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diff --git a/old/tlolw10.txt b/old/tlolw10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d07142 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tlolw10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9061 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Lure of the Labrador Wild, by Dillon Wallace + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Go and look behind the + Ranges-- +Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" +--Kipling's "The Explorer." + + + + +PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION + +Three years have passed since Hubbard and I began that fateful +journey into Labrador of which this volume is a record. A little +more than a year has elapsed since the first edition of our record +made its appearance from the press. Meanwhile I have looked behind +the ranges. Grand Lake has again borne me upon the bosom of her +broad, deep waters into the great lonely wilderness that lured +Hubbard to his death. + +It was a day in June last year that found me again at the point +where some inexplicable fate had led Hubbard and me to pass +unexplored the bay that here extends northward to receive the +Nascaupee River, along which lay the trail for which we were +searching, and induced us to take, instead, that other course that +carried us into the dreadful Susan Valley. How vividly I saw it +all again--Hubbard resting on his paddle, and then rising up for a +better view, as he said, "Oh, that's just a bay and it isn't worth +while to take time to explore it. The river comes in up here at +the end of the lake. They all said it was at the end of the lake." +And we said, "Yes, it is at the end of the lake; they all said so," +and went on, for that was before we knew--Hubbard never knew. A +perceptible current, a questioning word, the turn of a paddle would +have set us right. No current was noticed, no word was spoken, and +the paddle sent us straight toward those blue hills yonder, where +Suffering and Starvation and Death were hidden and waiting for us. +How little we expected to meet these grim strangers then. That +July day came back to me as if it had been but the day before. I +believe I never missed Hubbard so much as at that moment. I never +felt his loss so keenly as then. An almost irresistible impulse +seized me to go on into our old trail and hurry to the camp where +we had left him that stormy October day and find if he were not +after all still there and waiting for me to come back to him. + +Reluctantly I thrust the impulse aside. Armed with the experience +gained upon the former expedition, and information gleaned from the +Indians, I turned into the northern trail, through the valley of +the Nascaupee, and began a journey that carried me eight hundred +miles to the storm-swept shores of Ungava Bay, and two thousand +miles with dog sledge over endless reaches of ice and snow. + +While I struggled northward with new companions, Hubbard was +always with me to inspire and urge me on. Often and often at night +as I sat, disheartened and alone, by the camp-fire while the rain +beat down and the wind soughed drearily through the firtops, he +would come and sit by me as of old, and as of old I would hear his +gentle voice and his words of encouragement. Then I would go to my +blankets with new courage, resolved to fight the battle to the end. + +One day our camp was pitched upon the shores of Lake Michikamau, +and as I looked for the first time upon the waters of the lake +which Hubbard had so longed to reach, I lived over again that day +when he returned from his climb to the summit of the great grey +mountain which now bears his name, with the joyful news that there +just behind the ridge lay Michikamau; then the weary wind-bound +days that followed and the race down the trail with all its +horrors; our kiss and embrace; and my final glimpse of the little +white tent in which he lay. + +And so with the remembrance of his example as an inspiration the +work was finished by me, the survivor, but to Hubbard and to his +memory belong the credit and the honour, for it was only through my +training with him and this inspiration received from him that I was +able to carry to successful completion what he had so well planned. + +My publishers inform me that five editions of our story have found +their way into the hearts and homes of those who cannot visit the +great northern wilds, but who love to hear about them. I shall +avail myself of this opportunity to thank these readers for the +kindly manner in which they have received the book. This reception +of it has been especially gratifying to me because of the lack of +confidence I had in my ability to tell the story of Hubbard's life +and glorious death as I felt it should be told. + +The writing of the story was a work of love. I wished not only to +fulfil my last