<p>Then (for it was the proper moment) I confessed fully—the purchasing +agent, the tin whistle, even the Jock Scott with two hooks.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Six" id="Chapter_Six"></a>Chapter Six</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Nearer the fire the shadows creep—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>The brands burn dim and red—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>While the pillow of sleep lies soft and deep</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Under a weary head.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Six</h2> + +<p>When one has been accustomed to the comforts of civilized life—the +small ones, I mean, for they are the only ones that count—the beginning +of a wild, free life near to nature's heart begets a series of +impressions quite new, and strange—so strange. It is not that one +misses a house of solid walls and roof, with stairways and steam +radiators. These are the larger comforts and are more than made up for +by the sheltering temple of the trees, the blazing campfire and the +stairway leading to the stars. But there are things that one does +miss—a little—just at first. When we had finished our first evening's +smoke and the campfire was burning low—when there was nothing further +to do but go to bed, I suddenly realized that the man who said he would +be willing to do without all the rest of a house if he could keep the +bathroom, spoke as one with an inspired knowledge of human needs.</p> + +<p>I would not suggest that I am a person given to luxurious habits and +vain details in the matter of evening toilet. But there are so many +things one is in the habit of doing just about bedtime, which in a +bathroom, with its varied small conveniences, seem nothing at all, yet +which assume undue proportions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> in the deep, dim heart of nature where +only the large primitive comforts have been provided. I had never been +in the habit, for instance, of stumbling through several rods of bushes +and tangled vines to get to a wash-bowl that was four miles wide and six +miles long and full of islands and trout, and maybe snapping turtles (I +know there were snapping turtles, for Charlie had been afraid to leave +his shoepacks on the beach for fear the turtles would carry them off), +and I had not for many years known what it was to bathe my face on a +ground level or to brush my teeth in the attitude of prayer. It was all +new and strange, as I have said, and there was no hot water—not even a +faucet—that didn't run, maybe, because the man upstairs was using it. +There wasn't any upstairs except the treetops and the sky, though, after +all, these made up for a good deal, for the treetops feathered up and +faded into the dusky blue, and the blue was sown with stars that were +caught up and multiplied by every tiny wrinkle on the surface of the +great black bowl and sent in myriad twinklings to our feet.</p> + +<p>Still, I would have exchanged the stars for a few minutes, for a +one-candle power electric light, or even for a single gas jet with such +gas as one gets when the companies combine and establish a uniform rate. +I had mislaid my tube of dentifrice and in the dim, pale starlight I +pawed around and murmured to myself a good while before I finally called +Eddie to help me.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let it go," he said. "It'll be there for you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> in the morning. I +always leave mine, and my soap and towel, too."</p> + +<p>He threw his towel over a limb, laid his soap on a log and faced toward +the camp. I hesitated. I was unused to leaving my things out overnight. +My custom was to hang my towel neatly over a rack, to stand my +toothbrush upright in a glass on a little shelf with the dentifrice +beside it. Habit is strong. I did not immediately consent to this wide +and gaudy freedom of the woods.</p> + +<p>"Suppose it rains," I said.</p> + +<p>"All the better—it will wash the towels."</p> + +<p>"But they will be wet in the morning."</p> + +<p>"Um—yes—in the woods things generally are wet in the morning. You'll +get used to that."</p> + +<p>It is likewise my habit to comb my hair before retiring, and to look at +myself in the glass, meantime. This may be due to vanity. It may be a +sort of general inspection to see if I have added any new features, or +lost any of those plucked from the family tree. Perhaps it is only to +observe what the day's burdens have done for me in the way of wrinkles +and gray hairs. Never mind the reason, it is a habit; but I didn't +realize how precious it was to me until I got back to the tent and found +that our only mirror was in Eddie's collection, set in the back of a +combination comb-brush affair about the size of one's thumb.</p> + +<p>Of course it was not at all adequate for anything like a general +inspection. It would just about hold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> one eye, or a part of a mouth, or +a section of a nose, or a piece of an ear or a little patch of hair, and +it kept you busy guessing where that patch was located. Furthermore, as +the comb was a part of the combination, the little mirror was obliged to +be twinkling around over one's head at the precise moment when it should +have been reflecting some portion of one's features. It served no useful +purpose, thus, and was not much better when I looked up another comb and +tried to use it in the natural way. Held close and far off, twisted and +turned, it was no better. I felt lost and disturbed, as one always does +when suddenly deprived of the exercise of an old and dear habit, and I +began to make mental notes of some things I should bring on the next +trip.</p> + +<p>There was still a good deal to do—still a number of small but precious +conveniences to be found wanting. Eddie noticed that I was getting into +action and said he would stay outside while I was stowing myself away; +which was good of him, for I needed the room. When I began to take on +things I found I needed his bed, too, to put them on. I suppose I had +expected there would be places to hang them. I am said to be rather +absent-minded, and I believe I stood for several minutes with some sort +of a garment in my hand, turning thoughtfully one way and another, +probably expecting a hook to come drifting somewhere within reach. Yes, +hooks are one of the small priceless conveniences, and under-the-bed is +another. I never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> suspected that the space under the bed could be a +luxury until I began to look for a place to put my shoes and handbag. +Our tent was just long enough for our sleeping-bags, and just about wide +enough for them—one along each side, with a narrow footway between. +They were laid on canvas stretchers which had poles through wide hems +down the sides—the ends of these poles (cut at each camp and selected +for strength and springiness) spread apart and tacked to larger cross +poles, which arrangement raised us just clear of the ground, leaving no +space for anything of consequence underneath. You could hardly put a +fishing rod there, or a pipe, without discomfort to the flesh and danger +to the articles. Undressing and bestowing oneself in an upper berth is +attended with problems, but the berth is not so narrow, and it is flat +and solid, and there are hooks and little hammocks and things—valuable +advantages, now fondly recalled. I finally piled everything on Eddie's +bed, temporarily. I didn't know what I was going to do with it next, but +anything was a boon for the moment. Just then Eddie looked in.</p> + +<p>"That's your pillow material, you know," he said, pointing to my medley +of garments. "You want a pillow, don't you?"</p> + +<p>Sure enough, I had no pillow, and I did want one. I always want a pillow +and a high one. It is another habit.</p> + +<p>"Let me show you," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>So he took my shoes and placed them, one on each side of my couch, about +where a pillow should be, with the soles out, making each serve as a +sort of retaining wall. Then he began to double and fold and fill the +hollow between, taking the bunchy, seamy things first and topping off +with the softer, smoother garments in a deft, workmanlike way. I was +even moved to add other things from my bag to make it higher and +smoother.</p> + +<p>"Now, put your bag on the cross-pole behind your pillow and let it lean +back against the tent. It will stay there and make a sort of head to +your bed, besides being handy in case you want to get at it in the +night."</p> + +<p>Why, it was as simple and easy as nothing. My admiration for Eddie grew. +I said I would get into my couch at once in order that he might +distribute himself likewise.</p> + +<p>But this was not so easy. I had never got into a sleeping-bag before, +and it is a thing that requires a little practice to do it with skill +and grace. It has to be done section at a time, and one's night garment +must be worked down co-ordinately in order that it may not become merely +a stuffy life-preserver thing under one's arms. To a beginner this is +slow, warm work. By the time I was properly down among the coarse, new +blankets and had permeated the remotest corners of the clinging +envelope, I had had a lot of hard exercise and was hot and thirsty. So +Del<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> brought me a drink of water. I wasn't used to being waited on in +that way, but it was pleasant. After all there were some conveniences of +camp life that were worth while. And the bed was comfortable and the +pillow felt good. I lay watching Eddie shape his things about, all his +bags and trappings falling naturally into the places they were to occupy +through the coming weeks. The flat-topped bag with the apothecary stores +and other urgency articles went at the upper end of the little footway, +and made a sort of table between our beds. Another bag went behind his +pillow, which he made as he had made mine, though he topped it off with +a little rubber affair which he inflated while I made another mental +memorandum for next year. A third bag——</p> + +<p>But I did not see the fate of the third bag. A haze drifted in between +me and the busy little figure that was placing and pulling and folding +and arranging—humming a soothing ditty meantime—and I was swept up +bodily into a cloud of sleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Seven" id="Chapter_Seven"></a>Chapter Seven</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Now, Dawn her gray green mantle weaves</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>To the lilt of a low refrain—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>The drip, drip, drip of the lush green leaves</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>After a night of rain.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Seven</h2> + +<p>The night was fairly uneventful. Once I imagined I heard something +smelling around the camp, and I remember having a sleepy curiosity as to +the size and manner of the beast, and whether he meant to eat us and +where he would be likely to begin. I may say, too, that I found some +difficulty in turning over in my sleeping-bag, and that it did rain. I +don't know what hour it was when I was awakened by the soft thudding +drops just above my nose, but I remember that I was glad, for there had +been fires in the woods, and the streams were said to be low. I +satisfied myself that Eddie's patent, guaranteed perfectly waterproof +tent was not leaking unduly, and wriggling into a new position, slept.</p> + +<p>It was dull daylight when I awoke. Through the slit in the tent I could +see the rain drizzling on the dead campfire. Eddie—long a guest of the +forest lost now in the multiple folds of his sleeping-bag—had not +stirred. A glimpse of the guides' tent opposite revealed that the flap +was still tightly drawn. There was no voice or stir of any living +creature. Only the feet of the rain went padding among the leaves and +over the tent.</p> + +<p>Now, I am not especially given to lying in bed, and on this particular +morning any such inclination<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> was rather less manifest than usual. I +wanted to spread myself out, to be able to move my arms away from my +body, to whirl around and twist and revolve a bit without so much +careful preparation and deliberate movement.</p> + +<p>Yet there was very little to encourage one to get up. Our campfire—so +late a glory and an inspiration—had become a remnant of black ends and +soggy ash. I was not overhot as I lay, and I had a conviction that I +should be less so outside the sleeping-bag, provided always that I could +extricate myself from that somewhat clinging, confining envelope. +Neither was there any immediate prospect of breakfast—nobody to talk +to—no place to go. I had an impulse to arouse Eddie for the former +purpose, but there was something about that heap of canvas and blankets +across the way that looked dangerous. I had never seen him roused in his +forest lair, and I suspected that he would be savage. I concluded to +proceed cautiously—in some manner which might lead him to believe that +the fall of a drifting leaf or the note of a bird had been his summons. +I worked one arm free, and reaching out for one of my shoes—a delicate +affair, with the soles filled with splices for clambering over the +rocks—I tossed it as neatly as possible at the irregular bunch +opposite, aiming a trifle high. It fell with a solid, sickening thud, +and I shrank down into my bag, expecting an eruption. None came. Then I +was seized with the fear that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> I had killed or maimed Eddie. It seemed +necessary to investigate.</p> + +<p>I took better aim this time and let go with the other shoe.</p> + +<p>"Eddie!" I yelled, "are you dead?"</p> + +<p>There was a stir this time and a deep growl. It seemed to take the form +of words, at length, and I caught, or fancied I did, the query as to +what time it was; whereupon I laboriously fished up my watch and +announced in clear tones that the hand was upon the stroke of six. Also +that it was high time for children of the forest to bestir themselves.</p> + +<p>At this there was another and a deeper growl, ending with a single +syllable of ominous sound. I could not be sure, but heard through the +folds of a sleeping-bag, the word sounded a good deal like hell and I +had a dim conviction that he was sending me there, perhaps realizing +that I was cold. Then he became unconscious again, and I had no more +shoes.</p> + +<p>Yet my efforts had not been without effect. There was a nondescript stir +in the guides' tent, and presently the head of Charles, sometimes called +the Strong, protruded a little and was withdrawn. Then that of Del, the +Stout, appeared and a little later two extraordinary semi-amphibious +figures issued—wordless and still rocking a little with sleep—and with +that deliberate precision born of long experience went drabbling after +fuel and water that the morning fire might kindle and the morning pot be +made to boil.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were clad in oilskins, and the drapery of Charles deserves special +attention. It is likely that its original color had been a flaunt of +yellow, and that it had been bedizened with certain buttonholes and hems +and selvages and things, such as adorn garments in a general way of +whatever nature or sex. That must have been a long time ago. It is +improbable that the oldest living inhabitant would be able to testify +concerning these items.</p> + +<p>Observing him thoughtfully as he bent over the wet ashes and skillfully +cut and split and presently brought to flame the little heap of wood he +had garnered, there grew upon me a realization of the vast service that +suit of oilskins must have rendered to its owners—of the countless +storms that had beaten upon it; of the untold fires that had been +kindled under its protection; of the dark, wild nights when it had +served in fording torrents and in clambering over slippery rocks, indeed +of all the ages of wear and tear that had eaten into its seams and +selvages and hues since the day when Noah first brought it out of the +Ark and started it down through the several generations which had ended +with our faithful Charles, the Strong.</p> + +<p>I suppose this is just one of those profitless reflections which is +likely to come along when one is still tangled up in a sleeping-bag, +watching the tiny flame that grows a little brighter and bigger each +moment and forces at last a glow of comfort into the tent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> until the +day, after all, seems worth beginning, though the impulse to begin it is +likely to have diminished. I have known men, awake for a long time, who +have gone on to sleep during just such morning speculations, when the +flames grew bright and brighter and crackled up through the little heap +of dry branches and sent that glow of luxury into the tent. I remember +seeing our guide adjust a stick at an angle above the fire, whereby to +suspend a kettle, and men, suddenly, of being startled from somewhere—I +was at the club, I think, in the midst of a game of pool—by a wild +whoop and the spectacle of Eddie, standing upright in the little runway +between our beds, howling that the proper moment for bathing had +arrived, and kicking up what seemed to me a great and unnecessary stir.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_006.jpg" width="500" height="436" alt=""Not to take the morning dip ... was to manifest a sad +lack of the true camping spirit."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Not to take the morning dip ... was to manifest a sad +lack of the true camping spirit."</span> +</div> + +<p>The idea of bathing on such a morning and in that primitive costume had +not, I think, occurred to me before, but I saw presently there was +nothing else for it. A little later I was following Eddie, cringing from +the cold, pelting rain, limping gingerly over sharp sticks and pebbles +to the water's edge. The lake was shallow near the shore which meant a +fearful period of wading before taking the baptismal plunge that would +restore one's general equilibrium. It required courage, too, for the +water was icy—courage to wade out to the place, and once there, to make +the plunge. I should never have done it if Eddie had not insisted that +according to the standard text-books the day in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> every well-ordered camp +always began with this ceremony. Not to take the morning dip, he said, +was to manifest a sad lack of the true camping spirit. Thus prodded, I +bade the world a hasty good-by and headed for the bottom. A moment later +we were splashing and puffing like seals, shouting with the fierce, +delightful torture of it—wide awake enough now, and marvelously +invigorated when all was over.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_008.jpg" width="500" height="481" alt=""Catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled +admiration"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled +admiration"</span> +</div> + +<p>We were off after breakfast—a breakfast of trout and flapjacks—the +latter with maple sirup in the little eating tent. The flapjacks were +Del's manufacture, and his manner of tossing the final large one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> into +the air and catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled admiration.</p> + +<p>The lake was fairly smooth and the rain no longer fell. A gray +morning—the surface of the water gray—a gray mantle around the more +distant of the islands, with here and there sharp rocks rising just +above the depths. It was all familiar enough to the guides, but to me it +was a new world. Seated in the bow I swung my paddle joyously, and even +with our weighty load it seemed that we barely touched the water. One +must look out for the rocks, though, for a sharp point plunged through +the bottom of a canoe might mean shipwreck. A few yards away, Eddie and +his guide—light-weight bodies, both of them—kept abreast, their +appearance somehow suggesting two grasshoppers on a straw.</p> + +<p>It is six miles across Kedgeemakoogee and during the passage it rained. +When we were about half-way over I felt a drop or two strike me and saw +the water about the canoe spring up into little soldiers. A moment later +we were struck on every side and the water soldiers were dancing in a +multitude. Then they mingled and rushed together. The green islands were +blotted out. The gates of the sky swung wide.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_007.jpg" width="500" height="444" alt=""To put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of +a canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"To put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of +a canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter."</span> +</div> + +<p>Of course it was necessary to readjust matters. Del drew on his oilskins +and I reached for my own. I had a short coat, a sou'wester, and a pair +of heavy brown waders, so tall that they came up under my arms when +fully adjusted. There was no special difficulty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> in getting on the hat +and coat, but to put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of a +canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter. There seemed no good place +to straighten my legs out in order to get a proper pull. To stand up was +to court destruction, and when I made an attempt to put a leg over the +side of the canoe Del admonished me fearfully that another such move +would send us to the bottom forthwith. Once my thumbs pulled out of the +straps and I tumbled back on the stores, the rain beating down in my +face. I suppose the suddenness of the movement disturbed the balance of +the boat somewhat,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> for Del let out a yell that awoke a far-away loon, +who replied dismally. When at last I had the feet on, I could not get +the tops in place, for of course there was no way to get them anywhere +near where they really belonged without standing up. So I had to remain +in that half-on and half-off condition, far from comfortable, but more +or less immune to wet. I realized what a sight I must look, and I could +hardly blame Eddie for howling in derision at me when he drew near +enough to distinguish my outline through the downpour. I also realized +what a poor rig I had on for swimming, in event of our really capsizing, +and I sat straight and still and paddled hard for the other side.</p> + +<p>It was not what might be termed a "prolonged and continuous downpour." +The gray veil lifted from the islands. The myriad of battling soldiers +diminished. Presently only a corporal's guard was leaping and dancing +about the canoe. Then these disappeared. The clouds broke away. The sun +came. Ahead of us was a green shore—the other side of Kedgeemakoogee +had been reached.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eight" id="Chapter_Eight"></a>Chapter Eight</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Where the trail leads back from the water's edge—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Tangled and overgrown—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Shoulder your load and strike the road</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Into the deep unknown.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Eight</h2> + +<p>We were at the beginning of our first carry, now—a stretch of about two +miles through the woods. The canoes were quickly unloaded, and as I +looked more carefully at the various bags and baskets of supplies, I +realized that they were constructed with a view of being connected with +a man's back. I had heard and read a good deal about portages and I +realized in a general way that the canoes had to be carried from one +water system to another, but somehow I had never considered the baggage. +Naturally I did not expect it to get over of its own accord, and when I +came to consider the matter I realized that a man's back was about the +only place where it could ride handily and with reasonable safety. I +also realized that a guide's life is not altogether a holiday excursion.</p> + +<p>I felt sorry for the guides. I even suggested to Eddie that he carry a +good many of the things. I pointed out that most of them were really +his, anyway, and that it was too bad to make our faithful retainers lug +a drug store and sporting goods establishment, besides the greater part +of a provision warehouse. Eddie sympathized with the guides, too. He was +really quite pathetic in his compassion for them, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> he didn't carry +any of the things. That is, any of those things.</p> + +<p>It is the etiquette of portage—of Nova Scotia portage, at least—that +the fisherman shall carry his own sporting paraphernalia—which is to +say, his rods, his gun, if he has one, his fishing basket and his +landing net. Also, perhaps, any convenient bag of tackle or apparel when +not too great an inconvenience. It is the business of the guides to +transport the canoes, the general outfit, and the stores. As this was to +be rather a long carry, and as more than one trip would be necessary, it +was proposed to make a half-way station for luncheon, at a point where a +brook cut the trail.</p> + +<p>But our procession did not move immediately. In the first place one of +the canoes appeared to have sprung a leak, and after our six-mile paddle +this seemed a proper opportunity to rest and repair damages. The bark +craft was hauled out, a small fire scraped together and the pitch pot +heated while the guides pawed and squinted about the boat's bottom to +find the perforation. Meantime I tried a few casts in the lake, from a +slanting rock, and finally slipped in, as was my custom. Then we found +that we did not wish to wait until reaching the half-way brook before +having at least a bite and sup. It was marshy and weedy where we were +and no inviting place to serve food, but we were tolerably wet, and we +had paddled a good way. We got out a can of corned beef and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> a loaf of +bread, and stood around in the ooze, and cut off chunks and chewed and +gulped and worked them down into place. Then we said we were ready, and +began to load up. I experimented by hanging such things as landing nets +and a rod-bag on my various projections while my hands were to be +occupied with my gun and a tackle-bag. The things were not especially +heavy, but they were shifty. I foresaw that the rod-bag would work +around under my arm and get in the way of my feet, and that the landing +nets would complicate matters. I tied them all in a solid bunch at last, +with the gun inside. This simplified the problem a good deal, and was an +arrangement for which I had reason to be thankful.</p> + +<p>It was interesting to see our guides load up. Charles, the Strong, had +been well named. He swung a huge basket on his back, his arms through +straps somewhat like those which support an evening gown, and a-top of +this, other paraphernalia was piled. I have seen pack burros in Mexico +that were lost sight of under their many burdens and I remembered them +now, as our guides stood forth ready to move. I still felt sorry for +them (the guides, of course) and suggested once more to Eddie that he +should assume some of their burdens. In fact, I was almost willing to do +so myself, and when at the last moment both Charlie and Del stooped and +took bundles in each hand, I was really on the very point of offering to +carry something, only there was nothing more to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> carry but the canoes, +and of course they had to be left for the next trip. I was glad, though, +of the generous impulse on my part. There is always comfort in such +things. Eddie and I set out ahead.</p> + +<p>There is something fine and inspiring about a portage. In the first +place, it is likely to be through a deep wood, over a trail not +altogether easy to follow. Then there is the fascinating thought that +you are cutting loose another link from everyday mankind—pushing a +chapter deeper into the wilderness, where only the more adventurous ever +come. Also, there is the romantic gipsy feeling of having one's +possessions in such compass that not only the supplies themselves, but +the very means of transportation may be bodily lifted and borne from one +water link to another of that chain which leads back ever farther into +the unknown.</p> + +<p>I have suggested that a portage trail is not always easy to follow. As a +matter of fact the chances are that it will seldom be easy to follow. It +will seldom be a path fit for human beings. It won't be even a decent +moose path, and a moose can go anywhere that a bird can. A carry is +meant to be the shortest distance between two given places and it +doesn't strive for luxury. It will go under and over logs, through +scratchy thickets and gardens of poison ivy. It will plow through swamps +and quicksands; it will descend into pits; it will skin along the sharp +edge of slippery rocks set up at impossible angles, so that only a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +mountain goat can follow it without risking his neck. I believe it would +climb a tree if a big one stood directly in its path.</p> + +<p>We did not get through with entire safety. The guides, shod in their +shoepacks, trained to the business, went along safely enough, though +they lurched a good deal under their heavy cargoes and seemed always on +the verge of disaster. Eddie and I did not escape. I saw Eddie slip, and +I heard him come down with a grunt which I suspected meant damage. It +proved a serious mishap, for it was to one of his reels, a bad business +so early in the game. I fell, too, but I only lost some small areas of +skin which I knew Eddie would replace with joy from a bottle in his +apothecary bag.</p> + +<p>But there were things to be seen on that two-mile carry. A partridge +flew up and whirred away into the bushes. A hermit thrush was calling +from the greenery, and by slipping through very carefully we managed to +get a sight of his dark, brown body. Then suddenly Eddie called to me to +look, and I found him pointing up into a tree.</p> + +<p>"Porky, Porky!" he was saying, by which I guessed he had found a +porcupine, for I had been apprised of the numbers in these woods. "Come, +here's a shot for you," he added, as I drew nearer. "Porcupines damage a +lot of trees and should be killed."</p> + +<p>I gazed up and distinguished a black bunch clinging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> to the body of a +fairly large spruce, near the top. "He doesn't seem to be damaging that +tree much," I said.</p> + +<p>"No, but he will. They kill ever so many. The State of Maine pays a +bounty for their scalps."</p> + +<p>I looked up again. Porky seemed to be inoffensive enough, and my killing +blood was not much aroused.</p> + +<p>"But the hunters and logmen destroy a good many more trees with their +fires," I argued. "Why doesn't the State of Maine and the Province of +Nova Scotia pay a bounty for the scalps of a few hunters and logmen?"</p> + +<p>But Eddie was insistent. It was in the line of duty, he urged, to +destroy porcupines. They were of no value, except, perhaps, to eat.</p> + +<p>"Will you agree to eat this one if I shoot him?" I asked, unbundling my +rifle somewhat reluctantly.</p> + +<p>"Of course—that's understood."</p> + +<p>I think even then I would have spared Porky's life, but at that moment +he ran a little way up the tree. There was something about that slight +movement that stirred the old savage in me. I threw my rifle to my +shoulder, and with hasty aim fired into the center of the black bunch.</p> + +<p>I saw it make a quick, quivering jump, slip a little, and cling fast. +There was no stopping now. A steady aim at the black ball this time, and +a second shot, followed by another convulsive start, a long slide, then +a heavy thudding fall at our feet—a writhing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> and a twisting—a moaning +and grieving as of a stricken child.</p> + +<p>And it was not so easy to stop this. I sent shot after shot into the +quivering black, pin-cushioned ball before it was finally still—its +stained, beautifully pointed quills scattered all about. When it was +over, I said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Eddie, they may eat up the whole of Nova Scotia, if they want +to—woods, islands and all, but I'll never shoot another, unless I'm +starving."</p> + +<p>We had none of us starved enough to eat that porcupine. In the first +place he had to be skinned, and there seemed no good place to begin. The +guides, when they came up, informed us that it was easy enough to do +when you knew how, and that the Indians knew how and considered +porcupine a great delicacy. But we were not Indians, at least not in the +ethnological sense, and the delicacy in this instance applied only to +our appetites. I could see that Eddie was anxious to break his vow, now +that his victim was really dead by my hand. We gathered up a few of the +quills—gingerly, for a porcupine quill once in the flesh, is said to +work its way to the heart—and passed on, leaving the black pin cushion +lying where it fell. Perhaps Porky's death saved one or two more trees +for the next Nova Scotia fire.</p> + +<p>There were no trout for luncheon at our half-way halt. The brook there +was a mere rivulet, and we had not kept the single small fish caught +that morning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> Still I did not mind. Not that I was tired of trout so +soon, but I began to suspect that it would require nerve and resolution +to tackle them three times a day for a period of weeks, and that it +might be just as well to start rather gradually, working in other things +from time to time.</p> + +<p>I protested, however, when Del produced a can of Columbia River salmon. +That, I said, was a gross insult to every fish in the Nova Scotia +waters. Canned salmon on a fishing trip! The very thought of it was an +offense; I demanded that it be left behind with the porcupine. Never, I +declared, would I bemean myself by eating that cheap article of +commerce—that universally indigenous fish food—here in the home of the +chief, the prince, the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of all fishes—the Nova Scotia +trout.</p> + +<p>So Del put the can away, smiling a little, and produced beans. That was +different. One may eat beans anywhere under the wide sky.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Nine" id="Chapter_Nine"></a>Chapter Nine</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>The black rock juts on the hidden pool</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the waters are dim and deep,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Oh, lightly tread—'tis a royal bed,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And a king lies there asleep.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Nine</h2> + +<p>It was well into the afternoon before the canoes reached the end of the +carry—poking out through the green—one on the shoulders of each guide, +inverted like long shields, such as an ancient race might have used as a +protection from arrows. Eddie and I, meantime, had been employed getting +a mess of frogs, for it was swampy just there, and frogs, mosquitoes and +midges possessed the locality. We anointed for the mosquitoes and +"no-see-ums," as the midges are called by the Indians, and used our +little rifles on the frogs.</p> + +<p>I wonder, by the way, what mosquitoes were made for. Other people have +wondered that before, but you can't overdo the thing. Maybe if we keep +on wondering we shall find out. Knowledge begins that way, and it will +take a lot of speculation to solve the mosquito mystery.</p> + +<p>I can't think of anything that I could do without easier than the +mosquito. He seems to me a creature wholly devoid of virtues. He is a +glutton, a poisoner, a spreader of disease, a dispenser of disturbing +music. That last is the hardest to forgive. If he would only be still I +could overlook the other things. I wonder if he will take his voice with +him into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> next world. I should like to know, too, which place he is +bound for. I should like to know, so I could take the other road.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Across Mountain Lake was not far, and then followed another short +carry—another link of removal—to a larger lake, Pescawess. It was +nearly five miles across Pescawess, but we made good time, for there was +a fair wind. Also we had the knowledge that Pescawah Brook flows in on +the other side, and the trout there were said to be large and not often +disturbed.</p> + +<p>We camped a little below this brook, and while the tents were going up +Eddie and I took one of the canoes and slipped away past an island or +two, among the strewn bowlders at the stream's mouth, pausing to cast a +little here and there, though at first with no other result than to get +our lines in a mess together.</p> + +<p>"Now, say, old man," Eddie began, as my line made a turn around his neck +and a half-dozen twists around his tackle, the whole dropping in a heap +in the water, "you mustn't cast like that. You should use the treetop +cast—straight up in the air, when there's a man behind you. Don't you +know you might lacerate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> a fellow's ear, or put a hook through his lip, +or his nose, or something?"</p> + +<p>I said that I was sorry, and that if he would give me a few points on +the treetop cast, and then avoid sitting in the treetops as much as +possible himself I thought there would be no further danger.</p> + +<p>He was not altogether pacified. The lines were in a bad tangle and he +said it was wasting precious time to be fooling that way. Clearly two +men could not fish from one canoe and preserve their friendship, and +after our lines were duly parted and Eddie had scolded me sufficiently, +we went ashore just below where the swift current tumbles in, and made +our way to the wide, deep, rock-bound pools above. The going was pretty +thick and scratchy, and one had to move deliberately.</p> + +<p>Eddie had more things to carry than I did, for he had brought his gun +and his long-handled net, and these, with his rod, set up and properly +geared with a long leader and two flies, worried him a good deal. The +net had a way of getting hung on twigs. The line and leader displayed a +genius for twisting around small but tough branches and vines, the hooks +caught in unexpected places, and the gun was possessed to get between +his legs. When I had time to consider him, he was swearing steadily and +I think still blaming me for most of his troubles, though the saints +know I was innocent enough and not without difficulties of my own. +Chiefly, I was trying to avoid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> poison ivy, which is my bane and seemed +plentiful in this particular neck of the woods.</p> + +<p>We were out at last, and the wide, dark pool, enclosed by great black +bowlders and sloping slabs of stone, seemed as if it might repay our +efforts. Not for years, maybe, had an artificial fly been cast in that +water. Perhaps Eddie was still annoyed with me, for he pushed farther up +to other pools, and was presently lost to view.</p> + +<p>I was not sorry of this, for it may be remembered that I had thus far +never caught a trout by casting in open, smooth water, and I was willing +to practice a little alone. I decided to work deliberately, without +haste and excitement, and to get my flies caught in the treetops as +infrequently as possible. I adjusted them now, took a good look behind +and tossed my cast toward the other side of the dark pool. I thought I +did it rather well, too, and I dragged the flies with a twitching +motion, as I had seen Eddie do it, but nothing happened. If there were +trout anywhere in the world, they would be in a pool like this, and if +there was ever an evening for them it was now. It was in the nature of +probability that Eddie would come back with a good string, and I could +not let him find me a confessed failure. So once more I sent the flies +out over the pool—a little farther this time, and twitched them a +little more carefully, but I might have been fishing in a tub, so far as +any tangible fish were concerned.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>A little more line and a reckless back cast landed my tail fly in a +limb—a combination which required time and patience to disengage. By +the time I had worked out the puzzle it began to seem like a warm +evening. Then I snapped the flies into several different corners of the +pool, got hung again on the same limb, jerked and broke the fly and +repeated some of the words I had learned from Eddie as we came through +the brush.</p> + +<p>I was cooler after that, and decided to put on a new and different fly. +I thought a Jenny Lind would be about the thing, and pretty soon was +slapping it about—at first hopefully, then rashly. Then in mere +desperation I changed the top fly and put on a Montreal. Of course I +wouldn't catch anything. I never would catch anything, except by +trolling, as any other duffer, or even a baby might, but I would have +fun with the flies, anyway. So the Montreal went capering out over the +pool, landing somewhere amid the rocks on the other side. And then all +at once I had my hands full of business, for there was a leap and a +splash, and a z-z-z-t of the reel, and a second later my rod was curved +like a buggy whip, the line as taut as wire and weaving and swaying from +side to side with a live, heavy body, the body of a trout—a real +trout—hooked by me with a fly, cast on a quiet pool.</p> + +<p>I wouldn't have lost that fish for money. But I was deadly afraid of +doing so. A good thing for me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> then, my practice in landing, of the +evening before. "Easy, now—easy," I said to myself, just as Del had +done. "If you lose this fish you're a duffer, sure enough; also a chump +and several other undesirable things. Don't hurry him—don't give him +unnecessary line in this close place where there may be snags—don't, +above all things, let him get any slack on you. Just a little line, +now—a few inches will do—and keep the tip of your rod up. If you point +it at him and he gets a straight pull he will jump off, sure, or he will +rush and you cannot gather the slack. Work him toward you, now, toward +your feet, close in—your net has a short handle, and is suspended +around your neck by a rubber cord. The cord will stretch, of course, but +you can never reach him over there. Don't mind the reel—you have taken +up enough line. You can't lift out a fish like that on a four-ounce +rod—on any rod short of a hickory sapling. Work him toward you, you +gump! Bring your rod up straighter—straighter—straight! Now for the +net—carefully—oh, you clumsy duffer, to miss him! Don't you know that +you can't thrash him into the net like that?—that you must dip the net +<i>under</i> him? I suppose you thought you were catching mice. You deserve +to lose him altogether. Once more, now, he's right at your feet—a +king!"</p> + +<p>Two long backward steps after that dip, for I must be certain that he +was away from the water's edge. Then I bumped into something—something +soft that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> laughed. It was Eddie, and he had two fish in his landing +net.</p> + +<p>"Bully!" he said. "You did it first-rate, only you don't need to try to +beat him to death with the landing net. Better than mine," he added, as +I took my trout off the fly. "Suppose now we go below. I've taken a look +and there's a great pool, right where the brook comes out. We can get to +it in the canoe. I'll handle the canoe while you fish."</p> + +<p>That, also, is Eddie's way. He had scolded me and he would make amends. +He had already taken down his rod, and we made our way back through the +brush without much difficulty, though I was still hot with effort and +excitement, and I fear a little careless about the poison ivy. A few +minutes later, Eddie, who handles a canoe—as he does everything else +pertaining to the woods—with grace and skill, had worked our craft +among the rocks into the wide, swift water that came out from under a +huge fallen log—the mouth of Pescawah Brook.</p> + +<p>"Cast there," he said, pointing to a spot just below the log.</p> + +<p>Within twenty minutes from that time I had learned more about +fishing—real trout fishing—than I had known before in all my life. I +had, in Eddie, a peerless instructor, and I had such water for a drill +ground as is not found in every day's, or every week's, or every month's +travel. Besides, there were fish. Singly and in pairs they came—great, +beautiful, mottled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> fellows—sometimes leaping clear of the water like a +porpoise, to catch the fly before it fell. There were none less than a +pound, and many over that weight. When we had enough for supper and +breakfast—a dozen, maybe—we put back the others that came, as soon as +taken from the hook. The fishing soon ended then, for I believe the +trout have some means of communication, and one or two trout returned to +a pool will temporarily discourage the others. It did not matter. I had +had enough, and once more, thanks to Eddie, returned to the camp, +jubilant.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Ten" id="Chapter_Ten"></a>Chapter Ten</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Where the path is thick and the branches twine</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>I pray you, friend, beware!</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>For the noxious breath of a lurking vine</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>May wither your gladness there.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Ten</h2> + +<p>It was raining next morning, but that was not the worst. During the +night I had awakened with a curious, but not entirely unfamiliar +sensation about one of my eyes. There was a slight irritant, itching +tendency, and the flesh felt puffy to the touch. I tried to believe it +was imagination, and went to sleep again.</p> + +<p>But there was no doubt next morning. Imagination is a taunting jade, but +I don't believe she could close one of my eyes and fatten up the +other—not in so short a time. It was poison ivy—that was what it +was—and I had it bad.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 476px;"> +<img src="images/ill_009.jpg" width="476" height="500" alt=""Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye."</span> +</div> + +<p>When Eddie woke, which he did, finally, he took one look at me and dove +back into his sleeping bag out of pure fear. He said I was a sight, and +he was correct. Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye, but taking my features in sections I could see that he had +not overstated my appearance. Perhaps the situation was amusing, too—at +least Eddie, and even the guides, professed to be entertained—but for +me, huddled against one side of a six by eight tent—a tent otherwise +packed with bags and bundles and traps of various kinds—Eddie's things, +mostly, and Eddie himself among them—with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> a chill rain coming down +outside, and with a face swollen and aching in a desperate way with +poison, the quality of the humor to me seemed strained when I tried to +distinguish it with the part of an eye I had left.</p> + +<p>Eddie meantime had dived down into his bag of remedies, happy to have a +chance to use any or all of them, and was laying them out on his +sleeping bag in front of him—in his lap, as it were, for he had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +yet arisen—reading the labels and wondering which he should try on me +first. I waited a little, then I said:</p> + +<p>"Never mind those, Eddie, give me your alcohol and witch hazel."</p> + +<p>But then came an embarrassing moment. Running his eye over the bottles +and cans Eddie was obliged to confess that not one of them contained +either alcohol or witch hazel.</p> + +<p>"Eddie," I said reproachfully, "can it be, in a drug store like that, +there is neither alcohol nor witch hazel?"</p> + +<p>He nodded dismally.</p> + +<p>"I meant to bring them," he said, "but the triple extract of gelsemium +would do such a lot of things, and I thought I didn't need them, and +then you made fun of that, and—and——"</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Eddie," I said, "I have an inspiration. If alcohol cures +it, maybe whisky will, and thank Heaven we did bring the whisky!"</p> + +<p>We remained two days in that camp and I followed up the whisky treatment +faithfully. It rained most of the time, so the delay did not matter. +Indeed it was great luck that we were not held longer by that +distressing disorder which comes of the malignant three-leaved plant +known as mercury, or poison ivy. Often it has disqualified me for a week +or more. But the whisky treatment was a success. Many times a day I +bathed my face in the pure waters of the lake<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> and then with the +spirits—rye or Scotch, as happened to be handy. By the afternoon of the +first day I could see to put sirup on my flapjacks, and once between +showers I felt able to go out with Eddie in the canoe, during which +excursion he took a wonderful string of trout in a stagnant-looking, +scummy pool where no one would ever expect trout to lie, and where no +one but Eddie could have taken them at all.</p> + +<p>By the next morning, after a night of sorrow—for my face always pained +and itched worse when everybody was in bed and still, with nothing to +soothe me but the eternal drip, drip from the boughs and from the eaves +of the tent—the swelling was still further reduced, and I felt able to +travel. And I wish to add here in all seriousness that whatever may be +your scruples against the use of liquors, don't go into the woods +without whisky—rye or Scotch, according to preference. Alcohol, of +course, is good for poison ivy, but whisky is better. Maybe it is +because of the drugs that wicked men are said to put into it. Besides, +whisky has other uses. The guides told us of one perfectly rigid person +who, when he had discovered that whisky was being included in his camp +supplies, had become properly incensed, and commanded that it be left at +home. The guides had pleaded that he need not drink any of it, that they +would attend to that part of what seemed to them a necessary camp duty, +but he was petrified in his morals, and the whisky remained behind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>Well, they struck a chilly snap, and it rained. It was none of your +little summer landscape rains, either. It was a deadly cold, driving, +drenching saturation. Men who had built their houses on the sand, and +had no whisky, were in a bad fix. The waves rose and the tents blew +down, and the rigid, fossilized person had to be carried across an +overflowed place on the back of a guide, lifting up his voice meanwhile +in an effort to convince the Almighty that it was a mistake to let it +rain at this particular time, and calling for whisky at every step.</p> + +<p>It is well to carry one's morals into the woods, but if I had to leave +either behind, I should take the whisky.</p> + +<p>It was a short carry to Lake Pescawah. Beyond that water we carried +again about a quarter of a mile to a lake called Pebbleloggitch—perhaps +for the reason that the Indian who picked out the name couldn't find a +harder one. From Pebbleloggitch we made our way by a long canal-like +stillwater through a land wherein no man—not even an Indian, +perhaps—has ever made his home, for it lies through a weird, lonely +marsh—a sort of meadow which no reaper ever harvested, where none but +the wild moose ever feeds.</p> + +<p>We were nearing the edge of the unknown now. One of the guides, Del, I +think, had been through this stillwater once before, a long time ago. At +the end of it, he knew, lay the upper Shelburne River, which was said to +flow through a sheet of water called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> Irving Lake. But where the river +entered the lake and where it left it was for us to learn. Already forty +miles or more from our starting point, straight into the wilderness, we +were isolated from all mankind, and the undiscovered lay directly +before. At the end of the stillwater Del said:</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen, from this on you know as much of the country as I do. +All I know is what I've heard, and that's not much. I guess most of it +we'll have to learn for ourselves."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eleven" id="Chapter_Eleven"></a>Chapter Eleven</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>By lonely tarn, mid thicket deep,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>The she-moose comes to bear</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Her sturdy young, and she doth keep</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>It safely guarded there.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Eleven</h2> + +<p>We got any amount of fly-casting in the Pebbleloggitch stillwater, but +no trout. I kept Del dodging and twice I succeeded in hooking him, +though not in a vital spot. I could have done it, however, if he had sat +still and given me a fair chance. I could land Del even with the treetop +cast, but the trout refused to be allured. As a rule, trout would not +care to live in a place like that. There would not be enough excitement +and activity. A trout prefers a place where the water is busy—where the +very effort of keeping from being smashed and battered against the rocks +insures a good circulation and a constitution like a steel spring. I +have taken trout out of water that would have pulverized a golf ball in +five minutes. The fiercer the current—the greater the tumult—the more +cruel and savage the rocks, the better place it is for trout.</p> + +<p>Neither do I remember that we took anything in the Shelburne above +Irving Lake, for it was a good deal like the stillwater, with only a +gentle riffle here and there. Besides, the day had become chill, and a +mist had fallen upon this lonely world—a wet white, drifting mist that +was closely akin to rain. On such a day one does not expect trout to +rise, and is seldom disappointed. Here and there, where the current was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +slow-moving and unruffled, Eddie, perhaps, would have tried his dry +flies, but never a trout was seen to break water, and it is one of the +tenets of dry-fly fishing that a cast may only be made where a trout has +been seen to rise—even then, only after a good deal of careful +maneuvering on shore to reach the proper spot on the bank without +breaking the news to the trout. It wasn't a pleasant time to go +wriggling through marsh grass and things along the shore, so it is just +as well that there was no excuse for doing it.</p> + +<p>As it was, we paddled rather silently down the still river, considerably +impressed with the thought that we were entering a land to us +unknown—that for far and far in every direction, beyond the white mist +that shut us in and half-obliterated the world, it was likely that there +was no human soul that was not of our party and we were quieted by the +silence and the loneliness on every hand.</p> + +<p>Where the river entered the lake there was no dashing, tumbling water. +In fact, we did not realize that we had reached the lake level until the +shores on either hand receded, slowly at first, and then broadly +widening, melted away and were half lost in the mist.</p> + +<p>The feeling grew upon me, all at once, that we were very high here. +There were no hills or ridges that we could see, and the outlines of +such timber as grew along the shore seemed low. It was as if we had +reached the top of the world, where there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> were no more hills—where the +trees had been obliged to struggle up to our altitude, barely to fringe +us round. As for course now, we had none. Our map was of the vaguest +sort. Where the outlet was we could only surmise.</p> + +<p>In a general way it was supposed to be at the "other end" of the lake, +where there was said to be an old dam, built when the region was +lumbered, long ago. But as to the shape of the lake, and just where that +"other end" might lie, when every side except the bit of shore nearest +at hand was lost in the wet, chill mist, were matters for conjecture and +experiment. We paddled a little distance and some islands came out of +the gray veil ahead—green Nova Scotia islands, with their ledges of +rock, some underbrush and a few sentinel pines. We ran in close to +these, our guides looking for moose or signs of them.</p> + +<p>I may say here that no expedition in Nova Scotia is a success without +having seen at least one moose. Of course, in the hunting season, the +moose is the prime object, but such is the passion for this animal among +Nova Scotia guides, that whatever the season or the purpose of the +expedition, and however triumphant its result, it is accounted a +disappointment and a failure by the natives when it ends without at +least a glimpse of a moose.</p> + +<p>We were in wonderful moose country now; the uninvaded wild, where in +trackless bog and swamp, or on the lonely and forgotten islands the +she-moose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> secludes herself to bear and rear her young. That Charlie and +Del were more absorbed in the possibility of getting a sight of these +great, timid, vanishing visions of animal life—and perhaps a longer +view of a little black, bleating calf—than in any exploration for the +other end of the Shelburne River was evident. They clung and hovered +about those islands, poking the canoes into every nook and corner, +speaking in whispers, and sitting up straight at sight of any +dark-looking stump or bunch of leaves. Eddie, too, seemed a good deal +interested in the moose idea. I discovered presently that he was +ambitious to send a specimen of a moose calf, dead or alive, to the +British Museum, and would improve any opportunity to acquire that asset.</p> + +<p>I may say that I was opposed to any such purpose. I am overfond of +Eddie, and I wanted him to have a good standing with the museum people, +but I did not like the idea of slaughtering a little calf moose before +its mother's very eyes, and I did not approve of its capture, either. +Even if the mother moose could be convinced that our intentions were +good, and was willing to have her offspring civilized and in the British +Museum, or Zoo, or some other distinguished place, I still opposed the +general scheme. It did not seem to me that a calf moose tied either +outside or inside of our tent for a period of weeks, to bleat and tear +around, and to kick over and muss up things generally, would be a proper +feature to add to a well-ordered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> camp, especially if it kept on raining +and we had to bring him inside. I knew that eventually he would own that +tent, and probably demand a sleeping bag. I knew that I should have to +give him mine, or at least share it with him.</p> + +<p>I stated and emphasized these views and insisted that we go over toward +the half-obscured shore, where there appeared to be an opening which +might be the river. We did go over there, at length, and there was, in +fact, an opening, but it was made by a brook entering the lake instead +of leaving it. Our memorandum of information declared that a stream +called the Susketch emptied into the lake somewhere, and we decided to +identify this as the place. We went up a little way to a good looking +pool, but there were no trout—at least, they refused to rise, though +probably the oldest and mossiest inhabitant of that place had never had +such an opportunity before. Back to the lake again, we were pretty soon +hovering about the enchanted islands, which seemed to rise on every +hand.</p> + +<p>It was just the sort of a day to see moose, Del said, and there was no +other matter that would stand in importance against a proposition like +that. I became interested myself, presently, and dropped my voice to a +whisper and sat up at every black spot among the leaves. We had just +about given it up at length, when all at once Del gave the canoe a great +shove inshore, at the same time calling softly to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> other canoe, +which had already sheared off into the lake.</p> + +<p>They were with us in an instant and we were clambering out. I hadn't +seen a thing, but Del swore that he had caught a glimpse of something +black that moved and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Of course we were clad in our wet-weather armor. I had on my oilskins, +and what was more, those high, heavy wading boots that came up under my +arms. It is no easy matter to get over even level ground rapidly with a +rig like that, and when it comes to scaling an island, full of ledges +and holes and underbrush and vines, the problem becomes complex. Del and +Charlie, with their shoepacks, distanced me as easily as if I had been +sitting still, while that grasshopper, Eddie, with only the lightest +sort of waders, skipped and scampered away and left me plunging and +floundering about in the brush, with scarcely the possibility of seeing +anything, even if it were directly in front of my nose.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, I didn't care anything about seeing moose, and was +only running and making a donkey of myself because the others were doing +it, and I had caught a touch of their disease.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, I heard Charlie call, "There they are! There they go!" and +with a wild redoubled effort I went headlong into a deep pit, +half-filled with leaves and brush, and muck of various sorts. This, of +course, would seem to assassinate any hope I might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> have of seeing the +moose, but just then, by some occult process, Charles, the Strong, +discovered my disaster, and with that prowess which has made him famous +yanked me out of the mess, stood me on my feet and had me running again, +wallowing through the bushes toward the other side of the little island +whence the moose had fled.</p> + +<p>"There they go—they are swimming!" I heard Del call, and then Eddie:</p> + +<p>"I see em! I see em!" and then Charles's voice, a little ahead of me:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_010.jpg" width="500" height="432" alt=""Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!"</span> +</div> + +<p>"Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> + +<p>I reached the shore myself just then—our shore, I mean—on all fours +and full of scratches and bruises, but not too late, for beyond a wide +neck of water, on the mainland, two dark phantoms drifted a little way +through the mist and vanished into the dark foliage behind.</p> + +<p>It was only a glimpse I had and I was battered up and still disordered, +more or less, with the ivy poison. But somehow I was satisfied. For one +thing, I had become infected with a tinge of the native enthusiasm about +seeing the great game of the woods, and then down in my soul I rejoiced +that Eddie had failed to capture the little calf. Furthermore, it was +comforting to reflect that even from the guides' point of view, our +expedition, whatever else might come, must be considered a success.</p> + +<p>We now got down to business. It was well along toward evening, and +though these days were long days, this one, with its somber skies and +heavy mist, would close in early. We felt that it was desirable to find +the lake's outlet before pitching our tents, for the islands make rather +poor camping places and lake fishing is apt to be slow work. We wanted +to get settled in camp on the lower Shelburne before night and be ready +for the next day's sport.