promise to my friend to write the narrative of his +expedition, but I wished also to create a sort of memorial to him. +I wanted the world to know Hubbard as he was, his noble character, +his devotion to duty, and his faith, so strong that not even the +severe hardships he endured in the desolate north, ending only with +death, could make him for a moment forget the simple truths that he +learned from his mother on the farm in old Michigan. I wanted the +young men to know these things, for they could not fail to be the +better for having learned them; and I wanted the mothers to know +what men mothers can make of their sons. + +An unknown friend writes me, "To dare and die so divinely and leave +such a record is to be transfigured on a mountain top, a master +symbol to all men of cloud-robed human victory, angel-attended by +reverence and peace...a gospel of nobleness and faith." And +another, "How truly 'God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to +perform.' Mr. Hubbard went to find Lake Michikamau; he failed, +but God spelled 'Success' of 'Failure,' and you brought back a +message which should be an inspiration to every soul to whom it +comes. The life given up in the wilds of Labrador was not in +vain." Space will not permit me to quote further from the many +letters of this kind that have come to me from all over the United +States and Canada, but they tell me that others have learned to +know Hubbard as be was and as his friends knew him, and that our +book has not failed of its purpose. + +The storms of two winters have held in their icy grasp the bleak +land in which he yielded up his life for a principle, and the +flowers of two summers have blossomed upon his grave, overlooking +the Hudson. But it was only his body that we buried there. His +spirit still lives, for his was a spirit too big and noble to be +bound by the narrow confines of a grave. His life is an example of +religious faith, strong principle, and daring bravery that will not +be forgotten by the young men of our land. + + New York, June 1, 1906. D. W. + + + + +PREFACE TO ELEVENTH EDITION + + + +As the eleventh edition of this book goes to press, the opportunity +is given for a brief prefatory description of a pilgrimage to +Hubbard's death-place in the Labrador Wilderness from which I have +just returned. + +For many years it had been my wish to re-visit the scene of those +tragic experiences, and to permanently and appropriately mark the +spot where Hubbard so heroically gave up his life a decade ago. +Judge William J. Malone, of Bristol, Connecticut, one of the many +men who have received inspiration from Hubbard's noble example, was +my companion, and at Northwest River we were joined by Gilbert +Blake, who was a member of the party of four trappers who rescued +me in 1903. We carried with us a beautiful bronze tablet, which +was designed to be placed upon the boulder before which Hubbard's +tent was pitched when he died. Wrapped with the tablet was a +little silk flag and Hubbard's college pennant, lovingly +contributed by his sister, Mrs. Arthur C. Williams, of Detroit, +Michigan. These were to be draped upon the tablet when erected and +left with it in the wilderness. Our plan was to ascend and explore +the lower Beaver River to the point where Hubbard discovered it, +and where, in 1903, we abandoned our canoe to re-cross to the Susan +River Valley a few days before his death. Here it was our +expectation to follow the old Hubbard portage trail to Goose Creek +and thence down Goose Creek to the Susan River. + +Of our journey up the Beaver River suffice it to say that we met +with many adventures, but proceeded without serious accident until +one day our canoe was submerged in heavy rapids, the lashings gave +way, and to our consternation the precious tablet, together with +the flag and pennant, was lost in the flood. After two days' vain +effort to recover the tablet and flags we continued on the river +until at length further ascent seemed unpractical. From this +point, with packs on our backs, we made a difficult foot journey of +several days to the Susan River valley. + +I shall not attempt to describe my feelings when at last we came +into the valley where Hubbard died and where we had suffered so +much. Man changes with the fleeting years and a civilized world +changes, but the untrod wilderness never changes. Before us lay +the same rushing river I remembered so well, the same starved +forest of spruce with its pungent odor, and there was the clump of +spruce trees in which our last camp was pitched just as I had seen +it last. Malone and Blake remained by the river bank while I +approached alone what to me was sacred ground. Time fell away, and +I believe that I expected, when I stepped beside the boulder before +which his tent was pitched when we said our last farewell on that +dismal October morning ten years ago, to hear