</p> + +<p>We therefore separated, agreeing upon a signal of two shots from +whichever of us had the skill or fortune to discover the outlet. The +other canoe faded into the mist below the islands while we paddled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +slowly toward the gray green shores opposite. When presently we were all +alone, I was filled, somehow, with the feeling that must have come over +those old Canadian voyageurs who were first to make their way through +the northlands, threading the network of unknown waters. I could not get +rid of the idea that we were pioneers in this desolate spot, and so far +as sportsmen were concerned, it may be that we were.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twelve" id="Chapter_Twelve"></a>Chapter Twelve</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>The lake is dull with the drifting mist,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the shores are dim and blind;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And where is the way ahead, to-day,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And what of the path behind?</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twelve</h2> + +<p>Along the wet, blurred shore we cruised, the mist getting thicker and +more like rain. Here and there we entered some little bay or nook that +from a distance looked as if it might be an outlet. Eventually we lost +all direction and simply investigated at random wherever any appearance +seemed inviting. Once we went up a long slough and were almost ready to +fire the signal shots when we discovered our mistake. It seemed a narrow +escape from the humiliation of giving a false alarm. What had become of +the others we did not know. Evidently the lake was a big one and they +might be miles away. Eddie had the only compass, though this would seem +to be of no special advantage.</p> + +<p>At last, just before us, the shore parted—a definite, wide parting it +was, that when we pushed into it did not close and come to nothing, but +kept on and on, opening out ahead. We went a good way in, to make sure. +The water seemed very still, but then we remembered the flatness of the +country. Undoubtedly this was the outlet, and we had discovered it. It +was only natural that we should feel a certain elation in our having had +the good fortune—the instinct, as it were—to proceed aright. I lifted +my gun and it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> was with a sort of triumphant flourish that I fired the +two signal shots.</p> + +<p>It may be that the reader will not fully understand the importance of +finding a little thing like the outlet of a lake on a wet, disagreeable +day when the other fellows are looking for it, too; and here, to-day, +far away from that northern desolation, it does not seem even to me a +very great affair whether our canoe or Eddie's made the discovery. But +for some reason it counted a lot then, and I suppose Del and I were +unduly elated over our success. It was just as well that we were, for +our period of joy was brief. In the very instant while my finger was +still touching the trigger, we heard come soggily through the mist, from +far down the chill, gray water, one shot and then another.</p> + +<p>I looked at Del and he at me.</p> + +<p>"They've found something, too," I said. "Do you suppose there are two +outlets? Anyhow, here goes," and I fired again our two shots of +discovery, and a little later two more so that there might be no mistake +in our manifest. I was not content, you see, with the possibility of +being considered just an ordinary ass, I must establish proof beyond +question of a supreme idiocy in the matter of woodcraft. That is my way +in many things. I know, for I have done it often. I shall keep on doing +it, I suppose, until the moment when I am permitted to say, "I die +innocent."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They only think they have found something," I said to Del now. "It's +probably the long slough we found a while ago. They'll be up here quick +enough," and I fired yet two more shots, to rub it in.</p> + +<p>But now two more shots came also from Eddie, and again two more. By this +time we had pushed several hundred yards farther into the opening, and +there was no doubt but that it was a genuine river. I was growing every +moment more elated with our triumph over the others and in thinking how +we would ride them down when they finally had to abandon their lead and +follow ours, when all at once Del, who had been looking over the side of +the canoe grew grave and stopped paddling.</p> + +<p>"There seems to be a little current here," he pointing down to the grass +which showed plainly now in the clear water, "yes—there—is—a +current," he went on very slowly, his voice becoming more dismal at +every word, "but it's going the wrong way!"</p> + +<p>I looked down intently. Sure enough, the grass on the bottom pointed +back toward the lake.</p> + +<p>"Then it isn't the Shelburne, after all," I said, "but another river +we've discovered."</p> + +<p>Del looked at me pathetically.</p> + +<p>"It's the Shelburne, all right," he nodded, and there was deep suffering +in his tones, "oh, yes, it's the Shelburne—only it happens to be the +upper end—the place where we came in. That rock is where you stopped to +make a few casts."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>No canoe ever got out of the upper Shelburne River quicker than ours. +Those first old voyageurs of that waste region never made better time +down Irving Lake. Only, now and then, I fired some more to announce our +coming, and to prepare for the lie we meant to establish that we only +had been replying to their shots all along and not announcing anything +new and important of our own.</p> + +<p>But it was no use. We had guilt written on our features, and we never +had been taught to lie convincingly. In fact it was wasted effort from +the start. The other canoe had been near enough when we entered the trap +to see us go in, and even then had located the true opening, which was +no great distance away. They jeered us to silence and they rode us down. +They carefully drew our attention to the old log dam in proof that this +was the real outlet; they pointed to the rapid outpouring current for it +was a swift boiling stream here—and asked us if we could tell which way +it was flowing. For a time our disgrace was both active and complete. +Then came a diversion. Real rain—the usual night downpour—set in, and +there was a scramble to get the tents up and our goods under cover.</p> + +<p>Yet the abuse had told on me. One of my eyes—the last to yield to the +whisky treatment, began to throb a good deal—and I dragged off my wet +clothes, got on a dry garment (the only thing I had left by this time +that was dry) and worked my way laboriously,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> section by section, into +my sleeping bag, after which Eddie was sorry for me—as I knew he would +be—and brought me a cup of tea and some toast and put a nice piece of +chocolate into my mouth and sang me a song. It had been a pretty +strenuous day, and I had been bruised and cold and wet and scratched and +humiliated. But the tea and toast put me in a forgiving spirit, and the +chocolate was good, and Eddie can sing. I was dry, too, and reasonably +warm. And the rain hissing into the campfire at the door had a soothing +sound.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Thirteen" id="Chapter_Thirteen"></a>Chapter Thirteen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Now take the advice that I do not need—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>That I do not heed, alway:</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>For there's many a fool can make a rule</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Which only the wise obey.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Thirteen</h2> + +<p>As usual, the clouds had emptied themselves by morning. The sky was +still dull and threatening, and from the tent door the water of the lake +was gray. But the mist had gone, and the islands came out green and +beautiful. The conditions made it possible to get some clothing decently +smoked and scorched, which is the nearest approach to dryness one is +ever likely to achieve in the woods in a rainy season.</p> + +<p>I may say here that the time will come—and all too soon, in a period of +rain—when you will reach your last dry suit of underwear—and get it +wet. Then have a care. Be content to stay in a safe, dry spot, if you +can find one—you will have to go to bed, of course, to do it until +something is dry—that is, pretty dry. To change from one wet suit to +another only a little less so is conducive neither to comfort nor to a +peaceful old age. Above all, do not put on your night garment, or +garments, for underwear, for they will get wet, too; then your condition +will be desperate.</p> + +<p>I submit the above as good advice. I know it is good advice for I did +not follow it. I have never followed good advice—I have only given it. +At the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> end of several nights of rain and moist days, I had nothing +really dry but my nightshirt and one slipper and I think Eddie's +condition was not so far removed. What we did was to pick out the least +damp of our things and smoke and scorch them on a pole over the campfire +until they had a sort of a half-done look, like bread toasted over a gas +jet; then suddenly we would seize them and put them on hot and go around +steaming, and smelling of leaf smoke and burnt dry goods—these odors +blended with the fragrance of camphor, tar and pennyroyal, with which we +were presently saturated in every pore. For though it was said to be too +late for black flies and too early for mosquitoes, the rear guard of the +one and the advance guard of the other combined to furnish us with a +good deal of special occupation. The most devoted follower of the +Prophet never anointed himself oftener than we did, and of course this +continuous oily application made it impossible to wash very perfectly; +besides, it seemed a waste to wash off the precious protection when to +do so meant only another immediate and more thorough treatment.</p> + +<p>I will dwell for a moment on this matter of washing. Fishing and +camping, though fairly clean recreations, will be found not altogether +free from soiling and grimy tendencies, and when one does not or cannot +thoroughly remove the evidences several times a day, they begin to tell +on his general appearance. Gradually our hands lost everything original +except<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> their shape. Then I found that to shave took off a good deal of +valuable ointment each time, and I approved of Eddie's ideas in this +direction to the extent of following his example. I believe, though, +that I washed myself longer than he did—that is, at stated intervals. +Of course we never gave up the habit altogether. It would break out +sporadically and at unexpected moments, but I do not recall that these +lapses ever became dangerous or offensive. My recollection is that Eddie +gave up washing as a mania, that morning at the foot of Irving Lake and +that I held out until the next sunrise. Or it may have been only until +that evening—it does not matter. Washing is a good deal a question of +pride, anyway, and pride did not count any more. Even self-respect had +lost its charm.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_011.jpg" width="500" height="468" alt=""If one's things are well smoked and scorched and scalded +and put on hot in the morning——"" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"If one's things are well smoked and scorched and scalded +and put on hot in the morning——"</span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_012.jpg" width="500" height="426" alt=""We never failed to hide the whisky."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"We never failed to hide the whisky."</span> +</div> + +<p>In the matter of clothing, however, I wish to record that I never did +put on my nightdress for an undergarment. I was tempted to do so, daily, +but down within me a still small voice urged the rashness of such a deed +and each night I was thankful for that caution. If one's things are well +smoked and scorched and scalded and put on hot in the morning, he can +forget presently that they are not also dry, and there is a chance that +they may become so before night; but to face the prospect of getting +into a wet garment to sleep, that would have a tendency to destroy the +rare charm and flavor of camp life. In time I clung to my dry nightshirt +as to a life-belt. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> wrapped it up mornings as a jewel, buried it deep +in the bottom of my bag, and I locked the bag. Not that Eddie did not +have one of his own—it may be that he had a variety of such things—and +as for the guides, I have a notion that they prefer wet clothes. But +though this was a wild country, where it was unlikely that we should +meet any living soul, there was always the possibility of a stray +prospector or a hunter, and a dry garment in a wet time is a temptation +which should not be put in any man's way. Neither that nor the liquor +supply. When we left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> our camp—as we did, often—our guns, our tackle, +even our purses and watches, were likely to be scattered about in plain +view; but we never failed to hide the whisky. Whisky is fair loot, and +the woodsman who would scorn to steal even a dry shirt would carry off +whisky and revel in his shame.</p> + +<p>There were quantities of trout in the lower Shelburne, and in a pool +just below the camp, next morning, Eddie and I took a dozen or +more—enough for breakfast and to spare—in a very few minutes. They +were lively fish—rather light in color, but beautifully marked and +small enough to be sweet and tender, that is, not much over a half-pound +weight. In fact, by this time we were beginning to have a weakness for +the smaller fish. The pound-and-upward trout, the most plentiful size, +thus far, were likely to be rather dry and none too tender. When we +needed a food supply, the under-sized fish were more welcome, and when, +as happened only too rarely, we took one of the old-fashioned New +England speckled beauty dimensions—that is to say, a trout of from +seven to nine inches long and of a few ounces weight—it was welcomed +with real joy. Big fish are a satisfaction at the end of a line and in +the landing net, but when one really enters upon a trout diet—when at +last it becomes necessary to serve them in six or seven different ways +to make them go down—the demand for the smallest fish obtainable is +pretty certain to develop, while the big ones are promptly returned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +with good wishes and God-speed to their native element.</p> + +<p>For of course no true sportsman ever keeps any trout he cannot use. Only +the "fish-hog" does that. A trout caught on a fly is seldom injured, and +if returned immediately to the water will dart away, all the happier, it +may be, for his recent tug-of-war. He suffers little or no pain in the +tough cartilages about his mouth and gills (a fact I have demonstrated +by hooking the same fish twice, both marks plainly showing on him when +taken) and the new kind of exercise and experience he gets at the end of +the line, and his momentary association with human beings, constitute +for him a valuable asset, perhaps to be retailed in the form of +reminiscence throughout old age. But to fling him into a canoe, to gasp +and die and be thrown away, that is a different matter. That is a crime +worse than stealing a man's lunch or his last dry undershirt, or even +his whisky.</p> + +<p>In the first place, kill your trout the moment you take him out of the +water—that is, if you mean to eat him. If he is too big, or if you +already have enough, put him back with all expedition and let him swim +away. Even if he does warn the other trout and spoil the fishing in that +pool, there are more pools, and then it is likely you have fished enough +in that one, anyway. Come back next year and have another battle with +him. He will be bigger and know better what to do then. Perhaps it will +be his turn to win.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the matter of killing a fish there are several ways to do it. Some +might prefer to set him up on the bank and shoot at him. Another way +would be to brain him with an ax. The guides have a way of breaking a +trout's neck by a skillful movement which I never could duplicate. My +own method is to sever the vertebræ just back of the ears—gills, I +mean—with the point of a sharp knife. It is quick and effective.</p> + +<p>I don't know why I am running on with digression and advice this way. +Perhaps because about this period I had had enough experience to feel +capable of giving advice. A little experience breeds a lot of advice. I +knew a man once——<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Fourteen" id="Chapter_Fourteen"></a>Chapter Fourteen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Oh, never a voice to answer here,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And never a face to see—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Mid chill and damp we build our camp</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Under the hemlock tree.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Fourteen</h2> + +<p>In spite of the rains the waters of the Shelburne were too low at this +point to descend in the canoes. The pools were pretty small affairs and +the rapids long, shallow and very ragged. It is good sport to run rapids +in a canoe when there is plenty of swift water and a fair percentage of +danger. But these were dangerous only to the canoes, which in many +places would not even float, loaded as we were. It became evident that +the guides would have to wade and drag, with here and there a carry, to +get the boats down to deeper water—provided always there <i>was</i> deeper +water, which we did not doubt.</p> + +<p>Eddie and I set out ahead, and having had our morning's fishing, kept +pretty well to the bank where the walking was fairly good. We felt +pleasant and comfortable and paid not much attention to the stream, +except where a tempting pool invited a cast or two, usually with prompt +returns, though we kept only a few, smaller fish.</p> + +<p>We found the banks more attractive. Men had seldom disturbed the life +there, and birds sang an arm's length away, or regarded us quietly, +without distrust. Here and there a hermit thrush—the sweetest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> and +shyest of birds—himself unseen, charmed us with his mellow syllables. +Somehow, in the far, unfretted removal of it all, we felt at peace with +every living thing, and when a partridge suddenly dropped down on a limb +not three yards away, neither of us offered to shoot, though we had our +rifles and Eddie his B. M. license to kill and skin and hence to eat, +and though fish were at a discount and game not overplentiful.</p> + +<p>And then we were rewarded by a curious and beautiful exhibition. For the +partridge was a mother bird, and just at our feet there was a peeping +and a scampering of little brown balls that disappeared like magic among +the leaves—her fussy, furry brood.</p> + +<p>I don't think she mistrusted our intent—at least, not much. But she +wanted to make sure. She was not fully satisfied to have us remain just +there, with her babies hiding not two yards away. She dropped on the +ground herself, directly in front of us—so close that one might almost +touch her—and letting one of her wings fall loosely, looked back at us +over her shoulder as if to say, "You see, it is broken. If you wish, you +can catch me, easily."</p> + +<p>So we let her fool us—at least, we let her believe we were +deceived—and made as if to stoop for her, and followed each time when +she ran a few steps farther ahead, until little by little she had led us +away from her family. Then when she was sure that we really did not want +her or her chickens, but cared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> only to be amused, she ran quickly a +little way farther and disappeared, and we saw her no more. Within a +minute or two from that time she was probably back with her little +folks, and they were debating as to whether we were bird or beast, and +why we carried that curious combination of smells.</p> + +<p>It was such incidents as this that led us on. The morning was gone, +presently, and we had no means of knowing how far we had come. It seemed +to us but a short way. We forgot the windings of the stream, some of +which we had eluded by cut-offs, and how many hard places there would be +for Del and Charlie to get over with the canoes. As a matter of fact we +rather expected them to overtake us at any time, and as the pools became +deeper and longer and the rapids somewhat more navigable we feared to +leave the stream on the chance of being passed. It was about one o'clock +when we reached a really beautiful stretch of water, wide and deep, and +navigable for an indefinite distance. Here we stopped to get fish for +luncheon, and to wait for the boats, which we anticipated at any moment.</p> + +<p>It was a wonderful place to fish. One could wade out and get long casts +up and down, and the trout rose to almost any fly. Eddie caught a white +perch at last and I two yellow ones, not very plentiful in these waters +and most desirable from the food point of view. The place seemed really +inexhaustible. I think there were few trout larger than fourteen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> inches +in length, but of these there were a great many, and a good supply of +the speckled beauty size. When we had enough of these for any possible +luncheon demand, and were fairly weary of casting and reeling in, we +suddenly realized that we were hungry; also that it was well into the +afternoon and that there were no canoes in sight. Furthermore, in the +enthusiasm of the sport we had both of us more than once stepped beyond +the gunwales of our waders and had our boots full of water, besides +being otherwise wet. Once, in fact, I had slipped off a log on all +fours, in a rather deep place. It began to be necessary that we should +have a camp and be fed. Still we waited hopefully, expecting every +moment to see the canoes push around the bend.</p> + +<p>Eventually we were seized with misgivings. Could the guides have met +with shipwreck in some desperate place and disabled one or both of the +canoes, perhaps losing our stores? The thought was depressing. Was it +possible that they had really passed us during some period when we had +left the water, and were now far ahead? We could not believe it. Could +it be that the river had divided at some unseen point and that we had +followed one fork and they another? It did not seem probable. Perhaps, +after all, we had come farther than we believed, and they had been +delayed by the difficulties of navigation.</p> + +<p>But when another hour passed and they did not appear or answer to our +calls, the reason for their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> delay did not matter. We were wet, cold and +hungry. Food and fire were the necessary articles. We had not a scrap of +food except our uncooked fish, and it would be no easy matter, without +ax or hatchet, to get a fire started in those rain-soaked woods. Also, +we had no salt, but that was secondary.</p> + +<p>Eddie said he would try to build a fire if I would clean some fish, but +this proved pretty lonesome work for both of us. We decided to both +build and then both clean the fish. We dug down under the leaves for dry +twigs, but they were not plentiful. Then we split open some dead spruce +branches and got a few resinous slivers from the heart of them, a good +many in fact, and we patiently gathered bits of reasonably dry bark and +branches from under the sheltered side of logs and rocks and leaning +trees.</p> + +<p>We meant to construct our fire very carefully and we did. We scooped a +little hollow in the ground for draught, and laid in some of the drier +pieces of bark, upon which to pile our spruce slivers. Upon these in +turn we laid very carefully what seemed to be our driest selections of +twigs, increasing the size with each layer, until we laid on limbs of +goodly bulk and had a very respectable looking heap of fuel, ready for +lighting on the windward side.</p> + +<p>Our mistake was that we did not light it sooner. The weight of our +larger fuel had pressed hard upon our little heap of spruce slivers and +flattened it, when it should have remained loose and quickly +inflammable,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> with the larger fuel lying handy, to be added at the +proper moment. As it was, the tiny blaze had a habit of going out just +about the time when it ought to have been starting some bigger material. +When we did get a sickly flame going up through the little damp mess of +stuff, there was a good deal more smoke than fire and we were able to +keep the blaze alive only by energetic encouragement in the form of +blowing.</p> + +<p>First Eddie would get down on his hands, with his chin against the +ground and blow until he was apoplectic and blind with smoke, and then I +would take my turn. I never saw two full-grown men so anxious over a +little measly fire in my life. We almost forgot that we were perishing +with cold and hunger ourselves in our anxiety to keep the spark of life +in that fire.</p> + +<p>We saved the puny thing, finally, and it waxed strong. Then we put in a +good deal of time feeding and nursing our charge and making it warm and +comfortable before we considered ourselves. And how did the ungrateful +thing repay us? By filling our eyes with smoke and chasing us from side +to side, pursuing us even behind trees to blind and torture us with its +acrid smarting vapors. In fact, the perversity of campfire smoke remains +one of the unexplained mysteries. I have seen a fire properly built +between two tents—with good draught and the whole wide sky to hold the +smoke—suddenly send a column<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> of suffocating vapor directly into the +door of the tent, where there was no draught, no room, no demand at all +for smoke. I have had it track me into the remotest corner of my +sleeping-bag and have found it waiting for me when I came up for a +breath of air. I have had it come clear around the tent to strangle me +when I had taken refuge on the back side. I have had it follow me +through the bushes, up a tree, over a cliff——</p> + +<p>As I was saying, we got the fire going. After that the rest was easy. It +was simply a matter of cleaning a few trout, sticking them on sticks and +fighting the smoke fiend with one hand while we burnt and blackened the +trout a little with the other, and ate them, <i>sans</i> salt, <i>sans</i> fork, +<i>sans</i> knife, <i>sans</i> everything. Not that they were not good. I have +never eaten any better raw, unsalted trout anywhere, not even at +Delmonico's.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/ill_013.jpg" width="500" height="396" alt=""It's all in a day's camping, of course."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"It's all in a day's camping, of course."</span> +</div> + +<p>The matter of getting dry and warm was different. It is not the +pleasantest thing in the world, even by a very respectable fire such as +we had now achieved, to take off all of one's things without the +protection of a tent, especially when the woods are damp and trickly and +there is a still small breath of chill wind blowing, and to have to hop +and skip, on one foot and then on the other, to keep the circulation +going while your things are on a limb in the smoke, getting scalded and +fumigated, and black edged here and there where the flame has singed up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +high. It's all in a day's camping, of course, and altogether worth +while, but when the shades of night are closing in and one is still +doing a spectral dance about a dying fire, in a wet wood, on a stomach +full of raw trout, then the camping day seems pretty long and there is +pressing need of other diversion.</p> + +<p>It was well toward night when we decided that our clothes were scorched +enough for comfortable wear, and a late hour it was, for the June days +in the north woods are long. We had at no time lost sight of the river, +and we began to realize the positive necessity of locating our guides +and canoes. We had given up trying to understand the delay. We decided +to follow back up the river until we found them, or until we reached +some other branch which they might have chosen. It was just as we were +about to begin this discouraging undertaking that far up the bend we +heard a call, then another. We answered, both together, and in the reply +we recognized the tones of Charles the Strong.</p> + +<p>Presently they came in sight—each dragging a canoe over the last riffle +just above the long hole. A moment later we had hurried back to meet two +of the weariest, wettest, most bedraggled mortals that ever poled and +dragged and carried canoe. All day they had been pulling and lifting; +loading, unloading and carrying those canoes and bags and baskets over +the Shelburne riffles, where not even the lightest craft could float. +How long had been the distance they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> did not know, but the miles had +been sore, tedious miles, and they had eaten nothing more than a +biscuit, expecting at every bend to find us waiting.</p> + +<p>It was proper that we should make camp now at the first inviting place. +We offered to stop right there, where our fire was already going, but it +was decided that the ground was a poor selection, being rather low. We +piled into the canoes and shot down the long hole, while the light of +evening was fading from the sky. Several hundred yards below, the water +widened and the bank sloped higher. It seemed an attractive spot and we +already knew the fishing in these waters. But as a final test Eddie made +a cast as we rounded, tossing his flies into an inviting swirl just +below a huge bowlder. For some reason we had put on three flies, and +when he finally got his mess of fish into the net, there were three +trout—all good ones—one on each fly.</p> + +<p>We decided to camp there, for good luck, and to stay until we were fully +repaired for travel. No camp was ever more warmly welcomed, or ever will +be more fondly remembered by us all.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Fifteen" id="Chapter_Fifteen"></a>Chapter Fifteen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>To-night, to-night, the frost is white,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Under the silver moon;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And lo, I lie, as the hours go by,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Freezing to death in June.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Fifteen</h2> + +<p>The reader will have gathered by this time that I had set out with only +a hazy idea of what camping in Nova Scotia would be like. I think I had +some notion that our beds would be down in the mud as often as not, and +sticky and disagreeable—something to be endured for the sake of the +day's sport. Things were not as I expected, of course. Things never are. +Our beds were not in the mud—not often—and there were days—chill, +wet, disheartening days—when I looked forward to them and to the +campfire blaze at the tent door with that comfort which a child finds in +the prospect of its mother's arm.</p> + +<p>On the whole, I am sure our camps were more commodious than I had +expected them to be; and they were pretentious affairs, considering that +we were likely to occupy them no more than one night. We had three +tents—Eddie's, already described; a tent for the guides, of about the +same proportions, and a top or roof tent, under which we dined when it +rained. Then there was a little porch arrangement which we sometimes put +out over the front, but we found it had the bad habit of inviting the +smoke to investigate and permeate our quarters, so we dedicated the +little porch fly to other uses. A waterproof ground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> cloth was spread +between our stretcher beds, and upon the latter, as mentioned before, +were our sleeping-bags; also our various bundles, cozily and +conveniently bestowed. It was an inviting interior, on the whole +something to anticipate, as I have said.</p> + +<p>Yet our beds were not perfect. Few things are. I am a rather large man, +and about three o'clock in the morning I was likely to wake up somewhat +cramped and pinched together from being so long in the little canvas +trough, with no good way of putting out my arms; besides being a little +cold, maybe, because about that hour the temperature seemed to make a +specialty of dropping low enough to get underneath one's couch and creep +up around the back and shoulders. It is true it was June, but June +nights in Nova Scotia have a way of forgetting that it is drowsy, +scented summertime; and I recall now times when I looked out through the +tent flap and saw the white frost gleaming on the trees, and wondered if +there was any sum of money too big to exchange for a dozen blankets or +so, and if, on the whole, perishing as I was, I would not be justified +in drugging Eddie in taking possession of his sleeping-bag. He had +already given me one of the woolen pockets, for compared with mine his +was a genuine Arctic affair, and, I really believe, kept him +disgustingly warm, even when I was freezing. I was grateful, of course, +for I should have perished early in the fight without it. I was also +appreciative. I knew just how much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> warmer a few more of those soft, +fleecy pockets would make me, especially on those nights when I woke +about the cheerless hour of three, to find the world all hard and white, +with the frost fingers creeping down my shoulder blades and along my +spine. Then it was I would work around and around—slowly and with due +deliberation of movement, for a sleeping-bag is not a thing of sudden +and careless revolution—trying to find some position or angle wherein +the cold would not so easily and surely find my vitals. At such a time, +the desire for real comfort and warmth is acute, and having already one +of Eddie's pockets and realizing its sterling worth—also that no more +than two feet away from me he lay warm and snug, buried in the undue +luxury of still other pockets—I may confess now I was goaded almost to +the point of arising and taking peremptory possession of the few paltry +pockets that would make my lot less hard.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 451px;"> +<img src="images/ill_014.jpg" width="451" height="500" alt=""Nightly he painted my scratches with new skin."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Nightly he painted my scratches with new skin."</span> +</div> + +<p>Sooner or later, I suppose, I should have murdered Eddie for his +blankets if he had not been good to me in so many ways. Daily he gave me +leaders, lines, new flies and such things; nightly he painted my +scratches with new skin. On the slightest provocation he would have +rubbed me generously with liniment, for he had a new, unopened bottle +which he was dying to try. Then there was scarcely an evening after I +was in bed—I was always first to go, for Eddie liked to prepare his bed +unhurriedly—that he did not bring me a drink, and comfort me with +something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> nice to eat, and maybe sing a little while he was "tickling" +his own bed (there is no other name for it), and when he had finished +with the countless little tappings, and pattings, and final touches +which insured the reposeful comfort of his couch, he would place the +candle lantern just between, where each could see equally well and so +read a little in order that we might compose our minds for rest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Sixteen" id="Chapter_Sixteen"></a>Chapter Sixteen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Now snug, the camp—the candle-lamp,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Alighted stands between—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>I follow "Alice" in her tramp</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And you your "Folly Queen."</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Sixteen</h2> + +<p>In the matter of Eddie's reading, however, I was not wholly satisfied. +When we had been leaving the little hotel, he had asked me, suddenly, +what I would take for reading in the woods. He added that he always read +a little at night, upon retiring, and from his manner of saying it, I +assumed that such reading might be of a religious nature.</p> + +<p>Now, I had not previously thought of taking anything, but just then I +happened to notice lying upon the table a copy of "Alice in Wonderland," +evidently belonging to the premises, and I said I would take that. I had +not foregathered with Alice and the White Rabbit for a good while, and +it seemed to me that in the depths of an enchanted wood I might properly +and profitably renew their acquaintance. The story would hardly offend +Eddie, even while he was finding solace in his prayer-book.</p> + +<p>I was only vaguely troubled when on the first night of our little +reading exercise I noticed that Eddie's book was not of the sort which I +had been led to expect, but was a rather thick, suspicious-looking +affair, paper-bound. Still, I reflected, it might be an ecclesiastical +treatise, or even what is known as a theological novel, and being +absorbed just then in an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> endeavor to accompany Alice into the wonderful +garden I did not investigate.</p> + +<p>What was my surprise—my shock, I may say—next morning, on picking up +the volume, to discover that it was printed in a foreign language, and +that language French—always a suspicious thing in print—and to learn +further, when by dint of recalling old school exercises, I had spelled +out the author's name and a sentence here and there, that not only was +it in that suspicious language, but that it was a novel, and of a +sort—well, of course there is only one thing worse than an English +translation of a French novel, and that is a French novel which cannot +be translated—by any one in this country, I mean, who hopes to keep out +of jail.</p> + +<p>I became absorbed in an endeavor to unravel a passage here and there +myself. But my French training had not fitted me for the task. My +lessons had been all about the silk gloves of my uncle's children or of +the fine leather shoes of my mother's aunt, and such innocent things. I +could find no reference to them in Eddie's book. In fact I found on +almost every page reference to things which had nothing to do with +wardrobe of any sort, and there were words of which I had the deepest +suspicion. I was tempted to fling the volume from me with a burning +blush of shame. Certainly it was necessary to protest against the +introduction of the baleful French novel into this sylvan retreat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>I did so, later in the day, but it was no use. Eddie had already gulped +down some twenty pages of the poison and would not listen to reason. +There was a duchess in the book, and I knew immediately from the lame +excuses he made for this person that she was not at all a proper +associate for Eddie, especially in this remote place. I pleaded in vain. +He had overtaken the duchess on the third page, and the gaud of her +beauty was in his eyes. So it came to pass that while I was following +gentle little Alice and the White Rabbit through a land of wonder and +dreams, Eddie, by the light of the same candle, was chasing this +butterfly of folly through a French court at the rate of some twenty +finely printed pages every night, translating aloud here and there, +until it sometimes became necessary for me to blow out the candle +peremptorily, in order that both of us might compose our minds for +needed slumber.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I am dwelling unnecessarily upon our camp detail, but, after +all, the tent, with its daily and nightly round becomes a rather +important thing when it is to be a habitation for a period of weeks of +sun and storm; and any little gem of experience may not be wholly +unwasted.</p> + +<p>Then there is the matter of getting along without friction, which seems +important. A tent is a small place, and is likely to contain a good many +things—especially in bad weather—besides yourselves. If you can manage +to have your things so the other fellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> will stumble over them as +infrequently as possible, it is just as well for him, and safer for you. +Also, for the things. Then, too, if you will make your beds at separate +times, as we did, one remaining outside, or lying in a horizontal +position among his own supplies while the other is in active operation, +you are less likely to rub against each other, which sometimes means to +rub in the wrong direction, with unhappy results. Of course forbearance +is not a bad asset to have along, and a small measure of charity and +consideration. It is well to take one's sense of humor, too, and any +little remnant of imagination one may have lying about handy at the +moment of starting. Many a well-constructed camp has gone to wreck +during a spell of bad weather because one or more of its occupants did +not bring along imagination and a sense of humor, or failed to produce +these articles at the critical moment. Imagination beautifies many a +desolate outlook—a laugh helps over many a hard place.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Seventeen" id="Chapter_Seventeen"></a>Chapter Seventeen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Oh, the pulses leap where the fall is steep,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the rocks rise grim and dark,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>With the swirl and sweep of the rapids deep,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the joy of the racing bark.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Seventeen</h2> + +<p>We established a good camp on the Shelburne and remained in it for +several days. For one thing, our canoes needed a general overhauling +after that hard day on the rocks. Also, it rained nightly, and now and +then took a turn at it during the day, to keep in practice.</p> + +<p>We minded the rain, of course, as it kept us forever cooking our +clothes, and restrained a good deal of activity about the camp. Still, +we argued that it was a good thing, for there was no telling what sort +of water lay ahead and a series of rock-strewn rapids with low water +might mean trouble.</p> + +<p>On the whole, we were willing to stay and put up with a good deal for +the sport in that long pool. There may be better fishing on earth than +in the Shelburne River between Irving and Sand lakes, but it will take +something more than mere fisherman's gossip to convince either Eddie or +me of that possibility. We left the guides and went out together one +morning, and in less than three hours had taken full fifty fish of a +pound each, average weight. We took off our top flies presently and +fished with only one, which kept us busy enough, and always one of us +had a taut line and a curved rod; often both at one time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>We began to try experiments at last, and I took a good fish on one of +the funny little scale-winged flies (I had happily lost the Jock Scott +with two hooks early in the campaign) and finally got a big fellow by +merely tying a bit of white absorbent cotton to a plain black hook.</p> + +<p>Yet curious are the ways of fish. For on the next morning—a perfect +trout day, with a light southwest wind and running clouds, after a night +of showers—never a rise could we get. We tried all the casts of the day +before—the Parmcheenie, the Jenny Lind, the Silver Doctor and the Brown +Hackle. It was no use. Perhaps the half a hundred big fellows we had +returned to the pool had warned all the others; perhaps there was some +other unwritten, occult law which prohibited trout from feasting on this +particular day. Finally Eddie, by some chance, put on a sort of a Brown +Hackle affair with a red piece of wool for a tail—he called it a Red +Tag fly, I think—and straightway from out of the tarry black depths +there rose such a trout as neither of us had seen the day before.</p> + +<p>After that, there was nothing the matter with Eddie's fishing. What +there was about this brown, red-tailed joke that tickled the fancy of +those great silly trout, who would have nothing to do with any other +lure, is not for me to say. The creature certainly looked like nothing +that ever lived, or that they could ever have imagined before. It seemed +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> me a particularly idiotic combination and I could feel my respect +for the intelligence of trout waning. Eddie agreed with me as to that. +He said he had merely bought the thing because it happened to be the +only fly he didn't have in his collection and there had been a vacant +place in his fly-book. He said it was funny the trout should go for it +as they did, and he laughed a good deal about it. I suppose it was +funny, but I did not find it very amusing. And how those crazy-headed +trout did act. In vain I picked out flies with the red and brown colors +and tossed them as carefully as I could in just the same spots where +Eddie was getting those great whoppers at every cast. Some mysterious +order from the high priest of all trout had gone forth that morning, +prohibiting every sort and combination of trout food except this absurd +creature of which the oldest and mossiest trout had never dreamed. That +was why they went for it. It was the only thing not down on the list of +proscribed items.</p> + +<p>There was nothing for me to do at last but to paddle Eddie around and +watch him do some of the most beautiful fishing I have ever seen, and to +net his trout for him, and take off the fish, and attend to any other +little wants incident to a fisherman's busy day. I did it with as good +grace as I could, of course, and said I enjoyed it, and tried not to be +nasty and disagreeable in my attitude toward the trout, the water, +Eddie, and the camp and country in general.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> But, after all, it is a +severe test, on a day like that, to cast and cast and change flies until +you have wet every one in your book, without even a rise, and to see the +other chap taking great big black and mottled fellows—to see his rod +curved like a whip and to watch the long, lithe body leaping and +gleaming in the net.</p> + +<p>But the final test, the climax, was to come at evening. For when the +fish would no longer rise, even to the Red Tag, we pulled up to the +camp, where Eddie of course reported to the guides his triumph and my +discomfiture. Then, just as he was opening his fly-book to put the +precious red-tailed mockery away, he suddenly stopped and stared at me, +hesitated, and held up another—that is, two of them, side by side.</p> + +<p>"So help me!" he swore, "I didn't know I had it! I must have forgotten I +had one, and bought another, at another time. Now, I had forgotten that, +too. So help me!"</p> + +<p>If I hadn't known Eddie so well—his proclivity for buying, and +forgetting, and buying over again—also his sterling honor and general +moral purity—the fishes would have got him then, Red Tag and all. As it +was, I condescended to accept the second fly. I agreed that it was not +such a bad production, after all, though I altered my opinion again, +next morning, for whatever had been the embargo laid on other varieties +of trout bait the day before, it was on now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> and there was a general +rising to anything we offered—Doctors, Parmcheenie, Absorbent +Cotton—any old thing that skimmed the water and looked big and +succulent.</p> + +<p>We broke camp that morning and dropped down toward the next lake—Sand +Lake, it would be, by our crude map and hazy directions. There are no +better rapids and there is no more lively fishing than we had on that +run. There was enough water for us to remain in the canoes, and it was +for the most part whirling, swirling, dashing, leaping water—shooting +between great bowlders—plunging among cruel-looking black +rocks—foaming into whirlpools below, that looked ready to swamp our +light craft, with stores, crew, tackle, everything.</p> + +<p>It was my first exhibition of our guides' skill in handling their +canoes. How they managed to just evade a sharp point of rock on one side +and by a quick twist escape shipwreck from a bowlder or mass of bowlders +on the other, I fail to comprehend. Then there were narrow boiling +channels, so full of obstructions that I did not believe a chip could go +through with entire safety. Yet somehow Del the Stout and Charles the +Strong seemed to know, though they had never traveled this water before, +just where the water would let the boats pass, just where the stones +were wide enough to let us through—touching on both sides, sometimes, +and ominously scraping on the bottom, but sliding and teetering into the +cauldron<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> below, where somehow we did not perish, perhaps because we +shot so quickly through the foam. In the beginning I remembered a few +brief and appropriate prayers, from a childhood where such things were a +staff of comfort, and so made my peace with the world each time before +we took the desperate plunge. But as nothing seemed to happen—nothing +fatal, I mean—I presently gave myself up to the pure enjoyment of the +tumult and exhilaration, without disturbing myself as to dangers here or +hereafter.</p> + +<p>I do not believe the times that the guides got out of the canoes to ease +them over hard places would exceed twice, and not oftener than that were +we called on to assist them with the paddles. Even when we wished to do +so, we were often requested to go on fishing, for the reason, I suppose, +that in such a place one's unskilled efforts are likely to be +misdirected with fatal results. Somewhat later we were to have an +example of this kind—but I anticipate.</p> + +<p>We went on fishing. I never saw so many fish. We could take them as we +shot a rapid, we could scoop them in as we leaped a fall. They seemed to +be under every stone and lying in wait. There were great black fellows +in every maelstrom; there were groups holding receptions for us in the +stillwater pools below. It is likely that that bit of the Shelburne +River had not been fished before within the memory of any trout then +living, and when those red and blue and yellow flies came tumbling at +them, they must have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> thought it was great day in the morning and that +the white-faced prophets of big feeding had come. For years, the trout +we returned to those pools will tell their friends and descendants of +the marvels and enchantments of that day.</p> + +<p>I had given up my noibwood as being too strenuous in its demands for +constant fishing, but I laid aside the light bamboo here in this +high-pressure current and with this high-speed fishing, where trout +sometimes leaped clear of the water for the fly cast on the foam far +ahead, to be swinging a moment later at the end of the line almost as +far behind. No very delicate rod would improve under a strain like that, +and the tough old noibwood held true, and nobody cared—at least I +didn't—whether the tip stayed set or not. It was bent double most of +the time, anyway, and the rest of the time didn't matter.</p> + +<p>I don't know how many fish I took that day, but Eddie kept count of his, +and recorded a total of seventy-four between camp and the great, +splendid pool where the Shelburne foams out into Sand Lake, four miles +or such a matter, below.</p> + +<p>I do know that we lost two landing nets in that swift water, one apiece, +and this was a serious matter, for there were but two more, both +Eddie's, and landing nets in the wilderness are not easy to replace. Of +fish we kept possibly a dozen, the smallest ones. The others—larger and +wiser now—are still frolicking in the waters of the Shelburne, unless +some fish-hog has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> found his way to that fine water, which I think +doubtful, for a fish-hog is usually too lazy and too stingy to spend the +effort and time and money necessary to get there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Eighteen" id="Chapter_Eighteen"></a>Chapter Eighteen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>There's nothing that's worse for sport, I guess,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Than killing to throw away;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And there's nothing that's better for recklessness</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Than having a price to pay.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Eighteen</h2> + +<p>We had other camp diversions besides reading. We had shooting matches, +almost daily, one canoe against the other, usually at any stop we +happened to make, whether for luncheon or to repair the canoes, or +merely to prospect the country. On rainy days, and sometimes in the +evening, we played a game of cards known under various names—I believe +we called it pedro. At all events, you bid, and buy, and get set back, +and have less when you get through than you had before you began. +Anyhow, that is what my canoe did on sundry occasions. I am still +convinced that Del and I played better cards than the other canoe, +though the score would seem to show a different result. We were +brilliant and speculative in our playing. They were plodders and not +really in our class. Genius and dash are wasted on such persons.</p> + +<p>I am equally certain that our shooting was much worse than theirs, +though the percentage of misses seemed to remain in their favor. In the +matter of bull's-eyes—whenever such accidents came along—they happened +to the other canoe, but perhaps this excited our opponents, for there +followed periods of wildness when, if their shots struck anywhere, it +was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> impossible to identify the places. At such periods Eddie was likely +to claim that the cartridges were blanks, and perhaps they were. As for +Del and me, our luck never varied like that. It remained about equally +bad from day to day—just bad enough to beat the spectacular fortunes of +Eddie and Charles the Strong.</p> + +<p>In the matter of wing-shooting, however—that is to say, shooting when +we were on the wing and any legitimate quarry came in view—my +recollection is that we ranked about alike. Neither of us by any chance +ever hit anything at all, and I have an impression that our misses were +about equally wide. Eddie may make a different claim. He may claim that +he fired oftener and with less visible result than I. Possibly he did +fire oftener, for he had a repeating rifle and I only a single shot, but +so far as the result is concerned, if he states that his bullets flew +wider of the mark, such a claim is the result of pure envy, perhaps +malice. Why, I recall one instance of a muskrat whose skin Eddie was +particularly desirous of sending to those museum folks in London—all +properly mounted, with their names (Eddie's and the muskrat's) on a neat +silver plate, so that it could stand there and do honor to us for a long +time—until the moths had eaten up everything but the plate, perhaps, +and Eddie struck the water within two or three feet of it (the muskrat, +of course) as much as a dozen times, while such shots as I let go didn't +hit anything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> but the woods or the sky and are, I suppose, still buried +somewhere in the quiet bosom of nature. I am glad to unload that +sentence. It was getting top-heavy, with a muskrat and moths and a +silver plate in it. I could shoot some holes in it with a little +practice, but inasmuch as we didn't get the muskrat, I will let it stand +as a stuffed specimen.</p> + +<p>I am also glad about the muskrat. Had he perished, our pledge would have +compelled us to eat him, and although one of Eddie's text-books told a +good deal about their food value and seven different ways of cooking +them, I was averse to experimenting even with one way. I have never +really cared for muskrats since as a lad I caught twenty of them one +night in a trammel net. Up to that hour the odor of musk had never been +especially offensive to me, but twenty muskrats in a net can compound a +good deal of perfumery. We had to bury the net, and even then I never +cared much about it afterwards. The sight of it stirred my imagination, +and I was glad when it was ripped away from us by a swift current one +dark night, it being unlawful to set a trammel net in that river, and +therefore sinful, by daylight.</p> + +<p>It was on Sand Lake that Eddie gave the first positive demonstration of +his skill as a marksman. Here, he actually made a killing. True, it was +not a wing shot, but it was a performance worthy of record. A chill wet +wind blew in upon us as we left the river, and a mist such as we had +experienced on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> Irving Lake, with occasional drifts of rain, shut us in. +At first it was hard to be certain that we were really on a lake, for +the sheet of water was long and narrow, and it might be only a widening +of the river. But presently we came to an island, and this we accepted +as identification. It was the customary island, larger than some, but +with the bushes below, the sentinel pines, and here and there a gaunt +old snag—bleached and dead and lifting its arms to the sky. On one of +these dead ones we made out, through the mist, a strange dark bunch +about the size of a barn door and of rather irregular formation. +Gradually nearing, we discovered the bunch to be owls—great horned +owls—a family of them, grouped on the old tree's limbs in solid +formation, oblivious to the rain, to the world, to any thought of +approaching danger.</p> + +<p>Now, the great horned owl is legitimate quarry. The case against him is +that he is a bird of prey—a destroyer of smaller birds and an enemy of +hen roosts. Of course if one wanted to go deeply into the ethics of the +matter, one might say that the smaller birds and the chickens are +destroyers, too, of bugs and grasshoppers and things, and that a life is +a life, whether it be a bird or a bumble-bee, or even a fish-worm. But +it's hard to get to the end of such speculations as that. Besides, the +owl was present, and we wanted his skin. Eddie crept close in with his +canoe, and drew a careful bead on the center of the barn door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> There +was an angry little spit of powder in the wet, a wavering movement of +the dark, mist-draped bunch, a slow heaving of ghostly pinions and four +silent, feathered phantoms drifted away into the white gloom. But there +was one that did not follow. In vain the dark wings heaved and fell. +Then there came a tottering movement, a leap forward, and +half-fluttering, half-plunging, the heavy body came swishing to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Yet unused to the battle as he was, for he was of the younger brood, he +died game. When we reached him he was sitting upright, glaring out of +his great yellow eyes, his talons poised for defense. Even with Eddie's +bottle of new skin in reserve, it was not considered safe to approach +too near. We photographed him as best we could, and then a shot at close +range closed his brief career.</p> + +<p>I examined the owl with considerable interest. In the first place I had +never seen one of this noble species before, and this was a beautiful +specimen. Also, his flesh, being that of a young bird, did not appeal to +warrant the expression tough as a boiled owl, which the others +remembered almost in a chorus when I referred to our agreement +concerning the food test of such game as we brought down. I don't think +any of us wanted to eat that owl. I know I didn't, but I had weakened +once—on the porcupine, it may be remembered—and the death of that +porcupine rested heavily upon me, especially when I remembered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> how he +had whined and grieved in the moment of dying. I think I had a notion +that eating the owl would in some measure atone for the porcupine. I +said, with such firmness as I could command, and all day I repeated at +intervals, that we would eat the owl.</p> + +<p>We camped rather early that afternoon, for it was not pleasant traveling +in the chill mist, and the prospect of the campfire and a snug tent was +an ever-present temptation. I had suggested, also, that we ought to go +ashore in time to cook the owl for supper. It might take time to cook +him.</p> + +<p>We did not especially need the owl. We had saved a number of choice +small trout and we were still able to swallow them when prepared in a +really palatable form. Eddie, it is true, had condemned trout at +breakfast, and declared he would have no more of them, but this may have +been because there were flapjacks. He showed no disposition to condemn +them now. When I mentioned the nice, tender owl meat which we were to +have, he really looked longingly at the trout and spoke of them as juicy +little fellows, such as he had always liked. I agreed that they would be +good for the first course, and that a bird for supper would make out a +sumptuous meal. I have never known Eddie to be so kind to me as he was +about this time. He offered me some leaders and flies and even presented +me with a silver-mounted briar-root pipe, brought all the way from +London. I took the things, but I did not soften my heart. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> was born in +New England and have a conscience. I cannot be bribed like that.</p> + +<p>I told the guides that it would be better to begin supper right away, in +order that we might not get too hungry before the owl was done. I +thought them slow in their preparations for the meal. It was curious, +too, for I had promised them they should have a piece of the bird. Del +was generous. He said he would give his to Charles. That he never really +cared much for birds, anyhow. Why, once, he said, he shot a partridge +and gave it away, and he was hungry, too. He gave it to a boy that +happened along just then, and when another partridge flew up he didn't +even offer to shoot it. We didn't take much stock in that story until it +dawned upon us that he had shot the bird out of season, and the boy had +happened along just in time to be incriminated by accepting it as a +present. It was better to have him as a partner than a witness.</p> + +<p>As for Charles, he affected to be really eager for owl meat. He said +that all his life he had looked forward to this time. Still, he was +slow, I thought. He seemed about as eager for supper as a boy is to +carry in the evening wood. He said that one of the canoes leaked a +little and ought to be pitched right away. I said it was altogether too +damp for such work and that the canoe would wait till morning. Then he +wanted to look up a spring, though there were two or three in plain +sight, within twenty yards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> of the camp. I suspected at last that he was +not really anxious to cook the owl and was trying to postpone the matter +until it was too late for him (the owl) to get properly done before +bedtime. Then I became firm. I said that a forest agreement was sacred. +That we were pledged to the owl before we shot him, and that we would +keep our promise to the dead, even to the picking of his bones.