Hubbard's voice +welcome me as of old. The charred wood of his camp fire might, +from all appearances, have but just grown cold. The boughs, which +I had broken and arranged for his couch, and upon which he slept +and died, were withered but undisturbed, and I could identify +exactly the spot where he lay. There were his worn old moccasins, +and one of the leather mittens, which, in his last entry in his +diary he said he might eat if need be. Near the dead fire were +some spoons and other small articles, as we had left them, and +scattered about were remnants of our tent. + +Lovingly we put ourselves to our task. Judge Malone, with a brush +improvised from Blake's stiff hair, and with white lead intended +for canoe repairs, lettered upon the boulder this inscription: + + Leonidas Hubbard, Jr., + Intrepid Explorer + And + Practical Christian + Died Here + Oct. 18, 1903. + "Whither I go ye know, + and the way ye know." + John XIV.--4. + +Then with hammer and chisel I cut the inscription deep into the +rock, and we filled the letters with white lead to counteract the +effect of the elements. + +It was dark when the work was finished, and by candlelight, beneath +the stars, I read, from the same Testament I used in 1903, the +fourteenth of John and the thirteenth of First Corinthians, the +chapters which I read to Hubbard on the morning of our parting. +Judge Malone read the Fiftieth Psalm. We sang some hymns and then +knelt about the withered couch of boughs, each of us three with the +feeling that Hubbard was very close to us. + +In early morning we shouldered our packs again, and with a final +look at Hubbard's last camp, turned back to the valley of the +Beaver and new adventures. + DILLON WALLACE. +Beacon-on-the-Hudson, November eighteenth, 1913. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +I. The Object of the Expedition +II. Off at Last +III. On the Edge of the Wilderness +IV. The Plunge into the Wild +V. Still in the Awful Valley +VI. Searching for a Trail +VII. On a Real River at Last +VIII. "Michikamau or Bust!" +IX. And There was Michikamau! +X. Prisoners of the Wind +XI. We Give It Up +XII. The Beginning of the Retreat +XIII. Hubbard's Grit +XIV. Back Through the Ranges +XV. George's Dream +XVI. At the Last Camp +XVII. The Parting +XVIII. Wandering Alone +XIX. The Kindness of the Breeds +XX. How Hubbard Went to Sleep +XXI. From Out the Wild +XXII. A Strange Funeral Procession +XXIII. Over the Ice +XXIV. Hubbard's Message + + + + +Acknowledgment is due Mr. Frank Barkley Copley, a personal and +literary friend of Mr. Hubbard, for assistance rendered in the +preparation of this volume. + +D. W. +New York, January, 1905. + + + + + +THE LURE OF THE LABRADOR WILD + + + + +I. THE OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION + +"How would you like to go to Labrador, Wallace?" It was a snowy +night in late November, 1901, that my friend, Leonidas Hubbard, +Jr., asked me this question. All day he and I had been tramping +through the snow among the Shawangunk Mountains in southern New +York, and when the shades of evening fell we had built a lean-to of +boughs to shelter us from the storm. Now that we had eaten our +supper of bread and bacon, washed down with tea, we lay before our +roaring campfire, luxuriating in its glow and warmth. + +Hubbard's question was put to me so abruptly that it rather +startled me. + +"Labrador!" I exclaimed. "Now where in the world is Labrador?" + +Of course I knew it was somewhere in the north-eastern part of the +continent; but so many years had passed since I laid away my old +school geography that its exact situation had escaped my memory, +and the only other knowledge I had retained of the country was a +confused sense of its being a sort of Arctic wilderness. Hubbard +proceeded to enlighten me, by tracing with his pencil, on the fly- +leaf of his notebook, an outline map of the peninsula. + +"Very interesting," I commented. "But why do you wish to go there?" + +"Man," he replied, "don't you realise it's about the only part of +the continent that hasn't been explored? As a matter of fact, +there isn't much more known of the interior of Labrador now than +when Cabot discovered the coast more than four hundred years ago." +He jumped up to throw more wood on the fire. "Think of it, +Wallace!" he went on, "A great unknown land right near home, as +wild and primitive to-day as it has always been! I want to see it. +I want to get into a really wild country and have some of the +experiences of the old fellows who explored and opened up the +country where we are now." + +Resuming his place by the blazing logs, Hubbard unfolded to me his +plan, then vague and in the rough, of exploring a part of the +unknown eastern end of the peninsula. Of trips such as this he had +been dreaming since childhood. When a mere boy on his father's +farm in Michigan, he had lain for hours out under