</p> + +<p>Wood was gathered then, and the fire blazed. The owl's breast—fat and +fine it looked—was in the broiler, and on the fire. There it +cooked—and cooked. Then it cooked some more and sent up an appetizing +smell. Now and then, I said I thought the time for it had come, but +there was a burden of opinion that more cooking would benefit the owl. +Meantime, we had eaten a pan or two of trout and a few other things—the +bird of course being later in the bill of fare. At most dinners I have +attended, this course is contemplated with joy. It did not seem to be on +this occasion. Eddie agreed with Del that he had never cared much for +bird, anyway, and urged me to take his share. I refused to deprive him +of it. Then he said he didn't feel well, and thought he really ought not +to eat anything more. I said grimly that possibly this was true, but +that he would eat the owl.</p> + +<p>It was served then, fairly divided and distributed, as food is when men +are on short rations. I took the first taste—I was always +venturesome—a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> one. Then, immediately, I wished I had accepted +Eddie's piece. But meantime he had tasted, too—a miserly taste—and +then I couldn't have got the rest of it for money.</p> + +<p>For there was never anything so good as that breast of young owl. It was +tender, it was juicy, it was as delicately flavored as a partridge, +almost. Certainly it was a dainty morsel to us who had of late dealt so +largely in fish diet. Had we known where the rest of that brood of owls +had flown to we should have started after them, then and there.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Extract from my diary that night: "Eddie has been taken with +a slight cramp, and it has occurred to him that the owl +meat, though appetizing, may be poisonous. He is searching +his medicine bag for remedies. His disaster is merely +punishment for the quantity of other food he ate beforehand, +in his futile effort to escape the owl."</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Nineteen" id="Chapter_Nineteen"></a>Chapter Nineteen</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Then scan your map, and search your plans,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And ponder the hunter's guess—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>While the silver track of the brook leads back</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Into the wilderness.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Nineteen</h2> + +<p>We looked for moose again on Sand Lake, but found only signs. On the +whole, I thought this more satisfactory. One does not have to go +galloping up and down among the bushes and rocks to get a glimpse of +signs, but may examine them leisurely and discuss the number, character +and probable age of these records, preserving meanwhile a measure of +repose, not to say dignity.</p> + +<p>Below Sand Lake a brook was said to enter. Descending from the upper +interior country, it would lead us back into regions more remote than +any heretofore traveled. So far as I could learn, neither of our guides +had ever met any one who even claimed in know this region, always +excepting the imaginative Indian previously mentioned. Somewhere in +these uncharted wilds this Indian person had taken trout "the size of +one's leg."</p> + +<p>Regardless of the dimensions of this story, it had a fascination for us. +We wished to see those trout, even if they had been overrated. We had +been hurrying, at least in spirit, to reach the little water gateway +that opened to a deeper unknown where lay a chain of lakes, vaguely set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +down on our map as the Tobeatic<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> waters. At some time in the past the +region had been lumbered, but most of the men who cut the timber were +probably dead now, leaving only a little drift of hearsay testimony +behind.</p> + +<p>It was not easy to find the entrance to the hidden land. The foliage was +heavy and close along the swampy shore, and from such an ambush a still +small current might flow unnoticed, especially in the mist that hung +about us. More than once we were deceived by some fancied ripple or the +configuration of the shore. Del at length announced that just ahead was +a growth of a kind of maple likely to indicate a brook entrance. The +shore really divided there and a sandy waterway led back somewhere into +a mystery of vines and trees.</p> + +<p>We halted near the mouth of the little stream for lunch and +consultation. It was not a desirable place to camp. The ground was low +and oozy and full of large-leaved greenhousy-looking plants. The recent +rains had not improved the character of the place. There was poison ivy +there, too, and a delegation of mosquitoes. We might just as well have +gone up the brook a hundred yards or so, to higher and healthier ground, +but this would not have been in accord with Eddie's ideas of +exploration. Explorers, he said, always stopped at the mouth of rivers +to debate, and to consult maps and feed themselves in preparation for +unknown hardships to come. So we stopped and sat around in the mud, and +looked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> at some marks on a paper—made by the imaginative Indian, I +think—and speculated as to whether it would be possible to push and +drag the canoes up the brook, or whether everything would have to go +overland.</p> + +<p>Personally, the prospect of either did not fill me with enthusiasm. The +size of the brook did not promise much in the way of important waters +above or fish even the size of one's arm. However, Tobeatic exploration +was down on the cards. Our trip thus far had furnished only a hint of +such mystery and sport as was supposed to lie concealed somewhere beyond +the green, from which only this little brooklet crept out to whisper the +secret. Besides, I had learned to keep still when Eddie had set his +heart on a thing. I left the others poring over the hieroglyphic map, +and waded out into the clean water of the brook. As I looked back at Del +and Charlie, squatting there amid the rank weeds, under the dark, +dripping boughs, with Eddie looking over their shoulders and pointing at +the crumpled paper, spread before them, they formed a picturesque +group—such a one as Livingstone or Stanley and their followers might +have made in the African jungles. When I told Eddie of this he grew +visibly prouder and gave me two new leaders and some special tobacco.</p> + +<p>We proceeded up the stream, Eddie and I ahead, the guides pushing the +loaded canoes behind. It was the brook of our forefathers—such a stream +as might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> flow through the valley meadows of New England, with trout of +about the New England size, and plentiful. Lively fellows, from seven to +nine inches in length, rose two and three at almost every cast. We put +on small flies and light leaders and forgot there were such things as +big trout in Nova Scotia. It was joyous, old-fashioned fishing—a real +treat for a change.</p> + +<p>We had not much idea how far we were to climb this water stairway, and +as the climb became steeper, and the water more swift, the guides pushed +and puffed and we gave them a lift over the hard places—that is, Eddie +did. I was too tired to do anything but fish.</p> + +<p>As a rule, the water was shallow, but there were deep holes. I found one +of them presently, by mistake. It was my habit to find holes that +way—places deeper than my waders, though the latter came to my +shoulders. It seemed necessary that several times daily I should get my +boots full of water. When I couldn't do it in any other way I would fall +over something and let the river run into them for a while. I called to +Eddie from where I was wallowing around, trying to get up, with my usual +ballast.</p> + +<p>"Don't get in here!" I said.</p> + +<p>He was helping the boys over a hard place just then, tugging and +sweating, but he paused long enough to be rude and discourteous.</p> + +<p>"I don't have to catch my trout in my boots," he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> jeered, and the guides +were disrespectful enough to laugh. I decided that I would never try to +do any of them a good turn again. Then suddenly everything was +forgotten, for a gate of light opened out ahead, and presently we pushed +through and had reached the shores of as lovely a sheet of water as lies +in the great north woods. It was Tupper Lake, by our calculation, and it +was on the opposite side that Tobeatic Brook was said to enter. There, +if anywhere, we might expect to find the traditional trout. So far as we +knew, no one had looked on these waters since the old lumbering days. +Except for exploration there was no reason why any one should come. Of +fish and game there were plenty in localities more accessible. To me, I +believe the greatest joy there, as everywhere in the wilderness—and it +was a joy that did not grow old—was the feeling that we were in a +region so far removed from clanging bells and grinding wheels and all +the useful, ugly attributes of mankind.</p> + +<p>We put out across the lake. The land rose rather sharply beyond, and +from among the trees there tumbled out a white foaming torrent that made +a wide swirling green pool where it entered. We swept in below this +aquarium, Eddie taking one side and I the other. We had on our big flies +now and our heavy leaders. They were necessary. Scarcely had a cast gone +sailing out over the twisting water when a big black and gold shape +leaped into the air and Eddie<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> had his work cut out for him. A moment +later my own reel was singing, and I knew by the power and savage rushes +that I had something unusual at the other end.</p> + +<p>"Trout as big as your leg!" we called across to each other, and if they +were not really as big as that, they were, at all events, bigger than +anything so far taken—as big as one's arm perhaps—one's forearm, at +least, from the hollow of the elbow to the fingertips. You see how +impossible it is to tell the truth about a trout the first time. I never +knew a fisherman who could do it. There is something about a fish that +does not affiliate with fact. Even at the market I have known a fish to +weigh more than he did when I got him home. We considered the +imaginative Indian justified, and blessed him accordingly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty" id="Chapter_Twenty"></a>Chapter Twenty</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>You may slip away from a faithful friend</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And thrive for an hour or two,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>But you'd better be fair, and you'd better be square,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Or something will happen to you.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty</h2> + +<p>We took seventeen of those big fellows before we landed, enough in all +conscience. A point just back of the water looked inviting as a place to +pitch the tents, and we decided to land, for we were tired. Yet curious +are the ways of fishermen: having had already too much, one becomes +greedy for still more. There was an old dam just above, unused for a +generation perhaps, and a long, rotting sluiceway through which poured a +torrent of water. It seemed just the place for the king of trouts, and I +made up my mind to try it now before Eddie had a chance. You shall see +how I was punished.</p> + +<p>I crept away when his back was turned, taking his best and +longest-handled landing net (it may be remembered I had lost mine), for +it would be a deep dip down into the sluice. The logs around the +premises were old and crumbly and I had to pick my way with care to +reach a spot from which it would be safe to handle a big trout. I knew +he was there. I never had a stronger conviction in my life. The +projecting ends of some logs which I chose for a seat seemed fairly +permanent and I made my preparations with care. I put on a new leader +and two large new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> flies. Then I rested the net in a handy place, took a +look behind me and sent the cast down the greased lightning current that +was tearing through the sluice.</p> + +<p>I expected results, but nothing quite so sudden. Neither did I know that +whales ever came so far up into fresh-water streams. I know it was a +whale, for nothing smaller could have given a yank like that; besides, +in the glimpse I had of him he looked exactly like pictures I have seen +of the leviathan who went into commission for three days to furnish +passage for Jonah and get his name in print. I found myself suddenly +grabbing at things to hold on to, among them being Eddie's long-handled +net, which was of no value as ballast, but which once in my hand I could +not seem to put down again, being confused and toppling.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact there was nothing satisfactory to get hold of in +that spot. I had not considered the necessity of firm anchorage when I +selected the place, but with a three-ton trout at the end of a long +line, in a current going a thousand miles a minute, I realized that it +would be well to be lashed to something permanent. As it was, with my +legs swinging over that black mill-race, my left hand holding the rod, +and my right clutching the landing net, I was in no position to +withstand the onset of a battle such as properly belongs to the North +Pacific Ocean where they have boats and harpoons and long coiled lines +suitable to such work.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 320px;"> +<img src="images/ill_015.jpg" width="320" height="500" alt=""I remember seeing the sluice, black and swift, suddenly +rise to meet me."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I remember seeing the sluice, black and swift, suddenly +rise to meet me."</span> +</div> + +<p>Still, I might have survived—I might have avoided complete disaster, I +think—if the ends of those two logs I selected as a seat had been as +sound as they looked. Of course they were not. They were never intended +to stand any such motions as I was making. In the brief moment allowed +me for thought I realized this, but it was no matter. My conclusions +were not valuable. I remember seeing the sluice, black, and swift, +suddenly rise to meet me, and of dropping Eddie's net as I went down. +Then I have a vision of myself shooting down that race in a wild +toboggan ride, and a dim, splashy picture of being pitched out on a heap +of brush and stones and logs below.</p> + +<p>When I got some of the water out of my brains so I could think with +them, I realized, first, that I was alive, still clutching my rod and +that it was unbroken. Next, that the whale and Eddie's landing net were +gone. I did not care so especially much about the whale. He had annoyed +me. I was willing to part with him. Eddie's net was a different matter. +I never could go back without that. After all his goodness to me I had +deceived him, slipped away from him, taken his prized net—and lost it. +I had read of such things; the Sunday-school books used to be full of +similar incidents. And even if Eddie forgave me, as the good boy in the +books always did, my punishment was none the less sure. My fishing was +ended. There was just one net left. Whatever else I had done, or might +do, I would never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> deprive Eddie of his last net. I debated whether I +should go to him, throw myself on his mercy—ask his forgiveness and +offer to become his special guide and servant for the remainder of the +trip—or commit suicide.</p> + +<p>But presently I decided to make one try, at least, to find the net. It +had not been thrown out on the drift with me, for it was not there. +Being heavy, it had most likely been carried along the bottom and was at +present lodged in some deep crevice. It was useless, of course; still, I +would try.</p> + +<p>I was not much afraid of the sluice, now that I had been introduced to +it. I put my rod in a place of safety and made my way to the upper end +of the great trough. Then I let myself down carefully into the racing +water, bracing myself against the sides and feeling along the bottom +with my feet. It was uncertain going, for the heavy current tried hard +to pull me down. But I had not gone three steps till I felt something. I +could not believe it was the net. I carefully steadied myself and—down, +down to my elbow. Then I could have whooped for joy, for it <i>was</i> the +net. It had caught on an old nail or splinter, or something, and held +fast.</p> + +<p>Eddie was not at the camp, and the guides were busy getting wood. I was +glad, for I was wet and bruised and generally disturbed. When I had +changed my things and recovered a good deal, I sat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> in the shade and +smoked and arranged my fly-book and other paraphernalia, and brooded on +the frailty of human nature and the general perversity and cussedness of +things at large. I had a confession all prepared for Eddie, long before +he arrived. It was a good confession—sufficiently humble and truthful +without being dangerous. I had tested it carefully and I did not believe +it could result in any disagreeable penance or disgrace on my part. It +takes skill to construct a confession like that. But it was wasted. When +Eddie came in, at last, he wore a humble hang-dog look of his own, and I +did not see the immediate need of <i>any</i> confession.</p> + +<p>"I didn't really intend to run off from you," he began sheepishly. "I +only wanted to see what was above the dam, and I tried one or two of the +places up there, and they were all so bully I couldn't get away. Get +your rod, I want to take you up there before it gets too late."</p> + +<p>So the rascal had taken advantage of my brief absence and slipped off +from me. In his guilty haste he had grabbed the first landing net he had +seen, never suspecting that I was using the other. Clearly I was the +injured person. I regarded him with thoughtful reproach while he begged +me to get my rod and come. He would take nothing, he said, but a net, +and would guide for me. I did not care to fish any more that day; but I +knew Eddie—I knew how his conscience galled him for his sin and would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +never give him peace until he had made restitution in full. I decided to +be generous.</p> + +<p>We made our way above the dam, around an old half-drained pond, and +through a killing thicket of vines and brush to a hidden pool, faced +with slabs and bowlders. There, in that silent dim place I had the most +beautiful hour's fishing I have ever known. The trout were big, gamy +fellows and Eddie was alert, obedient and respectful. It was not until +dusk that he had paid his debt to the last fish—had banished the final +twinge of remorse.</p> + +<p>Our day, however, was not quite ended. We must return to camp. The +thicket had been hard to conquer by daylight. Now it was an impenetrable +wall of night and thorns. Across the brook looked more open and we +decided to go over, but when we got there it proved a trackless, swampy +place, dark and full of pitfalls and vines. Eddie, being small and +woods-broken could work his way through pretty well, but after a few +discouragements I decided to wade down the brook and through the shallow +pond above the dam. At least it could not be so deadly dark there.</p> + +<p>It was heart-breaking business. I went slopping and plunging among +stumps and stones and holes. I mistook logs for shadows and shadows for +logs with pathetic results. The pond that had seemed small and shallow +by daylight was big enough and deep enough now. A good deal of the way I +went on my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> hands and knees, but not from choice. A nearby owl hooted at +me. Bats darted back and forth close to my face. If I had not been a +moral coward I should have called for help. Eddie had already reached +camp when I arrived and had so far recovered his spiritual status that +he jeered at my condition. I resolved then not to mention the sluice and +the landing net at all—ever. I needed an immediate change of garments, +of course—the third since morning.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> It had been a hard, eventful day. +Such days make camping remembered—and worth while.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-one" id="Chapter_Twenty-one"></a>Chapter Twenty-one</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Oh, it's well to live high as you can, my boy,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Wherever you happen to roam,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>But it's better to have enough bacon and beans</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>To take the poor wanderers home.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-one</h2> + +<p>By this time we had reached trout diet <i>per se</i>. I don't know what <i>per +se</i> means, but I have often seen it used and it seems to fit this case. +Of course we were not entirely out of other things. We had flour for +flapjacks, some cornmeal for mush and Johnnie-cake, and enough bacon to +impart flavor to the fish. Also, we were not wholly without beans—long +may they wave—the woods without them would be a wilderness indeed. But +in the matter of meat diet it was trout <i>per se</i>, as I have said, unless +that means we did not always have them; in which case I will discard +those words. We did. We had fried trout, broiled trout, boiled trout, +baked trout, trout on a stick and trout chowder. We may have had them +other ways—I don't remember. I know I began to imagine that I was +sprouting fins and gills, and daily I felt for the new bumps on my head +which I was certain must result from this continuous absorption of brain +food. There were several new bumps, but when I called Eddie's attention +to them, he said they were merely the result of butting my head so +frequently against logs and stumps and other portions of the scenery. +Then he treated them with liniment and new skin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> + +<p>Speaking of food, I believe I have not mentioned the beefsteak which we +brought with us into the woods. It was Eddie's idea, and he was its +self-appointed guardian and protector. That was proper, only I think he +protected it too long. It was a nice sirloin when we started—thick and +juicy and of a deep rich tone. Eddie said a little age would improve it, +and I suppose he was right—he most always is. He said we would +appreciate it more, too, a little later, which seemed a sound doctrine.</p> + +<p>Yet, somehow, that steak was an irritation. It is no easy matter to +adjust the proper age of a steak to the precise moment of keen and +general appreciation. We discussed the matter a good deal, and each time +the steak was produced as a sort of Exhibit A, and on each occasion +Eddie decided that the time was not ripe—that another day would add to +its food value. I may say that I had no special appetite for steak, not +yet, but I did not want to see it carried off by wild beasts, or offered +at last on a falling market.</p> + +<p>Besides, the thing was an annoyance as baggage. I don't know where we +carried it at first, but I began to come upon it in unexpected places. +If I picked up a yielding looking package, expecting to find a dry +undergarment, or some other nice surprise, it turned out to be that +steak. If I reached down into one of the pack baskets for a piece of +Eddie's chocolate, or some of his tobacco—for anything, in fact—I +would usually get hold of a curious feeling substance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> and bring up that +steak. I began to recognize its texture at last, and to avoid it. +Eventually I banished it from the baskets altogether. Then Eddie took to +hanging it on a limb near the camp, and if a shower came up suddenly he +couldn't rest—he must make a wild rush and take in that steak. I +refused at last to let him bring it into the tent, or to let him hang it +on a nearby limb. But this made trouble, for when he hung it farther +away he sometimes forgot it, and twice we had to paddle back a mile or +so to get that steak. Also, sometimes, it got wet, which was not good +for its flavor, he said; certainly not for its appearance.</p> + +<p>In fact, age told on that steak. It no longer had the deep rich glow of +youth. It had a weather-beaten, discouraged look, and I wondered how +Eddie could contemplate it in that fond way. It seemed to me that if the +time wasn't ripe the steak was, and that something ought to be done +about a thing like that. My suggestions did not please Eddie.</p> + +<p>I do not remember now just when we did at last cook that steak. I prefer +to forget it. Neither do I know what Eddie did with his piece. I buried +mine.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 417px;"> +<img src="images/ill_016.jpg" width="417" height="500" alt=""When I awoke, a savory smell was coming in the tent."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"When I awoke, a savory smell was coming in the tent."</span> +</div> + +<p>Eddie redeemed himself later—that is to say, he produced something I +could eat. He got up early for the purpose. When I awoke, a savory smell +was coming in the tent. Eddie was squatted by the fire, stirring +something in a long-handled frying pan. Neither he nor the guides were +communicative as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> its nature, but it was good, and I hoped we would +have it often. Then they told me what it was. It was a preparation with +cream (condensed) of the despised canned salmon which I had denounced +earlier in the trip as an insult to live, speckled trout. You see how +one's point of view may alter. I said I was sorry now we hadn't brought +some dried herring. The others thought it a joke, but I was perfectly +serious.</p> + +<p>In fact, provisioning for a camping trip is a serious matter. Where a +canoe must carry a man and guide, with traps and paraphernalia, and +provisions for a three-weeks' trip, the problem of condensation in the +matter of space and weight, with amplitude in the matter of quantity, +affords study for a careful mind. We started out with a lot of can and +bottle goods, which means a good deal of water and glass and tin, all of +which are heavy and take up room. I don't think ours was the best way. +The things were good—too good to last—but dried fruits—apricots, +prunes and the like—would have been nearly as good, and less +burdensome. Indeed by the end of the second week I would have given five +cents apiece for a few dried prunes, while even dried apples, which I +had learned to hate in childhood, proved a gaudy luxury. Canned beans, +too, I consider a mistake. You can't take enough of them in that form. +No two canoes can safely carry enough canned beans to last two fishermen +and two Nova Scotia guides for three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> weeks. As for jam and the like, +why it would take one canoe to carry enough marmalade to supply Del the +Stout alone. If there is any such thing as a marmalade cure, I hope Del +will take it before I am ready to go into the woods again. Otherwise I +shall tow an extra canoe or a marmalade factory.</p> + +<p>As I have said, dried things are better; fruits, beans, rice, beef, +bacon—maple sugar (for sirup), cornmeal and prepared flour. If you want +to start with a few extras in the way of canned stuff, do it, but be +sure you have plenty of the staples mentioned. You will have enough +water and tin and glass to carry with your condensed milk, your vinegar, +a few pickles, and such other bottle refreshments as your tastes and +morals will permit. Take all the variety you can in the way of dried +staples—be sure they are staples—but cut close on your bulky tinned +supplies. It is better to be sure of enough Johnnie-cake and bacon and +beans during the last week out than to feast on plum-pudding and +California pears the first.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-two" id="Chapter_Twenty-two"></a>Chapter Twenty-two</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Oh, it's up and down the island's reach,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Through thicket and gorge and fen,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>With never a rest in their fevered quest,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Hurry the hunter men.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-two</h2> + +<p>I would gladly have lingered at Tobeatic Dam. It was an ideal place, +wholly remote from everything human—a haunt of wonderful trout, +peaceable porcupines and tame birds. The birds used to come around the +tent to look us over and ask questions, and to tell us a lot about what +was going on in the back settlements—those mysterious dim places where +bird and beast still dwell together as in the ancient days, their round +of affairs and gossip undisturbed. I wanted to rest there, and to heal +up a little before resuming the unknown way.</p> + +<p>But Eddie was ruthless—there were more worlds to conquer. The spirit of +some old ancestor who probably set out to discover the Northwest Passage +was upon him. Lower Tobeatic Lake was but a little way above. We pushed +through to it without much delay. It was an extensive piece of water, +full of islands, lonely rocks and calling gulls, who come to this inland +isolation to rear their young.</p> + +<p>The morning was clear and breezy and we set on up the lake in the +canoes, Eddie, as usual, a good way in advance. He called back to us now +and then that this was great moose country, and to keep a sharp<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> lookout +as we passed the islands. I did not wish to see moose. The expedition +had already acquitted itself in that direction, but Eddie's voice was +eager, even authoritative, so we went in close and pointed at signs and +whispered in the usual way. I realized that Eddie had not given up the +calf moose idea and was still anxious to shine with those British Museum +people. It seemed to me that such ambitions were not laudable. I +considered them a distinct mar to a character which was otherwise almost +perfect. It was at such times that my inclination to drown or poison +Eddie was stronger than usual.</p> + +<p>He had been behind an island a good while when we thought we heard a +shot. Presently we heard it again, and were sure. Del was instantly all +ablaze. Two shots had been the signal for moose.</p> + +<p>We went around there. I suppose we hurried. I know it was billowy off +the point and we shipped water and nearly swamped as we rounded. Behind +the island, close in, lay the other canoe, Eddie waving to us excitedly +as we came up.</p> + +<p>"Two calf meese!" he called (meese being Eddie's plural of +moose—everybody knows that mooses is the word). "Little helpless +fellows not more than a day or two old. They're too young to swim of +course, so they can't get on the island. We've got em, sure!"</p> + +<p>"Did you hit either of them?" I asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No, of course not! I only fired for a signal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> They are wholly at our +mercy. They were right here just a moment ago. The mother ran, and they +hardly knew which way to turn. We can take them alive."</p> + +<p>"But, Eddie," I began, "what will you do with them? They'll have to be +fed if we keep them, and will probably want to occupy the tents, and +we'll have to take them in the canoes when we move."</p> + +<p>He was ready for this objection.</p> + +<p>"I've been thinking," he said with decision. "Dell and Charlie can take +one of the canoes, with the calves in it, and make straight for Milford +by the shortest cut. While they're gone we'll be exploring the upper +lake."</p> + +<p>This was a brief, definite plan, but it did not appeal to me. In the +first place, I did not wish to capture those little mooses. Then, too, I +foresaw that during the considerable period which must elapse before the +guides returned, somebody would have to cook and wash dishes and perform +other menial camp labor. I suspected Eddie might get tired of doing +guide work as a daily occupation. Also, I was sorry for Charlie and Del. +I had a mental picture of them paddling for dear life up the Liverpool +River with two calf mooses galloping up and down the canoe, bleating +wildly, pausing now and then to lap the faces of the friendly guides and +perhaps to bite off an ear or some other handy feature. Even the wild +animals would form along the river bank to view a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> spectacle like that, +and I imagined the arrival at the hotel would be something particularly +showy. I mentioned these things and I saw that for once the guides were +with me. They did not warm to the idea of that trip up the Liverpool and +the gaudy homecoming. Eddie was only for a moment checked.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," he said, "we'll kill and skin them. We can carry the +skins."</p> + +<p>This was no better. I did not want those little mooses slaughtered, and +said so. But Eddie was roused now, and withered me with judicial +severity.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, and his spectacles glared fiercely. "I'm here as a +representative of the British Museum, in the cause of science, not to +discuss the protection of dumb creatures. That's another society."</p> + +<p>I submitted then, of course. I always do when Eddie asserts his official +capacity like that. The authority of the British Museum is not to be +lightly tampered with. So far as I knew he could have me jailed for +contempt. We shoved our canoes in shore and disembarked. Eddie turned +back.</p> + +<p>"We must take something to tie their hind legs," he said, and fished out +a strap for that purpose. The hope came to me that perhaps, after all, +he might not need the strap, but I was afraid to mention it.</p> + +<p>I confess I was unhappy. I imagined a pathetic picture of a little +innocent creature turning its pleading eyes up to the captor who with +keen sheath-knife<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> would let slip the crimson tide. I had no wish to go +racing through the brush after those timid victims.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 338px;"> +<img src="images/ill_017.jpg" width="338" height="500" alt=""I do not like to come upon snakes in that manner."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I do not like to come upon snakes in that manner."</span> +</div> + +<p>I did, however. The island was long and narrow. We scattered out across +it in a thin line of battle, and starting at one end swept down the +length of it with a conquering front. That sounds well, but it fails to +express what we did. We did not sweep, and we did not have any front to +speak of. The place was a perfect tangle and chaos of logs, bushes, +vines, pits, ledges and fallen trees. To beat up that covert was a hot, +scratchy, discouraging job, attended with frequent escapes from accident +and damage. I was satisfied I had the worst place in the line, for I +couldn't keep up with the others, and I tried harder to do that than I +did to find the little mooses. I didn't get sight of the others after we +started. Neither did I catch a glimpse of those little day-old calves, +or of anything else except a snake, which I came upon rather suddenly +when I was down on my hands and knees, creeping under a fallen tree. I +do not like to come upon snakes in that manner. I do not care to view +them even behind glass in a museum. An earthquake might strike that +museum and break the glass and it might not be easy to get away. I wish +Eddie had been collecting snake skins for <i>his</i> museum. I would have +been willing for him to skin that one alive.</p> + +<p>I staggered out to the other end of the island, at last, with only a +flickering remnant of life left in me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> I thought Eddie would be +grateful for all my efforts when I was not in full sympathy with the +undertaking; but he wasn't. He said that by not keeping up with the line +I had let the little mooses slip by, and that we would have to make the +drive again. I said he might have my route and I would take another. It +was a mistake, though. I couldn't seem to pick a better one. When we had +chased up and down that disordered island—that dumping ground of +nature—for the third time; when I had fallen over every log and stone, +and into every hole on it, and had scraped myself in every brush-heap, +and not one of us had caught even an imaginary glimpse of those little, +helpless, day-old meese, or mooses, or mice for they were harder to find +than mice—we staggered out, limp and sore, silently got into our canoes +and drifted away. Nobody spoke for quite a while. Nobody had anything to +say. Then Charlie murmured reflectively, as if thinking aloud:</p> + +<p>"Little helpless fellows—not more than a day or two old——"</p> + +<p>And Del added—also talking to himself:</p> + +<p>"Too young to swim, of course—wholly at our mercy." Then, a moment +later, "It's a good thing we took that strap to tie their hind legs."</p> + +<p>Eddie said nothing at all, and I was afraid to. Still, I was glad that +my vision of the little creatures pleading for their lives hadn't been +realized, or that other one of Del and Charlie paddling for dear life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +up the Liverpool, with those little mooses bleating and scampering up +and down the canoe.</p> + +<p>What really became of those calves remains a mystery. Nature teaches her +wild children many useful things. Their first indrawn breath is laden +with knowledge. Perhaps those wise little animals laughed at us from +some snug hiding. Perhaps they could swim, after all, and followed their +mother across the island, and so away. Whatever they did, I am glad, +even if the museum people have me arrested for it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-three" id="Chapter_Twenty-three"></a>Chapter Twenty-three</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>When the utmost bound of the trail is found—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>The last and loneliest lair—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>The hordes of the forest shall gather round</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>To bid you a welcome there.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-three</h2> + +<p>I do not know what lies above the Tobeatic lakes, but the strip of +country between is the true wilderness. It is a succession of swamps and +spruce thickets—ideal country for a moose farm or a mosquito hatchery, +or for general exploration, but no sort of a place for a Sunday-school +picnic. Neither is it a good place to fish. The little brook between the +lakes runs along like a chain pump and contains about as many trout. +There are one or two pretty good pools, but the effort to reach them is +too costly.</p> + +<p>We made camp in as dry a place as we could find, but we couldn't find a +place as big as the tent that didn't have a spring or a water hole. In +fact, the ground was a mass of roots, great and small, with water +everywhere between. A spring actually bubbled up between our beds, and +when one went outside at night it was a mercy if he did not go plunging +into some sort of a cold, wet surprise, with disastrous and profane +results. Being the worst camp and the worst country and the poorest +fishing we had found, we remained there two days. But this was as it +should be. We were not fishermen now, but explorers; and explorers, +Eddie said, always court hardships, and pitch their camps in the midst +of dangers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>Immediately after our arrival, Eddie and I took one side of the brook +and the guides the other, and we set out to discover things, chiefly the +upper lake. Of course we would pick the hardest side. We could be +depended on to do that. The brook made a long bend, and the guides, who +were on the short side, found fairly easy going. Eddie and I, almost +immediately, were floundering in a thick miry swamp, where it was hot +and breezeless, and where the midges, mooseflies and mosquitoes gave us +a grand welcome. I never saw anybody so glad to be discovered as those +mooseflies. They were as excited as if we were long lost relatives who +had suddenly turned up with a fortune. They swarmed about us and clung +to us and tapped us in any convenient place. I did not blame them, of +course. Moose diet, year in and year out, would make them welcome +anything by way of a change. And what droves of moose there must be in +that swamp to support such a muster of flies! Certainly this was the +very heart of the moose domain.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the reader who has never seen a moosefly may not appreciate the +amplitude and vigor of our welcome. The moosefly is a lusty fellow with +mottled wings. I believe he is sometimes called the deerfly, though as +the moose is bigger and more savage than the deer, it is my opinion that +the moosefly is bigger and more savage than any fly that bites the deer. +I don't think the deer could survive him. He is about the size of the +green-headed horsefly, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> of more athletic build. He describes rapid +and eager circles about one's head, whizzing meanwhile in a manner which +some may like, but which I could not learn to enjoy. His family is large +and he has many friends. He brings them all along to greet you, and they +all whiz and describe circles at once, and with every circle or two he +makes a dip and swipes up about a gill of your lifeblood and guzzles it +down, and goes right on whizzing and circling until he picks out a place +for the next dip. Unlike the mosquito, the moosefly does not need to +light cautiously and patiently sink a well until he strikes a paying +vein. His practice on the moose has fitted him for speedier methods. The +bill with which he is accustomed to bore through a tough moosehide in a +second or two will penetrate a man in the briefest fraction of the time.</p> + +<p>We got out of that swamp with no unnecessary delay and made for a spruce +thicket. Ordinarily one does not welcome a spruce thicket, for it +resembles a tangle of barbed wires. But it was a boon now. We couldn't +scratch all the places at once and the spruce thicket would help. We +plunged into it and let it dig, and scrape, and protect us from those +whizzing, circling blood-gluttons of the swamp. Yet it was cruel going. +I have never seen such murderous brush. I was already decorated with +certain areas of "New Skin," but I knew that after this I should need a +whole one. Having our rods and guns made it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> harder. In places we were +obliged to lie perfectly flat to worm and wriggle through. And the heat +was intense and our thirst a torture. Yet in the end it was worth while +and the payment was not long delayed. Just beyond the spruce thicket ran +a little spring rivulet, cold as ice. Lying on its ferny margin we drank +and drank, and the gods themselves cannot create a more exquisite joy +than that. We followed the rivulet to where it fed the brook, a little +way below. There we found a good-sized pool, and trout. Also a cool +breeze and a huge bowlder—complete luxury. We rested on the big +stone—I mean I did—and fished, while Eddie was trying to find the way +out. I said I would wait there until a relief party arrived. It was no +use. Eddie threatened to leave me at last if I didn't come on, and I had +no intention of being left alone in that forgotten place.</p> + +<p>We struggled on. Finally near sunset of that long, hard June day, we +passed out of the thicket tangle, ascended a slope and found ourselves +in an open grove of whispering pines that through all the years had +somehow escaped the conflagration and the ax. Tall colonnades they +formed—a sort of Grove of Dodona which because of some oracle, perhaps, +the gods had spared and the conquering vandals had not swept away. From +the top of the knoll we caught a glimpse of water through the trees, and +presently stood on the shore of Little Tobeatic Lake.</p> + +<p>So it was we reached the end of our quest—the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> farthest point in the +unknown. I hardly know what I had expected: trout of a new species and +of gigantic size, perhaps, or a strange race of men. Whatever it was, I +believe I felt a bit disappointed.</p> + +<p>I believe I did not consider it much of a discovery. It was a good deal +like other Nova Scotia lakes, except that it appeared to be in two +sections and pretty big for its name. But Eddie was rejoiced over our +feat. The mooseflies and spruce thickets and the miry swamps we had +passed, for him only added relish to this moment of supreme triumph. +Eddie would never be the man to go to the Arctics in an automobile or an +airship. That would be too easy. He would insist on more embroideries. +He would demand all the combined hardships of the previous expeditions. +I am at present planning a trip to the South Pole, but I shall leave +Eddie at home. And perhaps I shall also be disappointed when I get to +the South Pole and find it only a rock in a snowdrift.</p> + +<p>We crossed the brook and returned to camp the short way. We differed a +good deal as to the direction, and separated once or twice. We got lost +at last, for the way was so short and easy that we were below the camp +before we knew it. When at last we heard the guides calling (they had +long since returned) we came in, blaming each other for several things +and were scarcely on speaking terms for as much as five minutes. It was +lucky that Charles found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> a bottle of Jamaica rum and a little pot of +honey just then. A mixture of rum and honey will allay irritation due to +moosefly and mosquito bites, and to a variety of other causes if +faithfully applied.</p> + +<p>The matter of mosquitoes was really serious that night. We kept up +several smudge fires and sat among them and smoked ourselves like +herring. Even then we were not immune. When it came time for bed we +brushed the inside of the tent and set our pipes going. Then Eddie +wanted to read, as was his custom. I objected. I said that to light a +candle would be to invite all those mosquitoes back. He pleaded, but for +once I was firm. He offered me some of his best things, but I refused to +sell my blood in that way. Finally he declared he had a spread of +mosquito net and would put it over the door and every possible opening +if I would let him read. I said he might put up the netting and if I +approved the job I would then consider the matter. He got out the net—a +nice new piece—and began to put it up.</p> + +<p>It was a tedious job, arranging that net and fastening it properly by +the flickering firelight so that it covered every crack and crevice. +When he pulled it down in one place it left an opening in another and +had to be poked and pinned and stuffed in and patted down a great many +times. From my place inside the tent I could see his nimble shadow on +the canvas like some big insect, bobbing and flitting up and down and +from side to side. It reminded me of a persistent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> moth, dipping and +dodging about a screen. I drowsily wondered if he would ever get it +fixed, and if he wasn't getting hot and tired, for it was a still, +sticky night. Yet I suppose I did not realize how hot and tired one +might get on such a night, especially after a hard day. When he ceased +his lightsome movements at last and crept as carefully as a worm under +the net, I expected him to light the candle lamp and read. He did not do +so. He gave one long sighing groan of utter exhaustion, dropped down on +his bed without removing his clothes and never stirred again until +morning.</p> + +<p>The net was a great success. Only two mosquitoes got in and they bit +Eddie.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-four" id="Chapter_Twenty-four"></a>Chapter Twenty-four</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Apollo has tuned his lute again,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the pipes of Pan are near,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>For the gods that fled from the groves of men</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Gather unheeded here.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-four</h2> + +<p>It was by no means an unpleasant camp, first and last. It was our +"Farthest North" for one thing, our deepest point in the wilderness. It +would require as much as three or four days travel, even by the quickest +and most direct route to reach any human habitation, and in this thought +there was charm. It was a curious place, too, among those roots and +springs, and the brook there formed a rare pool for bathing. While the +others were still asleep I slipped down there for my morning dip. It was +early, but in that latitude and season the sun had already risen and +filtered in through the still treetops. Lying back in that natural basin +with the cool, fresh water slipping over and about one, and all the +world afar off and unreal, was to know the joy of the dim, forgotten +days when nymphs and dryads sported in hidden pools or tripped to the +pipes of Pan. Hemlock and maple boughs lacing above, with blue sky +between—a hermit thrush singing: such a pool Diana might have found, +shut away in some remote depths of Arcady. I should not have been much +surprised to have heard the bay of her hounds in that still early +morning, and to have seen her and her train suddenly appear—pursuing a +moose, maybe, or merely coming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> down for a morning swim. Of course I +should have secluded myself had I heard them coming. I am naturally a +modest person. Besides, I garner from the pictures that Diana is likely +to be dangerous when she is in her moods. Eddie bathed, too, later, but +the spell was gone then. Diana was far away, the stillness and sun-glint +were no more in the treetops, the hermit thrush was no longer in the +neighborhood. Eddie grumbled that the water was chilly and that the +stones hurt his feet. An hour, sometimes—a moment, even—makes all the +difference between romance and reality. Finally, even the guides bathed! +We let off fireworks in celebration!</p> + +<p>We carried the canoes to the lake that morning and explored it, but +there was not much to see. The lake had no inlet that we could find, and +Eddie and I lost a dollar apiece with the guides betting on the shape of +it, our idea being based upon the glimpse of the evening before. I don't +care much for lakes that change their shape like that, and even Eddie +seemed willing to abandon this unprofitable region. I suspected, +however, that his willingness to take the back track was mainly due to +the hope of getting another try at the little mooses, but I resolved to +indulge myself no further in any such pastime.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 449px;"> +<img src="images/ill_018.jpg" width="449" height="500" alt=""We went down that long, lovely lake in a luxury of idle +bliss."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"We went down that long, lovely lake in a luxury of idle +bliss."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was hard to drag Eddie by those islands. He wanted to cruise around +every one of them and to go ashore and prospect among the débris. He +vowed at last that he would come back with Charles from our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> next camp +and explore on his own account. Then, there being a fine breeze directly +behind us, he opened out a big umbrella which he had brought along for +just such a time, we hitched our canoe on behind, and with that bellying +black sail on the forward bow, went down that long, lovely lake in a +luxury of idle bliss.</p> + +<p>We camped at our old place by the falls and next morning Eddie did in +fact return to have another go at the calves. Del was willing to stay at +the camp, and I said I would have a quiet day's fishing nearby. It +proved an unusual day's fishing for those waters. White perch are not +plentiful there, but for some reason a school of them had collected just +by our camp. I discovered them by accident and then gave up everything +else to get as many of them as possible, for they were a desirable +change from trout, and eagerly welcomed. I fished for them by spells all +day. Del and I had them for luncheon and we saved a great pan full to be +ready for supper, when the others should return.</p> + +<p>It was dusk when the other canoe came in. Our companions were very +tired, also wet, for it had been a misty day, with showers. Eddie was a +bit cross, too. They had seen some calves, he said, but could not get +them. His guide agreed with this statement, but when questioned +separately their statements varied somewhat as to the reasons of +failure. It did not matter. Eddie was discouraged in the calf moose +project, I could see that. Presently I began boasting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> of the big day's +sport I had enjoyed, and then to show off I said, "This is how I did +it."</p> + +<p>Eddie was washing his hands in my perch pool and I had no idea of +getting anything—one is not likely to when he wishes to exhibit +himself—but I made a cast with the light tackle with two flies on it +and immediately had my hands full. For once, I did actually show off +when I undertook to do it. I think the only two big perch in that pool +seized those flies, and for the next five or ten minutes they were +making my reel sing and giving me such sport as only two big white perch +on a light tackle can. I brought them to the net at last and Eddie +looked on with hungry, envious eyes.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say you've been taking those things all day," he +said.</p> + +<p>"All day, more or less. I merely gave this little exhibition to wind up +on."</p> + +<p>But of course I had to show him the size of the others, then, and he was +appeased to the extent of forgetting most of his troubles in a square +meal. That quiet day with the white perch, ending as it did with a grand +finale, remains one of my fondest memories.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-five" id="Chapter_Twenty-five"></a>Chapter Twenty-five</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>You may pick your place—you may choose your hour—</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>You may put on your choicest flies;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>But never yet was it safe to bet</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>That a single trout would rise.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-five</h2> + +<p>Back across Tupper Lake and down Sand Brook to the Shelburne. Eddie left +the further wilderness with a sigh, for he felt that his chance of +getting a moose calf for those museum people was getting slim. A +distance—I have forgotten the number of miles—down the Shelburne would +bring us to country known to the guides and not remote enough for moose +at this season. As Eddie is no longer in this country, I may confess, +now, that I was glad.</p> + +<p>It was beautiful going, down Sand Brook. There was plenty of water and +the day was perfect. There is nothing lovelier in the world than that +little limpid stream with its pebbly riffles and its sunlit pools. +Sometimes when I think of it now I am afraid that it is no longer there +in that far still Arcady, or that it may vanish through some enchantment +before I can ever reach it again. Indeed as I am writing here to-day I +am wondering if it is really there—hidden away in that quiet unvisited +place, when no one is there to see it, and to hear it sing and +whisper—if anything is anywhere, unless some one is there to see and +hear. But these are deep waters. I am prone to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> stumble, as we have +seen, and somehow my tallest waders never take me through.</p> + +<p>I have already said, and repeated, I think, that there is no better +trout fishing than in the Shelburne. The fish now were not quite so +heavy as they had been higher up, but they were very many. The last half +of the miracle of the loaves and fishes would not have been necessary +here had the multitudes been given some tackle and a few cans of bait. +When we were a little above Kempton Dam, Del pointed out the first place +familiar to him. The woods were precisely the same—the waters just as +fair and fruitful—the locality just as wild; but somehow as we rounded +that bend a certain breath of charm vanished. The spell of perfect +isolation was gone. I had the feeling that we had emerged from the +enchanted borders of No Man's Land—that we were entering a land of real +places, with the haunts and habitations of men.</p> + +<p>Kempton Dam itself had been used to catch logs, not so long ago, and +Eddie had visited it on a previous occasion. He still had a fond memory +of a very large trout—opinions differed a trifle as to its exact +size—which he had taken there in a certain pool of golden water, and it +was evident from his talk that he expected to take that trout again, or +some member of its family, or its ghost, maybe, immediately upon +arrival.</p> + +<p>It certainly proved an attractive place, and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> were any number of +fish. They were not especially large, however. Even the golden water was +fruitful only as to numbers. We waded among the rocks or stood on the +logs, and cast and reeled and netted and returned fish to the water +until we were fairly surfeited. By that time the guides had the camp +ready, and as it was still early we gave them the rods and watched the +sport.</p> + +<p>Now a fly-casting tournament at home is a tame entertainment when one +has watched the fishing of Nova Scotia guides. To see a professional +send a fly sailing out a hundred feet or so in Madison Square Garden is +well enough, and it is a meritorious achievement, no doubt, but there is +no return except the record and the applause. To see Del the Stout and +Charles the Strong doing the same thing from that old log dam was a +poem, a picture, an inspiration. Above and below, the rushing water; +overhead, the blue sky; on either side, the green of June—the treetops +full of the setting sun. Out over the foaming current, skimming just +above the surface, the flies would go sailing, sailing—you thought they +would never light. They did not go with a swish and a jump, but seemed +noiselessly to drift away, as if the lightly swinging rod had little to +do with the matter, as if they were alive, in fact, looking for a place +to settle in some cozy nook of water where a trout would be sure to be. +And the trout were there. It was not the empty tub-fishing of a +sportsman's show. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> gleam and splash in the pool that seemed +remote—that was perhaps thirty yards away in fact—marked the casting +limit, and the sharp curve of the rod, and the play to land were more +inspiring than any measure of distance or clapping of hands.</p> + +<p>Charles himself became so inspired at length with his handsome fishing +that he made a rash statement. He declared that he could take five trout +in fifteen minutes. He offered to bet a dollar that he could do it. I +rather thought he could myself, for the fish were there, and they were +not running over large. Still, it was no easy matter to land them in +that swift water, and it would be close work. The show would be worth a +dollar, even if I lost. Wherefore, I scoffed at his boast and took the +bet.</p> + +<p>No stipulations were made as to the size of the trout, nor the manner in +which they should be taken, nor as to any special locality. It was +evident from our guide's preparation that he had evolved certain ideas +of his own in the matter. Previously he had been trying to hook a big +fish, but it was pretty evident that he did not want any big fish now. +There was a little brook—a run-around, as it were—that left the main +water just below the dam and came in again at the big pool several +hundred yards below. We had none of us touched this tumbling bit of +water. It was his idea that it would be full of little trout. He wanted +something he could lift out with no unnecessary delay, for time that is +likely to be worth over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> six cents a minute is too expensive to waste in +fancy sportsmanship. He selected a short rod and put on some tiny flies. +Then he took his position; we got out our watches and called time.</p> + +<p>Now, of course, one of the most uncertain things in life to gamble on is +fishing. You may pick your place, your day and your time of day. The +combination may seem perfect. Yet the fact remains that you can never +count with certainty on the result. One might suppose that our guide had +everything in his favor. Up to the very moment of his wager he had been +taking trout about as rapidly as he could handle them, and from water +that had been fished more or less all the afternoon. He knew the +particular fly that had been most attractive on this particular day and +he had selected a place hitherto unfished—just the sort of a place +where small trout seemed likely to abound. With his skill as an angler +it would not have surprised me if he had taken his five trout and had +more than half the time to spare.</p> + +<p>I think he expected to do that himself. I think he did, for he went at +it with that smiling <i>sang froid</i> with which one does a sleight of hand +trick after long practice. He did not show any appearance of haste in +making his first cast, but let the flies go gently out over a little +eddying pool and lightly skim the surface of the water, as if he were +merely amusing himself by tantalizing those eager little trout. Yet for +some reason nothing happened. Perhaps the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> little trout were attending a +party in the next pool. There came no lively snap at those twitching +flies—there was not even a silver break on the surface of the water.</p> + +<p>I thought our guide's smile faded the least trifle, and that he let the +flies go a bit quicker next time. Then when nothing, absolutely nothing, +happened again, his look became one of injured surprise. He abandoned +that pool and stepping a rock or two downstream, sent the flies with a +sharp little flirt into the next—once—twice—it was strange—it was +unaccountable, but nothing—not a single thing happened again. It was +the same with the next pool, and the next.</p> + +<p>There were no special marks of self-confidence, or anything that even +resembled deliberation, after this. It was business, strictly business, +with the sole idea of taking five fish out of that run, or getting down +to a place where five fish could be had. It was a pretty desperate +situation, for it was a steep run and there was no going back. To +attempt that would be to waste too much precious time. The thing to do +was to fish it straight through, with no unnecessary delay. There was no +doubt but that this was our guide's programme. The way he deported +himself showed that. Perhaps he was not really in a hurry—I want to be +just—but he acted as if he was. I have never seen a straddle-bug, but +if I ever meet one I shall recognize him, for I am certain he will look +exactly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> like Charles the Strong going down Tommy Kempton's Run. He was +shod in his shoepacks, and he seemed to me to have one foot always in +the air wildly reaching out for the next rock—the pair of flies, +meanwhile, describing lightning circles over every pool and riffle, +lingering just long enough to prove the futility of the cast, to be +lying an instant later in a new spot, several yards below. If ever there +is a tournament for swift and accurate fly-casting down a flight of +rugged stone stairs I want to enter Charles for first honors against the +world. But I would not bet on any fish—I want that stipulated. I would +not gamble to that extent. I would not gamble even on one fish after +being a witness to our guide's experience.