the trees in the +orchard poring over a map of Canada and making imaginary journeys +into the unexplored. Boone and Crockett were his heroes, and +sometimes he was so affected by the tales of their adventures that +he must needs himself steal away to the woods and camp out for two +or three days. + +It was at this period that he resolved to head some day an +exploring expedition of his own, and this resolution he forgot +neither while a student nor while serving as a newspaper man in +Detroit and New York. At length, through a connection he made with +a magazine devoted to out-of-door life, he was able to make several +long trips into the wild. Among other places, he visited the +Hudson Bay region, and once penetrated to the winter hunting ground +of the Mountaineer Indians, north of Lake St. John, in southern +Labrador. These trips, however, failed to satisfy him; his +ambition was to reach a region where no white man had preceded him. +Now, at the age of twenty-nine, he believed that his ambition was +about to be realised. + +"It's always the way, Wallace," he said; "when a fellow starts on a +long trail, he's never willing to quit. It'll be the same with you +if you go with me to Labrador. You'll say each trip will be the +last, but when you come home you'll hear the voice of the +wilderness calling you to return, and it will lure you away again +and again. I thought my Lake St. John trip was something, but +while there I stood at the portals of the unknown, and it brought +back stronger than ever the old longing to make discoveries, so +that now the walls of the city seem to me a prison and I simply +must get away." + +My friend's enthusiasm was contagious. It had never previously +occurred to me to undertake the game of exploration; but, like most +American boys, I had had youthful dreams of going into a great wild +country, even as my forefathers had gone, and Hubbard's talk +brought back the old juvenile love of adventure. That night before +we lay down to sleep I said: "Hubbard, I'll go with you." And so +the thing was settled--that was how Hubbard's expedition had its +birth. + +More than a year passed, however, before Hubbard was able to make +definite arrangements to get away. I believe it was in February, +1903, that the telephone bell in my law office rang, and Hubbard's +voice at the other end of the wire conveyed to me the information +that he had "bully news." + +"Is that so?" I said. "What's up? + +"The Labrador trip is all fixed for this summer," was the excited +reply. "Come out to Congers to-night without fail, and we'll talk +it over." + +In accordance with his invitation, I went out that evening to visit +my friend in his suburban home. I shall never forget the +exuberance of his joy. You would have thought he was a boy about +to be released from school. By this time he had become the +associate editor of the magazine for which he had been writing, but +he had finally been able to induce his employers to consent to the +project upon which he had set his heart and grant him a leave of +absence. + +"It will be a big thing, Wallace," he said in closing; "it ought to +make my reputation." + +Into the project of penetrating the vast solitudes of desolate +Labrador, over which still brooded the fascinating twilight of the +mysterious unknown, Hubbard, with characteristic zeal, threw his +whole heart and soul. Systematically and thoroughly he went about +planning, in the minutest detail, our outfit and entire journey. +Every possible contingency received the most careful consideration. + +In order to make plain just what he hoped to accomplish and the +conditions against which he had to provide, the reader's patience +is asked for a few minutes while something is told of what was +known of Labrador at the time Hubbard was making preparations for +his expedition. + +The interior of the peninsula of Labrador is a rolling plateau, the +land rising more or less abruptly from the coast to a height of two +thousand or more feet above the level of the sea. Scattered over +this plateau are numerous lakes and marshes. The rivers and +streams discharging the waters of the lakes into the sea flow to +the four points of the compass--into the Atlantic and its inlets on +the east, into Ungava Bay on the north, Hudson Bay and James Bay on +the west, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the south. Owing to the +abrupt rise of the land from the coast these rivers and streams are +very swift and are filled with a constant succession of falls and +rapids; consequently, their navigation in canoes--the only possible +way, generally speaking, to navigate them--is most difficult and +dangerous. In this, to a large extent, lies the explanation as to +why only a few daring white men have ever penetrated to the +interior plateau; the condition of the rivers, if nothing else, +makes it impossible to transport sufficient food to sustain a party +for any considerable period, and it is absolutely necessary to run +the risk of obtaining supplies from a country that may be plentiful +with game one year and destitute of it the next, and in which the +vegetation is the scantiest. + +The western part of the peninsula, although it, too, contains vast +tracts in which no white man has set foot, is somewhat better known +than the eastern, most of the rivers that flow into Hudson and +James Bays having been explored and correctly mapped. Hubbard's +objective was the eastern and northern part of the peninsula, and +it is with this section that we shall hereafter deal. Such parts +of this territory as might be called settled lie in the region of +Hamilton Inlet and along the coast. + +Hamilton Inlet is an arm of the Atlantic extending inland about one +hundred and fifty miles in a southwesterly direction. At its +entrance, which is two hundred miles north of Cape Charles, the +inlet is some forty miles wide. Fifty miles inland from the +settlement of Indian Harbour (which is situated on one of the White +Bear Islands, near the north coast of the inlet at its entrance), +is the Rigolet Post of the Hudson's Bay Company--the "Old Company," +as its agents love to call it--and here the inlet narrows down to a +mere channel; but during the next eighty miles of its course inland +it again widens, this section of it being known as Groswater Bay or +Lake Melville. + +The extreme western end of the inlet is called Goose Bay. Into +this bay flows the Grand or Hamilton River, one of the largest in +Labrador. From its source among the lakes on the interior plateau, +the Grand River first sweeps down in a southeasterly direction and +then bends northeasterly to reach the end of Hamilton Inlet. The +tributaries of the lakes forming the headwaters of the Grand River +connect it indirectly with Lake Michikamau (Big Water). This, the +largest lake in eastern Labrador, is between eighty and ninety +miles in length, with a width varying from six to twenty-five +miles. + +The Grand River, as well as a portion of Lake Michikamau, some +years ago was explored and correctly mapped; but the other rivers +that flow to the eastward have either been mapped only from hearsay +or not at all. Of the several rivers flowing into Ungava Bay, the +Koksoak alone has been explored. This river, which is the largest +of those flowing north, rises in lakes to the westward of Lake +Michikamau. Next to the Koksoak, the George is the best known of +the rivers emptying into Ungava Bay, as well as the second largest; +but while it has been learned that its source is among the lakes to +the northward of Michikamau, it has been mapped only from hearsay. + +Now if the reader will turn to the accompanying map of Labrador +made by Mr. A. P. Low of the Canadian Geological Survey, he will +see that the body of water known as Grand Lake is represented +thereon merely as the widening out of a large river, called the +Northwest, which flows from Lake Michikamau to Groswater Bay or +Hamilton Inlet, after being joined about twenty miles above Grand +Lake by a river called the Nascaupee. Relying upon this map, +Hubbard planned to reach early in the summer the Northwest River +Post of the Hudson's Bay Company, which is situated at the mouth of +the Northwest River, ascend the river to Lake Michikamau, and then, +from the northern end of that lake, beat across the country to the +George River. + +The Geological Survey map is the best of Labrador extant, but its +representation as to the Northwest River (made from hearsay) proved +to be wholly incorrect, and the mistake it led us into cost us +dear. After the rescue, I thoroughly explored Grand Lake, and, as +will be seen from my map, I discovered that no less than five +rivers flow into it, which are known to the natives as the +Nascaupee, the Beaver, the Susan, the Crooked, and the Cape +Corbeau. The Nascaupee is the largest, and as the inquiries I made +among the Indians satisfied me that it is the outlet of Lake +Michikamau, it is undoubtedly the river that figures on the +Geological Survey map as the Northwest, while as for the river +called on the map the Nascaupee, it is in all likelihood non- +existent. There is a stream known to the natives as Northwest +River, but it is merely the strait, one hundred yards wide and +three hundred yards long, which, as shown on my map, connects +Groswater Bay with what the natives call the Little Lake, this +being the small body of water that lies at the lower end of Grand +Lake, the waters of which it receives through a rapid. + +Hubbard hoped to reach the George River in season to meet the +Nenenot or Nascaupee Indians, who, according to an old tradition, +gather on its banks in late August or early September to attack +with spears the herds of caribou that migrate at that time, passing +eastward to the sea coast. It is