</p> + +<p>That was a mad race. The rest of us kept a little to one side, out of +his way, and not even Del and Eddie could keep up with him. And with all +that wild effort not a fish would rise—nor even break water. It was +strange—it was past believing—I suppose it was even funny. It must +have been, for I seem to recall that we fairly whooped our joy at his +acrobatic eagerness. Why, with such gymnastics, Charles did not break +his neck I cannot imagine. With the utmost watchfulness I barely missed +breaking mine as much as a dozen times.</p> + +<p>The time was more than half-expired when we reached the foot of the run, +and still no fish, not even a rise. Yet the game was not over. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +supposable that this might be the place of places for fish. Five fish in +five minutes were still possible, if small. The guide leaped and waded +to a smooth, commanding stone and cast—once—twice, out over the +twisting water. Then, suddenly, almost in front of him, it seemed, a +great wave rolled up from the depths—there was a swish and a quick +curving of the rod—a monstrous commotion, and a struggle in the water. +It was a king of fish, we could all see that, and the rest of us gave a +shout of approval.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 335px;"> +<img src="images/ill_019.jpg" width="335" height="500" alt=""It was worth the dollar to watch the way he sought to +wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"It was worth the dollar to watch the way he sought to +wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout."</span> +</div> + +<p>But if Charles was happy, he did not look it. In fact, I have never seen +any one act so unappreciative of a big fish, nor handle it in so +unsportsmanlike a manner. If I remember his remark it had damn and hell +mixed up in it, and these words were used in close association with that +beautiful trout. His actions were even worse. He made no effort to play +his catch—to work him gradually to the net, according to the best form. +Nothing of the kind. You'd have supposed our guide had never seen a big +trout before by the way he got hold of that line and yanked him in, hand +over hand, regardless of the danger to line and leader and to those +delicate little flies, to say nothing of the possibility of losing a +fish so handled. Of course the seconds were flying, and landing a fish +of that size is not an especially quick process. A three-pound trout in +swift water has a way of staying there, even when taken by the main +strength and awkwardness system. When only about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> a yard of line +remained between Charlie and the fish, the latter set up such a +commotion, and cut up such a series of antics, that it was impossible +for one man to hold him and net him, though the wild effort which our +guide made to do so seemed amusing to those who were looking on. In +fact, if I had not been weak with laughing I might have gone to his +rescue sooner. One may be generous to a defeated opponent, and the time +limit was on its last minute now. As it was, I waded over presently and +took the net. A moment later we had him—the single return in the +allotted time, but by all odds the largest trout thus far of the +expedition. You see, as I have said, fish are uncertain things to gamble +on. Trying for five small ones our fisherman captured one large fish, +which at any other moment of the expedition would have been more +welcome. Yet even he was an uncertain quantity, for big, strong and +active as he was, he suddenly gave a great leap out of the net and was +back in the water again. Still, I let him be counted. That was generous.</p> + +<p>You might have supposed after that demonstration, Eddie would have been +somewhat reticent about backing his skill as a fisherman. But he wasn't. +He had just as much faith in his angling, and in his ability to pick +good water as if he hadn't seen his guide go down to ignominy and +defeat. He knew a place just above the dam, he said, where he could make +that bet good. Would I give him the same terms?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> I would—the offer was +open to all comers. I said it was taking candy from children.</p> + +<p>We went up to Eddie's place and got out the watches. Eddie had learned +something from his guide's exhibition. He had learned not to prance +about over a lot of water, and not to seem to be in a hurry. It was such +things that invited mirth. He took his position carefully between two +great bowlders and during the next fifteen minutes gave us the most +charming exhibition of light and delicate fly-casting I have ever +witnessed. It was worth the dollar to watch the way in which he sought +to wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout, and to study the deft +dispatch and grace with which he landed a fish, once hooked. Still he +hadn't learned quite enough. He hadn't learned to take five trout in +fifteen minutes in that particular place and on that particular evening. +Perhaps it was a little late when he began. Perhaps fifteen minutes is a +shorter period than it sometimes seems. Three trout completed his score +at the end of the allotted time—all fairly large.</p> + +<p>Yet I must not fail to add here that a few days later, in other water, +both Eddie and his guide made good their wager. Each took his five +trout—small ones—in fifteen minutes, and had time to spare. As I have +remarked once or twice already, one of the most uncertain things in life +to gamble on is fishing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-six" id="Chapter_Twenty-six"></a>Chapter Twenty-six</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Oh, the waves they pitch and the waves they toss,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And the waves they frighten me;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>And if ever I get my boat across</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>I'll go no more to sea.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-six</h2> + +<p>We were met by a surprise at our camp. Two men sat there, real men, the +first we had seen since we entered the wilderness. Evidently they were +natives by their look—trappers or prospectors of some sort. They turned +out to be bear hunters, and they looked rather hungrily at the +assortment of fish we had brought in—enough for supper and breakfast. +Perhaps they had not been to fish so frequently as to bear. I believe +they were without tackle, or maybe their luck had been poor—I do not +remember. At all events it developed presently that they needed fish, +also that they had a surplus of butter of a more recent period than the +little dab we had left. They were willing to dicker—a circumstance that +filled us with an enthusiasm which we restrained with difficulty. In +fact, Del did not restrain his quite enough. He promptly offered them +all the fish we had brought in for their extra pound of butter, when we +could just as easily have got it for half the number of fish. Of course +the fish did not seem especially valuable to us, and we were willing +enough to make a meal without them. Still, one can never tell what will +happen, and something like six dollars worth of trout—reckoned by New +York<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> prices—seems an unnecessary sum to pay for a pound of butter, +even in the Nova Scotia woods, though possibly trout will never be worth +quite that much there.</p> + +<p>All the same, the price had advanced a good deal by next morning, for +the wind had shifted to the northeast and it was bleak and blustery. +Everybody knows the old rhyme about the winds and the fish—how, when +the winds are north or east, the fish bite least, and how, when the +winds are south and west, the fish bite best. There isn't much poetry in +the old rhyme, but it's charged with sterling truth. Just why a +northerly or easterly wind will take away a fish's appetite, I think has +never been explained, or why a southerly and westerly wind will start +him out hunting for food. But it's all as true as scripture. I have seen +trout stop rising with a shifting of the wind to the eastward as +suddenly as if they had been summoned to judgment, and I have seen them +begin after a cold spell almost before the wind had time to get settled +in its new quarter. Of course it had been Del's idea that we could +easily get trout enough for breakfast. That was another mistake—we +couldn't. We couldn't take them from the river, and we couldn't take +them from our bear hunters, for they had gone. We whipped our lines +around in that chill wind, tangled our flies in treetops, endangered our +immortal souls, and went back to the tents at last without a single +thing but our appetites. Then we took turns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> abusing Del for his +disastrous dicker by which he had paid no less than five dollars and +seventy-five cents a pound too much for butter, New York market +schedule. Our appetites were not especially for trout—only for hearty +food of some kind, and as I have said before, we had reached a place +where fish had become our real staple. The conditions were particularly +hard on Del himself, for he is a hearty man, and next to jars of +marmalade, baskets of trout are his favorite forage.</p> + +<p>In fact, we rather lost interest in our camp, and disagreeable as it +was, we decided to drop down the river to Lake Rossignol and cross over +to the mouth of the Liverpool. It was a long six-mile ferriage across +Rossignol and we could devote our waste time to getting over. By the end +of the trip the weather might change.</p> + +<p>The Shelburne is rough below Kempton Dam. It goes tearing and foaming in +and out among the black rocks, and there are places where you have to +get out of the canoes and climb over, and the rocks are slippery and +sometimes there is not much to catch hold of. We shot out into the lake +at last, and I was glad. It was a mistake, however, to be glad just +then. It was too soon. The wind had kicked up a good deal of water, and +though our canoes were lighter than when we started, I did not consider +them suited to such a sea. They pitched about and leaped up into the +air, one minute with the bow entirely out of water,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> and the next with +it half-buried in the billow ahead. Every other second a big wave ran on +a level with the gunwale, and crested its neck and looked over and +hissed, and sometimes it spilled in upon us. It would not take much of +that kind of freight to make a cargo, and anything like an accident in +that wide, gray billowy place was not a nice thing to contemplate. A +loaded canoe would go down like a bullet. No one clad as we were could +swim more than a boat's length in that sea.</p> + +<p>As we got farther on shore the waves got worse. If somebody had just +suggested it I should have been willing to turn around and make back for +the Shelburne. Nobody suggested it, and we went on. It seemed to me +those far, dim shores through the mist, five miles or more away, would +never get any closer. I grew tired, too, and my arms ached, but I could +not stop paddling. I was filled with the idea that if I ever stopped +that eternal dabbing at the water, my end of the canoe would never ride +the next billow. Del reflected aloud, now and then, that we had made a +mistake to come out on such a day. When I looked over at the other canoe +and saw it on the top of a big wave with both ends sticking out in the +air, and then saw it go down in a trough of black, ugly water, I +realized that Del was right. I knew our canoe was doing just such +dangerous things as that, and I would have given any reasonable sum for +an adequate life preserver, or even a handy pine plank—for anything,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +in fact, that was rather more certain to stay on top of the water than +this billow-bobbing, birch-bark peanut shell of a canoe.</p> + +<p>I suppose I became unduly happy, therefore, when at last we entered the +mouth of the Liverpool. I was so glad that I grew gay, and when we +started up the rapids I gave Del a good lift here and there by pushing +back against the rocks with my paddle, throwing my whole weight on it +sometimes, to send the canoe up in style. It is always unwise for me to +have a gay reaction like that, especially on Friday, which is my unlucky +day. Something is so liable to happen. We were going up a particularly +steep piece of water when I got my paddle against a stone on the bottom +and gave an exceptionally strong push. I don't know just what happened +next. Perhaps my paddle slipped. Del says it did. I know I heard him +give a whoop, and I saw the river coming straight up at me. Then it came +pouring in over the side, and in about a minute more most of our things +were floating downstream, with Del grabbing at them, and me clinging to +the upset canoe, trying to drag it ashore.</p> + +<p>We camped there. It was a good place, one of the best yet selected. +Still, I do not recommend selecting a camp in that way. If it did not +turn out well, it might be a poor place to get things dry. One needs to +get a good many things dry after a selection like that, especially on a +cold day. It was a cold<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> night, too. I dried my under things and put +them all on.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever sleep in your clothes in the woods?" I have been asked.</p> + +<p>I did. I put on every dry thing I had that night, and regretted I had +left anything at home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-seven" id="Chapter_Twenty-seven"></a>Chapter Twenty-seven</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>It is better to let the wild beast run,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>And to let the wild bird fly:</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Each harbors best in his native nest,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Even as you and I.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-seven</h2> + +<p>Perhaps it was the cold weather that brought us a visitor. There was a +tree directly over our tent, and in the morning—a sharp sunny morning, +with the wind where it should be, in the west—we noticed on going out +that a peculiar sort of fruit had grown on this tree over night. On one +of the limbs just above the tent was a prickly looking ball, like a +chestnut burr, only black, and about a hundred times as big. It was a +baby porcupine, who perhaps had set out to see the world on his own +account—a sort of prodigal who had found himself without funds, and +helpless, on a cold night. No doubt he climbed up there to look us over, +with a view of picking out a good place for himself; possibly with the +hope of being invited to breakfast.</p> + +<p>Eddie was delighted with our new guest. He declared that he would take +him home alive, and feed him and care for him, and live happy ever +after. He got a pole and shook our visitor down in a basket, and did a +war-dance of joy over his new possession. He was a cute little +fellow—the "piggypine" (another of Eddie's absurd names)—with bright +little eyes and certain areas of fur, but I didn't fancy him as a pet. +He seemed to me rather too much of a cross<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> between a rat and a pin +cushion to be a pleasant companion in the intimate relations of one's +household. I suspected that if in a perfectly wild state he had been +prompted to seek human companionship and the comforts of civilized life, +in a domestic atmosphere he would want to sit at the table and sleep +with somebody. I did not believe Eddie's affection would survive these +familiarities. I knew how surprised and annoyed he might be some night +to roll over suddenly on the piggypine and then have to sit up the rest +of the night while a surgeon removed the quills. I said that I did not +believe in taming wild creatures, and I think the guides were with me in +this opinion. I think so because they recited two instances while we +were at breakfast. Del's story was of some pet gulls he once owned. He +told it in that serious way which convinced me of its truth. Certain +phases of the narrative may have impressed me as being humorous, but it +was clear they were not so regarded by Del. His manner was that of one +who records history. He said:</p> + +<p>"One of the children caught two young gulls once, in the lake, and +brought them to the house and said they were going to tame them. I +didn't think they would live, but they did. You couldn't have killed +them without an ax. They got tame right away, and they were all over the +house, under foot and into everything, making all kinds of trouble. But +that wasn't the worst—the worst was feeding them. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> wasn't so bad +when they were little, but they grew to beat anything. Then it began to +keep us moving to get enough for them to eat. They lived on fish, +mostly, and at first the children thought it fun to feed them. They used +to bait a little dip net and catch minnows for the gulls, and the gulls +got so they would follow anybody that started out with that dip net, +calling and squealing like a pair of pigs. But they were worse than +pigs. You can fill up a pig and he will go to sleep, but you never could +fill up those gulls. By and by the children got tired of trying to do it +and gave me the job. I made a big dip net and kept it set day and night, +and every few minutes all day and the last thing before bedtime I'd go +down and lift out about a pailful of fish for those gulls, and they'd +eat until the fish tails stuck out of their mouths, and I wouldn't more +than have my back turned before they'd be standing on the shore of the +lake, looking down into that dip net and hollering for more. I got so I +couldn't do anything but catch fish for those gulls. It was a busy +season, too, and besides the minnows were getting scarce along the lake +front, so I had to get up early to get enough to feed them and the rest +of the family. I said at last that I was through feeding gulls. I told +the children that either they'd have to do it, or that the gulls would +have to go to work like the rest of the family and fish for themselves. +But the children wouldn't do it, nor the gulls, either. Then I said I +would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> take those birds down in the woods and leave them somewhere. I +did that. I put them into a basket and shut them in tight and took them +five miles down the river and let them loose in a good place where there +were plenty of fish. They flew off and I went home. When I got to the +house they'd been there three hours, looking at the dip net and +squalling, and they ate a pail heaping full of fish, and you could have +put both gulls into the pail when they got through. I was going on a +long trip with a party next morning, and we took the gulls along. We fed +them about a bushel of trout and left them seventeen miles down the +river, just before night, and drove home in the dark. I didn't think the +gulls would find their way back that time, but they did. They were there +before daybreak, fresh and hungry as ever. Then I knew it was no use. +The ax was the only thing that would get me out of that mess. The +children haven't brought home any wild pets since."</p> + +<p>That you see is just unembellished history, and convincing. I regret +that I cannot say as much for Charlie's narrative. It is a likely story +enough, as such things go, but there are points about it here and there +which seem to require confirmation. I am told that it is a story well +known and often repeated in Nova Scotia, but even that cannot be +accepted as evidence of its entire truth. Being a fish-story it would +seem to require something more. This is the tale as Charlie told it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Once there was a half-breed Indian," he said, "who had a pet trout +named Tommy, which he kept in a barrel. But the trout got pretty big and +had to have the water changed a good deal to keep him alive. The Indian +was too lazy to do that, and he thought he would teach the trout to live +out of water. So he did. He commenced by taking Tommy out of the barrel +for a few minutes at a time, pretty often, and then he took him out +oftener and kept him out longer, and by and by Tommy got so he could +stay out a good while if he was in the wet grass. Then the Indian found +he could leave him in the wet grass all night, and pretty soon that +trout could live in the shade whether the grass was wet or not. By that +time he had got pretty tame, too, and he used to follow the Indian +around a good deal, and when the Indian would go out to dig worms for +him, Tommy would go along and pick up the worms for himself. The Indian +thought everything of that fish, and when Tommy got so he didn't need +water at all, but could go anywhere—down the dusty road and stay all +day out in the hot sun—you never saw the Indian without his trout. Show +people wanted to buy Tommy, but the Indian said he wouldn't sell a fish +like that for any money. You'd see him coming to town with Tommy +following along in the road behind, just like a dog, only of course it +traveled a good deal like a snake, and most as fast.</p> + +<p>"Well, it was pretty sad the way that Indian lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> his trout, and it was +curious, too. He started for town one day with Tommy coming along +behind, as usual. There was a bridge in the road and when the Indian +came to it he saw there was a plank off, but he went on over it without +thinking. By and by he looked around for Tommy and Tommy wasn't there. +He went back a ways and called, but he couldn't see anything of his pet. +Then he came to the bridge and saw the hole, and he thought right away +that maybe his trout had got in there. So he went to the hole and looked +down, and sure enough, there was Tommy, floating on the water, +bottom-side up. He'd tumbled through that hole into the brook and +drowned."</p> + +<p>I think these stories impressed Eddie a good deal. I know they did me. +Even if Charlie's story was not pure fact in certain minor details, its +moral was none the less evident. I saw clearer than ever that it is not +proper to take wild creatures from their native element and make pets of +them. Something always happens to them sooner or later. We were through +breakfast and Eddie went over to look at his porcupine. He had left it +in a basket, well covered with a number of things. He came back right +away—looking a little blank I thought.</p> + +<p>"He's gone!" he said. "The basket's just as I left it, all covered up, +but he isn't in it."</p> + +<p>We went over to look. Sure enough, our visitor had set out on new +adventures. How he had escaped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> was a mystery. It didn't matter—both he +and Eddie were better off.</p> + +<p>But that was a day for animal friends. Where we camped for luncheon, +Eddie and I took a walk along the river bank and suddenly found +ourselves in a perfect menagerie. We were among a regular group of grown +porcupines—we counted five of them—and at the same time there were two +blue herons in the water, close by. A step away a pair of partridges ran +through the brush and stood looking at us from a fallen log, while an +old duck and her young came sailing across the river. We were nearing +civilization now, but evidently these creatures were not much harassed. +It was like the Garden of Eden before the Fall. It is true the old duck +swam away, calling to her brood, when she saw us; the partridges +presently hid in the brush, and the blue herons waded a bit further off. +But the porcupines went on galumphing around us, and none of the +collection seemed much disturbed. During the afternoon we came upon two +fishermen, college boys, camping, who told us they had seen some young +loons in a nest just above, and Eddie was promptly seized with a desire +to possess them.</p> + +<p>In fact we left so hastily that Del forgot his extra paddle, and did not +discover the loss until we were a half-mile or so upstream. Then he said +he would leave me in the canoe to fish and would walk back along the +shore. An arm of the river made around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> an island just there, and it +looked like a good place. There seemed to be not much current in the +water, and I thought I could manage the canoe in such a spot and fish, +too, without much trouble.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;"> +<img src="images/ill_020.jpg" width="494" height="500" alt=""I never realized before what a crazy thing a canoe can +be when you want it to do something out of its regular line of work."" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I never realized before what a crazy thing a canoe can +be when you want it to do something out of its regular line of work."</span> +</div> + +<p>It was not as easy as it looked. Any one who has tried to handle a canoe +from the front end with one hand and fish with the other will tell you +so. I couldn't seem to keep out of the brush along the shore, and I +couldn't get near some brush in the middle of the river where I believed +there were trout. I was right about the trout being there, too. Eddie +proved that when he came up with his canoe. He had plenty of business +with big fellows right away. But the fact didn't do me any good. Just +when I would get near the lucky place and ready to cast, a twitch in the +current or a little puff of wind would get hold of the stern of my +craft, which rode up out of the water high and light like a sail, and my +flies would land in some bushes along the bank, or hang in a treetop, or +do some other silly thing which was entertaining enough to Eddie and his +guide, apparently, but which did not amuse me. I never realized before +what a crazy thing a canoe can be when you want it to do something out +of its regular line of work. A canoe is a good sort of a craft in its +place, and I would not wish to go into the woods without one, but it is +limited in its gifts, very limited. It can't keep its balance with any +degree of certainty when you want to stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> up and fish, and it has no +sort of notion of staying in one place, unless it's hauled out on the +bank. If that canoe had been given the versatility of an ordinary +flat-bottomed john-boat I could have got along better than I did. I said +as much, and disparaged canoes generally. Eddie declared that he had +never heard me swear with such talent and unreserve. He encouraged me by +holding up each fish as he caught it and by suggesting that I come over +there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> He knew very well that I couldn't get there in a thousand years. +Whenever I tried to do it that fool of a canoe shot out at a tangent and +brought up nowhere. Finally in an effort to reconstruct my rod I dropped +a joint of the noibwood overboard, and it went down in about four +hundred feet of water. Then I believe I did have a few things to say. I +was surprised at my own proficiency. It takes a crucial moment like that +to develop real genius. I polished off the situation and I trimmed up +the corners. Possibly a touch of sun made me fluent, for it was hot out +there, though it was not as hot as a place I told them about, and I +dwelt upon its fitness as a permanent abiding place for fishermen in +general and for themselves in particular. When I was through and empty I +see-sawed over to the bank and waited for Del. I believe I had a +feverish hope that they would conclude to take my advice, and that I +should never see their canoe and its contents again.</p> + +<p>There are always compensations for those who suffer and are meek in +spirit. That was the evening I caught the big fish, the fish that Eddie +would have given a corner of his immortal soul (if he has a soul, and if +it has corners) to have taken. It was just below a big fall—Loon Lake +Falls I think they call it—and we were going to camp there. Eddie had +taken one side of the pool and I the other and neither of us had caught +anything. Eddie was just landing, when something that looked big and +important, far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> down the swift racing current, rose to what I had +intended as my last cast. I had the little four-ounce bamboo, but I let +the flies go down there—the fly, I mean, for I was casting with one (a +big Silver Doctor)—and the King was there, waiting. He took it with a +great slop and carried out a long stretch of line. It was a test for the +little rod. There had been unkind remarks about the tiny bamboo whip; +this was to be justification; a big trout on a long line, in deep, swift +water—the combination was perfect. Battle now, ye ruler of the rapids! +Show your timber now, thou slender wisp of silk and cane!</p> + +<p>But we have had enough of fishing. I shall not dwell upon the details of +that contest. I may say, however, that I have never seen Del more +excited than during the minutes—few or many, I do not know how few or +how many—that it lasted. Every guide wants his canoe to beat, and it +was evident from the first that this was the trout of the expedition. I +know that Del believed I would never bring that fish to the canoe, and +when those heavy rushes came I was harrassed with doubts myself. Then +little by little he yielded. When at last he was over in the slower +water—out of the main channel—I began to have faith.</p> + +<p>So he came in, slowly, slowly, and as he was drawn nearer to the boat, +Del seized the net to be ready for him. But I took the net. I had been +browbeaten and humiliated and would make my triumph complete.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> I brought +him to the very side of the boat, and I lifted him in. This time the big +fish did not get away. We went to where the others had been watching, +and I stepped out and tossed him carelessly on the ground, as if it were +but an everyday occurrence. Eddie was crushed. I no longer felt +bitterness toward him.</p> + +<p>I think I shall not give the weight of that fish. As already stated, no +one can tell the truth concerning a big fish the first trial, while more +than one attempt does not look well in print, and is apt to confuse the +reader. Besides, I don't think Eddie's scales were right, anyway.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-eight" id="Chapter_Twenty-eight"></a>Chapter Twenty-eight</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Then breathe a sigh and a long good-by</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>To the wilderness to-day,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>For back again to the trails of men</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Follows the waterway.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-eight</h2> + +<p>Through the Eel-wier—a long and fruitful rapid—we entered our old +first lake, Kedgeemakoogee, this time from another point. We had made an +irregular loop of one hundred and fifty miles or more—a loop that had +extended far into the remoter wilderness, and had been marked by what, +to me, were hard ventures and vicissitudes, but which, viewed in the +concrete, was recorded in my soul as a link of pure happiness. We were +not to go home immediately. Kedgeemakoogee is large and there are +entering streams, at the mouth of which the sport at this season was +good. Besides, the teams that were to come for us would not be due yet +for several days, if we had kept proper account of time.</p> + +<p>It was above the Eel-weir, at George's Run, that Eddie had his first and +only success with dry flies. It was just the place—a slow-moving +current between two islands, with many vicious and hungry trout. They +would rise to the ordinary fly, two at a cast, and when Eddie put on the +dry fly—the artificial miller that sits upright on the water and is an +exact imitation of the real article—and let it go floating down, they +snapped it up eagerly. It is beautiful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> fishing—I should really have +liked to try it a little. But Eddie had been good to me in so many ways: +I hadn't the heart to ask him for one of his precious dry flies.</p> + +<p>During our trip across Kedgeemakoogee, Del—inspired perhaps by the fact +that we were getting nearer to the walks and wiles of men—gave me some +idea of Nova Scotia political economies. He explained the system of +government there, the manner of voting and the like. The representation +is by districts, of course, similar to our own, and the parties have +similar methods of making the vote of these districts count on the right +side. In Queens, for instance, where we had been most, if not all, of +the time, the voters are very scattering. I had suspected this, for in +our one hundred and fifty miles travel we had seen but two natives, and +only one of these was believed to have political residence. Del said the +district had been gerrymandered a good deal to make the votes count +right, and it was plain enough that if this man was the only voter in +that much country, and he chasing bears most of the time, they would +have to gerrymander around a good deal to keep up with him. Del said +that when election time came they would go gunning for that voter over +the rocks and through the burnt timber, and would beat up the brush for +him as if he were a moose, and valuable. Somehow politics did not seem +to belong in this place, but either Del exaggerated, this time, or there +is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> good deal of it to the individual. I suppose it's well to have it +condensed in that way.</p> + +<p>We camped that night at Jim Charles's Point, our old first camp, and it +was like getting home after long absence. For the time seemed an age +since we had left there. It was that. Any new and wonderful experience +is long—as long as eternity—whether it be a day or a decade in +duration. Next morning, across to the mouth of West River—a place of +many fish and a rocky point for our camp, with deep beds of sweet-fern, +but no trees. That rocky open was not the best selection for tents. +Eddie and his guide had gone up the river a little way when a sudden +shower came up, with heavy darkness and quick wind. Del and I were +stowing a few things inside that were likely to get wet, when all at +once the tents became balloons that were straining at their guy ropes, +and then we were bracing hard and clinging fast to the poles to keep +everything from sailing into the sky.</p> + +<p>It was a savage little squall. It laid the bushes down and turned the +lake white in a jiffy. A good thing nobody was out there, under that +black sky. Then the wind died and there came a swish of rain—hard rain +for a few minutes. After that the sun once more, the fragrance of the +fern and the long, sweet afternoon.</p> + +<p>Looking at those deep tides of sweet-fern, I had an inspiration. My +stretcher had never been over comfortable. I longed to sleep flat. Why +not a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> couch of this aromatic balm? It was dry presently, and spreading +the canvas strip smoothly on the ground I covered it with armfuls of the +fern, evenly laid. I gathered and heaped it higher until it rose deep +and cushiony; then I sank down upon it to perfect bliss.</p> + +<p>This was Arcady indeed: a couch as soft and as fragrant as any the gods +might have spread by the brooks of Hymettus in that far time when they +stole out of Elysium to find joy in the daughters of men. Such a couch +Leda might have had when the swan came floating down to bestow celestial +motherhood. I buried my face in the odorous mass and vowed that never +again would I cramp myself in a canvas trough between two sticks, and I +never did. I could not get sweet-fern again, but balsam boughs were +plentiful, and properly laid in a manner that all guides know, make a +couch that is wide and yielding and full of rest.</p> + +<p>Up Little River, whose stones like the proverbial worm, turned when we +stepped on them and gave Eddie a hard fall; across Frozen Ocean—a place +which justified its name, for it was bitterly cold there and we did +nothing but keep the fire going and play pedro (to which end I put on +most of my clothes and got into my sleeping-bag)—through another stream +and a string of ponds, loitering and exploring until the final day.</p> + +<p>It was on one reach of a smaller stream that we found the Beaver +Dam—the only one I ever saw, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> am likely to see, for the race that +builds them is nearly done. I had been walking upstream and fishing some +small rapids above the others when I saw what appeared to be a large +pool of still water just above. I made my way up there. It was in +reality a long stillwater, but a pond rather than a pool. It interested +me very much. The dam was unlike any I had ever seen. For one thing, I +could not understand why a dam should be in that place, for there was no +sign of a sluice or other indication of a log industry; besides, this +dam was not composed of logs or of stone, or anything of the sort. It +was a woven dam—a dam composed of sticks and brush and rushes and +vines, some small trees, and dirt—made without much design, it would +seem, but so carefully put together and so firmly bound that no piece of +it could work loose or be torn away. I was wondering what people could +have put together such a curious and effective thing as that, when Del +came up, pushing the canoe. He also was interested when he saw it, but +he knew what it was. It was a beaver dam, and they were getting mighty +scarce. There was a law against killing the little fellows, but their +pelts were worth high prices, and the law did not cover traffic in them. +So long as that was the case the beavers would be killed.</p> + +<p>I had heard of beaver dams all my life, but somehow I had not thought of +their being like this. I had not thought of those little animals being +able to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> construct a piece of engineering that, in a swift place like +this, could stand freshet and rot, year after year, and never break +away. Del said he had never known one of them to go out. The outlet was +in the right place and of the proper size. He showed me some new pieces +which the builders had recently put into the work, perhaps because it +seemed to be weakening there. He had watched once and had seen some +beavers working. They were as intelligent as human beings. They could +cut a tree of considerable size, he said, and make it fall in any chosen +direction. Then he showed me some pieces of wood from which they had +gnawed the sweet bark, and he explained how they cut small trees and +sank lengths of them in the water to keep the bark green and fresh for +future use. I listened and marveled. I suppose I had read of these +things, but they seemed more wonderful when I was face to face with the +fact.</p> + +<p>The other canoe came up and it was decided to cut a small section out of +the dam to let us through. I objected, but was assured that the beavers +were not very busy, just now, and would not mind—in fact might rather +enjoy—a repair job, which would take them but a brief time.</p> + +<p>"They can do it sometime while I'm making a long carry," Charlie said.</p> + +<p>But it was no easy matter to cut through. Charlie and Del worked with +the ax, and dragged and pulled with their hands. Finally a narrow breach +was made,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> but it would have been about as easy to unload the canoes and +lift them over. Half-way up the long hole we came to the lodge—its top +rising above the water. Its entrance, of course, was below the surface, +but the guides said there is always a hole at the top, for air. It was a +well-built house—better, on the whole, than many humans construct.</p> + +<p>"They'll be scrambling around, pretty soon," Charlie said, "when they +find the water getting lower in their sitting room. Then they'll send +out a repair gang. Poor little fellers! Somebody'll likely get 'em +before we come again. I know one chap that got seven last year. It's too +bad."</p> + +<p>Yes, it is too bad. Here is a wonderful race of creatures—ingenious, +harmless—a race from which man doubtless derived his early lessons in +constructive engineering. Yet Nova Scotia is encouraging their +assassination by permitting the traffic in their skins, while she salves +her conscience by enacting a law against their open slaughter. Nova +Scotia is a worthy province and means well. She protects her moose and, +to some extent, her trout. But she ought to do better by the beavers. +They are among her most industrious and worthy citizens. Their homes and +their industries should be protected. Also, their skins. It can't be +done under the present law. You can't put a price on a man's head and +keep him from being shot, even if it is against the law. Some fellow +will lay for him sure. He will sneak up and shoot him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> from behind, just +as he would sneak up and shoot a beaver, and he will collect his reward +in either case, and the law will wink at him. Maybe it would be no +special crime to shoot the man. Most likely he deserved it, but the +beaver was doing nobody any harm. Long ago he taught men how to build +their houses and their dams, and to save up food and water for a dry +time. Even if we no longer need him, he deserves our protection and our +tender regard.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Chapter_Twenty-nine" id="Chapter_Twenty-nine"></a>Chapter Twenty-nine</h2> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Once more, to-night, the woods are white</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>That lee so dim and far,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Where the wild trout hide and the moose abide</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 22em;"><i>Under the northern star.</i></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Chapter Twenty-nine</h2> + +<p>Perhaps the brightest spot of that sad period when we were making ready +to leave the woods, with all their comfort, their peace and their +religion, and go back to the harrying haunts of men, to mingle with the +fever and fret of daily strife, is the memory of a trip to Jeremy's Bay. +I don't know in the least where Jeremy's Bay is, but it is somewhere +within an hour's paddle of Jim Charles's Point, and it is that hour and +the return that sticks with me now.</p> + +<p>It was among the last days of June—the most wonderful season in the +north woods. The sun seems never ready to set there, then, and all the +world is made of blues and greens and the long, lingering tones of +evening.</p> + +<p>We had early tea in preparation for the sunset fishing. It was best, Del +said, in Jeremy's Bay about that time. So it was perhaps an hour earlier +when we started, the canoes light.</p> + +<p>In any one life there are not many evenings such as that. It is just as +well, for I should account it a permanent sadness if they became +monotonous. Perhaps they never would. Our course lay between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> shores—an +island on the one hand, the mainland on the other. When we rounded the +point, we were met by a breeze blown straight from the sunset—a breath +that was wild and fresh and sweet, and billowed the water till it caught +every hue and shimmering iridescence that the sky and shores and setting +sun could give.</p> + +<p>We were eager and rested, for we had done little that day, and the empty +canoes slipped like magic into a magical sea of amethyst and emerald +gold, the fresh breeze filling us with life and ecstasy until we seemed +almost to fly. The eyes could not look easily into the glory ahead, +though it was less easy to look away from the enchantment which lay +under the sunset. The Kingdom of Ponemah was there, and it was as if we +were following Hiawatha to that fair and eternal hunting-ground.</p> + +<p>Yet when one did turn, the transformation was almost worth while. The +colors were all changed. They were more peaceful, more like reality, +less like a harbor of dreams and visions too fair for the eyes of man to +look upon. A single glance backward, and then away once more between +walls of green, billowing into the sunset—away, away to Jeremy's Bay!</p> + +<p>The sun was just on the horizon when we reached there—the water already +in shadow near the shore. So deep and vivid were its hues that we seemed +to be fishing in dye-stuff. And the breeze went out with the sun, and +the painted pool became still, ruffled only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> where the trout broke water +or a bird dipped down to drink.</p> + +<p>I will not speak of the fishing there. I have already promised that I +would not speak of fishing again. But Jeremy's Bay is a spot that few +guides know and few fishermen find. It was our last real fishing, and it +was worthy. Then home to camp, between walls of dusk—away, away from +Jeremy's Bay—silently slipping under darkening shores—silently, and a +little sadly, for our long Day of Joy was closing in—the hour of return +drew near.</p> + +<p>And postpone it as you will, the final moment must come—the time when +the rod must be taken down for good; the leaders stripped and coiled in +their box, the fly-book tenderly gone over and the last flies you have +used fitted into place and laid away.</p> + +<p>One does not go through that final ritual without a little sentiment—a +little tugging about the heart. The flies were all new and trim and +properly placed when you set out. They were a gay array and you were as +proud of them as of a little garden. They are in disarray now. They have +an unkempt look. The shells are shredded, the feathers are caked and +bitten, the hackle is frazzled and frayed out. Yet you are even more +proud of them than in the beginning. Then they were only a promise, fair +and beautiful to look upon; now they conjure up pictures of supreme +fulfillment—days and moments so firmly set upon the past that they +shall not soon fade away. That big<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> Silver Doctor—from which the shell +has twice been broken, and the feathers wrapped and rewrapped—that must +have been wound with a special blessing, for when all else failed it was +a certain lure. The big trout below Loon Lake rose to that fly, and +accordingly this battered thing will forever be preserved. This scarlet +Breck, with almost every gay feather gone and the silver wrapping +replaced with tinfoil—even when it displayed a mere shred of its former +glory it proved far more fatal than many a newer fly. How vividly it +recalls a certain wild pool of strange, dim lucence where, for me, the +trout would take no other lure. And this Montreal—it has become a magic +brush that paints a picture of black rocks and dark water, and my first +trout taken on a cast. For a hundred years, if I live that long, this +crumpled book and these broken, worn-out flies will bring back the +clear, wild water and the green shores of a Nova Scotia June, the +remoter silences of the deeper forest, the bright camps by twisting +pools and tumbling falls, the flash of the leaping trout, the feel of +the curved rod and the music of the singing reel.</p> + +<p>I shall always recall Eddie, then, and I shall bless him for many +things—and forgive him for others. I shall remember Del, too, the +Stout, and Charles the Strong, and that they made my camping worth +while. I was a trial to them, and they were patient—almost unreasonably +so. I am even sorry now for the time that my gun went off and scared +Del, though it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> seemed amusing at the moment. When the wind beats up and +down the park, and the trees are bending and cracking with ice; when I +know that once more the still places of the North are white and the +waters fettered—I shall shut my eyes and see again the ripple and the +toss of June, and hear once more the under voices of the falls. And some +day I shall return to those far shores, for it is a place to find one's +soul.</p> + +<p>Yet perhaps I should not leave that statement unqualified, for it +depends upon the sort of a soul that is to be found. The north wood does +not offer welcome or respond readily to the lover of conventional luxury +and the smaller comforts of living. Luxury is there, surely, but it is +the luxury that rewards effort, and privation, and toil. It is the +comfort of food and warmth and dry clothes after a day of endurance—a +day of wet, and dragging weariness, and bitter chill. It is the bliss of +reaching, after long, toilsome travel, a place where you can meet the +trout—the splendid, full-grown wild trout, in his native home, knowing +that you will not find a picnic party on every brook and a fisherman +behind every tree. Finally, it is the preciousness of isolation, the +remoteness from men who dig up and tear down and destroy, who set +whistles to tooting and bells to jingling—who shriek themselves hoarse +in the market place and make the world ugly and discordant, and life a +short and fevered span in which the soul has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> a chance to become no more +than a feeble and crumpled thing. And if that kind of a soul pleases +you, don't go to the woods. It will be only a place of mosquitoes, and +general wetness, and discomfort. You won't care for it. You will hate +it. But if you are willing to get wet and stay wet—to get cold and stay +cold—to be bruised, and scuffed, and bitten—to be hungry and thirsty +and to have your muscles strained and sore from unusual taxation: if you +will welcome all these things, not once, but many times, for the sake of +moments of pure triumph and that larger luxury which comes with the +comfort of the camp and the conquest of the wilderness, then go! The +wilderness will welcome you, and teach you, and take you to its heart. +And you will find your own soul there; and the discovery will be worth +while!</p> + +<h4>THE END</h4> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Interesting Fiction</h2> + +<h3><i>Bar-20</i></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>By CLARENCE E. MULFORD</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The doings of the famous outfit of Bar-20, an old-time ranch +in Arizona, are here recorded. Fifth edition.</p> + +<p><i>The Cleveland News</i>: "The author knows old Arizona as Harte +knew Poverty Row and Poker Flat." <i>Cleveland Plain Dealer</i>: +"After the style of Mr. Wister."</p></div> + +<h3><i>The Orphan</i></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This stirring tale deals with the same characters, time, and +country as the former success, "Bar-20." It is a yarn +decidedly worth while. Greater even than the author's first +book. Third edition.</p> + +<p><i>The Salt Lake City Tribune says</i>: "This is a live, virile +story of the boundless West ... of very great +attractiveness."</p></div> + +<h3><i>At the Foot of the Rainbow</i></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>By GENE STRATTON-PORTER</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The scene of this charming, idyllic love story is laid in +Central Indiana. It is for the man who loves the earth under +his foot, the splash of the black bass, the scent of the +pine wood, and the hum of earth close to his ear.</p> + +<p><i>The New York Times says</i>: "The novel is imbued throughout +with a poet's love of nature, and its pathos and tender +sentiment place it in the category of heart romances."</p></div> + +<h3><i>The Way of a Man</i></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>By EMERSON HOUGH</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A great, strong, masterful romance of American life in the +early sixties. Love, romance and adventure are paramount in +this wonderful story.</p> + +<p><i>The Chicago Record-Herald says</i>: "A story that grips the +reader's attention, whets his appetite, and leaves him ever +eager for more."</p></div> + +<h3><i>The Sportsman's Primer</i></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>By NORMAN H. CROWELL</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Illustrated, decorative cover design, boards. Price, $1.25.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>For the man who enjoys sport of all kinds—for every person +who has even an "ounce" of humor—this book will prove a +gold mine of fun.</p> + +<p><i>The St Louis Republic says</i>: "Most enjoyable."</p> + +<p><i>Albany Times-Union says</i>: "One of the jolliest of fun +making books."</p></div> + +<h4><i>THE OUTING PUBLISHING CO.</i></h4> + +<h4><i>35-37 WEST 31ST STREET, NEW YORK</i></h4> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The ordinary New York and New England "half pound trout" +will weigh anywhere from four to six ounces. It takes a trout nearly a +foot long to weigh half a pound. With each additional inch the weight +increases rapidly. A trout thirteen inches in length will weigh about +three quarters of a pound. A fourteen-inch trout will weigh a pound. A +fifteen-inch trout, in good condition, will weigh one and a half pounds, +plump.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> When this chapter appeared in <i>The Outing Magazine</i> +Frederic Remington wrote as follows: +</p><p> +"My dear Paine: Just read your <i>Outing</i> article on the woods and your +speculation on 'why mosquitoes were made,' etc. I know the answer. They +were created to aid civilization—otherwise, no man not an idiot would +live anywhere else than in the woods." +</p><p> +I am naturally glad to have this word of wisdom from an authority like +Remington, but I still think that Providence could have achieved the +same result and somehow managed to leave the mosquito out of it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The publisher wished me to go on with the story at this +point. The man referred to above got his experience in Wall Street. He +got enough in half a day to keep him in advice for forty-seven years.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Pronounced To-be-at-ic</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> I believe the best authorities say that one change is +enough to take on a camping trip, and maybe it is—for the best +authorities.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> I have just learned from Eddie that Nova Scotia has +recently enacted a new law, adequately protecting the beaver. I shall +leave the above, however, as applying to other and less humane +districts, wherever located.</p></div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tent Dwellers, by Albert Bigelow Paine + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TENT DWELLERS *** + +***** This file should be named 33846-h.htm or 33846-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/8/4/33846/ + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Internet +Archive. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 + + +Title: The Tent Dwellers + +Author: Albert Bigelow Paine + +Illustrator: Hy. Watson + +Release Date: October 7, 2010 [EBook #33846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TENT DWELLERS *** + + + + +Produced by Annie McGuire. This book was produced from +scanned images of public domain material from the Internet +Archive. + + + + + + + + + +The Tent Dwellers + + + + +[Illustration: "He was swearing steadily and I think still blaming me +for most of his troubles."--_Page_ 83.] + + + + +THE TENT +DWELLERS + + +BY +ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE + +_Author of "The Van Dwellers," "The Lucky Piece," etc_. + + +_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HY. WATSON_ + + +[Illustration] + + +NEW YORK +THE OUTING PUBLISHING CO. +MCMVIII + + +COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY +THE OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY + + + + +Chapter One + + + _Come, shape your plans where the fire is bright,_ + _And the shimmering glasses are--_ + _When the woods are white in the winter's night,_ + _Under the northern star._ + + + + +Chapter One + + +It was during the holiday week that Eddie proposed the matter. That is +Eddie's way. No date, for him, is too far ahead to begin to plan +anything that has vari-colored flies in it, and tents, and the prospect +of the campfire smell. The very mention of these things will make his +hair bristle up (rather straight, still hair it is and silvered over +with premature wisdom) and put a new glare into his spectacles (rather +wide, round spectacles they are) until he looks even more like an +anarchist than usual--more indeed than in the old Heidelberg days, when, +as a matter of truth, he is a gentle soul; sometimes, when he has +transgressed, or thinks he has, almost humble. + +As I was saying, it was during the holidays--about the end of the week, +as I remember it--and I was writing some letters at the club in the +little raised corner that looks out on the park, when I happened to +glance down toward the fireplace, and saw Eddie sitting as nearly on his +coat collar as possible, in one of the wide chairs, and as nearly in the +open hickory fire as he could get, pawing over a book of Silver +Doctors, Brown Hackles and the like, and dreaming a long, long dream. + +Now, I confess there is something about a book of trout flies, even at +the year's end, when all the brooks are flint and gorged with white, +when all the north country hides under seamless raiment that stretches +even to the Pole itself--even at such a time, I say, there is something +about those bits of gimp, and gut, and feathers, and steel, that prick +up the red blood of any man--or of any woman, for that matter--who has +ever flung one of those gaudy things into a swirl of dark water, and +felt the swift, savage tug on the line and heard the music of the +singing reel. + +I forgot that I was writing letters and went over there. + +"Tell me about it, Eddie," I said. "Where are you going, this time?" + +Then he unfolded to me a marvelous plan. It was a place in Nova +Scotia--he had been there once before, only, this time he was going a +different route, farther into the wilderness, the deep unknown, +somewhere even the guides had never been. Perhaps stray logmen had been +there, or the Indians; sportsmen never. There had been no complete +surveys, even by the government. Certain rivers were known by their +outlets, certain lakes by name. It was likely that they formed the usual +network and that the circuit could be made by water, with occasional +carries. Unquestionably the waters swarmed with trout. A certain +imaginative Indian, supposed to have penetrated the unknown, had +declared that at one place were trout the size of one's leg. + +Eddie became excited as he talked and his hair bristled. He set down a +list of the waters so far as known, the names of certain guides, a +number of articles of provision and an array of camp paraphernalia. +Finally he made maps and other drawings and began to add figures. It was +dusk when we got back. The lights were winking along the park over the +way, and somewhere through the night, across a waste of cold, lay the +land we had visited, still waiting to be explored. We wandered out into +the dining room and settled the matter across a table. When we rose from +it, I was pledged--pledged for June; and this was still December, the +tail of the old year. + + + + +Chapter Two + + + _And let us buy for the days of spring,_ + _While yet the north winds blow!_ + _For half the joy of the trip, my boy,_ + _Is getting your traps to go._ + + + + +Chapter Two + + +Immediately we, that is to say, Eddie, began to buy things. It is +Eddie's way to read text-books and to consult catalogues with a view of +making a variety of purchases. He has had a great deal of experience in +the matter of camp life, but being a modest man he has a fund of respect +for the experience of others. Any one who has had enough ability, or +time, to write a book on the subject, and enough perseverance, or money, +to get it published, can preach the gospel of the woods to Eddie in the +matter of camp appointments; and even the manufacturers' catalogues are +considered sound reading. As a result, he has accumulated an amazing +collection of articles, adapted to every time and season, to every +change of wind and temperature, to every spot where the tent gleams +white in the campfire's blaze, from Greenland's icy mountains to India's +coral strand. Far be it from me to deride or deprecate this tendency, +even though it were a ruling passion. There are days, and nights, too, +recalled now with only a heart full of gratitude because of Eddie's +almost inexhaustible storehouse of comforts for soul and flesh--the +direct result of those text-books and those catalogues, and of the wild, +sweet joy he always found in making lists and laying in supplies. Not +having a turn that way, myself, he had but small respect for my ideas of +woodcraft and laid down the law of the forest to me with a firm hand. +When I hinted that I should need a new lancewood rod, he promptly +annulled the thought. When I suggested that I might aspire as far as a +rather good split bamboo, of a light but serviceable kind, he dispelled +the ambition forthwith. + +"You want a noibwood," he said. "I have just ordered one, and I will +take you to the same place to get it." + +[Illustration: "It was a field day for Eddie and he bought more."] + +I had never heard of this particular variety of timber, and it seemed +that Eddie had never heard of it, either, except in a catalogue and from +the lips of a dealer who had imported a considerable amount of the +material. Yet I went along, meekly enough, and ordered under his +direction. I also selected an assortment of flies--the prettiest he +would let me buy. A few others which I had set my heart on I had the +dealer slip in when Eddie wasn't looking. I was about to buy a curious +thing which a trout could not come near without fatal results, when the +wide glare of his spectacles rested on me and my courage failed. Then he +selected for me a long landing net, for use in the canoe, and another +with an elastic loop to go about the neck, for wading; leaders and +leader-boxes and the other elementary necessaries of angling in the +northern woods. Of course such things were as A, B, C to Eddie. He had +them in infinite variety, but it was a field day and he bought more. We +were out of the place at last, and I was heaving a sigh of relief that +this part of it was over and I need give the matter no further thought, +when Eddie remarked: + +"Well, we've made a pretty good start. We can come down here a lot of +times between now and June." + +"But what for?" I asked. + +"Oh, for things. You haven't a sleeping bag yet, and we'll be thinking +of other stuff right along. We can stay over a day in Boston, too, and +get some things there. I always do that. You want a good many things. +You can't get them in the woods, you know." + +Eddie was right about having plenty of time, for this was January. He +was wrong, however, about being unable to get things in the woods. I +did, often. I got Eddie's. + + + + +Chapter Three + + + _Now the gorges break and the streamlets wake_ + _And the sap begins to flow,_ + _And each green bud that stirs my blood_ + _Is a summons, and I must go._ + + + + +Chapter Three + + +Eddie could not wait until June. When the earliest April buds became +tiny, pale-green beads--that green which is like the green of no other +substance or season--along certain gray branches in the park across the +way, when there was a hint and flavor of stirring life in the morning +sun, then there came a new bristle into Eddie's hair, a new gleam into +his glasses, and I felt that the wood gods were calling, and that he +must obey. + +"It is proper that one of us should go on ahead," he argued, "and be +arranging for guides, canoes and the like at the other end." + +I urged that it was too soon--that the North was still white and hard +with cold--that preliminaries could be arranged by letter. I finally +suggested that there were still many things he would want to buy. He +wavered then, but it was no use. Eddie can put on a dinner dress with +the best and he has dined with kings. But he is a cave-, a cliff- and a +tree-dweller in his soul and the gods of his ancestors were not to be +gainsaid. He must be on the ground, he declared, and as for the +additional articles we might need, he would send me lists. Of course, I +knew he would do that, just as I knew that the one and mighty reason +for his going was to be where he could smell the first breath of the +budding North and catch the first flash and gleam of the waking trout in +the nearby waters. + +He was off, then, and the lists came as promised. I employed a sort of +general purchasing agent at length to attend to them, though this I +dared not confess, for to Eddie it would have been a sacrilege not easy +to forgive. That I could delegate to another any of the precious +pleasure of preparation, and reduce the sacred functions of securing +certain brands of eating chocolate, camp candles, and boot grease (three +kinds) to a commercial basis, would, I felt, be a thing almost +impossible to explain. The final list, he notified me, would be mailed +to a hotel in Boston, for the reason, he said, that it contained things +nowhere else procurable; though I am convinced that a greater reason was +a conviction on his part that no trip could be complete without buying a +few articles in Boston at the last hour before sailing, and his desire +for me to experience this concluding touch of the joy of preparation. +Yet I was glad, on the whole, for I was able to buy secretly some things +he never would have permitted--among them a phantom minnow which looked +like a tin whistle, a little four-ounce bamboo rod, and a gorgeous Jock +Scott fly with two hooks. The tin whistle and the Jock Scott looked +deadly, and the rod seemed adapted to a certain repose of muscle after a +period of activity with the noibwood. I decided to conceal these +purchases about my person and use them when Eddie wasn't looking. + +But then it was sailing time, and as the short-nosed energetic steamer +dropped away from the dock, a storm (there had been none for weeks +before) set in, and we pitched and rolled, and through a dim disordered +night I clung to my berth and groaned, and stared at my things in the +corner and hated them according to my condition. Then morning brought +quiet waters and the custom house at Yarmouth, where the tourist who is +bringing in money, and maybe a few other things, is made duly welcome +and not bothered with a lot of irrelevant questions. What Nova Scotia +most needs is money, and the fisherman and the hunter, once through the +custom house, become a greater source of revenue than any tax that could +be laid on their modest, not to say paltry, baggage, even though the +contents of one's trunk be the result of a list such as only Eddie can +prepare. There is a wholesome restaurant at Yarmouth, too, just by the +dock, where after a tossing night at sea one welcomes a breakfast of +good salt ham, with eggs, and pie--two kinds of the latter, pumpkin and +mince. + +I had always wondered where the pie-belt went, after it reached Boston. +Now I know that it extends across to Yarmouth and so continues up +through Nova Scotia to Halifax. Certain New Englanders more than a +hundred years ago, "went down to Nova Scotia," for the reason that they +fostered a deeper affection for George, the King, than for George of the +Cherry Tree and Hatchet. The cherry limb became too vigorous in their +old homes and the hatchet too sharp, so they crossed over and took the +end of the pie-belt along. They maintained their general habits and +speech, too, which in Nova Scotia to-day are almost identical with those +of New England. But I digress--a grave and besetting sin. + +I had hoped Eddie would welcome me at the railway station after the long +forenoon's ride--rather lonely, in spite of the new land and the fact +that I made the acquaintance of a fisherman who taught me how to put +wrappings on a rod. Eddie did not meet me. He sent the wagon, instead, +and I enjoyed a fifteen-mile ride across June hills where apple blossoms +were white, with glimpses of lake and stream here and there; through +woods that were a promise of the wilderness to come; by fields so +thickly studded with bowlders that one to plant them must use drill and +dynamite, getting my first impression of the interior of Nova Scotia +alone. Then at last came a church, a scattering string of houses, a +vista of lakes, a neat white hotel and the edge of the wilderness had +been reached. On the hotel steps a curious, hairy, wild-looking figure +was capering about doing a sort of savage dance--perhaps as a +preparation for war. At first I made it out to be a counterpart of +pictures I had seen of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. Then I +discovered that it wore wide spectacles and these in the fading sunlight +sent forth a familiar glare. So it was Eddie, after all, and no edged +tool had touched hair or beard since April. I understood, now, why he +had not met me at the station. + + + + +Chapter Four + + + _Now, the day is at hand, prepare, prepare--_ + _Make ready the boots and creel,_ + _And the rod so new and the fly-book, too,_ + _The line and the singing reel._ + + + + +Chapter Four + + +[Illustration: "Eddie's room and contents ... was a marvel and a +revelation."] + +Eddie's room and contents, with Eddie in the midst of them, was a marvel +and a revelation. All the accouterments of former expeditions of +whatever sort, all that he had bought for this one, all that I had +shipped from week to week, were gathered there. There were wading boots +and camp boots and moccasins and Dutch bed-slippers and shoepacks--the +last-named a sort of Micmac Indian cross between a shoe and a moccasin, +much affected by guides, who keep them saturated with oil and wear them +in the water and out--there were nets of various sizes and sorts, from +large minnow nets through a line of landing nets to some silk head nets, +invented and made by Eddie himself, one for each of us, to pull on day +or night when the insect pests were bad. There was a quantity of +self-prepared ointment, too, for the same purpose, while of sovereign +remedies, balms and anodynes for ills and misfortunes, Eddie's +collection was as the sands of the sea. Soothing lotions there were for +wounds new and old; easing draughts for pains internal and external; +magic salves such as were used by the knights of old romance, Amadis de +Gaul and others, for the instant cure of ghastly lacerations made by man +or beast, and a large fresh bottle of a collodion preparation with +which the victim could be painted locally or in general, and stand forth +at last, good as new--restored, body, bones and skin. In addition there +was a certain bottle of the fluid extract of gelsemium, or something +like that, which was recommended for anything that the rest of the +assortment could do, combined. It was said to be good for everything +from a sore throat to a snake bite--the list of its benefits being +recorded in a text-book by which Eddie set great store. + +"Take it, by all means, Eddie," I said, "then you won't need any of the +others." + +That settled it. The gelsemium was left behind. + +I was interested in Eddie's rods, leaning here and there on various +parcels about the room. I found that the new noibwood, such as I had +ordered, was only a unit in a very respectable aggregate--rather an +unimportant unit it appeared by this time, for Eddie calmly assured me +that the tip had remained set after landing a rather small trout in a +nearby stream and that he did not consider the wood altogether suitable +for trout rods. Whereupon I was moved to confess the little bamboo stick +I had bought in Boston, and produced it for inspection. I could see that +Eddie bristled a bit as I uncased it and I think viewed it and wiggled +it with rather small respect. Still, he did not condemn it utterly and I +had an impulse to confess the other things, the impossible little +scale-wing flies, the tin whistle and the Jock Scott with two hooks. +However, it did not seem just the psychological moment, and I refrained. + +As for Eddie's flies, viewed together, they were a dazzling lot. There +were books and books of them--American, English, Scotch and what not. +There was one book of English dry-flies, procured during a recent +sojourn abroad, to be tried in American waters. One does not dance and +jiggle a dry-fly to give it the appearance of life--of some unusual +creature with rainbow wings and the ability to wriggle upstream, even +against a swift current. The dry-fly is built to resemble life itself, +color, shape and all, and is cast on a slow-moving stream where a trout +is seen to rise, and allowed to drift with the gently flowing current +exactly over the magic spot. All this Eddie explained to me and let me +hold the book a little time, though I could see he did not intend to let +me use one of the precious things, and would prefer that I did not touch +them. + +He was packing now and I wandered idly about this uncatalogued museum of +sporting goods. There was a heap of canvas and blankets in one corner--a +sleeping bag, it proved, with an infinite number of compartments, or +layers; there were hats of many shapes, vests of many fabrics, coats of +many colors. There were things I had seen before only in sporting goods +windows; there were things I had never seen before, anywhere; there were +things of which I could not even guess the use. In the center of +everything were bags--canvas and oil-skin receptacles, vigorously named +"tackle bag," "wardrobe," "war bag" and the like--and into these the +contents of the room were gradually but firmly disappearing, taking +their pre-destined place according to Eddie's method--for, after all, it +was a method--and as I looked at Eddie, unshaven for weeks, grizzled and +glaring, yet glowing with deep kindliness and the joy of anticipation, I +could think of nothing but Santa Claus, packing for his annual journey +that magic bag which holds more and ever more, and is so deep and so +wide in its beneficence that after all the comforts and the sweets of +life are crowded within, there still is room for more a-top. Remembering +my own one small bag which I had planned to take, with side pockets for +tackle, and a place between for certain changes of raiment, I felt my +unimportance more and more, and the great need of having an outfit like +Eddie's--of having it in the party, I mean, handy like, where it would +be easy to get hold of in time of need. I foresaw that clothes would +want mending; also, perhaps, rods; and it was pleasant to note that my +tent-mate would have boxes of tools for all such repairs. + +I foresaw, too, that I should burn, and bruise, and cut myself and that +Eddie's liniments and lotions and New Skin would come in handy. It +seemed to me that in those bags would be almost everything that human +heart could need or human ills require, and when we went below where Del +and Charlie, our appointed guides, were crowding certain other bags +full of the bulkier stores--packages, cans and bottles, and when I gazed +about on still other things--tents, boots, and baskets of camp +furniture--I had a sense of being cared for, though I could not but +wonder how two small canoes were going to float all that provender and +plunder and four strong men. + + + + +Chapter Five + + + _Then away to the heart of the deep unknown,_ + _Where the trout and the wild moose are--_ + _Where the fire burns bright, and tent gleams white_ + _Under the northern star._ + + + + +Chapter Five + + +It was possible to put our canoes into one of the lakes near the hotel +and enter the wilderness by water--the Liverpool chain--but it was +decided to load boats and baggage into wagons and drive through the +woods--a distance of some seventeen uneven miles--striking at once for +the true wilderness where the larger trout were said to dwell and the +"over Sunday" fisherman does not penetrate. Then for a day or two we +would follow waters and portages familiar to our guides, after which we +would be on the borders of the unknown, prepared to conquer the +wilderness with an assortment of fishing rods, a supply of mosquito +ointment and a pair of twenty-two caliber rifles, these being our only +guns. + +It seems hardly necessary to say that we expected to do little shooting. +In the first place it was out of season for most things, though this did +not matter so much, for Eddie had in some manner armed himself with a +commission from the British Museum to procure specimens dead or alive, +and this amounted to a permit to kill, and skin, and hence to eat, +promiscuously and at will. But I believe as a party, we were averse to +promiscuous killing; besides it is well to be rather nice in the matter +of special permits. Also, we had come, in the main, for trout and +exploration. It was agreed between us that, even if it were possible to +hit anything with our guns, we would not kill without skinning, and we +wouldn't skin without eating, after which resolution the forest things +probably breathed easier, for it was a fairly safe handicap. + +I shall not soon forget that morning drive to Jake's Landing, at the +head of Lake Kedgeemakoogee, where we put in our canoes. My trip on the +train along the coast, and the drive through farming country, more or +less fertile, had given me little conception of this sinister +land--rock-strewn and barren, seared by a hundred forest fires. Whatever +of green timber still stands is likely to be little more than brush. +Above it rise the bare, gaunt skeletons of dead forests, bleached with +age, yet blackened by the tongues of flame that burned out the life and +wealth of a land which is now little more than waste and desolation--the +haunt of the moose, the loon and the porcupine, the natural home of the +wild trout. + +It is true, that long ago, heavy timber was cut from these woods, but +the wealth thus obtained was as nothing to that which has gone up in +conflagrations, started by the careless lumbermen and prospectors and +hunters of a later day. Such timber as is left barely pays for the +cutting, and old sluices are blocked and old dams falling to decay. No +tiller of the soil can exist in these woods, for the ground is heaped +and drifted and windrowed with slabs and bowlders, suggesting the wreck +of some mighty war of the gods--some titanic missile-flinging combat, +with this as the battle ground. Bleak, unsightly, unproductive, mangled +and distorted out of all shape and form of loveliness, yet with a +fierce, wild fascination in it that amounts almost to beauty--that is +the Nova Scotia woods. + +Only the water is not like that. Once on the stream or lake and all is +changed. For the shores are green; the river or brook is clear and +cold--and tarry black in the deep places; the water leaps and dashes in +whirlpools and torrents, and the lakes are fairy lakes, full of green +islands--mere ledges, many of them, with two or three curious sentinel +pines--and everywhere the same clear, black water, and always the trout, +the wonderful, wild, abounding Nova Scotia trout. + +To Jake's Landing was a hard, jolting drive over a bad road, with only a +break here and there where there is a house or two, and maybe a sawmill +and a post-office, the last sentinels of civilization. It was at +Maitland, the most important of these way stations, that we met Loon. +Maitland is almost a village, an old settlement, in fact, with a store +or two, some pretty houses and a mill. Loon is a dog of the hound +variety who makes his home there, and a dear and faithful friend of +Eddie's, by the latter's account. Indeed, as we drew near Maitland, +after announcing that he would wish to stop at the Maitland stores to +procure some new things he had thought of, Eddie became really boastful +of an earlier friendship with Loon. He had met Loon on a former visit, +during his (Loon's) puppyhood days, and he had recorded the meeting in +his diary, wherein Loon had been set down as "a most intelligent and +affectionate young dog." He produced the diary now as evidence, and I +could see that our guides were impressed by this method of systematic +and absolute record which no one dare dispute. He proceeded to tell us +all he knew about Loon, and how glad Loon would be to see him again, +until we were all jealous that no intelligent and affectionate hound dog +was waiting for us at Maitland to sound the joy of welcome and to speed +us with his parting bark. + +Then all at once we were at Maitland and before Loon's home, and sure +enough there in the front yard, wagging both body and tail, stood Loon. +It took but one glance for Eddie to recognize him. Perhaps it took no +more than that for Loon to recognize Eddie. I don't know; but what he +did was this: He lifted up his voice as one mourning for a lost soul and +uttered such a series of wails and lamentations as only a hound dog in +the deepest sorrow can make manifest. + +"Wow-ow-oo-ow-wow-oo-oo-o." + +The loon bird sends a fairly unhappy note floating down the wet, chill +loneliness of a far, rainy lake, but never can the most forlorn of loons +hope to approach his canine namesake of Maitland. Once more he broke +out into a burst of long-drawn misery, then suddenly took off under the +house as if he had that moment remembered an appointment there, and +feared he would be late. But presently he looked out, fearfully enough, +and with his eyes fixed straight on Eddie, set up still another of those +heart-breaking protests. + +As for Eddie, I could see that he was hurt. He climbed miserably down +from the wagon and crept gently toward the sorrowing hound. + +"Nice Loon--nice, good Loon. Don't you remember me?" + +"Wow-ow-oo-ow-wow-oo-oo-o," followed by another disappearance under the +house. + +"Come, Loon, come out and see your old friend--that's a good dog!" + +It was no use. Loon's sorrow would not be allayed, and far beyond +Maitland we still heard him wailing it down the wind. + +Of course it was but natural that we should discuss the matter with +Eddie. He had assured us that dogs never forget, and we pressed him now +to confess what extreme cruelty or deceit he had practiced upon Loon in +his puppyhood, that the grown hound dog had remembered, and reproached +him for to-day. But for the most part Eddie remained silent and seemed +depressed. Neither did he again produce his diary, though we urged him +to do so, in order that he might once more read to us what he had +recorded of Loon. Perhaps something had been overlooked, something that +would make Loon's lamentations clear. I think we were all glad when at +last there came a gleam through the trees and we were at Jake's Landing, +where our boats would first touch the water, where we would break our +bread in the wilderness for the first time. + +[Illustration: "Eddie produced his jug of fly mixture and we anointed +ourselves for the first time, putting on a pungent fragrance."] + +It was not much of a place to camp. There was little shade, a good deal +of mud, and the sun was burning hot. There was a remnant of black flies, +too, and an advance guard of mosquitoes. Eddie produced his jug of fly +mixture and we anointed ourselves for the first time, putting on a +pungent fragrance which was to continue a part of us, body and bone, so +long as the wilderness remained our shelter. It was greasy and sticky +and I could not muster an instant liking for the combined fragrance of +camphor, pennyroyal and tar. But Eddie assured me that I would learn to +love it, and I was willing to try. + +I was more interested in the loading of the canoes. Del, stout of muscle +and figure--not to say fat, at least not over fat--and Charlie, light of +weight and heart--sometimes known as Charles the Strong--were packing +and fitting our plunder into place, condensing it into a tight and solid +compass in the center of our canoes in a way that commanded my respect +and even awe. I could see, however, that when our craft was loaded the +water line and the gunwale were not so far apart, and I realized that +one would want to sit decently still in a craft like that, especially in +rough water. + +Meantime, Eddie had coupled up a rod and standing on a projecting log +was making a few casts. I assumed that he was merely giving us an +exhibition of his skill in throwing a fly, with no expectation of really +getting a rise in this open, disturbed place. It was fine, though, to +see his deft handling of the rod and I confess I watched him with +something of envy. I may confess, too, that my own experience with fly +casting had been confined to tumbling brooks with small pools and +overhanging boughs, where to throw a fly means merely to drop it on a +riffle, or at most to swing it out over a swirling current below a fall. +I wondered as I watched Eddie if I ever should be able to send a fly +sailing backward and then shoot it out forward a matter of twenty yards +or so with that almost imperceptible effort of the wrist; and even if I +did learn the movement, if I could manage to make the fly look real +enough in such smooth, open water as this to fool even the blindest and +silliest of trout. + +But, suddenly, where Eddie's fly--it was a Silver Doctor, I think--fell +lightly on the water, there was a quick swirl, a flash and then a +widening circle of rings. + +"You got him comin'," commented Charlie, who, it seems, had been +noticing. + +The fly went skimming out over the water again and softly as thistle +seed settled exactly in the center of the circling rings. But before it +touched, almost, there came the flash and break again, and this time +there followed the quick stiffening of the rod, a sudden tightening of +the line, and a sharp, keen singing of the reel. + +"That's the time," commented Charlie and reached for a landing net. + +To him it was as nothing--a thing to be done a hundred times a day. But +to me the world heaved and reeled with excitement. It was the first +trout of the expedition, the first trout I had ever seen taken in such +water, probably the largest trout I had ever seen taken in any water. In +the tension of the moment I held my breath, or uttered involuntary +comments. + +It was beautiful to see Eddie handle that trout. The water was open and +smooth and there is no gainsaying Eddie's skill. Had he been giving an +exhibition performance it could not have been more perfect. There was no +eagerness, no driving and dragging, no wild fear of the fish getting +away. The curved rod, the taut swaying line, and the sensitive hand and +wrist did the work. Now and again there was a rush, and the reel sang as +it gave line, but there was never the least bit of slack in the recover. +Nearer and nearer came the still unseen captive, and then presently our +fisherman took the net from his guide, there was a little dipping +movement in the water at his feet and the first trout of the expedition +was a visible fact--his golden belly and scarlet markings the subject of +admiration and comment. + +It was not a very big fish by Nova Scotia standards--about +three-quarters of a pound, I believe; but it was the largest trout I had +ever seen alive, at that time, and I was consumed with envy. I was also +rash. A little more, and I had a rod up, was out on a log engaged in a +faithful effort to swing that rod exactly like Eddie's and to land the +fly precisely in the same place. + +But for some reason the gear wouldn't work. In front of me, the fly fell +everywhere but in the desired spot, and back of me the guides dodged and +got behind bushes. You see, a number three steel hook sailing about +promiscuously in the air, even when partially concealed in a fancy bunch +of feathers, is a thing to be avoided. I had a clear field in no time, +but perhaps Eddie had caught the only fish in the pool, for even he +could get no more rises. Still I persisted and got hot and fierce, and +when I looked at Eddie I hated him because he didn't cut his hair, and +reflected bitterly that it was no wonder a half-savage creature like +that could fish. Finally I hooked a tree top behind me and in jerking +the fly loose made a misstep and went up to my waist in water. The +tension broke then--I helped to break it--and the fishing trip had +properly begun. + +The wagons had left us now, and we were alone with our canoes and our +guides. Del, the stout, who was to have my especial fortunes in hand, +knelt in the stern of the larger canoe and I gingerly entered the bow. +Then Eddie and his guide found their respective places in the lighter +craft and we were ready to move. A moment more and we would drop down +the stream to the lake, and so set out on our long journey. + +I recall now that I was hot and wet and still a little cross. I had +never had any especial enthusiasm about the expedition and more than +once had regretted my pledge made across the table at the end of the old +year. Even the bustle of preparation and the journey into a strange land +had only mildly stirred me, and I felt now that for me, at least, things +were likely to drag. There were many duties at home that required +attention. These woods were full of mosquitoes, probably malaria. It was +possible that I should take cold, be very ill and catch no fish +whatever. But then suddenly we dropped out into the lake Kedgeemakoogee, +the lake of the fairies--a broad expanse of black water, dotted with +green islands, and billowing white in the afternoon wind, and just as we +rounded I felt a sudden tug at the end of my line which was trailing out +behind the canoe. + +In an instant I was alive. Del cautioned me softly from the stern, for +there is no guide who does not wish his charge to acquit himself well. + +"Easy now--easy," he said. "That's a good one--don't hurry him." + +But every nerve in me began to tingle--every drop of blood to move +faster. I was eaten with a wild desire to drag my prize into the boat +before he could escape. Then all at once it seemed to me that my line +must be fast, the pull was so strong and fixed. But looking out behind, +Del saw the water break just then--a sort of double flash. + +"Good, you've got a pair," he said. "Careful, now, and we'll save 'em +both." + +To tell the truth I had no hope of saving either, and if I was careful I +didn't feel so. When I let the line go out, as I was obliged to, now and +then, to keep from breaking it altogether, I had a wild, hopeless +feeling that I could never take it up again and that the prize was just +that much farther away. Whenever there came a sudden slackening I was +sickened with a fear that the fish were gone, and ground the reel handle +feverishly. Fifty yards away the other canoe, with Eddie in the bow, had +struck nothing as yet, and if I could land these two I should be one +ahead on the score. It seems now a puny ambition, but it was vital then. +I was no longer cold, or hot, or afraid of malaria, or mosquitoes, or +anything of the sort. Duties more or less important at home were +forgotten. I was concerned only with those two trout that had fastened +to my flies, the Silver Doctor and the Parmcheenie Belle, out there in +the black, tossing water, and with the proper method of keeping my line +taut, but not too taut, easy, but not too easy, with working the prize +little by little within reach of the net. Eddie, suddenly seeing my +employment, called across congratulations and encouragement. Then, +immediately, he was busy too, with a fish of his own, and the sport, the +great, splendid sport of the far north woods, had really begun. + +I brought my catch near the boatside at last, but it is no trifling +matter to get two trout into a net when they are strung out on a +six-foot leader, with the big trout on the top fly. Reason dictates that +the end trout should go in first and at least twice I had him in, when +the big fellow at the top gave a kick that landed both outside. It's a +mercy I did not lose both, but at last with a lucky hitch they were duly +netted, in the canoe, and I was weak and hysterical, but triumphant. +There was one of nearly a pound and a half, and the other a strong +half-pound, not guess weight, but by Eddie's scales, which I confess I +thought niggardly. Never had I taken such fish in the Adirondack or +Berkshire streams I had known, and what was more, these were two at a +time![1] + +Eddie had landed a fine trout also, and we drew alongside, now, for +consultation. The wind had freshened, the waves were running higher, +and with our heavy canoes the six-mile paddle across would be a risky +undertaking. Why not pitch our first night's camp nearby, here on Jim +Charles point--a beautiful spot where once long ago a half-civilized +Indian had made his home? In this cove before dark we could do abundant +fishing. + +For me there was no other plan. I was all enthusiasm, now. There were +trout here and I could catch them. That was enough. Civilization--the +world, flesh and the devil--mankind and all the duties of life were as +nothing. Here were the woods and the waters. There was the point for the +campfire and the tents. About us were the leaping trout. The spell of +the forest and the chase gripped me body and soul. Only these things +were worth while. Nothing else mattered--nothing else existed. + +We landed and in a little while the tents were white on the shore, Del +and Charlie getting them up as if by conjury. Then once more we were out +in the canoes and the curved rod and the taut line and the singing reel +dominated every other force under the wide sky. It was not the truest +sport, maybe, for the fish were chiefly taken with trolling flies. But +to me, then, it did not matter. Suffice it that they were fine and +plentiful, and that I was two ahead of Eddie when at last we drew in for +supper. + +That was joy enough, and then such trout--for there are no trout on +earth like those one catches himself--such a campfire, such a cozy tent +(Eddie's it was, from one of the catalogues), with the guides' tent +facing, and the fire between. For us there was no world beyond that +circle of light that on one side glinted among boughs of spruce and +cedar and maple and birch, and on the other, gleamed out on the black +water. Lying back on our beds and smoking, and looking at the fire and +the smoke curling up among the dark branches toward the stars, and +remembering the afternoon's sport and all the other afternoons and +mornings and nights still to come, I was moved with a deep sense of +gratitude in my heart toward Eddie. + +"Eddie," I murmured, "I forgive you all those lists, and everything, +even your hair. I begin to understand now something of how you feel +about the woods and the water, and all. Next time----" + +Then (for it was the proper moment) I confessed fully--the purchasing +agent, the tin whistle, even the Jock Scott with two hooks. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The ordinary New York and New England "half pound trout" will weigh +anywhere from four to six ounces. It takes a trout nearly a foot long to +weigh half a pound. With each additional inch the weight increases +rapidly. A trout thirteen inches in length will weigh about three +quarters of a pound. A fourteen-inch trout will weigh a pound. A +fifteen-inch trout, in good condition, will weigh one and a half pounds, +plump. + + + + +Chapter Six + + + _Nearer the fire the shadows creep--_ + _The brands burn dim and red--_ + _While the pillow of sleep lies soft and deep_ + _Under a weary head._ + + + + +Chapter Six + + +When one has been accustomed to the comforts of civilized life--the +small ones, I mean, for they are the only ones that count--the beginning +of a wild, free life near to nature's heart begets a series of +impressions quite new, and strange--so strange. It is not that one +misses a house of solid walls and roof, with stairways and steam +radiators. These are the larger comforts and are more than made up for +by the sheltering temple of the trees, the blazing campfire and the +stairway leading to the stars. But there are things that one does +miss--a little--just at first. When we had finished our first evening's +smoke and the campfire was burning low--when there was nothing further +to do but go to bed, I suddenly realized that the man who said he would +be willing to do without all the rest of a house if he could keep the +bathroom, spoke as one with an inspired knowledge of human needs. + +I would not suggest that I am a person given to luxurious habits and +vain details in the matter of evening toilet. But there are so many +things one is in the habit of doing just about bedtime, which in a +bathroom, with its varied small conveniences, seem nothing at all, yet +which assume undue proportions in the deep, dim heart of nature where +only the large primitive comforts have been provided. I had never been +in the habit, for instance, of stumbling through several rods of bushes +and tangled vines to get to a wash-bowl that was four miles wide and six +miles long and full of islands and trout, and maybe snapping turtles (I +know there were snapping turtles, for Charlie had been afraid to leave +his shoepacks on the beach for fear the turtles would carry them off), +and I had not for many years known what it was to bathe my face on a +ground level or to brush my teeth in the attitude of prayer. It was all +new and strange, as I have said, and there was no hot water--not even a +faucet--that didn't run, maybe, because the man upstairs was using it. +There wasn't any upstairs except the treetops and the sky, though, after +all, these made up for a good deal, for the treetops feathered up and +faded into the dusky blue, and the blue was sown with stars that were +caught up and multiplied by every tiny wrinkle on the surface of the +great black bowl and sent in myriad twinklings to our feet. + +Still, I would have exchanged the stars for a few minutes, for a +one-candle power electric light, or even for a single gas jet with such +gas as one gets when the companies combine and establish a uniform rate. +I had mislaid my tube of dentifrice and in the dim, pale starlight I +pawed around and murmured to myself a good while before I finally called +Eddie to help me. + +"Oh, let it go," he said. "It'll be there for you in the morning. I +always leave mine, and my soap and towel, too." + +He threw his towel over a limb, laid his soap on a log and faced toward +the camp. I hesitated. I was unused to leaving my things out overnight. +My custom was to hang my towel neatly over a rack, to stand my +toothbrush upright in a glass on a little shelf with the dentifrice +beside it. Habit is strong. I did not immediately consent to this wide +and gaudy freedom of the woods. + +"Suppose it rains," I said. + +"All the better--it will wash the towels." + +"But they will be wet in the morning." + +"Um--yes--in the woods things generally are wet in the morning. You'll +get used to that." + +It is likewise my habit to comb my hair before retiring, and to look at +myself in the glass, meantime. This may be due to vanity. It may be a +sort of general inspection to see if I have added any new features, or +lost any of those plucked from the family tree. Perhaps it is only to +observe what the day's burdens have done for me in the way of wrinkles +and gray hairs. Never mind the reason, it is a habit; but I didn't +realize how precious it was to me until I got back to the tent and found +that our only mirror was in Eddie's collection, set in the back of a +combination comb-brush affair about the size of one's thumb. + +Of course it was not at all adequate for anything like a general +inspection. It would just about hold one eye, or a part of a mouth, or +a section of a nose, or a piece of an ear or a little patch of hair, and +it kept you busy guessing where that patch was located. Furthermore, as +the comb was a part of the combination, the little mirror was obliged to +be twinkling around over one's head at the precise moment when it should +have been reflecting some portion of one's features. It served no useful +purpose, thus, and was not much better when I looked up another comb and +tried to use it in the natural way. Held close and far off, twisted and +turned, it was no better. I felt lost and disturbed, as one always does +when suddenly deprived of the exercise of an old and dear habit, and I +began to make mental notes of some things I should bring on the next +trip. + +There was still a good deal to do--still a number of small but precious +conveniences to be found wanting. Eddie noticed that I was getting into +action and said he would stay outside while I was stowing myself away; +which was good of him, for I needed the room. When I began to take on +things I found I needed his bed, too, to put them on. I suppose I had +expected there would be places to hang them. I am said to be rather +absent-minded, and I believe I stood for several minutes with some sort +of a garment in my hand, turning thoughtfully one way and another, +probably expecting a hook to come drifting somewhere within reach. Yes, +hooks are one of the small priceless conveniences, and under-the-bed is +another. I never suspected that the space under the bed could be a +luxury until I began to look for a place to put my shoes and handbag. +Our tent was just long enough for our sleeping-bags, and just about wide +enough for them--one along each side, with a narrow footway between. +They were laid on canvas stretchers which had poles through wide hems +down the sides--the ends of these poles (cut at each camp and selected +for strength and springiness) spread apart and tacked to larger cross +poles, which arrangement raised us just clear of the ground, leaving no +space for anything of consequence underneath. You could hardly put a +fishing rod there, or a pipe, without discomfort to the flesh and danger +to the articles. Undressing and bestowing oneself in an upper berth is +attended with problems, but the berth is not so narrow, and it is flat +and solid, and there are hooks and little hammocks and things--valuable +advantages, now fondly recalled. I finally piled everything on Eddie's +bed, temporarily. I didn't know what I was going to do with it next, but +anything was a boon for the moment. Just then Eddie looked in. + +"That's your pillow material, you know," he said, pointing to my medley +of garments. "You want a pillow, don't you?" + +Sure enough, I had no pillow, and I did want one. I always want a pillow +and a high one. It is another habit. + +"Let me show you," he said. + +So he took my shoes and placed them, one on each side of my couch, about +where a pillow should be, with the soles out, making each serve as a +sort of retaining wall. Then he began to double and fold and fill the +hollow between, taking the bunchy, seamy things first and topping off +with the softer, smoother garments in a deft, workmanlike way. I was +even moved to add other things from my bag to make it higher and +smoother. + +"Now, put your bag on the cross-pole behind your pillow and let it lean +back against the tent. It will stay there and make a sort of head to +your bed, besides being handy in case you want to get at it in the +night." + +Why, it was as simple and easy as nothing. My admiration for Eddie grew. +I said I would get into my couch at once in order that he might +distribute himself likewise. + +But this was not so easy. I had never got into a sleeping-bag before, +and it is a thing that requires a little practice to do it with skill +and grace. It has to be done section at a time, and one's night garment +must be worked down co-ordinately in order that it may not become merely +a stuffy life-preserver thing under one's arms. To a beginner this is +slow, warm work. By the time I was properly down among the coarse, new +blankets and had permeated the remotest corners of the clinging +envelope, I had had a lot of hard exercise and was hot and thirsty. So +Del brought me a drink of water. I wasn't used to being waited on in +that way, but it was pleasant. After all there were some conveniences of +camp life that were worth while. And the bed was comfortable and the +pillow felt good. I lay watching Eddie shape his things about, all his +bags and trappings falling naturally into the places they were to occupy +through the coming weeks. The flat-topped bag with the apothecary stores +and other urgency articles went at the upper end of the little footway, +and made a sort of table between our beds. Another bag went behind his +pillow, which he made as he had made mine, though he topped it off with +a little rubber affair which he inflated while I made another mental +memorandum for next year. A third bag---- + +But I did not see the fate of the third bag. A haze drifted in between +me and the busy little figure that was placing and pulling and folding +and arranging--humming a soothing ditty meantime--and I was swept up +bodily into a cloud of sleep. + + + + +Chapter Seven + + + _Now, Dawn her gray green mantle weaves_ + _To the lilt of a low refrain--_ + _The drip, drip, drip of the lush green leaves_ + _After a night of rain._ + + + + +Chapter Seven + + +The night was fairly uneventful. Once I imagined I heard something +smelling around the camp, and I remember having a sleepy curiosity as to +the size and manner of the beast, and whether he meant to eat us and +where he would be likely to begin. I may say, too, that I found some +difficulty in turning over in my sleeping-bag, and that it did rain. I +don't know what hour it was when I was awakened by the soft thudding +drops just above my nose, but I remember that I was glad, for there had +been fires in the woods, and the streams were said to be low. I +satisfied myself that Eddie's patent, guaranteed perfectly waterproof +tent was not leaking unduly, and wriggling into a new position, slept. + +It was dull daylight when I awoke. Through the slit in the tent I could +see the rain drizzling on the dead campfire. Eddie--long a guest of the +forest lost now in the multiple folds of his sleeping-bag--had not +stirred. A glimpse of the guides' tent opposite revealed that the flap +was still tightly drawn. There was no voice or stir of any living +creature. Only the feet of the rain went padding among the leaves and +over the tent. + +Now, I am not especially given to lying in bed, and on this particular +morning any such inclination was rather less manifest than usual. I +wanted to spread myself out, to be able to move my arms away from my +body, to whirl around and twist and revolve a bit without so much +careful preparation and deliberate movement. + +Yet there was very little to encourage one to get up. Our campfire--so +late a glory and an inspiration--had become a remnant of black ends and +soggy ash. I was not overhot as I lay, and I had a conviction that I +should be less so outside the sleeping-bag, provided always that I could +extricate myself from that somewhat clinging, confining envelope. +Neither was there any immediate prospect of breakfast--nobody to talk +to--no place to go. I had an impulse to arouse Eddie for the former +purpose, but there was something about that heap of canvas and blankets +across the way that looked dangerous. I had never seen him roused in his +forest lair, and I suspected that he would be savage. I concluded to +proceed cautiously--in some manner which might lead him to believe that +the fall of a drifting leaf or the note of a bird had been his summons. +I worked one arm free, and reaching out for one of my shoes--a delicate +affair, with the soles filled with splices for clambering over the +rocks--I tossed it as neatly as possible at the irregular bunch +opposite, aiming a trifle high. It fell with a solid, sickening thud, +and I shrank down into my bag, expecting an eruption. None came. Then I +was seized with the fear that I had killed or maimed Eddie. It seemed +necessary to investigate. + +I took better aim this time and let go with the other shoe. + +"Eddie!" I yelled, "are you dead?" + +There was a stir this time and a deep growl. It seemed to take the form +of words, at length, and I caught, or fancied I did, the query as to +what time it was; whereupon I laboriously fished up my watch and +announced in clear tones that the hand was upon the stroke of six. Also +that it was high time for children of the forest to bestir themselves. + +At this there was another and a deeper growl, ending with a single +syllable of ominous sound. I could not be sure, but heard through the +folds of a sleeping-bag, the word sounded a good deal like hell and I +had a dim conviction that he was sending me there, perhaps realizing +that I was cold. Then he became unconscious again, and I had no more +shoes. + +Yet my efforts had not been without effect. There was a nondescript stir +in the guides' tent, and presently the head of Charles, sometimes called +the Strong, protruded a little and was withdrawn. Then that of Del, the +Stout, appeared and a little later two extraordinary semi-amphibious +figures issued--wordless and still rocking a little with sleep--and with +that deliberate precision born of long experience went drabbling after +fuel and water that the morning fire might kindle and the morning pot be +made to boil. + +They were clad in oilskins, and the drapery of Charles deserves special +attention. It is likely that its original color had been a flaunt of +yellow, and that it had been bedizened with certain buttonholes and hems +and selvages and things, such as adorn garments in a general way of +whatever nature or sex. That must have been a long time ago. It is +improbable that the oldest living inhabitant would be able to testify +concerning these items. + +Observing him thoughtfully as he bent over the wet ashes and skillfully +cut and split and presently brought to flame the little heap of wood he +had garnered, there grew upon me a realization of the vast service that +suit of oilskins must have rendered to its owners--of the countless +storms that had beaten upon it; of the untold fires that had been +kindled under its protection; of the dark, wild nights when it had +served in fording torrents and in clambering over slippery rocks, indeed +of all the ages of wear and tear that had eaten into its seams and +selvages and hues since the day when Noah first brought it out of the +Ark and started it down through the several generations which had ended +with our faithful Charles, the Strong. + +I suppose this is just one of those profitless reflections which is +likely to come along when one is still tangled up in a sleeping-bag, +watching the tiny flame that grows a little brighter and bigger each +moment and forces at last a glow of comfort into the tent until the +day, after all, seems worth beginning, though the impulse to begin it is +likely to have diminished. I have known men, awake for a long time, who +have gone on to sleep during just such morning speculations, when the +flames grew bright and brighter and crackled up through the little heap +of dry branches and sent that glow of luxury into the tent. I remember +seeing our guide adjust a stick at an angle above the fire, whereby to +suspend a kettle, and men, suddenly, of being startled from somewhere--I +was at the club, I think, in the midst of a game of pool--by a wild +whoop and the spectacle of Eddie, standing upright in the little runway +between our beds, howling that the proper moment for bathing had +arrived, and kicking up what seemed to me a great and unnecessary stir. + +[Illustration: "Not to take the morning dip ... was to manifest a sad +lack of the true camping spirit."] + +The idea of bathing on such a morning and in that primitive costume had +not, I think, occurred to me before, but I saw presently there was +nothing else for it. A little later I was following Eddie, cringing from +the cold, pelting rain, limping gingerly over sharp sticks and pebbles +to the water's edge. The lake was shallow near the shore which meant a +fearful period of wading before taking the baptismal plunge that would +restore one's general equilibrium. It required courage, too, for the +water was icy--courage to wade out to the place, and once there, to make +the plunge. I should never have done it if Eddie had not insisted that +according to the standard text-books the day in every well-ordered camp +always began with this ceremony. Not to take the morning dip, he said, +was to manifest a sad lack of the true camping spirit. Thus prodded, I +bade the world a hasty good-by and headed for the bottom. A moment later +we were splashing and puffing like seals, shouting with the fierce, +delightful torture of it--wide awake enough now, and marvelously +invigorated when all was over. + +[Illustration: "Catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled +admiration"] + +We were off after breakfast--a breakfast of trout and flapjacks--the +latter with maple sirup in the little eating tent. The flapjacks were +Del's manufacture, and his manner of tossing the final large one into +the air and catching it in the skillet as it fell, compelled admiration. + +The lake was fairly smooth and the rain no longer fell. A gray +morning--the surface of the water gray--a gray mantle around the more +distant of the islands, with here and there sharp rocks rising just +above the depths. It was all familiar enough to the guides, but to me it +was a new world. Seated in the bow I swung my paddle joyously, and even +with our weighty load it seemed that we barely touched the water. One +must look out for the rocks, though, for a sharp point plunged through +the bottom of a canoe might mean shipwreck. A few yards away, Eddie and +his guide--light-weight bodies, both of them--kept abreast, their +appearance somehow suggesting two grasshoppers on a straw. + +It is six miles across Kedgeemakoogee and during the passage it rained. +When we were about half-way over I felt a drop or two strike me and saw +the water about the canoe spring up into little soldiers. A moment later +we were struck on every side and the water soldiers were dancing in a +multitude. Then they mingled and rushed together. The green islands were +blotted out. The gates of the sky swung wide. + +[Illustration: "To put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of +a canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter."] + +Of course it was necessary to readjust matters. Del drew on his oilskins +and I reached for my own. I had a short coat, a sou'wester, and a pair +of heavy brown waders, so tall that they came up under my arms when +fully adjusted. There was no special difficulty in getting on the hat +and coat, but to put on a pair of waders like that in the front end of a +canoe in a pouring rain is no light matter. There seemed no good place +to straighten my legs out in order to get a proper pull. To stand up was +to court destruction, and when I made an attempt to put a leg over the +side of the canoe Del admonished me fearfully that another such move +would send us to the bottom forthwith. Once my thumbs pulled out of the +straps and I tumbled back on the stores, the rain beating down in my +face. I suppose the suddenness of the movement disturbed the balance of +the boat somewhat, for Del let out a yell that awoke a far-away loon, +who replied dismally. When at last I had the feet on, I could not get +the tops in place, for of course there was no way to get them anywhere +near where they really belonged without standing up. So I had to remain +in that half-on and half-off condition, far from comfortable, but more +or less immune to wet. I realized what a sight I must look, and I could +hardly blame Eddie for howling in derision at me when he drew near +enough to distinguish my outline through the downpour. I also realized +what a poor rig I had on for swimming, in event of our really capsizing, +and I sat straight and still and paddled hard for the other side. + +It was not what might be termed a "prolonged and continuous downpour." +The gray veil lifted from the islands. The myriad of battling soldiers +diminished. Presently only a corporal's guard was leaping and dancing +about the canoe. Then these disappeared. The clouds broke away. The sun +came. Ahead of us was a green shore--the other side of Kedgeemakoogee +had been reached. + + + + +Chapter Eight + + + _Where the trail leads back from the water's edge--_ + _Tangled and overgrown--_ + _Shoulder your load and strike the road_ + _Into the deep unknown._ + + + + +Chapter Eight + + +We were at the beginning of our first carry, now--a stretch of about two +miles through the woods. The canoes were quickly unloaded, and as I +looked more carefully at the various bags and baskets of supplies, I +realized that they were constructed with a view of being connected with +a man's back. I had heard and read a good deal about portages and I +realized in a general way that the canoes had to be carried from one +water system to another, but somehow I had never considered the baggage. +Naturally I did not expect it to get over of its own accord, and when I +came to consider the matter I realized that a man's back was about the +only place where it could ride handily and with reasonable safety. I +also realized that a guide's life is not altogether a holiday excursion. + +I felt sorry for the guides. I even suggested to Eddie that he carry a +good many of the things. I pointed out that most of them were really +his, anyway, and that it was too bad to make our faithful retainers lug +a drug store and sporting goods establishment, besides the greater part +of a provision warehouse. Eddie sympathized with the guides, too. He was +really quite pathetic in his compassion for them, but he didn't carry +any of the things. That is, any of those things. + +It is the etiquette of portage--of Nova Scotia portage, at least--that +the fisherman shall carry his own sporting paraphernalia--which is to +say, his rods, his gun, if he has one, his fishing basket and his +landing net. Also, perhaps, any convenient bag of tackle or apparel when +not too great an inconvenience. It is the business of the guides to +transport the canoes, the general outfit, and the stores. As this was to +be rather a long carry, and as more than one trip would be necessary, it +was proposed to make a half-way station for luncheon, at a point where a +brook cut the trail. + +But our procession did not move immediately. In the first place one of +the canoes appeared to have sprung a leak, and after our six-mile paddle +this seemed a proper opportunity to rest and repair damages. The bark +craft was hauled out, a small fire scraped together and the pitch pot +heated while the guides pawed and squinted about the boat's bottom to +find the perforation. Meantime I tried a few casts in the lake, from a +slanting rock, and finally slipped in, as was my custom. Then we found +that we did not wish to wait until reaching the half-way brook before +having at least a bite and sup. It was marshy and weedy where we were +and no inviting place to serve food, but we were tolerably wet, and we +had paddled a good way. We got out a can of corned beef and a loaf of +bread, and stood around in the ooze, and cut off chunks and chewed and +gulped and worked them down into place. Then we said we were ready, and +began to load up. I experimented by hanging such things as landing nets +and a rod-bag on my various projections while my hands were to be +occupied with my gun and a tackle-bag. The things were not especially +heavy, but they were shifty. I foresaw that the rod-bag would work +around under my arm and get in the way of my feet, and that the landing +nets would complicate matters. I tied them all in a solid bunch at last, +with the gun inside. This simplified the problem a good deal, and was an +arrangement for which I had reason to be thankful. + +It was interesting to see our guides load up. Charles, the Strong, had +been well named. He swung a huge basket on his back, his arms through +straps somewhat like those which support an evening gown, and a-top of +this, other paraphernalia was piled. I have seen pack burros in Mexico +that were lost sight of under their many burdens and I remembered them +now, as our guides stood forth ready to move. I still felt sorry for +them (the guides, of course) and suggested once more to Eddie that he +should assume some of their burdens. In fact, I was almost willing to do +so myself, and when at the last moment both Charlie and Del stooped and +took bundles in each hand, I was really on the very point of offering to +carry something, only there was nothing more to carry but the canoes, +and of course they had to be left for the next trip. I was glad, though, +of the generous impulse on my part. There is always comfort in such +things. Eddie and I set out ahead. + +There is something fine and inspiring about a portage. In the first +place, it is likely to be through a deep wood, over a trail not +altogether easy to follow. Then there is the fascinating thought that +you are cutting loose another link from everyday mankind--pushing a +chapter deeper into the wilderness, where only the more adventurous ever +come. Also, there is the romantic gipsy feeling of having one's +possessions in such compass that not only the supplies themselves, but +the very means of transportation may be bodily lifted and borne from one +water link to another of that chain which leads back ever farther into +the unknown. + +I have suggested that a portage trail is not always easy to follow. As a +matter of fact the chances are that it will seldom be easy to follow. It +will seldom be a path fit for human beings. It won't be even a decent +moose path, and a moose can go anywhere that a bird can. A carry is +meant to be the shortest distance between two given places and it +doesn't strive for luxury. It will go under and over logs, through +scratchy thickets and gardens of poison ivy. It will plow through swamps +and quicksands; it will descend into pits; it will skin along the sharp +edge of slippery rocks set up at impossible angles, so that only a +mountain goat can follow it without risking his neck. I believe it would +climb a tree if a big one stood directly in its path. + +We did not get through with entire safety. The guides, shod in their +shoepacks, trained to the business, went along safely enough, though +they lurched a good deal under their heavy cargoes and seemed always on +the verge of disaster. Eddie and I did not escape. I saw Eddie slip, and +I heard him come down with a grunt which I suspected meant damage. It +proved a serious mishap, for it was to one of his reels, a bad business +so early in the game. I fell, too, but I only lost some small areas of +skin which I knew Eddie would replace with joy from a bottle in his +apothecary bag. + +But there were things to be seen on that two-mile carry. A partridge +flew up and whirred away into the bushes. A hermit thrush was calling +from the greenery, and by slipping through very carefully we managed to +get a sight of his dark, brown body. Then suddenly Eddie called to me to +look, and I found him pointing up into a tree. + +"Porky, Porky!" he was saying, by which I guessed he had found a +porcupine, for I had been apprised of the numbers in these woods. "Come, +here's a shot for you," he added, as I drew nearer. "Porcupines damage a +lot of trees and should be killed." + +I gazed up and distinguished a black bunch clinging to the body of a +fairly large spruce, near the top. "He doesn't seem to be damaging that +tree much," I said. + +"No, but he will. They kill ever so many. The State of Maine pays a +bounty for their scalps." + +I looked up again. Porky seemed to be inoffensive enough, and my killing +blood was not much aroused. + +"But the hunters and logmen destroy a good many more trees with their +fires," I argued. "Why doesn't the State of Maine and the Province of +Nova Scotia pay a bounty for the scalps of a few hunters and logmen?" + +But Eddie was insistent. It was in the line of duty, he urged, to +destroy porcupines. They were of no value, except, perhaps, to eat. + +"Will you agree to eat this one if I shoot him?" I asked, unbundling my +rifle somewhat reluctantly. + +"Of course--that's understood." + +I think even then I would have spared Porky's life, but at that moment +he ran a little way up the tree. There was something about that slight +movement that stirred the old savage in me. I threw my rifle to my +shoulder, and with hasty aim fired into the center of the black bunch. + +I saw it make a quick, quivering jump, slip a little, and cling fast. +There was no stopping now. A steady aim at the black ball this time, and +a second shot, followed by another convulsive start, a long slide, then +a heavy thudding fall at our feet--a writhing and a twisting--a moaning +and grieving as of a stricken child. + +And it was not so easy to stop this. I sent shot after shot into the +quivering black, pin-cushioned ball before it was finally still--its +stained, beautifully pointed quills scattered all about. When it was +over, I said: + +"Well, Eddie, they may eat up the whole of Nova Scotia, if they want +to--woods, islands and all, but I'll never shoot another, unless I'm +starving." + +We had none of us starved enough to eat that porcupine. In the first +place he had to be skinned, and there seemed no good place to begin. The +guides, when they came up, informed us that it was easy enough to do +when you knew how, and that the Indians knew how and considered +porcupine a great delicacy. But we were not Indians, at least not in the +ethnological sense, and the delicacy in this instance applied only to +our appetites. I could see that Eddie was anxious to break his vow, now +that his victim was really dead by my hand. We gathered up a few of the +quills--gingerly, for a porcupine quill once in the flesh, is said to +work its way to the heart--and passed on, leaving the black pin cushion +lying where it fell. Perhaps Porky's death saved one or two more trees +for the next Nova Scotia fire. + +There were no trout for luncheon at our half-way halt. The brook there +was a mere rivulet, and we had not kept the single small fish caught +that morning. Still I did not mind. Not that I was tired of trout so +soon, but I began to suspect that it would require nerve and resolution +to tackle them three times a day for a period of weeks, and that it +might be just as well to start rather gradually, working in other things +from time to time. + +I protested, however, when Del produced a can of Columbia River salmon. +That, I said, was a gross insult to every fish in the Nova Scotia +waters. Canned salmon on a fishing trip! The very thought of it was an +offense; I demanded that it be left behind with the porcupine. Never, I +declared, would I bemean myself by eating that cheap article of +commerce--that universally indigenous fish food--here in the home of the +chief, the prince, the _ne plus ultra_ of all fishes--the Nova Scotia +trout. + +So Del put the can away, smiling a little, and produced beans. That was +different. One may eat beans anywhere under the wide sky. + + + + +Chapter Nine + + + _The black rock juts on the hidden pool_ + _And the waters are dim and deep,_ + _Oh, lightly tread--'tis a royal bed,_ + _And a king lies there asleep._ + + + + +Chapter Nine + + +It was well into the afternoon before the canoes reached the end of the +carry--poking out through the green--one on the shoulders of each guide, +inverted like long shields, such as an ancient race might have used as a +protection from arrows. Eddie and I, meantime, had been employed getting +a mess of frogs, for it was swampy just there, and frogs, mosquitoes and +midges possessed the locality. We anointed for the mosquitoes and +"no-see-ums," as the midges are called by the Indians, and used our +little rifles on the frogs. + +I wonder, by the way, what mosquitoes were made for. Other people have +wondered that before, but you can't overdo the thing. Maybe if we keep +on wondering we shall find out. Knowledge begins that way, and it will +take a lot of speculation to solve the mosquito mystery. + +I can't think of anything that I could do without easier than the +mosquito. He seems to me a creature wholly devoid of virtues. He is a +glutton, a poisoner, a spreader of disease, a dispenser of disturbing +music. That last is the hardest to forgive. If he would only be still I +could overlook the other things. I wonder if he will take his voice with +him into the next world. I should like to know, too, which place he is +bound for. I should like to know, so I could take the other road.