reported that while the caribou +are swimming the river the Indians each year kill great numbers of +them, drying the flesh for winter provisions and using the skins to +make clothing and wigwam-covering. Hubbard wished not only to get +a good story of the yearly slaughter, but to spend some little time +studying the habits of the Indians, who are the most primitive on +the North American continent. + +Strange as it may seem to some, the temperature in the interior of +Labrador in midsummer sometimes rises as high as 90 degrees or +more, although at sunset it almost invariably drops to near the +freezing point and frost is liable at any time. But the summer, of +course, is very short. It may be said to begin early in July, by +which time the snow and ice are all gone, and to end late in +August. There is just a hint of spring and autumn. Winter glides +into summer, and summer into winter, almost imperceptibly, and the +winter is the bitter winter of the Arctic. + +If the season were not too far advanced when he finished studying +the Indians, Hubbard expected to cross the country to the St. +Lawrence and civilisation; otherwise to retrace his steps over his +upward trail. In the event of our failure to discover the Indian +encampment, and our finding ourselves on the George short of +provisions, Hubbard planned to run down the swift-flowing river in +our canoe to the George River Post at its mouth, and there procure +passage on some fishing vessel for Newfoundland; or, if that were +impossible, to outfit for winter, and when the ice formed and the +snow came, return overland with dogs. + +Hubbard knew that by ascending the Grand River he would be taking a +surer, if longer, route to Lake Michikamau; but it was a part of +his project to explore the unknown country along the river mapped +as the Northwest. I have called this country unknown. It is true +that in the winter of 1838 John McLean, then the agent of the +Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Chimo, a post situated on the Koksoak +River about twenty miles above its mouth, passed through a portion +of this country in the course of a journey he made with dogs from +his post to Northwest River Post. His route was up the Koksoak and +across country to the northern end of Lake Michikamau, which he +followed for some little distance. After leaving the lake he again +travelled eastward across country until at length he came upon the +"Northwest" or Nascaupee River at a point probably not far above +Grand Lake, from which it was easy travelling over the ice to the +post. The record left by him of the journey, however, is very +incomplete, and the exact route he took is by no means certain. + +Whatever route it was, he returned over it the same winter to Fort +Chimo. His sufferings during this trip were extreme. He and his +party had to eat their dogs to save themselves from starvation, and +even then they would surely all have perished had it not been for +an Indian who left the party fifty miles out of Chimo and +fortunately had strength enough to reach the post and send back +relief. Later McLean made several summer trips with a canoe up the +George River from Ungava Bay and down the Grand River to Hamilton +Inlet; but never again did he attempt to penetrate the country +lying between Lake Michikamau and Hamilton Inlet to the north of +Grand River. The fact was that he found his Grand River trips bad +enough; the record he has left of them is a story of a continuous +struggle against heartbreaking hardships and of narrow escapes from +starvation. + +It is asserted that a priest once crossed with the Indians from +Northwest River Post to Ungava Bay by the Nascaupee route; but the +result of my inquiries in Labrador convinced me that the priest in +question travelled by way of the Grand River, making it certain +that previous to Hubbard's expedition no white man other than +McLean had ever crossed the wilderness between Hamilton Inlet and +Lake Michikamau by any route other than the aforesaid Grand River. +As has been pointed out, McLean made but a verv incomplete record +of his journey that took him through the country north of the Grand +River, so that Hubbard's project called for his plunge into a +region where no footsteps would be found to guide him. Not only +this, but the George River country, which it was his ultimate +purpose to reach, was, and still remains, terra incognita; for +although McLean made several trips up and down this river, he +neither mapped it nor left any definite descriptions concerning it. + +Here, then, was an enterprise fully worthy of an ambitious and +venturesome spirit like Hubbard. Here was a great, unknown +wilderness into which even the half-breed native trappers who lived +on its outskirts were afraid to penetrate, knowing that the +wandering bands of Indians who occasionally traversed its +fastnesses themselves frequently starved to death in that +inhospitable, barren country. There was danger to be faced and +good "copy" to be obtained. + +And so it was ho for the land of "bared boughs and grieving winds"! + + + + +II. OFF AT LAST + +Labrador's uncertain game supply presented more than one vexed +problem for Hubbard to solve. Naturally it would be desirable to +take with us sufficient provisions to guard against all +contingencies; but such were the conditions of the country for +which we were bound, that if the expedition were at all heavily +loaded it would be impossible for it to make any headway. Hubbard, +therefore, decided to travel light. Then arose the question as to +how many men to take with us. If the party were large--that is, up +to a certain limit--more food might possibly be carried for each +member than if the party were small; but if game proved plentiful, +there would be no danger from starvation whether the party were +large or small; for then short stops could be made to kill animals, +dry the flesh and make caches, after the manner of the Indians, as +supply bases to fall back upon should we be overtaken by an early +winter. And if the game should prove scarce, a small party could +kill, on a forced march, nearly, if not quite, as much as a large +party; and requiring a proportionately smaller amount of food to +maintain it, would consequently have a better chance of success. +Taking all things into consideration, Hubbard decided that the +party should be small. + +To guard against possible disappointment in the way of getting men, +Hubbard wrote to the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company at Rigolet, +asking whether any could be obtained for a trip into the interior +either at that post or at Northwest River. The agent replied that +such a thing was highly improbable, as the visits of the Indians to +these posts had become infrequent and the other natives were afraid +to venture far inland. Hubbard then engaged through the kind +offices of Mr. S. A. King, who was in charge of the Hudson's Bay +Company Post at Missanabie, Ontario, the services of a Cree Indian +named Jerry, that we might have at least one man upon whom we could +depend. Jerry was to have come on to New York City to meet us. At +next to the last moment, however, a letter from Mr. King informed +us that Jerry had backed down. The Indian was not afraid of +Labrador, it appeared, but he had heard of the dangers and pitfalls +of New York, and when he learned that he should have to pass +through that city, his courage failed him; he positively refused to +come, saying he did not "want to die so soon." + +We never had occasion to regret Jerry's faint-heartedness. Mr. +King engaged for us another man who, he wrote, was an expert +canoeman and woodsman and a good cook. The man proved to be all +that he was represented to be--and more. I do not believe that in +all the north country we could have found a better woodsman. But +he was something more than a woodsman--he was a hero. Under the +most trying circumstances he was calm, cheerful, companionable, +faithful. Not only did he turn out to be a man of intelligence, +quick of perception and resourceful, but he turned out to be a man +of character, and I am proud to introduce him to the reader as my +friend George Elson, a half-breed Cree Indian from down on James +Bay. + +The first instance of George's resourcefulness that we noted +occurred upon his arrival in New York. Hubbard and I were to have +taken him in charge at the Grand Central Station, but we were +detained and George found no one to meet him. Despite the fact +that he had never been in a city before, and all was new to him, +his quick eye discovered that the long line of cabs in front of the +station were there to hire. He promptly engaged one, was driven to +Hubbard's office and awaited his employer's arrival as calm and +unruffled as though his surroundings were perfectly familiar. + +Our canoe and our entire outfit were purchased in New York, with +the exception of a gill net, which, alas! we decided to defer +selecting until we reached Labrador. Our preparations for the +expedition were made with a view of sailing from St. Johns, +Newfoundland, for Rigolet, when the steamer Virginia Lake, which +regularly plies during the summer between the former port and +points on the Labrador coast, should make her first trip north of +the year. A letter from the Reid-Newfoundland Company, which +operates the steamer, informed us that she would probably make her +first trip to Labrador in the last week in June, and in order to +connect with her, we made arrangements to sail from New York to St. +Johns on June 20th, 1903, on the Red Cross Line steamer Silvia. On +the 19th Hubbard personally superintended the placing of our outfit +on board ship, that nothing might be overlooked. + +As the Silvia slowly got under way at ten o'clock the