[2] + +Across Mountain Lake was not far, and then followed another short +carry--another link of removal--to a larger lake, Pescawess. It was +nearly five miles across Pescawess, but we made good time, for there was +a fair wind. Also we had the knowledge that Pescawah Brook flows in on +the other side, and the trout there were said to be large and not often +disturbed. + +We camped a little below this brook, and while the tents were going up +Eddie and I took one of the canoes and slipped away past an island or +two, among the strewn bowlders at the stream's mouth, pausing to cast a +little here and there, though at first with no other result than to get +our lines in a mess together. + +"Now, say, old man," Eddie began, as my line made a turn around his neck +and a half-dozen twists around his tackle, the whole dropping in a heap +in the water, "you mustn't cast like that. You should use the treetop +cast--straight up in the air, when there's a man behind you. Don't you +know you might lacerate a fellow's ear, or put a hook through his lip, +or his nose, or something?" + +I said that I was sorry, and that if he would give me a few points on +the treetop cast, and then avoid sitting in the treetops as much as +possible himself I thought there would be no further danger. + +He was not altogether pacified. The lines were in a bad tangle and he +said it was wasting precious time to be fooling that way. Clearly two +men could not fish from one canoe and preserve their friendship, and +after our lines were duly parted and Eddie had scolded me sufficiently, +we went ashore just below where the swift current tumbles in, and made +our way to the wide, deep, rock-bound pools above. The going was pretty +thick and scratchy, and one had to move deliberately. + +Eddie had more things to carry than I did, for he had brought his gun +and his long-handled net, and these, with his rod, set up and properly +geared with a long leader and two flies, worried him a good deal. The +net had a way of getting hung on twigs. The line and leader displayed a +genius for twisting around small but tough branches and vines, the hooks +caught in unexpected places, and the gun was possessed to get between +his legs. When I had time to consider him, he was swearing steadily and +I think still blaming me for most of his troubles, though the saints +know I was innocent enough and not without difficulties of my own. +Chiefly, I was trying to avoid poison ivy, which is my bane and seemed +plentiful in this particular neck of the woods. + +We were out at last, and the wide, dark pool, enclosed by great black +bowlders and sloping slabs of stone, seemed as if it might repay our +efforts. Not for years, maybe, had an artificial fly been cast in that +water. Perhaps Eddie was still annoyed with me, for he pushed farther up +to other pools, and was presently lost to view. + +I was not sorry of this, for it may be remembered that I had thus far +never caught a trout by casting in open, smooth water, and I was willing +to practice a little alone. I decided to work deliberately, without +haste and excitement, and to get my flies caught in the treetops as +infrequently as possible. I adjusted them now, took a good look behind +and tossed my cast toward the other side of the dark pool. I thought I +did it rather well, too, and I dragged the flies with a twitching +motion, as I had seen Eddie do it, but nothing happened. If there were +trout anywhere in the world, they would be in a pool like this, and if +there was ever an evening for them it was now. It was in the nature of +probability that Eddie would come back with a good string, and I could +not let him find me a confessed failure. So once more I sent the flies +out over the pool--a little farther this time, and twitched them a +little more carefully, but I might have been fishing in a tub, so far as +any tangible fish were concerned. + +A little more line and a reckless back cast landed my tail fly in a +limb--a combination which required time and patience to disengage. By +the time I had worked out the puzzle it began to seem like a warm +evening. Then I snapped the flies into several different corners of the +pool, got hung again on the same limb, jerked and broke the fly and +repeated some of the words I had learned from Eddie as we came through +the brush. + +I was cooler after that, and decided to put on a new and different fly. +I thought a Jenny Lind would be about the thing, and pretty soon was +slapping it about--at first hopefully, then rashly. Then in mere +desperation I changed the top fly and put on a Montreal. Of course I +wouldn't catch anything. I never would catch anything, except by +trolling, as any other duffer, or even a baby might, but I would have +fun with the flies, anyway. So the Montreal went capering out over the +pool, landing somewhere amid the rocks on the other side. And then all +at once I had my hands full of business, for there was a leap and a +splash, and a z-z-z-t of the reel, and a second later my rod was curved +like a buggy whip, the line as taut as wire and weaving and swaying from +side to side with a live, heavy body, the body of a trout--a real +trout--hooked by me with a fly, cast on a quiet pool. + +I wouldn't have lost that fish for money. But I was deadly afraid of +doing so. A good thing for me, then, my practice in landing, of the +evening before. "Easy, now--easy," I said to myself, just as Del had +done. "If you lose this fish you're a duffer, sure enough; also a chump +and several other undesirable things. Don't hurry him--don't give him +unnecessary line in this close place where there may be snags--don't, +above all things, let him get any slack on you. Just a little line, +now--a few inches will do--and keep the tip of your rod up. If you point +it at him and he gets a straight pull he will jump off, sure, or he will +rush and you cannot gather the slack. Work him toward you, now, toward +your feet, close in--your net has a short handle, and is suspended +around your neck by a rubber cord. The cord will stretch, of course, but +you can never reach him over there. Don't mind the reel--you have taken +up enough line. You can't lift out a fish like that on a four-ounce +rod--on any rod short of a hickory sapling. Work him toward you, you +gump! Bring your rod up straighter--straighter--straight! Now for the +net--carefully--oh, you clumsy duffer, to miss him! Don't you know that +you can't thrash him into the net like that?--that you must dip the net +_under_ him? I suppose you thought you were catching mice. You deserve +to lose him altogether. Once more, now, he's right at your feet--a +king!" + +Two long backward steps after that dip, for I must be certain that he +was away from the water's edge. Then I bumped into something--something +soft that laughed. It was Eddie, and he had two fish in his landing +net. + +"Bully!" he said. "You did it first-rate, only you don't need to try to +beat him to death with the landing net. Better than mine," he added, as +I took my trout off the fly. "Suppose now we go below. I've taken a look +and there's a great pool, right where the brook comes out. We can get to +it in the canoe. I'll handle the canoe while you fish." + +That, also, is Eddie's way. He had scolded me and he would make amends. +He had already taken down his rod, and we made our way back through the +brush without much difficulty, though I was still hot with effort and +excitement, and I fear a little careless about the poison ivy. A few +minutes later, Eddie, who handles a canoe--as he does everything else +pertaining to the woods--with grace and skill, had worked our craft +among the rocks into the wide, swift water that came out from under a +huge fallen log--the mouth of Pescawah Brook. + +"Cast there," he said, pointing to a spot just below the log. + +Within twenty minutes from that time I had learned more about +fishing--real trout fishing--than I had known before in all my life. I +had, in Eddie, a peerless instructor, and I had such water for a drill +ground as is not found in every day's, or every week's, or every month's +travel. Besides, there were fish. Singly and in pairs they came--great, +beautiful, mottled fellows--sometimes leaping clear of the water like a +porpoise, to catch the fly before it fell. There were none less than a +pound, and many over that weight. When we had enough for supper and +breakfast--a dozen, maybe--we put back the others that came, as soon as +taken from the hook. The fishing soon ended then, for I believe the +trout have some means of communication, and one or two trout returned to +a pool will temporarily discourage the others. It did not matter. I had +had enough, and once more, thanks to Eddie, returned to the camp, +jubilant. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] When this chapter appeared in _The Outing Magazine_ Frederic +Remington wrote as follows: + +"My dear Paine: Just read your _Outing_ article on the woods and your +speculation on 'why mosquitoes were made,' etc. I know the answer. They +were created to aid civilization--otherwise, no man not an idiot would +live anywhere else than in the woods." + +I am naturally glad to have this word of wisdom from an authority like +Remington, but I still think that Providence could have achieved the +same result and somehow managed to leave the mosquito out of it. + + + + +Chapter Ten + + + _Where the path is thick and the branches twine_ + _I pray you, friend, beware!_ + _For the noxious breath of a lurking vine_ + _May wither your gladness there._ + + + + +Chapter Ten + + +It was raining next morning, but that was not the worst. During the +night I had awakened with a curious, but not entirely unfamiliar +sensation about one of my eyes. There was a slight irritant, itching +tendency, and the flesh felt puffy to the touch. I tried to believe it +was imagination, and went to sleep again. + +But there was no doubt next morning. Imagination is a taunting jade, but +I don't believe she could close one of my eyes and fatten up the +other--not in so short a time. It was poison ivy--that was what it +was--and I had it bad. + +[Illustration: "Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye."] + +When Eddie woke, which he did, finally, he took one look at me and dove +back into his sleeping bag out of pure fear. He said I was a sight, and +he was correct. Our one looking-glass was not big enough to hold all of +even one eye, but taking my features in sections I could see that he had +not overstated my appearance. Perhaps the situation was amusing, too--at +least Eddie, and even the guides, professed to be entertained--but for +me, huddled against one side of a six by eight tent--a tent otherwise +packed with bags and bundles and traps of various kinds--Eddie's things, +mostly, and Eddie himself among them--with a chill rain coming down +outside, and with a face swollen and aching in a desperate way with +poison, the quality of the humor to me seemed strained when I tried to +distinguish it with the part of an eye I had left. + +Eddie meantime had dived down into his bag of remedies, happy to have a +chance to use any or all of them, and was laying them out on his +sleeping bag in front of him--in his lap, as it were, for he had not +yet arisen--reading the labels and wondering which he should try on me +first. I waited a little, then I said: + +"Never mind those, Eddie, give me your alcohol and witch hazel." + +But then came an embarrassing moment. Running his eye over the bottles +and cans Eddie was obliged to confess that not one of them contained +either alcohol or witch hazel. + +"Eddie," I said reproachfully, "can it be, in a drug store like that, +there is neither alcohol nor witch hazel?" + +He nodded dismally. + +"I meant to bring them," he said, "but the triple extract of gelsemium +would do such a lot of things, and I thought I didn't need them, and +then you made fun of that, and--and----" + +"Never mind, Eddie," I said, "I have an inspiration. If alcohol cures +it, maybe whisky will, and thank Heaven we did bring the whisky!" + +We remained two days in that camp and I followed up the whisky treatment +faithfully. It rained most of the time, so the delay did not matter. +Indeed it was great luck that we were not held longer by that +distressing disorder which comes of the malignant three-leaved plant +known as mercury, or poison ivy. Often it has disqualified me for a week +or more. But the whisky treatment was a success. Many times a day I +bathed my face in the pure waters of the lake and then with the +spirits--rye or Scotch, as happened to be handy. By the afternoon of the +first day I could see to put sirup on my flapjacks, and once between +showers I felt able to go out with Eddie in the canoe, during which +excursion he took a wonderful string of trout in a stagnant-looking, +scummy pool where no one would ever expect trout to lie, and where no +one but Eddie could have taken them at all. + +By the next morning, after a night of sorrow--for my face always pained +and itched worse when everybody was in bed and still, with nothing to +soothe me but the eternal drip, drip from the boughs and from the eaves +of the tent--the swelling was still further reduced, and I felt able to +travel. And I wish to add here in all seriousness that whatever may be +your scruples against the use of liquors, don't go into the woods +without whisky--rye or Scotch, according to preference. Alcohol, of +course, is good for poison ivy, but whisky is better. Maybe it is +because of the drugs that wicked men are said to put into it. Besides, +whisky has other uses. The guides told us of one perfectly rigid person +who, when he had discovered that whisky was being included in his camp +supplies, had become properly incensed, and commanded that it be left at +home. The guides had pleaded that he need not drink any of it, that they +would attend to that part of what seemed to them a necessary camp duty, +but he was petrified in his morals, and the whisky remained behind. + +Well, they struck a chilly snap, and it rained. It was none of your +little summer landscape rains, either. It was a deadly cold, driving, +drenching saturation. Men who had built their houses on the sand, and +had no whisky, were in a bad fix. The waves rose and the tents blew +down, and the rigid, fossilized person had to be carried across an +overflowed place on the back of a guide, lifting up his voice meanwhile +in an effort to convince the Almighty that it was a mistake to let it +rain at this particular time, and calling for whisky at every step. + +It is well to carry one's morals into the woods, but if I had to leave +either behind, I should take the whisky. + +It was a short carry to Lake Pescawah. Beyond that water we carried +again about a quarter of a mile to a lake called Pebbleloggitch--perhaps +for the reason that the Indian who picked out the name couldn't find a +harder one. From Pebbleloggitch we made our way by a long canal-like +stillwater through a land wherein no man--not even an Indian, +perhaps--has ever made his home, for it lies through a weird, lonely +marsh--a sort of meadow which no reaper ever harvested, where none but +the wild moose ever feeds. + +We were nearing the edge of the unknown now. One of the guides, Del, I +think, had been through this stillwater once before, a long time ago. At +the end of it, he knew, lay the upper Shelburne River, which was said to +flow through a sheet of water called Irving Lake. But where the river +entered the lake and where it left it was for us to learn. Already forty +miles or more from our starting point, straight into the wilderness, we +were isolated from all mankind, and the undiscovered lay directly +before. At the end of the stillwater Del said: + +"Well, gentlemen, from this on you know as much of the country as I do. +All I know is what I've heard, and that's not much. I guess most of it +we'll have to learn for ourselves." + + + + +Chapter Eleven + + + _By lonely tarn, mid thicket deep,_ + _The she-moose comes to bear_ + _Her sturdy young, and she doth keep_ + _It safely guarded there._ + + + + +Chapter Eleven + + +We got any amount of fly-casting in the Pebbleloggitch stillwater, but +no trout. I kept Del dodging and twice I succeeded in hooking him, +though not in a vital spot. I could have done it, however, if he had sat +still and given me a fair chance. I could land Del even with the treetop +cast, but the trout refused to be allured. As a rule, trout would not +care to live in a place like that. There would not be enough excitement +and activity. A trout prefers a place where the water is busy--where the +very effort of keeping from being smashed and battered against the rocks +insures a good circulation and a constitution like a steel spring. I +have taken trout out of water that would have pulverized a golf ball in +five minutes. The fiercer the current--the greater the tumult--the more +cruel and savage the rocks, the better place it is for trout. + +Neither do I remember that we took anything in the Shelburne above +Irving Lake, for it was a good deal like the stillwater, with only a +gentle riffle here and there. Besides, the day had become chill, and a +mist had fallen upon this lonely world--a wet white, drifting mist that +was closely akin to rain. On such a day one does not expect trout to +rise, and is seldom disappointed. Here and there, where the current was +slow-moving and unruffled, Eddie, perhaps, would have tried his dry +flies, but never a trout was seen to break water, and it is one of the +tenets of dry-fly fishing that a cast may only be made where a trout has +been seen to rise--even then, only after a good deal of careful +maneuvering on shore to reach the proper spot on the bank without +breaking the news to the trout. It wasn't a pleasant time to go +wriggling through marsh grass and things along the shore, so it is just +as well that there was no excuse for doing it. + +As it was, we paddled rather silently down the still river, considerably +impressed with the thought that we were entering a land to us +unknown--that for far and far in every direction, beyond the white mist +that shut us in and half-obliterated the world, it was likely that there +was no human soul that was not of our party and we were quieted by the +silence and the loneliness on every hand. + +Where the river entered the lake there was no dashing, tumbling water. +In fact, we did not realize that we had reached the lake level until the +shores on either hand receded, slowly at first, and then broadly +widening, melted away and were half lost in the mist. + +The feeling grew upon me, all at once, that we were very high here. +There were no hills or ridges that we could see, and the outlines of +such timber as grew along the shore seemed low. It was as if we had +reached the top of the world, where there were no more hills--where the +trees had been obliged to struggle up to our altitude, barely to fringe +us round. As for course now, we had none. Our map was of the vaguest +sort. Where the outlet was we could only surmise. + +In a general way it was supposed to be at the "other end" of the lake, +where there was said to be an old dam, built when the region was +lumbered, long ago. But as to the shape of the lake, and just where that +"other end" might lie, when every side except the bit of shore nearest +at hand was lost in the wet, chill mist, were matters for conjecture and +experiment. We paddled a little distance and some islands came out of +the gray veil ahead--green Nova Scotia islands, with their ledges of +rock, some underbrush and a few sentinel pines. We ran in close to +these, our guides looking for moose or signs of them. + +I may say here that no expedition in Nova Scotia is a success without +having seen at least one moose. Of course, in the hunting season, the +moose is the prime object, but such is the passion for this animal among +Nova Scotia guides, that whatever the season or the purpose of the +expedition, and however triumphant its result, it is accounted a +disappointment and a failure by the natives when it ends without at +least a glimpse of a moose. + +We were in wonderful moose country now; the uninvaded wild, where in +trackless bog and swamp, or on the lonely and forgotten islands the +she-moose secludes herself to bear and rear her young. That Charlie and +Del were more absorbed in the possibility of getting a sight of these +great, timid, vanishing visions of animal life--and perhaps a longer +view of a little black, bleating calf--than in any exploration for the +other end of the Shelburne River was evident. They clung and hovered +about those islands, poking the canoes into every nook and corner, +speaking in whispers, and sitting up straight at sight of any +dark-looking stump or bunch of leaves. Eddie, too, seemed a good deal +interested in the moose idea. I discovered presently that he was +ambitious to send a specimen of a moose calf, dead or alive, to the +British Museum, and would improve any opportunity to acquire that asset. + +I may say that I was opposed to any such purpose. I am overfond of +Eddie, and I wanted him to have a good standing with the museum people, +but I did not like the idea of slaughtering a little calf moose before +its mother's very eyes, and I did not approve of its capture, either. +Even if the mother moose could be convinced that our intentions were +good, and was willing to have her offspring civilized and in the British +Museum, or Zoo, or some other distinguished place, I still opposed the +general scheme. It did not seem to me that a calf moose tied either +outside or inside of our tent for a period of weeks, to bleat and tear +around, and to kick over and muss up things generally, would be a proper +feature to add to a well-ordered camp, especially if it kept on raining +and we had to bring him inside. I knew that eventually he would own that +tent, and probably demand a sleeping bag. I knew that I should have to +give him mine, or at least share it with him. + +I stated and emphasized these views and insisted that we go over toward +the half-obscured shore, where there appeared to be an opening which +might be the river. We did go over there, at length, and there was, in +fact, an opening, but it was made by a brook entering the lake instead +of leaving it. Our memorandum of information declared that a stream +called the Susketch emptied into the lake somewhere, and we decided to +identify this as the place. We went up a little way to a good looking +pool, but there were no trout--at least, they refused to rise, though +probably the oldest and mossiest inhabitant of that place had never had +such an opportunity before. Back to the lake again, we were pretty soon +hovering about the enchanted islands, which seemed to rise on every +hand. + +It was just the sort of a day to see moose, Del said, and there was no +other matter that would stand in importance against a proposition like +that. I became interested myself, presently, and dropped my voice to a +whisper and sat up at every black spot among the leaves. We had just +about given it up at length, when all at once Del gave the canoe a great +shove inshore, at the same time calling softly to the other canoe, +which had already sheared off into the lake. + +They were with us in an instant and we were clambering out. I hadn't +seen a thing, but Del swore that he had caught a glimpse of something +black that moved and disappeared. + +Of course we were clad in our wet-weather armor. I had on my oilskins, +and what was more, those high, heavy wading boots that came up under my +arms. It is no easy matter to get over even level ground rapidly with a +rig like that, and when it comes to scaling an island, full of ledges +and holes and underbrush and vines, the problem becomes complex. Del and +Charlie, with their shoepacks, distanced me as easily as if I had been +sitting still, while that grasshopper, Eddie, with only the lightest +sort of waders, skipped and scampered away and left me plunging and +floundering about in the brush, with scarcely the possibility of seeing +anything, even if it were directly in front of my nose. + +As a matter of fact, I didn't care anything about seeing moose, and was +only running and making a donkey of myself because the others were doing +it, and I had caught a touch of their disease. + +Suddenly, I heard Charlie call, "There they are! There they go!" and +with a wild redoubled effort I went headlong into a deep pit, +half-filled with leaves and brush, and muck of various sorts. This, of +course, would seem to assassinate any hope I might have of seeing the +moose, but just then, by some occult process, Charles, the Strong, +discovered my disaster, and with that prowess which has made him famous +yanked me out of the mess, stood me on my feet and had me running again, +wallowing through the bushes toward the other side of the little island +whence the moose had fled. + +"There they go--they are swimming!" I heard Del call, and then Eddie: + +"I see em! I see em!" and then Charles's voice, a little ahead of me: + +[Illustration: "Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!"] + +"Hurry! Hurry! They've got over to the shore!" + +I reached the shore myself just then--our shore, I mean--on all fours +and full of scratches and bruises, but not too late, for beyond a wide +neck of water, on the mainland, two dark phantoms drifted a little way +through the mist and vanished into the dark foliage behind. + +It was only a glimpse I had and I was battered up and still disordered, +more or less, with the ivy poison. But somehow I was satisfied. For one +thing, I had become infected with a tinge of the native enthusiasm about +seeing the great game of the woods, and then down in my soul I rejoiced +that Eddie had failed to capture the little calf. Furthermore, it was +comforting to reflect that even from the guides' point of view, our +expedition, whatever else might come, must be considered a success. + +We now got down to business. It was well along toward evening, and +though these days were long days, this one, with its somber skies and +heavy mist, would close in early. We felt that it was desirable to find +the lake's outlet before pitching our tents, for the islands make rather +poor camping places and lake fishing is apt to be slow work. We wanted +to get settled in camp on the lower Shelburne before night and be ready +for the next day's sport. + +We therefore separated, agreeing upon a signal of two shots from +whichever of us had the skill or fortune to discover the outlet. The +other canoe faded into the mist below the islands while we paddled +slowly toward the gray green shores opposite. When presently we were all +alone, I was filled, somehow, with the feeling that must have come over +those old Canadian voyageurs who were first to make their way through +the northlands, threading the network of unknown waters. I could not get +rid of the idea that we were pioneers in this desolate spot, and so far +as sportsmen were concerned, it may be that we were. + + + + +Chapter Twelve + + + _The lake is dull with the drifting mist,_ + _And the shores are dim and blind;_ + _And where is the way ahead, to-day,_ + _And what of the path behind?_ + + + + +Chapter Twelve + + +Along the wet, blurred shore we cruised, the mist getting thicker and +more like rain. Here and there we entered some little bay or nook that +from a distance looked as if it might be an outlet. Eventually we lost +all direction and simply investigated at random wherever any appearance +seemed inviting. Once we went up a long slough and were almost ready to +fire the signal shots when we discovered our mistake. It seemed a narrow +escape from the humiliation of giving a false alarm. What had become of +the others we did not know. Evidently the lake was a big one and they +might be miles away. Eddie had the only compass, though this would seem +to be of no special advantage. + +At last, just before us, the shore parted--a definite, wide parting it +was, that when we pushed into it did not close and come to nothing, but +kept on and on, opening out ahead. We went a good way in, to make sure. +The water seemed very still, but then we remembered the flatness of the +country. Undoubtedly this was the outlet, and we had discovered it. It +was only natural that we should feel a certain elation in our having had +the good fortune--the instinct, as it were--to proceed aright. I lifted +my gun and it was with a sort of triumphant flourish that I fired the +two signal shots. + +It may be that the reader will not fully understand the importance of +finding a little thing like the outlet of a lake on a wet, disagreeable +day when the other fellows are looking for it, too; and here, to-day, +far away from that northern desolation, it does not seem even to me a +very great affair whether our canoe or Eddie's made the discovery. But +for some reason it counted a lot then, and I suppose Del and I were +unduly elated over our success. It was just as well that we were, for +our period of joy was brief. In the very instant while my finger was +still touching the trigger, we heard come soggily through the mist, from +far down the chill, gray water, one shot and then another. + +I looked at Del and he at me. + +"They've found something, too," I said. "Do you suppose there are two +outlets? Anyhow, here goes," and I fired again our two shots of +discovery, and a little later two more so that there might be no mistake +in our manifest. I was not content, you see, with the possibility of +being considered just an ordinary ass, I must establish proof beyond +question of a supreme idiocy in the matter of woodcraft. That is my way +in many things. I know, for I have done it often. I shall keep on doing +it, I suppose, until the moment when I am permitted to say, "I die +innocent." + +"They only think they have found something," I said to Del now. "It's +probably the long slough we found a while ago. They'll be up here quick +enough," and I fired yet two more shots, to rub it in. + +But now two more shots came also from Eddie, and again two more. By this +time we had pushed several hundred yards farther into the opening, and +there was no doubt but that it was a genuine river. I was growing every +moment more elated with our triumph over the others and in thinking how +we would ride them down when they finally had to abandon their lead and +follow ours, when all at once Del, who had been looking over the side of +the canoe grew grave and stopped paddling. + +"There seems to be a little current here," he pointing down to the grass +which showed plainly now in the clear water, "yes--there--is--a +current," he went on very slowly, his voice becoming more dismal at +every word, "but it's going the wrong way!" + +I looked down intently. Sure enough, the grass on the bottom pointed +back toward the lake. + +"Then it isn't the Shelburne, after all," I said, "but another river +we've discovered." + +Del looked at me pathetically. + +"It's the Shelburne, all right," he nodded, and there was deep suffering +in his tones, "oh, yes, it's the Shelburne--only it happens to be the +upper end--the place where we came in. That rock is where you stopped to +make a few casts." + +No canoe ever got out of the upper Shelburne River quicker than ours. +Those first old voyageurs of that waste region never made better time +down Irving Lake. Only, now and then, I fired some more to announce our +coming, and to prepare for the lie we meant to establish that we only +had been replying to their shots all along and not announcing anything +new and important of our own. + +But it was no use. We had guilt written on our features, and we never +had been taught to lie convincingly. In fact it was wasted effort from +the start. The other canoe had been near enough when we entered the trap +to see us go in, and even then had located the true opening, which was +no great distance away. They jeered us to silence and they rode us down. +They carefully drew our attention to the old log dam in proof that this +was the real outlet; they pointed to the rapid outpouring current for it +was a swift boiling stream here--and asked us if we could tell which way +it was flowing. For a time our disgrace was both active and complete. +Then came a diversion. Real rain--the usual night downpour--set in, and +there was a scramble to get the tents up and our goods under cover. + +Yet the abuse had told on me. One of my eyes--the last to yield to the +whisky treatment, began to throb a good deal--and I dragged off my wet +clothes, got on a dry garment (the only thing I had left by this time +that was dry) and worked my way laboriously, section by section, into +my sleeping bag, after which Eddie was sorry for me--as I knew he would +be--and brought me a cup of tea and some toast and put a nice piece of +chocolate into my mouth and sang me a song. It had been a pretty +strenuous day, and I had been bruised and cold and wet and scratched and +humiliated. But the tea and toast put me in a forgiving spirit, and the +chocolate was good, and Eddie can sing. I was dry, too, and reasonably +warm. And the rain hissing into the campfire at the door had a soothing +sound. + + + + +Chapter Thirteen + + + _Now take the advice that I do not need--_ + _That I do not heed, alway:_ + _For there's many a fool can make a rule_ + _Which only the wise obey._ + + + + +Chapter Thirteen + + +As usual, the clouds had emptied themselves by morning. The sky was +still dull and threatening, and from the tent door the water of the lake +was gray. But the mist had gone, and the islands came out green and +beautiful. The conditions made it possible to get some clothing decently +smoked and scorched, which is the nearest approach to dryness one is +ever likely to achieve in the woods in a rainy season. + +I may say here that the time will come--and all too soon, in a period of +rain--when you will reach your last dry suit of underwear--and get it +wet. Then have a care. Be content to stay in a safe, dry spot, if you +can find one--you will have to go to bed, of course, to do it until +something is dry--that is, pretty dry. To change from one wet suit to +another only a little less so is conducive neither to comfort nor to a +peaceful old age. Above all, do not put on your night garment, or +garments, for underwear, for they will get wet, too; then your condition +will be desperate. + +I submit the above as good advice. I know it is good advice for I did +not follow it. I have never followed good advice--I have only given it. +At the end of several nights of rain and moist days, I had nothing +really dry but my nightshirt and one slipper and I think Eddie's +condition was not so far removed. What we did was to pick out the least +damp of our things and smoke and scorch them on a pole over the campfire +until they had a sort of a half-done look, like bread toasted over a gas +jet; then suddenly we would seize them and put them on hot and go around +steaming, and smelling of leaf smoke and burnt dry goods--these odors +blended with the fragrance of camphor, tar and pennyroyal, with which we +were presently saturated in every pore. For though it was said to be too +late for black flies and too early for mosquitoes, the rear guard of the +one and the advance guard of the other combined to furnish us with a +good deal of special occupation. The most devoted follower of the +Prophet never anointed himself oftener than we did, and of course this +continuous oily application made it impossible to wash very perfectly; +besides, it seemed a waste to wash off the precious protection when to +do so meant only another immediate and more thorough treatment. + +I will dwell for a moment on this matter of washing. Fishing and +camping, though fairly clean recreations, will be found not altogether +free from soiling and grimy tendencies, and when one does not or cannot +thoroughly remove the evidences several times a day, they begin to tell +on his general appearance. Gradually our hands lost everything original +except their shape. Then I found that to shave took off a good deal of +valuable ointment each time, and I approved of Eddie's ideas in this +direction to the extent of following his example. I believe, though, +that I washed myself longer than he did--that is, at stated intervals. +Of course we never gave up the habit altogether. It would break out +sporadically and at unexpected moments, but I do not recall that these +lapses ever became dangerous or offensive. My recollection is that Eddie +gave up washing as a mania, that morning at the foot of Irving Lake and +that I held out until the next sunrise. Or it may have been only until +that evening--it does not matter. Washing is a good deal a question of +pride, anyway, and pride did not count any more. Even self-respect had +lost its charm. + +[Illustration: "If one's things are well smoked and scorched and scalded +and put on hot in the morning----"] + +[Illustration: "We never failed to hide the whisky."] + +In the matter of clothing, however, I wish to record that I never did +put on my nightdress for an undergarment. I was tempted to do so, daily, +but down within me a still small voice urged the rashness of such a deed +and each night I was thankful for that caution. If one's things are well +smoked and scorched and scalded and put on hot in the morning, he can +forget presently that they are not also dry, and there is a chance that +they may become so before night; but to face the prospect of getting +into a wet garment to sleep, that would have a tendency to destroy the +rare charm and flavor of camp life. In time I clung to my dry nightshirt +as to a life-belt. I wrapped it up mornings as a jewel, buried it deep +in the bottom of my bag, and I locked the bag. Not that Eddie did not +have one of his own--it may be that he had a variety of such things--and +as for the guides, I have a notion that they prefer wet clothes. But +though this was a wild country, where it was unlikely that we should +meet any living soul, there was always the possibility of a stray +prospector or a hunter, and a dry garment in a wet time is a temptation +which should not be put in any man's way. Neither that nor the liquor +supply. When we left our camp--as we did, often--our guns, our tackle, +even our purses and watches, were likely to be scattered about in plain +view; but we never failed to hide the whisky. Whisky is fair loot, and +the woodsman who would scorn to steal even a dry shirt would carry off +whisky and revel in his shame. + +There were quantities of trout in the lower Shelburne, and in a pool +just below the camp, next morning, Eddie and I took a dozen or +more--enough for breakfast and to spare--in a very few minutes. They +were lively fish--rather light in color, but beautifully marked and +small enough to be sweet and tender, that is, not much over a half-pound +weight. In fact, by this time we were beginning to have a weakness for +the smaller fish. The pound-and-upward trout, the most plentiful size, +thus far, were likely to be rather dry and none too tender. When we +needed a food supply, the under-sized fish were more welcome, and when, +as happened only too rarely, we took one of the old-fashioned New +England speckled beauty dimensions--that is to say, a trout of from +seven to nine inches long and of a few ounces weight--it was welcomed +with real joy. Big fish are a satisfaction at the end of a line and in +the landing net, but when one really enters upon a trout diet--when at +last it becomes necessary to serve them in six or seven different ways +to make them go down--the demand for the smallest fish obtainable is +pretty certain to develop, while the big ones are promptly returned +with good wishes and God-speed to their native element. + +For of course no true sportsman ever keeps any trout he cannot use. Only +the "fish-hog" does that. A trout caught on a fly is seldom injured, and +if returned immediately to the water will dart away, all the happier, it +may be, for his recent tug-of-war. He suffers little or no pain in the +tough cartilages about his mouth and gills (a fact I have demonstrated +by hooking the same fish twice, both marks plainly showing on him when +taken) and the new kind of exercise and experience he gets at the end of +the line, and his momentary association with human beings, constitute +for him a valuable asset, perhaps to be retailed in the form of +reminiscence throughout old age. But to fling him into a canoe, to gasp +and die and be thrown away, that is a different matter. That is a crime +worse than stealing a man's lunch or his last dry undershirt, or even +his whisky. + +In the first place, kill your trout the moment you take him out of the +water--that is, if you mean to eat him. If he is too big, or if you +already have enough, put him back with all expedition and let him swim +away. Even if he does warn the other trout and spoil the fishing in that +pool, there are more pools, and then it is likely you have fished enough +in that one, anyway. Come back next year and have another battle with +him. He will be bigger and know better what to do then. Perhaps it will +be his turn to win. + +In the matter of killing a fish there are several ways to do it. Some +might prefer to set him up on the bank and shoot at him. Another way +would be to brain him with an ax. The guides have a way of breaking a +trout's neck by a skillful movement which I never could duplicate. My +own method is to sever the vertebrae just back of the ears--gills, I +mean--with the point of a sharp knife. It is quick and effective. + +I don't know why I am running on with digression and advice this way. +Perhaps because about this period I had had enough experience to feel +capable of giving advice. A little experience breeds a lot of advice. I +knew a man once----[3] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] The publisher wished me to go on with the story at this point. The +man referred to above got his experience in Wall Street. He got enough +in half a day to keep him in advice for forty-seven years. + + + + +Chapter Fourteen + + + _Oh, never a voice to answer here,_ + _And never a face to see--_ + _Mid chill and damp we build our camp_ + _Under the hemlock tree._ + + + + +Chapter Fourteen + + +In spite of the rains the waters of the Shelburne were too low at this +point to descend in the canoes. The pools were pretty small affairs and +the rapids long, shallow and very ragged. It is good sport to run rapids +in a canoe when there is plenty of swift water and a fair percentage of +danger. But these were dangerous only to the canoes, which in many +places would not even float, loaded as we were. It became evident that +the guides would have to wade and drag, with here and there a carry, to +get the boats down to deeper water--provided always there _was_ deeper +water, which we did not doubt. + +Eddie and I set out ahead, and having had our morning's fishing, kept +pretty well to the bank where the walking was fairly good. We felt +pleasant and comfortable and paid not much attention to the stream, +except where a tempting pool invited a cast or two, usually with prompt +returns, though we kept only a few, smaller fish. + +We found the banks more attractive. Men had seldom disturbed the life +there, and birds sang an arm's length away, or regarded us quietly, +without distrust. Here and there a hermit thrush--the sweetest and +shyest of birds--himself unseen, charmed us with his mellow syllables. +Somehow, in the far, unfretted removal of it all, we felt at peace with +every living thing, and when a partridge suddenly dropped down on a limb +not three yards away, neither of us offered to shoot, though we had our +rifles and Eddie his B. M. license to kill and skin and hence to eat, +and though fish were at a discount and game not overplentiful. + +And then we were rewarded by a curious and beautiful exhibition. For the +partridge was a mother bird, and just at our feet there was a peeping +and a scampering of little brown balls that disappeared like magic among +the leaves--her fussy, furry brood. + +I don't think she mistrusted our intent--at least, not much. But she +wanted to make sure. She was not fully satisfied to have us remain just +there, with her babies hiding not two yards away. She dropped on the +ground herself, directly in front of us--so close that one might almost +touch her--and letting one of her wings fall loosely, looked back at us +over her shoulder as if to say, "You see, it is broken. If you wish, you +can catch me, easily." + +So we let her fool us--at least, we let her believe we were +deceived--and made as if to stoop for her, and followed each time when +she ran a few steps farther ahead, until little by little she had led us +away from her family. Then when she was sure that we really did not want +her or her chickens, but cared only to be amused, she ran quickly a +little way farther and disappeared, and we saw her no more. Within a +minute or two from that time she was probably back with her little +folks, and they were debating as to whether we were bird or beast, and +why we carried that curious combination of smells. + +It was such incidents as this that led us on. The morning was gone, +presently, and we had no means of knowing how far we had come. It seemed +to us but a short way. We forgot the windings of the stream, some of +which we had eluded by cut-offs, and how many hard places there would be +for Del and Charlie to get over with the canoes. As a matter of fact we +rather expected them to overtake us at any time, and as the pools became +deeper and longer and the rapids somewhat more navigable we feared to +leave the stream on the chance of being passed. It was about one o'clock +when we reached a really beautiful stretch of water, wide and deep, and +navigable for an indefinite distance. Here we stopped to get fish for +luncheon, and to wait for the boats, which we anticipated at any moment. + +It was a wonderful place to fish. One could wade out and get long casts +up and down, and the trout rose to almost any fly. Eddie caught a white +perch at last and I two yellow ones, not very plentiful in these waters +and most desirable from the food point of view. The place seemed really +inexhaustible. I think there were few trout larger than fourteen inches +in length, but of these there were a great many, and a good supply of +the speckled beauty size. When we had enough of these for any possible +luncheon demand, and were fairly weary of casting and reeling in, we +suddenly realized that we were hungry; also that it was well into the +afternoon and that there were no canoes in sight. Furthermore, in the +enthusiasm of the sport we had both of us more than once stepped beyond +the gunwales of our waders and had our boots full of water, besides +being otherwise wet. Once, in fact, I had slipped off a log on all +fours, in a rather deep place. It began to be necessary that we should +have a camp and be fed. Still we waited hopefully, expecting every +moment to see the canoes push around the bend. + +Eventually we were seized with misgivings. Could the guides have met +with shipwreck in some desperate place and disabled one or both of the +canoes, perhaps losing our stores? The thought was depressing. Was it +possible that they had really passed us during some period when we had +left the water, and were now far ahead? We could not believe it. Could +it be that the river had divided at some unseen point and that we had +followed one fork and they another? It did not seem probable. Perhaps, +after all, we had come farther than we believed, and they had been +delayed by the difficulties of navigation. + +But when another hour passed and they did not appear or answer to our +calls, the reason for their delay did not matter. We were wet, cold and +hungry. Food and fire were the necessary articles. We had not a scrap of +food except our uncooked fish, and it would be no easy matter, without +ax or hatchet, to get a fire started in those rain-soaked woods. Also, +we had no salt, but that was secondary. + +Eddie said he would try to build a fire if I would clean some fish, but +this proved pretty lonesome work for both of us. We decided to both +build and then both clean the fish. We dug down under the leaves for dry +twigs, but they were not plentiful. Then we split open some dead spruce +branches and got a few resinous slivers from the heart of them, a good +many in fact, and we patiently gathered bits of reasonably dry bark and +branches from under the sheltered side of logs and rocks and leaning +trees. + +We meant to construct our fire very carefully and we did. We scooped a +little hollow in the ground for draught, and laid in some of the drier +pieces of bark, upon which to pile our spruce slivers. Upon these in +turn we laid very carefully what seemed to be our driest selections of +twigs, increasing the size with each layer, until we laid on limbs of +goodly bulk and had a very respectable looking heap of fuel, ready for +lighting on the windward side. + +Our mistake was that we did not light it sooner. The weight of our +larger fuel had pressed hard upon our little heap of spruce slivers and +flattened it, when it should have remained loose and quickly +inflammable, with the larger fuel lying handy, to be added at the +proper moment. As it was, the tiny blaze had a habit of going out just +about the time when it ought to have been starting some bigger material. +When we did get a sickly flame going up through the little damp mess of +stuff, there was a good deal more smoke than fire and we were able to +keep the blaze alive only by energetic encouragement in the form of +blowing. + +First Eddie would get down on his hands, with his chin against the +ground and blow until he was apoplectic and blind with smoke, and then I +would take my turn. I never saw two full-grown men so anxious over a +little measly fire in my life. We almost forgot that we were perishing +with cold and hunger ourselves in our anxiety to keep the spark of life +in that fire. + +We saved the puny thing, finally, and it waxed strong. Then we put in a +good deal of time feeding and nursing our charge and making it warm and +comfortable before we considered ourselves. And how did the ungrateful +thing repay us? By filling our eyes with smoke and chasing us from side +to side, pursuing us even behind trees to blind and torture us with its +acrid smarting vapors. In fact, the perversity of campfire smoke remains +one of the unexplained mysteries. I have seen a fire properly built +between two tents--with good draught and the whole wide sky to hold the +smoke--suddenly send a column of suffocating vapor directly into the +door of the tent, where there was no draught, no room, no demand at all +for smoke. I have had it track me into the remotest corner of my +sleeping-bag and have found it waiting for me when I came up for a +breath of air. I have had it come clear around the tent to strangle me +when I had taken refuge on the back side. I have had it follow me +through the bushes, up a tree, over a cliff---- + +As I was saying, we got the fire going. After that the rest was easy. It +was simply a matter of cleaning a few trout, sticking them on sticks and +fighting the smoke fiend with one hand while we burnt and blackened the +trout a little with the other, and ate them, _sans_ salt, _sans_ fork, +_sans_ knife, _sans_ everything. Not that they were not good. I have +never eaten any better raw, unsalted trout anywhere, not even at +Delmonico's. + +[Illustration: "It's all in a day's camping, of course."] + +The matter of getting dry and warm was different. It is not the +pleasantest thing in the world, even by a very respectable fire such as +we had now achieved, to take off all of one's things without the +protection of a tent, especially when the woods are damp and trickly and +there is a still small breath of chill wind blowing, and to have to hop +and skip, on one foot and then on the other, to keep the circulation +going while your things are on a limb in the smoke, getting scalded and +fumigated, and black edged here and there where the flame has singed up +high. It's all in a day's camping, of course, and altogether worth +while, but when the shades of night are closing in and one is still +doing a spectral dance about a dying fire, in a wet wood, on a stomach +full of raw trout, then the camping day seems pretty long and there is +pressing need of other diversion. + +It was well toward night when we decided that our clothes were scorched +enough for comfortable wear, and a late hour it was, for the June days +in the north woods are long. We had at no time lost sight of the river, +and we began to realize the positive necessity of locating our guides +and canoes. We had given up trying to understand the delay. We decided +to follow back up the river until we found them, or until we reached +some other branch which they might have chosen. It was just as we were +about to begin this discouraging undertaking that far up the bend we +heard a call, then another. We answered, both together, and in the reply +we recognized the tones of Charles the Strong. + +Presently they came in sight--each dragging a canoe over the last riffle +just above the long hole. A moment later we had hurried back to meet two +of the weariest, wettest, most bedraggled mortals that ever poled and +dragged and carried canoe. All day they had been pulling and lifting; +loading, unloading and carrying those canoes and bags and baskets over +the Shelburne riffles, where not even the lightest craft could float. +How long had been the distance they did not know, but the miles had +been sore, tedious miles, and they had eaten nothing more than a +biscuit, expecting at every bend to find us waiting. + +It was proper that we should make camp now at the first inviting place. +We offered to stop right there, where our fire was already going, but it +was decided that the ground was a poor selection, being rather low. We +piled into the canoes and shot down the long hole, while the light of +evening was fading from the sky. Several hundred yards below, the water +widened and the bank sloped higher. It seemed an attractive spot and we +already knew the fishing in these waters. But as a final test Eddie made +a cast as we rounded, tossing his flies into an inviting swirl just +below a huge bowlder. For some reason we had put on three flies, and +when he finally got his mess of fish into the net, there were three +trout--all good ones--one on each fly. + +We decided to camp there, for good luck, and to stay until we were fully +repaired for travel. No camp was ever more warmly welcomed, or ever will +be more fondly remembered by us all. + + + + +Chapter Fifteen + + + _To-night, to-night, the frost is white,_ + _Under the silver moon;_ + _And lo, I lie, as the hours go by,_ + _Freezing to death in June._ + + + + +Chapter Fifteen + + +The reader will have gathered by this time that I had set out with only +a hazy idea of what camping in Nova Scotia would be like. I think I had +some notion that our beds would be down in the mud as often as not, and +sticky and disagreeable--something to be endured for the sake of the +day's sport. Things were not as I expected, of course. Things never are. +Our beds were not in the mud--not often--and there were days--chill, +wet, disheartening days--when I looked forward to them and to the +campfire blaze at the tent door with that comfort which a child finds in +the prospect of its mother's arm. + +On the whole, I am sure our camps were more commodious than I had +expected them to be; and they were pretentious affairs, considering that +we were likely to occupy them no more than one night. We had three +tents--Eddie's, already described; a tent for the guides, of about the +same proportions, and a top or roof tent, under which we dined when it +rained. Then there was a little porch arrangement which we sometimes put +out over the front, but we found it had the bad habit of inviting the +smoke to investigate and permeate our quarters, so we dedicated the +little porch fly to other uses. A waterproof ground cloth was spread +between our stretcher beds, and upon the latter, as mentioned before, +were our sleeping-bags; also our various bundles, cozily and +conveniently bestowed. It was an inviting interior, on the whole +something to anticipate, as I have said. + +Yet our beds were not perfect. Few things are. I am a rather large man, +and about three o'clock in the morning I was likely to wake up somewhat +cramped and pinched together from being so long in the little canvas +trough, with no good way of putting out my arms; besides being a little +cold, maybe, because about that hour the temperature seemed to make a +specialty of dropping low enough to get underneath one's couch and creep +up around the back and shoulders. It is true it was June, but June +nights in Nova Scotia have a way of forgetting that it is drowsy, +scented summertime; and I recall now times when I looked out through the +tent flap and saw the white frost gleaming on the trees, and wondered if +there was any sum of money too big to exchange for a dozen blankets or +so, and if, on the whole, perishing as I was, I would not be justified +in drugging Eddie in taking possession of his sleeping-bag. He had +already given me one of the woolen pockets, for compared with mine his +was a genuine Arctic affair, and, I really believe, kept him +disgustingly warm, even when I was freezing. I was grateful, of course, +for I should have perished early in the fight without it. I was also +appreciative. I knew just how much warmer a few more of those soft, +fleecy pockets would make me, especially on those nights when I woke +about the cheerless hour of three, to find the world all hard and white, +with the frost fingers creeping down my shoulder blades and along my +spine. Then it was I would work around and around--slowly and with due +deliberation of movement, for a sleeping-bag is not a thing of sudden +and careless revolution--trying to find some position or angle wherein +the cold would not so easily and surely find my vitals. At such a time, +the desire for real comfort and warmth is acute, and having already one +of Eddie's pockets and realizing its sterling worth--also that no more +than two feet away from me he lay warm and snug, buried in the undue +luxury of still other pockets--I may confess now I was goaded almost to +the point of arising and taking peremptory possession of the few paltry +pockets that would make my lot less hard. + +[Illustration: "Nightly he painted my scratches with new skin."] + +Sooner or later, I suppose, I should have murdered Eddie for his +blankets if he had not been good to me in so many ways. Daily he gave me +leaders, lines, new flies and such things; nightly he painted my +scratches with new skin. On the slightest provocation he would have +rubbed me generously with liniment, for he had a new, unopened bottle +which he was dying to try. Then there was scarcely an evening after I +was in bed--I was always first to go, for Eddie liked to prepare his bed +unhurriedly--that he did not bring me a drink, and comfort me with +something nice to eat, and maybe sing a little while he was "tickling" +his own bed (there is no other name for it), and when he had finished +with the countless little tappings, and pattings, and final touches +which insured the reposeful comfort of his couch, he would place the +candle lantern just between, where each could see equally well and so +read a little in order that we might compose our minds for rest. + + + + +Chapter Sixteen + + + _Now snug, the camp--the candle-lamp,_ + _Alighted stands between--_ + _I follow "Alice" in her tramp_ + _And you your "Folly Queen."_ + + + + +Chapter Sixteen + + +In the matter of Eddie's reading, however, I was not wholly satisfied. +When we had been leaving the little hotel, he had asked me, suddenly, +what I would take for reading in the woods. He added that he always read +a little at night, upon retiring, and from his manner of saying it, I +assumed that such reading might be of a religious nature. + +Now, I had not previously thought of taking anything, but just then I +happened to notice lying upon the table a copy of "Alice in Wonderland," +evidently belonging to the premises, and I said I would take that. I had +not foregathered with Alice and the White Rabbit for a good while, and +it seemed to me that in the depths of an enchanted wood I might properly +and profitably renew their acquaintance. The story would hardly offend +Eddie, even while he was finding solace in his prayer-book. + +I was only vaguely troubled when on the first night of our little +reading exercise I noticed that Eddie's book was not of the sort which I +had been led to expect, but was a rather thick, suspicious-looking +affair, paper-bound. Still, I reflected, it might be an ecclesiastical +treatise, or even what is known as a theological novel, and being +absorbed just then in an endeavor to accompany Alice into the wonderful +garden I did not investigate. + +What was my surprise--my shock, I may say--next morning, on picking up +the volume, to discover that it was printed in a foreign language, and +that language French--always a suspicious thing in print--and to learn +further, when by dint of recalling old school exercises, I had spelled +out the author's name and a sentence here and there, that not only was +it in that suspicious language, but that it was a novel, and of a +sort--well, of course there is only one thing worse than an English +translation of a French novel, and that is a French novel which cannot +be translated--by any one in this country, I mean, who hopes to keep out +of jail. + +I became absorbed in an endeavor to unravel a passage here and there +myself. But my French training had not fitted me for the task. My +lessons had been all about the silk gloves of my uncle's children or of +the fine leather shoes of my mother's aunt, and such innocent things. I +could find no reference to them in Eddie's book. In fact I found on +almost every page reference to things which had nothing to do with +wardrobe of any sort, and there were words of which I had the deepest +suspicion. I was tempted to fling the volume from me with a burning +blush of shame. Certainly it was necessary to protest against the +introduction of the baleful French novel into this sylvan retreat. + +I did so, later in the day, but it was no use. Eddie had already gulped +down some twenty pages of the poison and would not listen to reason. +There was a duchess in the book, and I knew immediately from the lame +excuses he made for this person that she was not at all a proper +associate for Eddie, especially in this remote place. I pleaded in vain. +He had overtaken the duchess on the third page, and the gaud of her +beauty was in his eyes. So it came to pass that while I was following +gentle little Alice and the White Rabbit through a land of wonder and +dreams, Eddie, by the light of the same candle, was chasing this +butterfly of folly through a French court at the rate of some twenty +finely printed pages every night, translating aloud here and there, +until it sometimes became necessary for me to blow out the candle +peremptorily, in order that both of us might compose our minds for +needed slumber. + +Perhaps I am dwelling unnecessarily upon our camp detail, but, after +all, the tent, with its daily and nightly round becomes a rather +important thing when it is to be a habitation for a period of weeks of +sun and storm; and any little gem of experience may not be wholly +unwasted. + +Then there is the matter of getting along without friction, which seems +important. A tent is a small place, and is likely to contain a good many +things--especially in bad weather--besides yourselves. If you can manage +to have your things so the other fellow will stumble over them as +infrequently as possible, it is just as well for him, and safer for you. +Also, for the things. Then, too, if you will make your beds at separate +times, as we did, one remaining outside, or lying in a horizontal +position among his own supplies while the other is in active operation, +you are less likely to rub against each other, which sometimes means to +rub in the wrong direction, with unhappy results. Of course forbearance +is not a bad asset to have along, and a small measure of charity and +consideration. It is well to take one's sense of humor, too, and any +little remnant of imagination one may have lying about handy at the +moment of starting. Many a well-constructed camp has gone to wreck +during a spell of bad weather because one or more of its occupants did +not bring along imagination and a sense of humor, or failed to produce +these articles at the critical moment. Imagination beautifies many a +desolate outlook--a laugh helps over many a hard place. + + + + +Chapter Seventeen + + + _Oh, the pulses leap where the fall is steep,_ + _And the rocks rise grim and dark,_ + _With the swirl and sweep of the rapids deep,_ + _And the joy of the racing bark._ + + + + +Chapter Seventeen + + +We established a good camp on the Shelburne and remained in it for +several days. For one thing, our canoes needed a general overhauling +after that hard day on the rocks. Also, it rained nightly, and now and +then took a turn at it during the day, to keep in practice. + +We minded the rain, of course, as it kept us forever cooking our +clothes, and restrained a good deal of activity about the camp. Still, +we argued that it was a good thing, for there was no telling what sort +of water lay ahead and a series of rock-strewn rapids with low water +might mean trouble. + +On the whole, we were willing to stay and put up with a good deal for +the sport in that long pool. There may be better fishing on earth than +in the Shelburne River between Irving and Sand lakes, but it will take +something more than mere fisherman's gossip to convince either Eddie or +me of that possibility. We left the guides and went out together one +morning, and in less than three hours had taken full fifty fish of a +pound each, average weight. We took off our top flies presently and +fished with only one, which kept us busy enough, and always one of us +had a taut line and a curved rod; often both at one time. + +We began to try experiments at last, and I took a good fish on one of +the funny little scale-winged flies (I had happily lost the Jock Scott +with two hooks early in the campaign) and finally got a big fellow by +merely tying a bit of white absorbent cotton to a plain black hook. + +Yet curious are the ways of fish. For on the next morning--a perfect +trout day, with a light southwest wind and running clouds, after a night +of showers--never a rise could we get. We tried all the casts of the day +before--the Parmcheenie, the Jenny Lind, the Silver Doctor and the Brown +Hackle. It was no use. Perhaps the half a hundred big fellows we had +returned to the pool had warned all the others; perhaps there was some +other unwritten, occult law which prohibited trout from feasting on this +particular day. Finally Eddie, by some chance, put on a sort of a Brown +Hackle affair with a red piece of wool for a tail--he called it a Red +Tag fly, I think--and straightway from out of the tarry black depths +there rose such a trout as neither of us had seen the day before. + +After that, there was nothing the matter with Eddie's fishing. What +there was about this brown, red-tailed joke that tickled the fancy of +those great silly trout, who would have nothing to do with any other +lure, is not for me to say. The creature certainly looked like nothing +that ever lived, or that they could ever have imagined before. It seemed +to me a particularly idiotic combination and I could feel my respect +for the intelligence of trout waning. Eddie agreed with me as to that. +He said he had merely bought the thing because it happened to be the +only fly he didn't have in his collection and there had been a vacant +place in his fly-book. He said it was funny the trout should go for it +as they did, and he laughed a good deal about it. I suppose it was +funny, but I did not find it very amusing. And how those crazy-headed +trout did act. In vain I picked out flies with the red and brown colors +and tossed them as carefully as I could in just the same spots where +Eddie was getting those great whoppers at every cast. Some mysterious +order from the high priest of all trout had gone forth that morning, +prohibiting every sort and combination of trout food except this absurd +creature of which the oldest and mossiest trout had never dreamed. That +was why they went for it. It was the only thing not down on the list of +proscribed items. + +There was nothing for me to do at last but to paddle Eddie around and +watch him do some of the most beautiful fishing I have ever seen, and to +net his trout for him, and take off the fish, and attend to any other +little wants incident to a fisherman's busy day. I did it with as good +grace as I could, of course, and said I enjoyed it, and tried not to be +nasty and disagreeable in my attitude toward the trout, the water, +Eddie, and the camp and country in general. But, after all, it is a +severe test, on a day like that, to cast and cast and change flies until +you have wet every one in your book, without even a rise, and to see the +other chap taking great big black and mottled fellows--to see his rod +curved like a whip and to watch the long, lithe body leaping and +gleaming in the net. + +But the final test, the climax, was to come at evening. For when the +fish would no longer rise, even to the Red Tag, we pulled up to the +camp, where Eddie of course reported to the guides his triumph and my +discomfiture. Then, just as he was opening his fly-book to put the +precious red-tailed mockery away, he suddenly stopped and stared at me, +hesitated, and held up another--that is, two of them, side by side. + +"So help me!" he swore, "I didn't know I had it! I must have forgotten I +had one, and bought another, at another time. Now, I had forgotten that, +too. So help me!" + +If I hadn't known Eddie so well--his proclivity for buying, and +forgetting, and buying over again--also his sterling honor and general +moral purity--the fishes would have got him then, Red Tag and all. As it +was, I condescended to accept the second fly. I agreed that it was not +such a bad production, after all, though I altered my opinion again, +next morning, for whatever had been the embargo laid on other varieties +of trout bait the day before, it was on now, and there was a general +rising to anything we offered--Doctors, Parmcheenie, Absorbent +Cotton--any old thing that skimmed the water and looked big and +succulent. + +We broke camp that morning and dropped down toward the next lake--Sand +Lake, it would be, by our crude map and hazy directions. There are no +better rapids and there is no more lively fishing than we had on that +run. There was enough water for us to remain in the canoes, and it was +for the most part whirling, swirling, dashing, leaping water--shooting +between great bowlders--plunging among cruel-looking black +rocks--foaming into whirlpools below, that looked ready to swamp our +light craft, with stores, crew, tackle, everything. + +It was my first exhibition of our guides' skill in handling their +canoes. How they managed to just evade a sharp point of rock on one side +and by a quick twist escape shipwreck from a bowlder or mass of bowlders +on the other, I fail to comprehend. Then there were narrow boiling +channels, so full of obstructions that I did not believe a chip could go +through with entire safety. Yet somehow Del the Stout and Charles the +Strong seemed to know, though they had never traveled this water before, +just where the water would let the boats pass, just where the stones +were wide enough to let us through--touching on both sides, sometimes, +and ominously scraping on the bottom, but sliding and teetering into the +cauldron below, where somehow we did not perish, perhaps because we +shot so quickly through the foam. In the beginning I remembered a few +brief and appropriate prayers, from a childhood where such things were a +staff of comfort, and so made my peace with the world each time before +we took the desperate plunge. But as nothing seemed to happen--nothing +fatal, I mean--I presently gave myself up to the pure enjoyment of the +tumult and exhilaration, without disturbing myself as to dangers here or +hereafter. + +I do not believe the times that the guides got out of the canoes to ease +them over hard places would exceed twice, and not oftener than that were +we called on to assist them with the paddles. Even when we wished to do +so, we were often requested to go on fishing, for the reason, I suppose, +that in such a place one's unskilled efforts are likely to be +misdirected with fatal results. Somewhat later we were to have an +example of this kind--but I anticipate. + +We went on fishing. I never saw so many fish. We could take them as we +shot a rapid, we could scoop them in as we leaped a fall. They seemed to +be under every stone and lying in wait. There were great black fellows +in every maelstrom; there were groups holding receptions for us in the +stillwater pools below. It is likely that that bit of the Shelburne +River had not been fished before within the memory of any trout then +living, and when those red and blue and yellow flies came tumbling at +them, they must have thought it was great day in the morning and that +the white-faced prophets of big feeding had come. For years, the trout +we returned to those pools will tell their friends and descendants of +the marvels and enchantments of that day. + +I had given up my noibwood as being too strenuous in its demands for +constant fishing, but I laid aside the light bamboo here in this +high-pressure current and with this high-speed fishing, where trout +sometimes leaped clear of the water for the fly cast on the foam far +ahead, to be swinging a moment later at the end of the line almost as +far behind. No very delicate rod would improve under a strain like that, +and the tough old noibwood held true, and nobody cared--at least I +didn't--whether the tip stayed set or not. It was bent double most of +the time, anyway, and the rest of the time didn't matter. + +I don't know how many fish I took that day, but Eddie kept count of his, +and recorded a total of seventy-four between camp and the great, +splendid pool where the Shelburne foams out into Sand Lake, four miles +or such a matter, below. + +I do know that we lost two landing nets in that swift water, one apiece, +and this was a serious matter, for there were but two more, both +Eddie's, and landing nets in the wilderness are not easy to replace. Of +fish we kept possibly a dozen, the smallest ones. The others--larger and +wiser now--are still frolicking in the waters of the Shelburne, unless +some fish-hog has found his way to that fine water, which I think +doubtful, for a fish-hog is usually too lazy and too stingy to spend the +effort and time and money necessary to get there. + + + + +Chapter Eighteen + + + _There's nothing that's worse for sport, I guess,_ + _Than killing to throw away;_ + _And there's nothing that's better for recklessness_ + _Than having a price to pay._ + + + + +Chapter Eighteen + + +We had other camp diversions besides reading. We had shooting matches, +almost daily, one canoe against the other, usually at any stop we +happened to make, whether for luncheon or to repair the canoes, or +merely to prospect the country. On rainy days, and sometimes in the +evening, we played a game of cards known under various names--I believe +we called it pedro. At all events, you bid, and buy, and get set back, +and have less when you get through than you had before you began. +Anyhow, that is what my canoe did on sundry occasions. I am still +convinced that Del and I played better cards than the other canoe, +though the score would seem to show a different result. We were +brilliant and speculative in our playing. They were plodders and not +really in our class. Genius and dash are wasted on such persons. + +I am equally certain that our shooting was much worse than theirs, +though the percentage of misses seemed to remain in their favor. In the +matter of bull's-eyes--whenever such accidents came along--they happened +to the other canoe, but perhaps this excited our opponents, for there +followed periods of wildness when, if their shots struck anywhere, it +was impossible to identify the places. At such periods Eddie was likely +to claim that the cartridges were blanks, and perhaps they were. As for +Del and me, our luck never varied like that. It remained about equally +bad from day to day--just bad enough to beat the spectacular fortunes of +Eddie and Charles the Strong. + +In the matter of wing-shooting, however--that is to say, shooting when +we were on the wing and any legitimate quarry came in view--my +recollection is that we ranked about alike. Neither of us by any chance +ever hit anything at all, and I have an impression that our misses were +about equally wide. Eddie may make a different claim. He may claim that +he fired oftener and with less visible result than I. Possibly he did +fire oftener, for he had a repeating rifle and I only a single shot, but +so far as the result is concerned, if he states that his bullets flew +wider of the mark, such a claim is the result of pure envy, perhaps +malice. Why, I recall one instance of a muskrat whose skin Eddie was +particularly desirous of sending to those museum folks in London--all +properly mounted, with their names (Eddie's and the muskrat's) on a neat +silver plate, so that it could stand there and do honor to us for a long +time--until the moths had eaten up everything but the plate, perhaps, +and Eddie struck the water within two or three feet of it (the muskrat, +of course) as much as a dozen times, while such shots as I let go didn't +hit anything but the woods or the sky and are, I suppose, still buried +somewhere in the quiet bosom of nature. I am glad to unload that +sentence. It was getting top-heavy, with a muskrat and moths and a +silver plate in it. I could shoot some holes in it with a little +practice, but inasmuch as we didn't get the muskrat, I will let it stand +as a stuffed specimen. + +I am also glad about the muskrat. Had he perished, our pledge would have +compelled us to eat him, and although one of Eddie's text-books told a +good deal about their food value and seven different ways of cooking +them, I was averse to experimenting even with one way. I have never +really cared for muskrats since as a lad I caught twenty of them one +night in a trammel net. Up to that hour the odor of musk had never been +especially offensive to me, but twenty muskrats in a net can compound a +good deal of perfumery. We had to bury the net, and even then I never +cared much about it afterwards. The sight of it stirred my imagination, +and I was glad when it was ripped away from us by a swift current one +dark night, it being unlawful to set a trammel net in that river, and +therefore sinful, by daylight. + +It was on Sand Lake that Eddie gave the first positive demonstration of +his skill as a marksman. Here, he actually made a killing. True, it was +not a wing shot, but it was a performance worthy of record. A chill wet +wind blew in upon us as we left the river, and a mist such as we had +experienced on Irving Lake, with occasional drifts of rain, shut us in. +At first it was hard to be certain that we were really on a lake, for +the sheet of water was long and narrow, and it might be only a widening +of the river. But presently we came to an island, and this we accepted +as identification. It was the customary island, larger than some, but +with the bushes below, the sentinel pines, and here and there a gaunt +old snag--bleached and dead and lifting its arms to the sky. On one of +these dead ones we made out, through the mist, a strange dark bunch +about the size of a barn door and of rather irregular formation. +Gradually nearing, we discovered the bunch to be owls--great horned +owls--a family of them, grouped on the old tree's limbs in solid +formation, oblivious to the rain, to the world, to any thought of +approaching danger. + +Now, the great horned owl is legitimate quarry. The case against him is +that he is a bird of prey--a destroyer of smaller birds and an enemy of +hen roosts. Of course if one wanted to go deeply into the ethics of the +matter, one might say that the smaller birds and the chickens are +destroyers, too, of bugs and grasshoppers and things, and that a life is +a life, whether it be a bird or a bumble-bee, or even a fish-worm. But +it's hard to get to the end of such speculations as that. Besides, the +owl was present, and we wanted his skin. Eddie crept close in with his +canoe, and drew a careful bead on the center of the barn door. There +was an angry little spit of powder in the wet, a wavering movement of +the dark, mist-draped bunch, a slow heaving of ghostly pinions and four +silent, feathered phantoms drifted away into the white gloom. But there +was one that did not follow. In vain the dark wings heaved and fell. +Then there came a tottering movement, a leap forward, and +half-fluttering, half-plunging, the heavy body came swishing to the +ground. + +Yet unused to the battle as he was, for he was of the younger brood, he +died game. When we reached him he was sitting upright, glaring out of +his great yellow eyes, his talons poised for defense. Even with Eddie's +bottle of new skin in reserve, it was not considered safe to approach +too near. We photographed him as best we could, and then a shot at close +range closed his brief career. + +I examined the owl with considerable interest. In the first place I had +never seen one of this noble species before, and this was a beautiful +specimen. Also, his flesh, being that of a young bird, did not appeal to +warrant the expression tough as a boiled owl, which the others +remembered almost in a chorus when I referred to our agreement +concerning the food test of such game as we brought down. I don't think +any of us wanted to eat that owl. I know I didn't, but I had weakened +once--on the porcupine, it may be remembered--and the death of that +porcupine rested heavily upon me, especially when I remembered how he +had whined and grieved in the moment of dying. I think I had a notion +that eating the owl would in some measure atone for the porcupine. I +said, with such firmness as I could command, and all day I repeated at +intervals, that we would eat the owl. + +We camped rather early that afternoon, for it was not pleasant traveling +in the chill mist, and the prospect of the campfire and a snug tent was +an ever-present temptation. I had suggested, also, that we ought to go +ashore in time to cook the owl for supper. It might take time to cook +him. + +We did not especially need the owl. We had saved a number of choice +small trout and we were still able to swallow them when prepared in a +really palatable form. Eddie, it is true, had condemned trout at +breakfast, and declared he would have no more of them, but this may have +been because there were flapjacks. He showed no disposition to condemn +them now. When I mentioned the nice, tender owl meat which we were to +have, he really looked longingly at the trout and spoke of them as juicy +little fellows, such as he had always liked. I agreed that they would be +good for the first course, and that a bird for supper would make out a +sumptuous meal. I have never known Eddie to be so kind to me as he was +about this time. He offered me some leaders and flies and even presented +me with a silver-mounted briar-root pipe, brought all the way from +London. I took the things, but I did not soften my heart. I was born in +New England and have a conscience. I cannot be bribed like that. + +I told the guides that it would be better to begin supper right away, in +order that we might not get too hungry before the owl was done. I +thought them slow in their preparations for the meal. It was curious, +too, for I had promised them they should have a piece of the bird. Del +was generous. He said he would give his to Charles. That he never really +cared much for birds, anyhow. Why, once, he said, he shot a partridge +and gave it away, and he was hungry, too. He gave it to a boy that +happened along just then, and when another partridge flew up he didn't +even offer to shoot it. We didn't take much stock in that story until it +dawned upon us that he had shot the bird out of season, and the boy had +happened along just in time to be incriminated by accepting it as a +present. It was better to have him as a partner than a witness. + +As for Charles, he affected to be really eager for owl meat. He said +that all his life he had looked forward to this time. Still, he was +slow, I thought. He seemed about as eager for supper as a boy is to +carry in the evening wood. He said that one of the canoes leaked a +little and ought to be pitched right away. I said it was altogether too +damp for such work and that the canoe would wait till morning. Then he +wanted to look up a spring, though there were two or three in plain +sight, within twenty yards of the camp. I suspected at last that he was +not really anxious to cook the owl and was trying to postpone the matter +until it was too late for him (the owl) to get properly done before +bedtime. Then I became firm. I said that a forest agreement was sacred. +That we were pledged to the owl before we shot him, and that we would +keep our promise to the dead, even to the picking of his bones. + +Wood was gathered then, and the fire blazed. The owl's breast--fat and +fine it looked--was in the broiler, and on the fire. There it +cooked--and cooked. Then it cooked some more and sent up an appetizing +smell. Now and then, I said I thought the time for it had come, but +there was a burden of opinion that more cooking would benefit the owl. +Meantime, we had eaten a pan or two of trout and a few other things--the +bird of course being later in the bill of fare. At most dinners I have +attended, this course is contemplated with joy. It did not seem to be on +this occasion. Eddie agreed with Del that he had never cared much for +bird, anyway, and urged me to take his share. I refused to deprive him +of it. Then he said he didn't feel well, and thought he really ought not +to eat anything more. I said grimly that possibly this was true, but +that he would eat the owl. + +It was served then, fairly divided and distributed, as food is when men +are on short rations. I took the first taste--I was always +venturesome--a little one. Then, immediately, I wished I had accepted +Eddie's piece. But meantime he had tasted, too--a miserly taste--and +then I couldn't have got the rest of it for money. + +For there was never anything so good as that breast of young owl. It was +tender, it was juicy, it was as delicately flavored as a partridge, +almost. Certainly it was a dainty morsel to us who had of late dealt so +largely in fish diet. Had we known where the rest of that brood of owls +had flown to we should have started after them, then and there. + + Extract from my diary that night: "Eddie has been taken with + a slight cramp, and it has occurred to him that the owl + meat, though appetizing, may be poisonous. He is searching + his medicine bag for remedies. His disaster is merely + punishment for the quantity of other food he ate beforehand, + in his futile effort to escape the owl." + + + + +Chapter Nineteen + + + _Then scan your map, and search your plans,_ + _And ponder the hunter's guess--_ + _While the silver track of the brook leads back_ + _Into the wilderness._ + + + + +Chapter Nineteen + + +We looked for moose again on Sand Lake, but found only signs. On the +whole, I thought this more satisfactory. One does not have to go +galloping up and down among the bushes and rocks to get a glimpse of +signs, but may examine them leisurely and discuss the number, character +and probable age of these records, preserving meanwhile a measure of +repose, not to say dignity. + +Below Sand Lake a brook was said to enter. Descending from the upper +interior country, it would lead us back into regions more remote than +any heretofore traveled. So far as I could learn, neither of our guides +had ever met any one who even claimed in know this region, always +excepting the imaginative Indian previously mentioned. Somewhere in +these uncharted wilds this Indian person had taken trout "the size of +one's leg." + +Regardless of the dimensions of this story, it had a fascination for us. +We wished to see those trout, even if they had been overrated. We had +been hurrying, at least in spirit, to reach the little water gateway +that opened to a deeper unknown where lay a chain of lakes, vaguely set +down on our map as the Tobeatic[4] waters. At some time in the past the +region had been lumbered, but most of the men who cut the timber were +probably dead now, leaving only a little drift of hearsay testimony +behind. + +It was not easy to find the entrance to the hidden land. The foliage was +heavy and close along the swampy shore, and from such an ambush a still +small current might flow unnoticed, especially in the mist that hung +about us. More than once we were deceived by some fancied ripple or the +configuration of the shore. Del at length announced that just ahead was +a growth of a kind of maple likely to indicate a brook entrance. The +shore really divided there and a sandy waterway led back somewhere into +a mystery of vines and trees. + +We halted near the mouth of the little stream for lunch and +consultation. It was not a desirable place to camp. The ground was low +and oozy and full of large-leaved greenhousy-looking plants. The recent +rains had not improved the character of the place. There was poison ivy +there, too, and a delegation of mosquitoes. We might just as well have +gone up the brook a hundred yards or so, to higher and healthier ground, +but this would not have been in accord with Eddie's ideas of +exploration. Explorers, he said, always stopped at the mouth of rivers +to debate, and to consult maps and feed themselves in preparation for +unknown hardships to come. So we stopped and sat around in the mud, and +looked at some marks on a paper--made by the imaginative Indian, I +think--and speculated as to whether it would be possible to push and +drag the canoes up the brook, or whether everything would have to go +overland. + +Personally, the prospect of either did not fill me with enthusiasm. The +size of the brook did not promise much in the way of important waters +above or fish even the size of one's arm. However, Tobeatic exploration +was down on the cards. Our trip thus far had furnished only a hint of +such mystery and sport as was supposed to lie concealed somewhere beyond +the green, from which only this little brooklet crept out to whisper the +secret. Besides, I had learned to keep still when Eddie had set his +heart on a thing. I left the others poring over the hieroglyphic map, +and waded out into the clean water of the brook. As I looked back at Del +and Charlie, squatting there amid the rank weeds, under the dark, +dripping boughs, with Eddie looking over their shoulders and pointing at +the crumpled paper, spread before them, they formed a picturesque +group--such a one as Livingstone or Stanley and their followers might +have made in the African jungles. When I told Eddie of this he grew +visibly prouder and gave me two new leaders and some special tobacco. + +We proceeded up the stream, Eddie and I ahead, the guides pushing the +loaded canoes behind. It was the brook of our forefathers--such a stream +as might flow through the valley meadows of New England, with trout of +about the New England size, and plentiful. Lively fellows, from seven to +nine inches in length, rose two and three at almost every cast. We put +on small flies and light leaders and forgot there were such things as +big trout in Nova Scotia. It was joyous, old-fashioned fishing--a real +treat for a change. + +We had not much idea how far we were to climb this water stairway, and +as the climb became steeper, and the water more swift, the guides pushed +and puffed and we gave them a lift over the hard places--that is, Eddie +did. I was too tired to do anything but fish. + +As a rule, the water was shallow, but there were deep holes. I found one +of them presently, by mistake. It was my habit to find holes that +way--places deeper than my waders, though the latter came to my +shoulders. It seemed necessary that several times daily I should get my +boots full of water. When I couldn't do it in any other way I would fall +over something and let the river run into them for a while. I called to +Eddie from where I was wallowing around, trying to get up, with my usual +ballast. + +"Don't get in here!" I said. + +He was helping the boys over a hard place just then, tugging and +sweating, but he paused long enough to be rude and discourteous. + +"I don't have to catch my trout in my boots," he jeered, and the guides +were disrespectful enough to laugh. I decided that I would never try to +do any of them a good turn again. Then suddenly everything was +forgotten, for a gate of light opened out ahead, and presently we pushed +through and had reached the shores of as lovely a sheet of water as lies +in the great north woods. It was Tupper Lake, by our calculation, and it +was on the opposite side that Tobeatic Brook was said to enter. There, +if anywhere, we might expect to find the traditional trout. So far as we +knew, no one had looked on these waters since the old lumbering days. +Except for exploration there was no reason why any one should come. Of +fish and game there were plenty in localities more accessible. To me, I +believe the greatest joy there, as everywhere in the wilderness--and it +was a joy that did not grow old--was the feeling that we were in a +region so far removed from clanging bells and grinding wheels and all +the useful, ugly attributes of mankind. + +We put out across the lake. The land rose rather sharply beyond, and +from among the trees there tumbled out a white foaming torrent that made +a wide swirling green pool where it entered. We swept in below this +aquarium, Eddie taking one side and I the other. We had on our big flies +now and our heavy leaders. They were necessary. Scarcely had a cast gone +sailing out over the twisting water when a big black and gold shape +leaped into the air and Eddie had his work cut out for him. A moment +later my own reel was singing, and I knew by the power and savage rushes +that I had something unusual at the other end. + +"Trout as big as your leg!" we called across to each other, and if they +were not really as big as that, they were, at all events, bigger than +anything so far taken--as big as one's arm perhaps--one's forearm, at +least, from the hollow of the elbow to the fingertips. You see how +impossible it is to tell the truth about a trout the first time. I never +knew a fisherman who could do it. There is something about a fish that +does not affiliate with fact. Even at the market I have known a fish to +weigh more than he did when I got him home. We considered the +imaginative Indian justified, and blessed him accordingly. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Pronounced To-be-at-ic + + + + +Chapter Twenty + + + _You may slip away from a faithful friend_ + _And thrive for an hour or two,_ + _But you'd better be fair, and you'd better be square,_ + _Or something will happen to you._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty + + +We took seventeen of those big fellows before we landed, enough in all +conscience. A point just back of the water looked inviting as a place to +pitch the tents, and we decided to land, for we were tired. Yet curious +are the ways of fishermen: having had already too much, one becomes +greedy for still more. There was an old dam just above, unused for a +generation perhaps, and a long, rotting sluiceway through which poured a +torrent of water. It seemed just the place for the king of trouts, and I +made up my mind to try it now before Eddie had a chance. You shall see +how I was punished. + +I crept away when his back was turned, taking his best and +longest-handled landing net (it may be remembered I had lost mine), for +it would be a deep dip down into the sluice. The logs around the +premises were old and crumbly and I had to pick my way with care to +reach a spot from which it would be safe to handle a big trout. I knew +he was there. I never had a stronger conviction in my life. The +projecting ends of some logs which I chose for a seat seemed fairly +permanent and I made my preparations with care. I put on a new leader +and two large new flies. Then I rested the net in a handy place, took a +look behind me and sent the cast down the greased lightning current that +was tearing through the sluice. + +I expected results, but nothing quite so sudden. Neither did I know that +whales ever came so far up into fresh-water streams. I know it was a +whale, for nothing smaller could have given a yank like that; besides, +in the glimpse I had of him he looked exactly like pictures I have seen +of the leviathan who went into commission for three days to furnish +passage for Jonah and get his name in print. I found myself suddenly +grabbing at things to hold on to, among them being Eddie's long-handled +net, which was of no value as ballast, but which once in my hand I could +not seem to put down again, being confused and toppling. + +As a matter of fact there was nothing satisfactory to get hold of in +that spot. I had not considered the necessity of firm anchorage when I +selected the place, but with a three-ton trout at the end of a long +line, in a current going a thousand miles a minute, I realized that it +would be well to be lashed to something permanent. As it was, with my +legs swinging over that black mill-race, my left hand holding the rod, +and my right clutching the landing net, I was in no position to +withstand the onset of a battle such as properly belongs to the North +Pacific Ocean where they have boats and harpoons and long coiled lines +suitable to such work. + +[Illustration: "I remember seeing the sluice, black and swift, suddenly +rise to meet me."] + +Still, I might have survived--I might have avoided complete disaster, I +think--if the ends of those two logs I selected as a seat had been as +sound as they looked. Of course they were not. They were never intended +to stand any such motions as I was making. In the brief moment allowed +me for thought I realized this, but it was no matter. My conclusions +were not valuable. I remember seeing the sluice, black, and swift, +suddenly rise to meet me, and of dropping Eddie's net as I went down. +Then I have a vision of myself shooting down that race in a wild +toboggan ride, and a dim, splashy picture of being pitched out on a heap +of brush and stones and logs below. + +When I got some of the water out of my brains so I could think with +them, I realized, first, that I was alive, still clutching my rod and +that it was unbroken. Next, that the whale and Eddie's landing net were +gone. I did not care so especially much about the whale. He had annoyed +me. I was willing to part with him. Eddie's net was a different matter. +I never could go back without that. After all his goodness to me I had +deceived him, slipped away from him, taken his prized net--and lost it. +I had read of such things; the Sunday-school books used to be full of +similar incidents. And even if Eddie forgave me, as the good boy in the +books always did, my punishment was none the less sure. My fishing was +ended. There was just one net left. Whatever else I had done, or might +do, I would never deprive Eddie of his last net. I debated whether I +should go to him, throw myself on his mercy--ask his forgiveness and +offer to become his special guide and servant for the remainder of the +trip--or commit suicide. + +But presently I decided to make one try, at least, to find the net. It +had not been thrown out on the drift with me, for it was not there. +Being heavy, it had most likely been carried along the bottom and was at +present lodged in some deep crevice. It was useless, of course; still, I +would try. + +I was not much afraid of the sluice, now that I had been introduced to +it. I put my rod in a place of safety and made my way to the upper end +of the great trough. Then I let myself down carefully into the racing +water, bracing myself against the sides and feeling along the bottom +with my feet. It was uncertain going, for the heavy current tried hard +to pull me down. But I had not gone three steps till I felt something. I +could not believe it was the net. I carefully steadied myself and--down, +down to my elbow. Then I could have whooped for joy, for it _was_ the +net. It had caught on an old nail or splinter, or something, and held +fast. + +Eddie was not at the camp, and the guides were busy getting wood. I was +glad, for I was wet and bruised and generally disturbed. When I had +changed my things and recovered a good deal, I sat in the shade and +smoked and arranged my fly-book and other paraphernalia, and brooded on +the frailty of human nature and the general perversity and cussedness of +things at large. I had a confession all prepared for Eddie, long before +he arrived. It was a good confession--sufficiently humble and truthful +without being dangerous. I had tested it carefully and I did not believe +it could result in any disagreeable penance or disgrace on my part. It +takes skill to construct a confession like that. But it was wasted. When +Eddie came in, at last, he wore a humble hang-dog look of his own, and I +did not see the immediate need of _any_ confession. + +"I didn't really intend to run off from you," he began sheepishly. "I +only wanted to see what was above the dam, and I tried one or two of the +places up there, and they were all so bully I couldn't get away. Get +your rod, I want to take you up there before it gets too late." + +So the rascal had taken advantage of my brief absence and slipped off +from me. In his guilty haste he had grabbed the first landing net he had +seen, never suspecting that I was using the other. Clearly I was the +injured person. I regarded him with thoughtful reproach while he begged +me to get my rod and come. He would take nothing, he said, but a net, +and would guide for me. I did not care to fish any more that day; but I +knew Eddie--I knew how his conscience galled him for his sin and would +never give him peace until he had made restitution in full. I decided to +be generous. + +We made our way above the dam, around an old half-drained pond, and +through a killing thicket of vines and brush to a hidden pool, faced +with slabs and bowlders. There, in that silent dim place I had the most +beautiful hour's fishing I have ever known. The trout were big, gamy +fellows and Eddie was alert, obedient and respectful. It was not until +dusk that he had paid his debt to the last fish--had banished the final +twinge of remorse. + +Our day, however, was not quite ended. We must return to camp. The +thicket had been hard to conquer by daylight. Now it was an impenetrable +wall of night and thorns. Across the brook looked more open and we +decided to go over, but when we got there it proved a trackless, swampy +place, dark and full of pitfalls and vines. Eddie, being small and +woods-broken could work his way through pretty well, but after a few +discouragements I decided to wade down the brook and through the shallow +pond above the dam. At least it could not be so deadly dark there. + +It was heart-breaking business. I went slopping and plunging among +stumps and stones and holes. I mistook logs for shadows and shadows for +logs with pathetic results. The pond that had seemed small and shallow +by daylight was big enough and deep enough now. A good deal of the way I +went on my hands and knees, but not from choice. A nearby owl hooted at +me. Bats darted back and forth close to my face. If I had not been a +moral coward I should have called for help. Eddie had already reached +camp when I arrived and had so far recovered his spiritual status that +he jeered at my condition. I resolved then not to mention the sluice and +the landing net at all--ever. I needed an immediate change of garments, +of course--the third since morning.[5] It had been a hard, eventful day. +Such days make camping remembered--and worth while. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] I believe the best authorities say that one change is enough to take +on a camping trip, and maybe it is--for the best authorities. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-one + + + _Oh, it's well to live high as you can, my boy,_ + _Wherever you happen to roam,_ + _But it's better to have enough bacon and beans_ + _To take the poor wanderers home._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-one + + +By this time we had reached trout diet _per se_. I don't know what _per +se_ means, but I have often seen it used and it seems to fit this case. +Of course we were not entirely out of other things. We had flour for +flapjacks, some cornmeal for mush and Johnnie-cake, and enough bacon to +impart flavor to the fish. Also, we were not wholly without beans--long +may they wave--the woods without them would be a wilderness indeed. But +in the matter of meat diet it was trout _per se_, as I have said, unless +that means we did not always have them; in which case I will discard +those words. We did. We had fried trout, broiled trout, boiled trout, +baked trout, trout on a stick and trout chowder. We may have had them +other ways--I don't remember. I know I began to imagine that I was +sprouting fins and gills, and daily I felt for the new bumps on my head +which I was certain must result from this continuous absorption of brain +food. There were several new bumps, but when I called Eddie's attention +to them, he said they were merely the result of butting my head so +frequently against logs and stumps and other portions of the scenery. +Then he treated them with liniment and new skin. + +Speaking of food, I believe I have not mentioned the beefsteak which we +brought with us into the woods. It was Eddie's idea, and he was its +self-appointed guardian and protector. That was proper, only I think he +protected it too long. It was a nice sirloin when we started--thick and +juicy and of a deep rich tone. Eddie said a little age would improve it, +and I suppose he was right--he most always is. He said we would +appreciate it more, too, a little later, which seemed a sound doctrine. + +Yet, somehow, that steak was an irritation. It is no easy matter to +adjust the proper age of a steak to the precise moment of keen and +general appreciation. We discussed the matter a good deal, and each time +the steak was produced as a sort of Exhibit A, and on each occasion +Eddie decided that the time was not ripe--that another day would add to +its food value. I may say that I had no special appetite for steak, not +yet, but I did not want to see it carried off by wild beasts, or offered +at last on a falling market. + +Besides, the thing was an annoyance as baggage. I don't know where we +carried it at first, but I began to come upon it in unexpected places. +If I picked up a yielding looking package, expecting to find a dry +undergarment, or some other nice surprise, it turned out to be that +steak. If I reached down into one of the pack baskets for a piece of +Eddie's chocolate, or some of his tobacco--for anything, in fact--I +would usually get hold of a curious feeling substance and bring up that +steak. I began to recognize its texture at last, and to avoid it. +Eventually I banished it from the baskets altogether. Then Eddie took to +hanging it on a limb near the camp, and if a shower came up suddenly he +couldn't rest--he must make a wild rush and take in that steak. I +refused at last to let him bring it into the tent, or to let him hang it +on a nearby limb. But this made trouble, for when he hung it farther +away he sometimes forgot it, and twice we had to paddle back a mile or +so to get that steak. Also, sometimes, it got wet, which was not good +for its flavor, he said; certainly not for its appearance. + +In fact, age told on that steak. It no longer had the deep rich glow of +youth. It had a weather-beaten, discouraged look, and I wondered how +Eddie could contemplate it in that fond way. It seemed to me that if the +time wasn't ripe the steak was, and that something ought to be done +about a thing like that. My suggestions did not please Eddie. + +I do not remember now just when we did at last cook that steak. I prefer +to forget it. Neither do I know what Eddie did with his piece. I buried +mine. + +[Illustration: "When I awoke, a savory smell was coming in the tent."] + +Eddie redeemed himself later--that is to say, he produced something I +could eat. He got up early for the purpose. When I awoke, a savory smell +was coming in the tent. Eddie was squatted by the fire, stirring +something in a long-handled frying pan. Neither he nor the guides were +communicative as to its nature, but it was good, and I hoped we would +have it often. Then they told me what it was. It was a preparation with +cream (condensed) of the despised canned salmon which I had denounced +earlier in the trip as an insult to live, speckled trout. You see how +one's point of view may alter. I said I was sorry now we hadn't brought +some dried herring. The others thought it a joke, but I was perfectly +serious. + +In fact, provisioning for a camping trip is a serious matter. Where a +canoe must carry a man and guide, with traps and paraphernalia, and +provisions for a three-weeks' trip, the problem of condensation in the +matter of space and weight, with amplitude in the matter of quantity, +affords study for a careful mind. We started out with a lot of can and +bottle goods, which means a good deal of water and glass and tin, all of +which are heavy and take up room. I don't think ours was the best way. +The things were good--too good to last--but dried fruits--apricots, +prunes and the like--would have been nearly as good, and less +burdensome. Indeed by the end of the second week I would have given five +cents apiece for a few dried prunes, while even dried apples, which I +had learned to hate in childhood, proved a gaudy luxury. Canned beans, +too, I consider a mistake. You can't take enough of them in that form. +No two canoes can safely carry enough canned beans to last two fishermen +and two Nova Scotia guides for three weeks. As for jam and the like, +why it would take one canoe to carry enough marmalade to supply Del the +Stout alone. If there is any such thing as a marmalade cure, I hope Del +will take it before I am ready to go into the woods again. Otherwise I +shall tow an extra canoe or a marmalade factory. + +As I have said, dried things are better; fruits, beans, rice, beef, +bacon--maple sugar (for sirup), cornmeal and prepared flour. If you want +to start with a few extras in the way of canned stuff, do it, but be +sure you have plenty of the staples mentioned. You will have enough +water and tin and glass to carry with your condensed milk, your vinegar, +a few pickles, and such other bottle refreshments as your tastes and +morals will permit. Take all the variety you can in the way of dried +staples--be sure they are staples--but cut close on your bulky tinned +supplies. It is better to be sure of enough Johnnie-cake and bacon and +beans during the last week out than to feast on plum-pudding and +California pears the first. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-two + + + _Oh, it's up and down the island's reach,_ + _Through thicket and gorge and fen,_ + _With never a rest in their fevered quest,_ + _Hurry the hunter men._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-two + + +I would gladly have lingered at Tobeatic Dam. It was an ideal place, +wholly remote from everything human--a haunt of wonderful trout, +peaceable porcupines and tame birds. The birds used to come around the +tent to look us over and ask questions, and to tell us a lot about what +was going on in the back settlements--those mysterious dim places where +bird and beast still dwell together as in the ancient days, their round +of affairs and gossip undisturbed. I wanted to rest there, and to heal +up a little before resuming the unknown way. + +But Eddie was ruthless--there were more worlds to conquer. The spirit of +some old ancestor who probably set out to discover the Northwest Passage +was upon him. Lower Tobeatic Lake was but a little way above. We pushed +through to it without much delay. It was an extensive piece of water, +full of islands, lonely rocks and calling gulls, who come to this inland +isolation to rear their young. + +The morning was clear and breezy and we set on up the lake in the +canoes, Eddie, as usual, a good way in advance. He called back to us now +and then that this was great moose country, and to keep a sharp lookout +as we passed the islands. I did not wish to see moose. The expedition +had already acquitted itself in that direction, but Eddie's voice was +eager, even authoritative, so we went in close and pointed at signs and +whispered in the usual way. I realized that Eddie had not given up the +calf moose idea and was still anxious to shine with those British Museum +people. It seemed to me that such ambitions were not laudable. I +considered them a distinct mar to a character which was otherwise almost +perfect. It was at such times that my inclination to drown or poison +Eddie was stronger than usual. + +He had been behind an island a good while when we thought we heard a +shot. Presently we heard it again, and were sure. Del was instantly all +ablaze. Two shots had been the signal for moose. + +We went around there. I suppose we hurried. I know it was billowy off +the point and we shipped water and nearly swamped as we rounded. Behind +the island, close in, lay the other canoe, Eddie waving to us excitedly +as we came up. + +"Two calf meese!" he called (meese being Eddie's plural of +moose--everybody knows that mooses is the word). "Little helpless +fellows not more than a day or two old. They're too young to swim of +course, so they can't get on the island. We've got em, sure!" + +"Did you hit either of them?" I asked anxiously. + +"No, of course not! I only fired for a signal. They are wholly at our +mercy. They were right here just a moment ago. The mother ran, and they +hardly knew which way to turn. We can take them alive." + +"But, Eddie," I began, "what will you do with them? They'll have to be +fed if we keep them, and will probably want to occupy the tents, and +we'll have to take them in the canoes when we move." + +He was ready for this objection. + +"I've been thinking," he said with decision. "Dell and Charlie can take +one of the canoes, with the calves in it, and make straight for Milford +by the shortest cut. While they're gone we'll be exploring the upper +lake." + +This was a brief, definite plan, but it did not appeal to me. In the +first place, I did not wish to capture those little mooses. Then, too, I +foresaw that during the considerable period which must elapse before the +guides returned, somebody would have to cook and wash dishes and perform +other menial camp labor. I suspected Eddie might get tired of doing +guide work as a daily occupation. Also, I was sorry for Charlie and Del. +I had a mental picture of them paddling for dear life up the Liverpool +River with two calf mooses galloping up and down the canoe, bleating +wildly, pausing now and then to lap the faces of the friendly guides and +perhaps to bite off an ear or some other handy feature. Even the wild +animals would form along the river bank to view a spectacle like that, +and I imagined the arrival at the hotel would be something particularly +showy. I mentioned these things and I saw that for once the guides were +with me. They did not warm to the idea of that trip up the Liverpool and +the gaudy homecoming. Eddie was only for a moment checked. + +"Well, then," he said, "we'll kill and skin them. We can carry the +skins." + +This was no better. I did not want those little mooses slaughtered, and +said so. But Eddie was roused now, and withered me with judicial +severity. + +"Look here," he said, and his spectacles glared fiercely. "I'm here as a +representative of the British Museum, in the cause of science, not to +discuss the protection of dumb creatures. That's another society." + +I submitted then, of course. I always do when Eddie asserts his official +capacity like that. The authority of the British Museum is not to be +lightly tampered with. So far as I knew he could have me jailed for +contempt. We shoved our canoes in shore and disembarked. Eddie turned +back. + +"We must take something to tie their hind legs," he said, and fished out +a strap for that purpose. The hope came to me that perhaps, after all, +he might not need the strap, but I was afraid to mention it. + +I confess I was unhappy. I imagined a pathetic picture of a little +innocent creature turning its pleading eyes up to the captor who with +keen sheath-knife would let slip the crimson tide. I had no wish to go +racing through the brush after those timid victims. + +[Illustration: "I do not like to come upon snakes in that manner."] + +I did, however. The island was long and narrow. We scattered out across +it in a thin line of battle, and starting at one end swept down the +length of it with a conquering front. That sounds well, but it fails to +express what we did. We did not sweep, and we did not have any front to +speak of. The place was a perfect tangle and chaos of logs, bushes, +vines, pits, ledges and fallen trees. To beat up that covert was a hot, +scratchy, discouraging job, attended with frequent escapes from accident +and damage. I was satisfied I had the worst place in the line, for I +couldn't keep up with the others, and I tried harder to do that than I +did to find the little mooses. I didn't get sight of the others after we +started. Neither did I catch a glimpse of those little day-old calves, +or of anything else except a snake, which I came upon rather suddenly +when I was down on my hands and knees, creeping under a fallen tree. I +do not like to come upon snakes in that manner. I do not care to view +them even behind glass in a museum. An earthquake might strike that +museum and break the glass and it might not be easy to get away. I wish +Eddie had been collecting snake skins for _his_ museum. I would have +been willing for him to skin that one alive. + +I staggered out to the other end of the island, at last, with only a +flickering remnant of life left in me. I thought Eddie would be +grateful for all my efforts when I was not in full sympathy with the +undertaking; but he wasn't. He said that by not keeping up with the line +I had let the little mooses slip by, and that we would have to make the +drive again. I said he might have my route and I would take another. It +was a mistake, though. I couldn't seem to pick a better one. When we had +chased up and down that disordered island--that dumping ground of +nature--for the third time; when I had fallen over every log and stone, +and into every hole on it, and had scraped myself in every brush-heap, +and not one of us had caught even an imaginary glimpse of those little, +helpless, day-old meese, or mooses, or mice for they were harder to find +than mice--we staggered out, limp and sore, silently got into our canoes +and drifted away. Nobody spoke for quite a while. Nobody had anything to +say. Then Charlie murmured reflectively, as if thinking aloud: + +"Little helpless fellows--not more than a day or two old----" + +And Del added--also talking to himself: + +"Too young to swim, of course--wholly at our mercy." Then, a moment +later, "It's a good thing we took that strap to tie their hind legs." + +Eddie said nothing at all, and I was afraid to. Still, I was glad that +my vision of the little creatures pleading for their lives hadn't been +realized, or that other one of Del and Charlie paddling for dear life +up the Liverpool, with those little mooses bleating and scampering up +and down the canoe. + +What really became of those calves remains a mystery. Nature teaches her +wild children many useful things. Their first indrawn breath is laden +with knowledge. Perhaps those wise little animals laughed at us from +some snug hiding. Perhaps they could swim, after all, and followed their +mother across the island, and so away. Whatever they did, I am glad, +even if the museum people have me arrested for it. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-three + + + _When the utmost bound of the trail is found--_ + _The last and loneliest lair--_ + _The hordes of the forest shall gather round_ + _To bid you a welcome there._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-three + + +I do not know what lies above the Tobeatic lakes, but the strip of +country between is the true wilderness. It is a succession of swamps and +spruce thickets--ideal country for a moose farm or a mosquito hatchery, +or for general exploration, but no sort of a place for a Sunday-school +picnic. Neither is it a good place to fish. The little brook between the +lakes runs along like a chain pump and contains about as many trout. +There are one or two pretty good pools, but the effort to reach them is +too costly. + +We made camp in as dry a place as we could find, but we couldn't find a +place as big as the tent that didn't have a spring or a water hole. In +fact, the ground was a mass of roots, great and small, with water +everywhere between. A spring actually bubbled up between our beds, and +when one went outside at night it was a mercy if he did not go plunging +into some sort of a cold, wet surprise, with disastrous and profane +results. Being the worst camp and the worst country and the poorest +fishing we had found, we remained there two days. But this was as it +should be. We were not fishermen now, but explorers; and explorers, +Eddie said, always court hardships, and pitch their camps in the midst +of dangers. + +Immediately after our arrival, Eddie and I took one side of the brook +and the guides the other, and we set out to discover things, chiefly the +upper lake. Of course we would pick the hardest side. We could be +depended on to do that. The brook made a long bend, and the guides, who +were on the short side, found fairly easy going. Eddie and I, almost +immediately, were floundering in a thick miry swamp, where it was hot +and breezeless, and where the midges, mooseflies and mosquitoes gave us +a grand welcome. I never saw anybody so glad to be discovered as those +mooseflies. They were as excited as if we were long lost relatives who +had suddenly turned up with a fortune. They swarmed about us and clung +to us and tapped us in any convenient place. I did not blame them, of +course. Moose diet, year in and year out, would make them welcome +anything by way of a change. And what droves of moose there must be in +that swamp to support such a muster of flies! Certainly this was the +very heart of the moose domain. + +Perhaps the reader who has never seen a moosefly may not appreciate the +amplitude and vigor of our welcome. The moosefly is a lusty fellow with +mottled wings. I believe he is sometimes called the deerfly, though as +the moose is bigger and more savage than the deer, it is my opinion that +the moosefly is bigger and more savage than any fly that bites the deer. +I don't think the deer could survive him. He is about the size of the +green-headed horsefly, but of more athletic build. He describes rapid +and eager circles about one's head, whizzing meanwhile in a manner which +some may like, but which I could not learn to enjoy. His family is large +and he has many friends. He brings them all along to greet you, and they +all whiz and describe circles at once, and with every circle or two he +makes a dip and swipes up about a gill of your lifeblood and guzzles it +down, and goes right on whizzing and circling until he picks out a place +for the next dip. Unlike the mosquito, the moosefly does not need to +light cautiously and patiently sink a well until he strikes a paying +vein. His practice on the moose has fitted him for speedier methods. The +bill with which he is accustomed to bore through a tough moosehide in a +second or two will penetrate a man in the briefest fraction of the time. + +We got out of that swamp with no unnecessary delay and made for a spruce +thicket. Ordinarily one does not welcome a spruce thicket, for it +resembles a tangle of barbed wires. But it was a boon now. We couldn't +scratch all the places at once and the spruce thicket would help. We +plunged into it and let it dig, and scrape, and protect us from those +whizzing, circling blood-gluttons of the swamp. Yet it was cruel going. +I have never seen such murderous brush. I was already decorated with +certain areas of "New Skin," but I knew that after this I should need a +whole one. Having our rods and guns made it harder. In places we were +obliged to lie perfectly flat to worm and wriggle through. And the heat +was intense and our thirst a torture. Yet in the end it was worth while +and the payment was not long delayed. Just beyond the spruce thicket ran +a little spring rivulet, cold as ice. Lying on its ferny margin we drank +and drank, and the gods themselves cannot create a more exquisite joy +than that. We followed the rivulet to where it fed the brook, a little +way below. There we found a good-sized pool, and trout. Also a cool +breeze and a huge bowlder--complete luxury. We rested on the big +stone--I mean I did--and fished, while Eddie was trying to find the way +out. I said I would wait there until a relief party arrived. It was no +use. Eddie threatened to leave me at last if I didn't come on, and I had +no intention of being left alone in that forgotten place. + +We struggled on. Finally near sunset of that long, hard June day, we +passed out of the thicket tangle, ascended a slope and found ourselves +in an open grove of whispering pines that through all the years had +somehow escaped the conflagration and the ax. Tall colonnades they +formed--a sort of Grove of Dodona which because of some oracle, perhaps, +the gods had spared and the conquering vandals had not swept away. From +the top of the knoll we caught a glimpse of water through the trees, and +presently stood on the shore of Little Tobeatic Lake. + +So it was we reached the end of our quest--the farthest point in the +unknown. I hardly know what I had expected: trout of a new species and +of gigantic size, perhaps, or a strange race of men. Whatever it was, I +believe I felt a bit disappointed. + +I believe I did not consider it much of a discovery. It was a good deal +like other Nova Scotia lakes, except that it appeared to be in two +sections and pretty big for its name. But Eddie was rejoiced over our +feat. The mooseflies and spruce thickets and the miry swamps we had +passed, for him only added relish to this moment of supreme triumph. +Eddie would never be the man to go to the Arctics in an automobile or an +airship. That would be too easy. He would insist on more embroideries. +He would demand all the combined hardships of the previous expeditions. +I am at present planning a trip to the South Pole, but I shall leave +Eddie at home. And perhaps I shall also be disappointed when I get to +the South Pole and find it only a rock in a snowdrift. + +We crossed the brook and returned to camp the short way. We differed a +good deal as to the direction, and separated once or twice. We got lost +at last, for the way was so short and easy that we were below the camp +before we knew it. When at last we heard the guides calling (they had +long since returned) we came in, blaming each other for several things +and were scarcely on speaking terms for as much as five minutes. It was +lucky that Charles found a bottle of Jamaica rum and a little pot of +honey just then. A mixture of rum and honey will allay irritation due to +moosefly and mosquito bites, and to a variety of other causes if +faithfully applied. + +The matter of mosquitoes was really serious that night. We kept up +several smudge fires and sat among them and smoked ourselves like +herring. Even then we were not immune. When it came time for bed we +brushed the inside of the tent and set our pipes going. Then Eddie +wanted to read, as was his custom. I objected. I said that to light a +candle would be to invite all those mosquitoes back. He pleaded, but for +once I was firm. He offered me some of his best things, but I refused to +sell my blood in that way. Finally he declared he had a spread of +mosquito net and would put it over the door and every possible opening +if I would let him read. I said he might put up the netting and if I +approved the job I would then consider the matter. He got out the net--a +nice new piece--and began to put it up. + +It was a tedious job, arranging that net and fastening it properly by +the flickering firelight so that it covered every crack and crevice. +When he pulled it down in one place it left an opening in another and +had to be poked and pinned and stuffed in and patted down a great many +times. From my place inside the tent I could see his nimble shadow on +the canvas like some big insect, bobbing and flitting up and down and +from side to side. It reminded me of a persistent moth, dipping and +dodging about a screen. I drowsily wondered if he would ever get it +fixed, and if he wasn't getting hot and tired, for it was a still, +sticky night. Yet I suppose I did not realize how hot and tired one +might get on such a night, especially after a hard day. When he ceased +his lightsome movements at last and crept as carefully as a worm under +the net, I expected him to light the candle lamp and read. He did not do +so. He gave one long sighing groan of utter exhaustion, dropped down on +his bed without removing his clothes and never stirred again until +morning. + +The net was a great success. Only two mosquitoes got in and they bit +Eddie. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-four + + + _Apollo has tuned his lute again,_ + _And the pipes of Pan are near,_ + _For the gods that fled from the groves of men_ + _Gather unheeded here._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-four + + +It was by no means an unpleasant camp, first and last. It was our +"Farthest North" for one thing, our deepest point in the wilderness. It +would require as much as three or four days travel, even by the quickest +and most direct route to reach any human habitation, and in this thought +there was charm. It was a curious place, too, among those roots and +springs, and the brook there formed a rare pool for bathing. While the +others were still asleep I slipped down there for my morning dip. It was +early, but in that latitude and season the sun had already risen and +filtered in through the still treetops. Lying back in that natural basin +with the cool, fresh water slipping over and about one, and all the +world afar off and unreal, was to know the joy of the dim, forgotten +days when nymphs and dryads sported in hidden pools or tripped to the +pipes of Pan. Hemlock and maple boughs lacing above, with blue sky +between--a hermit thrush singing: such a pool Diana might have found, +shut away in some remote depths of Arcady. I should not have been much +surprised to have heard the bay of her hounds in that still early +morning, and to have seen her and her train suddenly appear--pursuing a +moose, maybe, or merely coming down for a morning swim. Of course I +should have secluded myself had I heard them coming. I am naturally a +modest person. Besides, I garner from the pictures that Diana is likely +to be dangerous when she is in her moods. Eddie bathed, too, later, but +the spell was gone then. Diana was far away, the stillness and sun-glint +were no more in the treetops, the hermit thrush was no longer in the +neighborhood. Eddie grumbled that the water was chilly and that the +stones hurt his feet. An hour, sometimes--a moment, even--makes all the +difference between romance and reality. Finally, even the guides bathed! +We let off fireworks in celebration! + +We carried the canoes to the lake that morning and explored it, but +there was not much to see. The lake had no inlet that we could find, and +Eddie and I lost a dollar apiece with the guides betting on the shape of +it, our idea being based upon the glimpse of the evening before. I don't +care much for lakes that change their shape like that, and even Eddie +seemed willing to abandon this unprofitable region. I suspected, +however, that his willingness to take the back track was mainly due to +the hope of getting another try at the little mooses, but I resolved to +indulge myself no further in any such pastime. + +[Illustration: "We went down that long, lovely lake in a luxury of idle +bliss."] + +It was hard to drag Eddie by those islands. He wanted to cruise around +every one of them and to go ashore and prospect among the debris. He +vowed at last that he would come back with Charles from our next camp +and explore on his own account. Then, there being a fine breeze directly +behind us, he opened out a big umbrella which he had brought along for +just such a time, we hitched our canoe on behind, and with that bellying +black sail on the forward bow, went down that long, lovely lake in a +luxury of idle bliss. + +We camped at our old place by the falls and next morning Eddie did in +fact return to have another go at the calves. Del was willing to stay at +the camp, and I said I would have a quiet day's fishing nearby. It +proved an unusual day's fishing for those waters. White perch are not +plentiful there, but for some reason a school of them had collected just +by our camp. I discovered them by accident and then gave up everything +else to get as many of them as possible, for they were a desirable +change from trout, and eagerly welcomed. I fished for them by spells all +day. Del and I had them for luncheon and we saved a great pan full to be +ready for supper, when the others should return. + +It was dusk when the other canoe came in. Our companions were very +tired, also wet, for it had been a misty day, with showers. Eddie was a +bit cross, too. They had seen some calves, he said, but could not get +them. His guide agreed with this statement, but when questioned +separately their statements varied somewhat as to the reasons of +failure. It did not matter. Eddie was discouraged in the calf moose +project, I could see that. Presently I began boasting of the big day's +sport I had enjoyed, and then to show off I said, "This is how I did +it." + +Eddie was washing his hands in my perch pool and I had no idea of +getting anything--one is not likely to when he wishes to exhibit +himself--but I made a cast with the light tackle with two flies on it +and immediately had my hands full. For once, I did actually show off +when I undertook to do it. I think the only two big perch in that pool +seized those flies, and for the next five or ten minutes they were +making my reel sing and giving me such sport as only two big white perch +on a light tackle can. I brought them to the net at last and Eddie +looked on with hungry, envious eyes. + +"You don't mean to say you've been taking those things all day," he +said. + +"All day, more or less. I merely gave this little exhibition to wind up +on." + +But of course I had to show him the size of the others, then, and he was +appeased to the extent of forgetting most of his troubles in a square +meal. That quiet day with the white perch, ending as it did with a grand +finale, remains one of my fondest memories. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-five + + + _You may pick your place--you may choose your hour--_ + _You may put on your choicest flies;_ + _But never yet was it safe to bet_ + _That a single trout would rise._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-five + + +Back across Tupper Lake and down Sand Brook to the Shelburne. Eddie left +the further wilderness with a sigh, for he felt that his chance of +getting a moose calf for those museum people was getting slim. A +distance--I have forgotten the number of miles--down the Shelburne would +bring us to country known to the guides and not remote enough for moose +at this season. As Eddie is no longer in this country, I may confess, +now, that I was glad. + +It was beautiful going, down Sand Brook. There was plenty of water and +the day was perfect. There is nothing lovelier in the world than that +little limpid stream with its pebbly riffles and its sunlit pools. +Sometimes when I think of it now I am afraid that it is no longer there +in that far still Arcady, or that it may vanish through some enchantment +before I can ever reach it again. Indeed as I am writing here to-day I +am wondering if it is really there--hidden away in that quiet unvisited +place, when no one is there to see it, and to hear it sing and +whisper--if anything is anywhere, unless some one is there to see and +hear. But these are deep waters. I am prone to stumble, as we have +seen, and somehow my tallest waders never take me through. + +I have already said, and repeated, I think, that there is no better +trout fishing than in the Shelburne. The fish now were not quite so +heavy as they had been higher up, but they were very many. The last half +of the miracle of the loaves and fishes would not have been necessary +here had the multitudes been given some tackle and a few cans of bait. +When we were a little above Kempton Dam, Del pointed out the first place +familiar to him. The woods were precisely the same--the waters just as +fair and fruitful--the locality just as wild; but somehow as we rounded +that bend a certain breath of charm vanished. The spell of perfect +isolation was gone. I had the feeling that we had emerged from the +enchanted borders of No Man's Land--that we were entering a land of real +places, with the haunts and habitations of men. + +Kempton Dam itself had been used to catch logs, not so long ago, and +Eddie had visited it on a previous occasion. He still had a fond memory +of a very large trout--opinions differed a trifle as to its exact +size--which he had taken there in a certain pool of golden water, and it +was evident from his talk that he expected to take that trout again, or +some member of its family, or its ghost, maybe, immediately upon +arrival. + +It certainly proved an attractive place, and there were any number of +fish. They were not especially large, however. Even the golden water was +fruitful only as to numbers. We waded among the rocks or stood on the +logs, and cast and reeled and netted and returned fish to the water +until we were fairly surfeited. By that time the guides had the camp +ready, and as it was still early we gave them the rods and watched the +sport. + +Now a fly-casting tournament at home is a tame entertainment when one +has watched the fishing of Nova Scotia guides. To see a professional +send a fly sailing out a hundred feet or so in Madison Square Garden is +well enough, and it is a meritorious achievement, no doubt, but there is +no return except the record and the applause. To see Del the Stout and +Charles the Strong doing the same thing from that old log dam was a +poem, a picture, an inspiration. Above and below, the rushing water; +overhead, the blue sky; on either side, the green of June--the treetops +full of the setting sun. Out over the foaming current, skimming just +above the surface, the flies would go sailing, sailing--you thought they +would never light. They did not go with a swish and a jump, but seemed +noiselessly to drift away, as if the lightly swinging rod had little to +do with the matter, as if they were alive, in fact, looking for a place +to settle in some cozy nook of water where a trout would be sure to be. +And the trout were there. It was not the empty tub-fishing of a +sportsman's show. The gleam and splash in the pool that seemed +remote--that was perhaps thirty yards away in fact--marked the casting +limit, and the sharp curve of the rod, and the play to land were more +inspiring than any measure of distance or clapping of hands. + +Charles himself became so inspired at length with his handsome fishing +that he made a rash statement. He declared that he could take five trout +in fifteen minutes. He offered to bet a dollar that he could do it. I +rather thought he could myself, for the fish were there, and they were +not running over large. Still, it was no easy matter to land them in +that swift water, and it would be close work. The show would be worth a +dollar, even if I lost. Wherefore, I scoffed at his boast and took the +bet. + +No stipulations were made as to the size of the trout, nor the manner in +which they should be taken, nor as to any special locality. It was +evident from our guide's preparation that he had evolved certain ideas +of his own in the matter. Previously he had been trying to hook a big +fish, but it was pretty evident that he did not want any big fish now. +There was a little brook--a run-around, as it were--that left the main +water just below the dam and came in again at the big pool several +hundred yards below. We had none of us touched this tumbling bit of +water. It was his idea that it would be full of little trout. He wanted +something he could lift out with no unnecessary delay, for time that is +likely to be worth over six cents a minute is too expensive to waste in +fancy sportsmanship. He selected a short rod and put on some tiny flies. +Then he took his position; we got out our watches and called time. + +Now, of course, one of the most uncertain things in life to gamble on is +fishing. You may pick your place, your day and your time of day. The +combination may seem perfect. Yet the fact remains that you can never +count with certainty on the result. One might suppose that our guide had +everything in his favor. Up to the very moment of his wager he had been +taking trout about as rapidly as he could handle them, and from water +that had been fished more or less all the afternoon. He knew the +particular fly that had been most attractive on this particular day and +he had selected a place hitherto unfished--just the sort of a place +where small trout seemed likely to abound. With his skill as an angler +it would not have surprised me if he had taken his five trout and had +more than half the time to spare. + +I think he expected to do that himself. I think he did, for he went at +it with that smiling _sang froid_ with which one does a sleight of hand +trick after long practice. He did not show any appearance of haste in +making his first cast, but let the flies go gently out over a little +eddying pool and lightly skim the surface of the water, as if he were +merely amusing himself by tantalizing those eager little trout. Yet for +some reason nothing happened. Perhaps the little trout were attending a +party in the next pool. There came no lively snap at those twitching +flies--there was not even a silver break on the surface of the water. + +I thought our guide's smile faded the least trifle, and that he let the +flies go a bit quicker next time. Then when nothing, absolutely nothing, +happened again, his look became one of injured surprise. He abandoned +that pool and stepping a rock or two downstream, sent the flies with a +sharp little flirt into the next--once--twice--it was strange--it was +unaccountable, but nothing--not a single thing happened again. It was +the same with the next pool, and the next. + +There were no special marks of self-confidence, or anything that even +resembled deliberation, after this. It was business, strictly business, +with the sole idea of taking five fish out of that run, or getting down +to a place where five fish could be had. It was a pretty desperate +situation, for it was a steep run and there was no going back. To +attempt that would be to waste too much precious time. The thing to do +was to fish it straight through, with no unnecessary delay. There was no +doubt but that this was our guide's programme. The way he deported +himself showed that. Perhaps he was not really in a hurry--I want to be +just--but he acted as if he was. I have never seen a straddle-bug, but +if I ever meet one I shall recognize him, for I am certain he will look +exactly like Charles the Strong going down Tommy Kempton's Run. He was +shod in his shoepacks, and he seemed to me to have one foot always in +the air wildly reaching out for the next rock--the pair of flies, +meanwhile, describing lightning circles over every pool and riffle, +lingering just long enough to prove the futility of the cast, to be +lying an instant later in a new spot, several yards below. If ever there +is a tournament for swift and accurate fly-casting down a flight of +rugged stone stairs I want to enter Charles for first honors against the +world. But I would not bet on any fish--I want that stipulated. I would +not gamble to that extent. I would not gamble even on one fish after +being a witness to our guide's experience. + +That was a mad race. The rest of us kept a little to one side, out of +his way, and not even Del and Eddie could keep up with him. And with all +that wild effort not a fish would rise--nor even break water. It was +strange--it was past believing--I suppose it was even funny. It must +have been, for I seem to recall that we fairly whooped our joy at his +acrobatic eagerness. Why, with such gymnastics, Charles did not break +his neck I cannot imagine. With the utmost watchfulness I barely missed +breaking mine as much as a dozen times. + +The time was more than half-expired when we reached the foot of the run, +and still no fish, not even a rise. Yet the game was not over. It was +supposable that this might be the place of places for fish. Five fish in +five minutes were still possible, if small. The guide leaped and waded +to a smooth, commanding stone and cast--once--twice, out over the +twisting water. Then, suddenly, almost in front of him, it seemed, a +great wave rolled up from the depths--there was a swish and a quick +curving of the rod--a monstrous commotion, and a struggle in the water. +It was a king of fish, we could all see that, and the rest of us gave a +shout of approval. + +But if Charles was happy, he did not look it. In fact, I have never seen +any one act so unappreciative of a big fish, nor handle it in so +unsportsmanlike a manner. If I remember his remark it had damn and hell +mixed up in it, and these words were used in close association with that +beautiful trout. His actions were even worse. He made no effort to play +his catch--to work him gradually to the net, according to the best form. +Nothing of the kind. You'd have supposed our guide had never seen a big +trout before by the way he got hold of that line and yanked him in, hand +over hand, regardless of the danger to line and leader and to those +delicate little flies, to say nothing of the possibility of losing a +fish so handled. Of course the seconds were flying, and landing a fish +of that size is not an especially quick process. A three-pound trout in +swift water has a way of staying there, even when taken by the main +strength and awkwardness system. When only about a yard of line +remained between Charlie and the fish, the latter set up such a +commotion, and cut up such a series of antics, that it was impossible +for one man to hold him and net him, though the wild effort which our +guide made to do so seemed amusing to those who were looking on. In +fact, if I had not been weak with laughing I might have gone to his +rescue sooner. One may be generous to a defeated opponent, and the time +limit was on its last minute now. As it was, I waded over presently and +took the net. A moment later we had him--the single return in the +allotted time, but by all odds the largest trout thus far of the +expedition. You see, as I have said, fish are uncertain things to gamble +on. Trying for five small ones our fisherman captured one large fish, +which at any other moment of the expedition would have been more +welcome. Yet even he was an uncertain quantity, for big, strong and +active as he was, he suddenly gave a great leap out of the net and was +back in the water again. Still, I let him be counted. That was generous. + +You might have supposed after that demonstration, Eddie would have been +somewhat reticent about backing his skill as a fisherman. But he wasn't. +He had just as much faith in his angling, and in his ability to pick +good water as if he hadn't seen his guide go down to ignominy and +defeat. He knew a place just above the dam, he said, where he could make +that bet good. Would I give him the same terms? I would--the offer was +open to all comers. I said it was taking candy from children. + +[Illustration: "It was worth the dollar to watch the way he sought to +wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout."] + +We went up to Eddie's place and got out the watches. Eddie had learned +something from his guide's exhibition. He had learned not to prance +about over a lot of water, and not to seem to be in a hurry. It was such +things that invited mirth. He took his position carefully between two +great bowlders and during the next fifteen minutes gave us the most +charming exhibition of light and delicate fly-casting I have ever +witnessed. It was worth the dollar to watch the way in which he sought +to wheedle and coax and fascinate those trout, and to study the deft +dispatch and grace with which he landed a fish, once hooked. Still he +hadn't learned quite enough. He hadn't learned to take five trout in +fifteen minutes in that particular place and on that particular evening. +Perhaps it was a little late when he began. Perhaps fifteen minutes is a +shorter period than it sometimes seems. Three trout completed his score +at the end of the allotted time--all fairly large. + +Yet I must not fail to add here that a few days later, in other water, +both Eddie and his guide made good their wager. Each took his five +trout--small ones--in fifteen minutes, and had time to spare. As I have +remarked once or twice already, one of the most uncertain things in life +to gamble on is fishing. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-six + + + _Oh, the waves they pitch and the waves they toss,_ + _And the waves they frighten me;_ + _And if ever I get my boat across_ + _I'll go no more to sea._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-six + + +We were met by a surprise at our camp. Two men sat there, real men, the +first we had seen since we entered the wilderness. Evidently they were +natives by their look--trappers or prospectors of some sort. They turned +out to be bear hunters, and they looked rather hungrily at the +assortment of fish we had brought in--enough for supper and breakfast. +Perhaps they had not been to fish so frequently as to bear. I believe +they were without tackle, or maybe their luck had been poor--I do not +remember. At all events it developed presently that they needed fish, +also that they had a surplus of butter of a more recent period than the +little dab we had left. They were willing to dicker--a circumstance that +filled us with an enthusiasm which we restrained with difficulty. In +fact, Del did not restrain his quite enough. He promptly offered them +all the fish we had brought in for their extra pound of butter, when we +could just as easily have got it for half the number of fish. Of course +the fish did not seem especially valuable to us, and we were willing +enough to make a meal without them. Still, one can never tell what will +happen, and something like six dollars worth of trout--reckoned by New +York prices--seems an unnecessary sum to pay for a pound of butter, +even in the Nova Scotia woods, though possibly trout will never be worth +quite that much there. + +All the same, the price had advanced a good deal by next morning, for +the wind had shifted to the northeast and it was bleak and blustery. +Everybody knows the old rhyme about the winds and the fish--how, when +the winds are north or east, the fish bite least, and how, when the +winds are south and west, the fish bite best. There isn't much poetry in +the old rhyme, but it's charged with sterling truth. Just why a +northerly or easterly wind will take away a fish's appetite, I think has +never been explained, or why a southerly and westerly wind will start +him out hunting for food. But it's all as true as scripture. I have seen +trout stop rising with a shifting of the wind to the eastward as +suddenly as if they had been summoned to judgment, and I have seen them +begin after a cold spell almost before the wind had time to get settled +in its new quarter. Of course it had been Del's idea that we could +easily get trout enough for breakfast. That was another mistake--we +couldn't. We couldn't take them from the river, and we couldn't take +them from our bear hunters, for they had gone. We whipped our lines +around in that chill wind, tangled our flies in treetops, endangered our +immortal souls, and went back to the tents at last without a single +thing but our appetites. Then we took turns abusing Del for his +disastrous dicker by which he had paid no less than five dollars and +seventy-five cents a pound too much for butter, New York market +schedule. Our appetites were not especially for trout--only for hearty +food of some kind, and as I have said before, we had reached a place +where fish had become our real staple. The conditions were particularly +hard on Del himself, for he is a hearty man, and next to jars of +marmalade, baskets of trout are his favorite forage. + +In fact, we rather lost interest in our camp, and disagreeable as it +was, we decided to drop down the river to Lake Rossignol and cross over +to the mouth of the Liverpool. It was a long six-mile ferriage across +Rossignol and we could devote our waste time to getting over. By the end +of the trip the weather might change. + +The Shelburne is rough below Kempton Dam. It goes tearing and foaming in +and out among the black rocks, and there are places where you have to +get out of the canoes and climb over, and the rocks are slippery and +sometimes there is not much to catch hold of. We shot out into the lake +at last, and I was glad. It was a mistake, however, to be glad just +then. It was too soon. The wind had kicked up a good deal of water, and +though our canoes were lighter than when we started, I did not consider +them suited to such a sea. They pitched about and leaped up into the +air, one minute with the bow entirely out of water, and the next with +it half-buried in the billow ahead. Every other second a big wave ran on +a level with the gunwale, and crested its neck and looked over and +hissed, and sometimes it spilled in upon us. It would not take much of +that kind of freight to make a cargo, and anything like an accident in +that wide, gray billowy place was not a nice thing to contemplate. A +loaded canoe would go down like a bullet. No one clad as we were could +swim more than a boat's length in that sea. + +As we got farther on shore the waves got worse. If somebody had just +suggested it I should have been willing to turn around and make back for +the Shelburne. Nobody suggested it, and we went on. It seemed to me +those far, dim shores through the mist, five miles or more away, would +never get any closer. I grew tired, too, and my arms ached, but I could +not stop paddling. I was filled with the idea that if I ever stopped +that eternal dabbing at the water, my end of the canoe would never ride +the next billow. Del reflected aloud, now and then, that we had made a +mistake to come out on such a day. When I looked over at the other canoe +and saw it on the top of a big wave with both ends sticking out in the +air, and then saw it go down in a trough of black, ugly water, I +realized that Del was right. I knew our canoe was doing just such +dangerous things as that, and I would have given any reasonable sum for +an adequate life preserver, or even a handy pine plank--for anything, +in fact, that was rather more certain to stay on top of the water than +this billow-bobbing, birch-bark peanut shell of a canoe. + +I suppose I became unduly happy, therefore, when at last we entered the +mouth of the Liverpool. I was so glad that I grew gay, and when we +started up the rapids I gave Del a good lift here and there by pushing +back against the rocks with my paddle, throwing my whole weight on it +sometimes, to send the canoe up in style. It is always unwise for me to +have a gay reaction like that, especially on Friday, which is my unlucky +day. Something is so liable to happen. We were going up a particularly +steep piece of water when I got my paddle against a stone on the bottom +and gave an exceptionally strong push. I don't know just what happened +next. Perhaps my paddle slipped. Del says it did. I know I heard him +give a whoop, and I saw the river coming straight up at me. Then it came +pouring in over the side, and in about a minute more most of our things +were floating downstream, with Del grabbing at them, and me clinging to +the upset canoe, trying to drag it ashore. + +We camped there. It was a good place, one of the best yet selected. +Still, I do not recommend selecting a camp in that way. If it did not +turn out well, it might be a poor place to get things dry. One needs to +get a good many things dry after a selection like that, especially on a +cold day. It was a cold night, too. I dried my under things and put +them all on. + +"Did you ever sleep in your clothes in the woods?" I have been asked. + +I did. I put on every dry thing I had that night, and regretted I had +left anything at home. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-seven + + + _It is better to let the wild beast run,_ + _And to let the wild bird fly:_ + _Each harbors best in his native nest,_ + _Even as you and I._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-seven + + +Perhaps it was the cold weather that brought us a visitor. There was a +tree directly over our tent, and in the morning--a sharp sunny morning, +with the wind where it should be, in the west--we noticed on going out +that a peculiar sort of fruit had grown on this tree over night. On one +of the limbs just above the tent was a prickly looking ball, like a +chestnut burr, only black, and about a hundred times as big. It was a +baby porcupine, who perhaps had set out to see the world on his own +account--a sort of prodigal who had found himself without funds, and +helpless, on a cold night. No doubt he climbed up there to look us over, +with a view of picking out a good place for himself; possibly with the +hope of being invited to breakfast. + +Eddie was delighted with our new guest. He declared that he would take +him home alive, and feed him and care for him, and live happy ever +after. He got a pole and shook our visitor down in a basket, and did a +war-dance of joy over his new possession. He was a cute little +fellow--the "piggypine" (another of Eddie's absurd names)--with bright +little eyes and certain areas of fur, but I didn't fancy him as a pet. +He seemed to me rather too much of a cross between a rat and a pin +cushion to be a pleasant companion in the intimate relations of one's +household. I suspected that if in a perfectly wild state he had been +prompted to seek human companionship and the comforts of civilized life, +in a domestic atmosphere he would want to sit at the table and sleep +with somebody. I did not believe Eddie's affection would survive these +familiarities. I knew how surprised and annoyed he might be some night +to roll over suddenly on the piggypine and then have to sit up the rest +of the night while a surgeon removed the quills. I said that I did not +believe in taming wild creatures, and I think the guides were with me in +this opinion. I think so because they recited two instances while we +were at breakfast. Del's story was of some pet gulls he once owned. He +told it in that serious way which convinced me of its truth. Certain +phases of the narrative may have impressed me as being humorous, but it +was clear they were not so regarded by Del. His manner was that of one +who records history. He said: + +"One of the children caught two young gulls once, in the lake, and +brought them to the house and said they were going to tame them. I +didn't think they would live, but they did. You couldn't have killed +them without an ax. They got tame right away, and they were all over the +house, under foot and into everything, making all kinds of trouble. But +that wasn't the worst--the worst was feeding them. It wasn't so bad +when they were little, but they grew to beat anything. Then it began to +keep us moving to get enough for them to eat. They lived on fish, +mostly, and at first the children thought it fun to feed them. They used +to bait a little dip net and catch minnows for the gulls, and the gulls +got so they would follow anybody that started out with that dip net, +calling and squealing like a pair of pigs. But they were worse than +pigs. You can fill up a pig and he will go to sleep, but you never could +fill up those gulls. By and by the children got tired of trying to do it +and gave me the job. I made a big dip net and kept it set day and night, +and every few minutes all day and the last thing before bedtime I'd go +down and lift out about a pailful of fish for those gulls, and they'd +eat until the fish tails stuck out of their mouths, and I wouldn't more +than have my back turned before they'd be standing on the shore of the +lake, looking down into that dip net and hollering for more. I got so I +couldn't do anything but catch fish for those gulls. It was a busy +season, too, and besides the minnows were getting scarce along the lake +front, so I had to get up early to get enough to feed them and the rest +of the family. I said at last that I was through feeding gulls. I told +the children that either they'd have to do it, or that the gulls would +have to go to work like the rest of the family and fish for themselves. +But the children wouldn't do it, nor the gulls, either. Then I said I +would take those birds down in the woods and leave them somewhere. I +did that. I put them into a basket and shut them in tight and took them +five miles down the river and let them loose in a good place where there +were plenty of fish. They flew off and I went home. When I got to the +house they'd been there three hours, looking at the dip net and +squalling, and they ate a pail heaping full of fish, and you could have +put both gulls into the pail when they got through. I was going on a +long trip with a party next morning, and we took the gulls along. We fed +them about a bushel of trout and left them seventeen miles down the +river, just before night, and drove home in the dark. I didn't think the +gulls would find their way back that time, but they did. They were there +before daybreak, fresh and hungry as ever. Then I knew it was no use. +The ax was the only thing that would get me out of that mess. The +children haven't brought home any wild pets since." + +That you see is just unembellished history, and convincing. I regret +that I cannot say as much for Charlie's narrative. It is a likely story +enough, as such things go, but there are points about it here and there +which seem to require confirmation. I am told that it is a story well +known and often repeated in Nova Scotia, but even that cannot be +accepted as evidence of its entire truth. Being a fish-story it would +seem to require something more. This is the tale as Charlie told it. + +"Once there was a half-breed Indian," he said, "who had a pet trout +named Tommy, which he kept in a barrel. But the trout got pretty big and +had to have the water changed a good deal to keep him alive. The Indian +was too lazy to do that, and he thought he would teach the trout to live +out of water. So he did. He commenced by taking Tommy out of the barrel +for a few minutes at a time, pretty often, and then he took him out +oftener and kept him out longer, and by and by Tommy got so he could +stay out a good while if he was in the wet grass. Then the Indian found +he could leave him in the wet grass all night, and pretty soon that +trout could live in the shade whether the grass was wet or not. By that +time he had got pretty tame, too, and he used to follow the Indian +around a good deal, and when the Indian would go out to dig worms for +him, Tommy would go along and pick up the worms for himself. The Indian +thought everything of that fish, and when Tommy got so he didn't need +water at all, but could go anywhere--down the dusty road and stay all +day out in the hot sun--you never saw the Indian without his trout. Show +people wanted to buy Tommy, but the Indian said he wouldn't sell a fish +like that for any money. You'd see him coming to town with Tommy +following along in the road behind, just like a dog, only of course it +traveled a good deal like a snake, and most as fast. + +"Well, it was pretty sad the way that Indian lost his trout, and it was +curious, too. He started for town one day with Tommy coming along +behind, as usual. There was a bridge in the road and when the Indian +came to it he saw there was a plank off, but he went on over it without +thinking. By and by he looked around for Tommy and Tommy wasn't there. +He went back a ways and called, but he couldn't see anything of his pet. +Then he came to the bridge and saw the hole, and he thought right away +that maybe his trout had got in there. So he went to the hole and looked +down, and sure enough, there was Tommy, floating on the water, +bottom-side up. He'd tumbled through that hole into the brook and +drowned." + +I think these stories impressed Eddie a good deal. I know they did me. +Even if Charlie's story was not pure fact in certain minor details, its +moral was none the less evident. I saw clearer than ever that it is not +proper to take wild creatures from their native element and make pets of +them. Something always happens to them sooner or later. We were through +breakfast and Eddie went over to look at his porcupine. He had left it +in a basket, well covered with a number of things. He came back right +away--looking a little blank I thought. + +"He's gone!" he said. "The basket's just as I left it, all covered up, +but he isn't in it." + +We went over to look. Sure enough, our visitor had set out on new +adventures. How he had escaped was a mystery. It didn't matter--both he +and Eddie were better off. + +But that was a day for animal friends. Where we camped for luncheon, +Eddie and I took a walk along the river bank and suddenly found +ourselves in a perfect menagerie. We were among a regular group of grown +porcupines--we counted five of them--and at the same time there were two +blue herons in the water, close by. A step away a pair of partridges ran +through the brush and stood looking at us from a fallen log, while an +old duck and her young came sailing across the river. We were nearing +civilization now, but evidently these creatures were not much harassed. +It was like the Garden of Eden before the Fall. It is true the old duck +swam away, calling to her brood, when she saw us; the partridges +presently hid in the brush, and the blue herons waded a bit further off. +But the porcupines went on galumphing around us, and none of the +collection seemed much disturbed. During the afternoon we came upon two +fishermen, college boys, camping, who told us they had seen some young +loons in a nest just above, and Eddie was promptly seized with a desire +to possess them. + +In fact we left so hastily that Del forgot his extra paddle, and did not +discover the loss until we were a half-mile or so upstream. Then he said +he would leave me in the canoe to fish and would walk back along the +shore. An arm of the river made around an island just there, and it +looked like a good place. There seemed to be not much current in the +water, and I thought I could manage the canoe in such a spot and fish, +too, without much trouble. + +[Illustration: "I never realized before what a crazy thing a canoe can +be when you want it to do something out of its regular line of work."] + +It was not as easy as it looked. Any one who has tried to handle a canoe +from the front end with one hand and fish with the other will tell you +so. I couldn't seem to keep out of the brush along the shore, and I +couldn't get near some brush in the middle of the river where I believed +there were trout. I was right about the trout being there, too. Eddie +proved that when he came up with his canoe. He had plenty of business +with big fellows right away. But the fact didn't do me any good. Just +when I would get near the lucky place and ready to cast, a twitch in the +current or a little puff of wind would get hold of the stern of my +craft, which rode up out of the water high and light like a sail, and my +flies would land in some bushes along the bank, or hang in a treetop, or +do some other silly thing which was entertaining enough to Eddie and his +guide, apparently, but which did not amuse me. I never realized before +what a crazy thing a canoe can be when you want it to do something out +of its regular line of work. A canoe is a good sort of a craft in its +place, and I would not wish to go into the woods without one, but it is +limited in its gifts, very limited. It can't keep its balance with any +degree of certainty when you want to stand up and fish, and it has no +sort of notion of staying in one place, unless it's hauled out on the +bank. If that canoe had been given the versatility of an ordinary +flat-bottomed john-boat I could have got along better than I did. I said +as much, and disparaged canoes generally. Eddie declared that he had +never heard me swear with such talent and unreserve. He encouraged me by +holding up each fish as he caught it and by suggesting that I come over +there. He knew very well that I couldn't get there in a thousand years. +Whenever I tried to do it that fool of a canoe shot out at a tangent and +brought up nowhere. Finally in an effort to reconstruct my rod I dropped +a joint of the noibwood overboard, and it went down in about four +hundred feet of water. Then I believe I did have a few things to say. I +was surprised at my own proficiency. It takes a crucial moment like that +to develop real genius. I polished off the situation and I trimmed up +the corners. Possibly a touch of sun made me fluent, for it was hot out +there, though it was not as hot as a place I told them about, and I +dwelt upon its fitness as a permanent abiding place for fishermen in +general and for themselves in particular. When I was through and empty I +see-sawed over to the bank and waited for Del. I believe I had a +feverish hope that they would conclude to take my advice, and that I +should never see their canoe and its contents again. + +There are always compensations for those who suffer and are meek in +spirit. That was the evening I caught the big fish, the fish that Eddie +would have given a corner of his immortal soul (if he has a soul, and if +it has corners) to have taken. It was just below a big fall--Loon Lake +Falls I think they call it--and we were going to camp there. Eddie had +taken one side of the pool and I the other and neither of us had caught +anything. Eddie was just landing, when something that looked big and +important, far down the swift racing current, rose to what I had +intended as my last cast. I had the little four-ounce bamboo, but I let +the flies go down there--the fly, I mean, for I was casting with one (a +big Silver Doctor)--and the King was there, waiting. He took it with a +great slop and carried out a long stretch of line. It was a test for the +little rod. There had been unkind remarks about the tiny bamboo whip; +this was to be justification; a big trout on a long line, in deep, swift +water--the combination was perfect. Battle now, ye ruler of the rapids! +Show your timber now, thou slender wisp of silk and cane! + +But we have had enough of fishing. I shall not dwell upon the details of +that contest. I may say, however, that I have never seen Del more +excited than during the minutes--few or many, I do not know how few or +how many--that it lasted. Every guide wants his canoe to beat, and it +was evident from the first that this was the trout of the expedition. I +know that Del believed I would never bring that fish to the canoe, and +when those heavy rushes came I was harrassed with doubts myself. Then +little by little he yielded. When at last he was over in the slower +water--out of the main channel--I began to have faith. + +So he came in, slowly, slowly, and as he was drawn nearer to the boat, +Del seized the net to be ready for him. But I took the net. I had been +browbeaten and humiliated and would make my triumph complete. I brought +him to the very side of the boat, and I lifted him in. This time the big +fish did not get away. We went to where the others had been watching, +and I stepped out and tossed him carelessly on the ground, as if it were +but an everyday occurrence. Eddie was crushed. I no longer felt +bitterness toward him. + +I think I shall not give the weight of that fish. As already stated, no +one can tell the truth concerning a big fish the first trial, while more +than one attempt does not look well in print, and is apt to confuse the +reader. Besides, I don't think Eddie's scales were right, anyway. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-eight + + + _Then breathe a sigh and a long good-by_ + _To the wilderness to-day,_ + _For back again to the trails of men_ + _Follows the waterway._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-eight + + +Through the Eel-wier--a long and fruitful rapid--we entered our old +first lake, Kedgeemakoogee, this time from another point. We had made an +irregular loop of one hundred and fifty miles or more--a loop that had +extended far into the remoter wilderness, and had been marked by what, +to me, were hard ventures and vicissitudes, but which, viewed in the +concrete, was recorded in my soul as a link of pure happiness. We were +not to go home immediately. Kedgeemakoogee is large and there are +entering streams, at the mouth of which the sport at this season was +good. Besides, the teams that were to come for us would not be due yet +for several days, if we had kept proper account of time. + +It was above the Eel-weir, at George's Run, that Eddie had his first and +only success with dry flies. It was just the place--a slow-moving +current between two islands, with many vicious and hungry trout. They +would rise to the ordinary fly, two at a cast, and when Eddie put on the +dry fly--the artificial miller that sits upright on the water and is an +exact imitation of the real article--and let it go floating down, they +snapped it up eagerly. It is beautiful fishing--I should really have +liked to try it a little. But Eddie had been good to me in so many ways: +I hadn't the heart to ask him for one of his precious dry flies. + +During our trip across Kedgeemakoogee, Del--inspired perhaps by the fact +that we were getting nearer to the walks and wiles of men--gave me some +idea of Nova Scotia political economies. He explained the system of +government there, the manner of voting and the like. The representation +is by districts, of course, similar to our own, and the parties have +similar methods of making the vote of these districts count on the right +side. In Queens, for instance, where we had been most, if not all, of +the time, the voters are very scattering. I had suspected this, for in +our one hundred and fifty miles travel we had seen but two natives, and +only one of these was believed to have political residence. Del said the +district had been gerrymandered a good deal to make the votes count +right, and it was plain enough that if this man was the only voter in +that much country, and he chasing bears most of the time, they would +have to gerrymander around a good deal to keep up with him. Del said +that when election time came they would go gunning for that voter over +the rocks and through the burnt timber, and would beat up the brush for +him as if he were a moose, and valuable. Somehow politics did not seem +to belong in this place, but either Del exaggerated, this time, or there +is a good deal of it to the individual. I suppose it's well to have it +condensed in that way. + +We camped that night at Jim Charles's Point, our old first camp, and it +was like getting home after long absence. For the time seemed an age +since we had left there. It was that. Any new and wonderful experience +is long--as long as eternity--whether it be a day or a decade in +duration. Next morning, across to the mouth of West River--a place of +many fish and a rocky point for our camp, with deep beds of sweet-fern, +but no trees. That rocky open was not the best selection for tents. +Eddie and his guide had gone up the river a little way when a sudden +shower came up, with heavy darkness and quick wind. Del and I were +stowing a few things inside that were likely to get wet, when all at +once the tents became balloons that were straining at their guy ropes, +and then we were bracing hard and clinging fast to the poles to keep +everything from sailing into the sky. + +It was a savage little squall. It laid the bushes down and turned the +lake white in a jiffy. A good thing nobody was out there, under that +black sky. Then the wind died and there came a swish of rain--hard rain +for a few minutes. After that the sun once more, the fragrance of the +fern and the long, sweet afternoon. + +Looking at those deep tides of sweet-fern, I had an inspiration. My +stretcher had never been over comfortable. I longed to sleep flat. Why +not a couch of this aromatic balm? It was dry presently, and spreading +the canvas strip smoothly on the ground I covered it with armfuls of the +fern, evenly laid. I gathered and heaped it higher until it rose deep +and cushiony; then I sank down upon it to perfect bliss. + +This was Arcady indeed: a couch as soft and as fragrant as any the gods +might have spread by the brooks of Hymettus in that far time when they +stole out of Elysium to find joy in the daughters of men. Such a couch +Leda might have had when the swan came floating down to bestow celestial +motherhood. I buried my face in the odorous mass and vowed that never +again would I cramp myself in a canvas trough between two sticks, and I +never did. I could not get sweet-fern again, but balsam boughs were +plentiful, and properly laid in a manner that all guides know, make a +couch that is wide and yielding and full of rest. + +Up Little River, whose stones like the proverbial worm, turned when we +stepped on them and gave Eddie a hard fall; across Frozen Ocean--a place +which justified its name, for it was bitterly cold there and we did +nothing but keep the fire going and play pedro (to which end I put on +most of my clothes and got into my sleeping-bag)--through another stream +and a string of ponds, loitering and exploring until the final day. + +It was on one reach of a smaller stream that we found the Beaver +Dam--the only one I ever saw, or am likely to see, for the race that +builds them is nearly done. I had been walking upstream and fishing some +small rapids above the others when I saw what appeared to be a large +pool of still water just above. I made my way up there. It was in +reality a long stillwater, but a pond rather than a pool. It interested +me very much. The dam was unlike any I had ever seen. For one thing, I +could not understand why a dam should be in that place, for there was no +sign of a sluice or other indication of a log industry; besides, this +dam was not composed of logs or of stone, or anything of the sort. It +was a woven dam--a dam composed of sticks and brush and rushes and +vines, some small trees, and dirt--made without much design, it would +seem, but so carefully put together and so firmly bound that no piece of +it could work loose or be torn away. I was wondering what people could +have put together such a curious and effective thing as that, when Del +came up, pushing the canoe. He also was interested when he saw it, but +he knew what it was. It was a beaver dam, and they were getting mighty +scarce. There was a law against killing the little fellows, but their +pelts were worth high prices, and the law did not cover traffic in them. +So long as that was the case the beavers would be killed. + +I had heard of beaver dams all my life, but somehow I had not thought of +their being like this. I had not thought of those little animals being +able to construct a piece of engineering that, in a swift place like +this, could stand freshet and rot, year after year, and never break +away. Del said he had never known one of them to go out. The outlet was +in the right place and of the proper size. He showed me some new pieces +which the builders had recently put into the work, perhaps because it +seemed to be weakening there. He had watched once and had seen some +beavers working. They were as intelligent as human beings. They could +cut a tree of considerable size, he said, and make it fall in any chosen +direction. Then he showed me some pieces of wood from which they had +gnawed the sweet bark, and he explained how they cut small trees and +sank lengths of them in the water to keep the bark green and fresh for +future use. I listened and marveled. I suppose I had read of these +things, but they seemed more wonderful when I was face to face with the +fact. + +The other canoe came up and it was decided to cut a small section out of +the dam to let us through. I objected, but was assured that the beavers +were not very busy, just now, and would not mind--in fact might rather +enjoy--a repair job, which would take them but a brief time. + +"They can do it sometime while I'm making a long carry," Charlie said. + +But it was no easy matter to cut through. Charlie and Del worked with +the ax, and dragged and pulled with their hands. Finally a narrow breach +was made, but it would have been about as easy to unload the canoes and +lift them over. Half-way up the long hole we came to the lodge--its top +rising above the water. Its entrance, of course, was below the surface, +but the guides said there is always a hole at the top, for air. It was a +well-built house--better, on the whole, than many humans construct. + +"They'll be scrambling around, pretty soon," Charlie said, "when they +find the water getting lower in their sitting room. Then they'll send +out a repair gang. Poor little fellers! Somebody'll likely get 'em +before we come again. I know one chap that got seven last year. It's too +bad." + +Yes, it is too bad. Here is a wonderful race of creatures--ingenious, +harmless--a race from which man doubtless derived his early lessons in +constructive engineering. Yet Nova Scotia is encouraging their +assassination by permitting the traffic in their skins, while she salves +her conscience by enacting a law against their open slaughter. Nova +Scotia is a worthy province and means well. She protects her moose and, +to some extent, her trout. But she ought to do better by the beavers. +They are among her most industrious and worthy citizens. Their homes and +their industries should be protected. Also, their skins. It can't be +done under the present law. You can't put a price on a man's head and +keep him from being shot, even if it is against the law. Some fellow +will lay for him sure. He will sneak up and shoot him from behind, just +as he would sneak up and shoot a beaver, and he will collect his reward +in either case, and the law will wink at him. Maybe it would be no +special crime to shoot the man. Most likely he deserved it, but the +beaver was doing nobody any harm. Long ago he taught men how to build +their houses and their dams, and to save up food and water for a dry +time. Even if we no longer need him, he deserves our protection and our +tender regard.[6] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] I have just learned from Eddie that Nova Scotia has recently enacted +a new law, adequately protecting the beaver. I shall leave the above, +however, as applying to other and less humane districts, wherever +located. + + + + +Chapter Twenty-nine + + _Once more, to-night, the woods are white_ + _That lee so dim and far,_ + _Where the wild trout hide and the moose abide_ + _Under the northern star._ + + + + +Chapter Twenty-nine + + +Perhaps the brightest spot of that sad period when we were making ready +to leave the woods, with all their comfort, their peace and their +religion, and go back to the harrying haunts of men, to mingle with the +fever and fret of daily strife, is the memory of a trip to Jeremy's Bay. +I don't know in the least where Jeremy's Bay is, but it is somewhere +within an hour's paddle of Jim Charles's Point, and it is that hour and +the return that sticks with me now. + +It was among the last days of June--the most wonderful season in the +north woods. The sun seems never ready to set there, then, and all the +world is made of blues and greens and the long, lingering tones of +evening. + +We had early tea in preparation for the sunset fishing. It was best, Del +said, in Jeremy's Bay about that time. So it was perhaps an hour earlier +when we started, the canoes light. + +In any one life there are not many evenings such as that. It is just as +well, for I should account it a permanent sadness if they became +monotonous. Perhaps they never would. Our course lay between shores--an +island on the one hand, the mainland on the other. When we rounded the +point, we were met by a breeze blown straight from the sunset--a breath +that was wild and fresh and sweet, and billowed the water till it caught +every hue and shimmering iridescence that the sky and shores and setting +sun could give. + +We were eager and rested, for we had done little that day, and the empty +canoes slipped like magic into a magical sea of amethyst and emerald +gold, the fresh breeze filling us with life and ecstasy until we seemed +almost to fly. The eyes could not look easily into the glory ahead, +though it was less easy to look away from the enchantment which lay +under the sunset. The Kingdom of Ponemah was there, and it was as if we +were following Hiawatha to that fair and eternal hunting-ground. + +Yet when one did turn, the transformation was almost worth while. The +colors were all changed. They were more peaceful, more like reality, +less like a harbor of dreams and visions too fair for the eyes of man to +look upon. A single glance backward, and then away once more between +walls of green, billowing into the sunset--away, away to Jeremy's Bay! + +The sun was just on the horizon when we reached there--the water already +in shadow near the shore. So deep and vivid were its hues that we seemed +to be fishing in dye-stuff. And the breeze went out with the sun, and +the painted pool became still, ruffled only where the trout broke water +or a bird dipped down to drink. + +I will not speak of the fishing there. I have already promised that I +would not speak of fishing again. But Jeremy's Bay is a spot that few +guides know and few fishermen find. It was our last real fishing, and it +was worthy. Then home to camp, between walls of dusk--away, away from +Jeremy's Bay--silently slipping under darkening shores--silently, and a +little sadly, for our long Day of Joy was closing in--the hour of return +drew near. + +And postpone it as you will, the final moment must come--the time when +the rod must be taken down for good; the leaders stripped and coiled in +their box, the fly-book tenderly gone over and the last flies you have +used fitted into place and laid away. + +One does not go through that final ritual without a little sentiment--a +little tugging about the heart. The flies were all new and trim and +properly placed when you set out. They were a gay array and you were as +proud of them as of a little garden. They are in disarray now. They have +an unkempt look. The shells are shredded, the feathers are caked and +bitten, the hackle is frazzled and frayed out. Yet you are even more +proud of them than in the beginning. Then they were only a promise, fair +and beautiful to look upon; now they conjure up pictures of supreme +fulfillment--days and moments so firmly set upon the past that they +shall not soon fade away. That big Silver Doctor--from which the shell +has twice been broken, and the feathers wrapped and rewrapped--that must +have been wound with a special blessing, for when all else failed it was +a certain lure. The big trout below Loon Lake rose to that fly, and +accordingly this battered thing will forever be preserved. This scarlet +Breck, with almost every gay feather gone and the silver wrapping +replaced with tinfoil--even when it displayed a mere shred of its former +glory it proved far more fatal than many a newer fly. How vividly it +recalls a certain wild pool of strange, dim lucence where, for me, the +trout would take no other lure. And this Montreal--it has become a magic +brush that paints a picture of black rocks and dark water, and my first +trout taken on a cast. For a hundred years, if I live that long, this +crumpled book and these broken, worn-out flies will bring back the +clear, wild water and the green shores of a Nova Scotia June, the +remoter silences of the deeper forest, the bright camps by twisting +pools and tumbling falls, the flash of the leaping trout, the feel of +the curved rod and the music of the singing reel. + +I shall always recall Eddie, then, and I shall bless him for many +things--and forgive him for others. I shall remember Del, too, the +Stout, and Charles the Strong, and that they made my camping worth +while. I was a trial to them, and they were patient--almost unreasonably +so. I am even sorry now for the time that my gun went off and scared +Del, though it seemed amusing at the moment. When the wind beats up and +down the park, and the trees are bending and cracking with ice; when I +know that once more the still places of the North are white and the +waters fettered--I shall shut my eyes and see again the ripple and the +toss of June, and hear once more the under voices of the falls. And some +day I shall return to those far shores, for it is a place to find one's +soul. + +Yet perhaps I should not leave that statement unqualified, for it +depends upon the sort of a soul that is to be found. The north wood does +not offer welcome or respond readily to the lover of conventional luxury +and the smaller comforts of living. Luxury is there, surely, but it is +the luxury that rewards effort, and privation, and toil. It is the +comfort of food and warmth and dry clothes after a day of endurance--a +day of wet, and dragging weariness, and bitter chill. It is the bliss of +reaching, after long, toilsome travel, a place where you can meet the +trout--the splendid, full-grown wild trout, in his native home, knowing +that you will not find a picnic party on every brook and a fisherman +behind every tree. Finally, it is the preciousness of isolation, the +remoteness from men who dig up and tear down and destroy, who set +whistles to tooting and bells to jingling--who shriek themselves hoarse +in the market place and make the world ugly and discordant, and life a +short and fevered span in which the soul has a chance to become no more +than a feeble and crumpled thing. And if that kind of a soul pleases +you, don't go to the woods. It will be only a place of mosquitoes, and +general wetness, and discomfort. You won't care for it. You will hate +it. But if you are willing to get wet and stay wet--to get cold and stay +cold--to be bruised, and scuffed, and bitten--to be hungry and thirsty +and to have your muscles strained and sore from unusual taxation: if you +will welcome all these things, not once, but many times, for the sake of +moments of pure triumph and that larger luxury which comes with the +comfort of the camp and the conquest of the wilderness, then go! The +wilderness will welcome you, and teach you, and take you to its heart. +And you will find your own soul there; and the discovery will be worth +while! + + +THE END + + + + +Interesting Fiction + + +_Bar-20_ + + _By CLARENCE E. MULFORD_ + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + The doings of the famous outfit of Bar-20, an old-time ranch + in Arizona, are here recorded. Fifth edition. + + _The Cleveland News_: "The author knows old Arizona as Harte + knew Poverty Row and Poker Flat." _Cleveland Plain Dealer_: + "After the style of Mr. Wister." + + +_The Orphan_ + + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + This stirring tale deals with the same characters, time, and + country as the former success, "Bar-20." It is a yarn + decidedly worth while. Greater even than the author's first + book. Third edition. + + _The Salt Lake City Tribune says_: "This is a live, virile + story of the boundless West ... of very great + attractiveness." + + +_At the Foot of the Rainbow_ + + _By GENE STRATTON-PORTER_ + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + The scene of this charming, idyllic love story is laid in + Central Indiana. It is for the man who loves the earth under + his foot, the splash of the black bass, the scent of the + pine wood, and the hum of earth close to his ear. + + _The New York Times says_: "The novel is imbued throughout + with a poet's love of nature, and its pathos and tender + sentiment place it in the category of heart romances." + + +_The Way of a Man_ + + _By EMERSON HOUGH_ + _Illustrated, cloth, decorative. Price, $1.50._ + + A great, strong, masterful romance of American life in the + early sixties. Love, romance and adventure are paramount in + this wonderful story. + + _The Chicago Record-Herald says_: "A story that grips the + reader's attention, whets his appetite, and leaves him ever + eager for more." + + +_The Sportsman's Primer_ + + _By NORMAN H. CROWELL_ + _Illustrated, decorative cover design, boards. 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