next morning, +we waved a last farewell to the little knot of friends who had +gathered on the Brooklyn pier to see us off. We were all very +light-hearted and gay that morning; it was a relief to be off at +last and have the worry of the preparation over. Mrs. Hubbard was +a member of the party; she was to accompany her husband as far as +Battle Harbour, the first point on the Labrador coast touched by +the Virginia Lake. + +June 24th was my birthday, and early that morning, before we sailed +from Halifax, at which port we lay over for a day, Hubbard came +into my stateroom with a pair of camp blankets that he had been +commissioned by my sisters to present to me. He had told me he had +enough blankets in his outfit and to take none with me. How +strangely things sometimes turn out! Those blankets which Hubbard +had withheld in order that I might be agreeably surprised, were +destined to fulfil an office, up there in the wilds for which we +were bound, such as we little suspected. We reached St. Johns on +the morning of Friday, the 26th, and promptly upon our arrival were +introduced to the mysterious ways of the Reid-Newfoundland Company. +The Virginia Lake, we were told, already had gone north to +Labrador, was overdue on her return trip and might not be in for +several days. Hubbard, however, set immediately to work purchasing +the provisions for his expedition and supervising their packing. +The following day, on the advice of the general passenger agent of +the Reid-Newfoundland Company, we took the evening train on their +little narrow-gauge railroad to Whitbourne, en route to Broad Cove, +where we were informed we should find excellent trout fishing and +could pleasantly pass the time while awaiting the steamer. + +The Reid-Newfoundland Company failed to carry out its agreement as +to our transportation to Broad Cove, and we had considerable +trouble in reaching there, but we found that no misrepresentation +had been made as to the fishing; during the two days we were at +Broad Cove we caught all the trout we cared for. Having received +word that the Virginia Lake had returned to St. Johns, and would +again sail north on Tuesday, June 30th, Hubbard and Mrs. Hubbard on +the morning of that day took the train to St. Johns, to board the +steamer there and see that nothing of our outfit was left behind. +George and I broke camp in time to take the evening train on the +branch road to Harbour Grace, where, it was agreed, we should +rejoin the others, the steamer being scheduled to put in there on +its way north. + +When I had our camp baggage transferred next morning to the wharf, +and George and I had arrived there ourselves, we found also waiting +for the steamer several prospectors who were going to "The +Labrador," as the country is known to the Newfoundlanders, to look +for gold, copper, and mica. All of them apparently were dreaming +of fabulous wealth. None, I was told, was going farther than the +lower coast; they did not attempt to disguise the fact that they +feared to venture far into the interior. + +Around the wharves little boats were unloading caplin, a small fish +about the size of a smelt. I was informed that these fish sold for +ten cents a barrel, and were used for bait and fertiliser. My +astonishment may be imagined, therefore, when I discovered that on +the Virginia Lake they charged thirty-five cents for three of these +little fish fried. + +At ten o'clock our boat came in, and a little after noon we steamed +out of the harbour, Hubbard and I feeling that now we were fairly +on our way to the scene of our work. Soon after rejoining Hubbard, +I learned something more of the mysterious ways of the Reid- +Newfoundland Company. The company's general passenger agent, +avowing deep interest in our enterprise, had presented Hubbard with +passes to Rigolet for his party. Hubbard accepted them gratefully, +but upon boarding the steamer he was informed that the passes did +not include meals. Now such were the prices charged for the +wretchedly-cooked food served on the Virginia Lake that a +moderately hungry man could scarcely have his appetite killed at a +less expense than six dollars a day. So Hubbard returned the +passes to the general passenger agent with thanks, and purchased +tickets, which did include meals, and which reduced the cost +considerably. + +The Virginia Lake is a steamer of some seven hundred tons burden. +She is subsidised by the Newfoundland Government to carry the mails +during the fishing season to points on the Labrador coast as far +north as Nain. She is also one of the sealing fleet that goes to +"the ice" each tenth of March. When she brings back her cargo of +seals to St. Johns, she takes up her summer work of carrying mail, +passengers, and freight to The Labrador--always a welcome visitor +to the exiled fishermen in that lonely land, the one link that +binds them to home and the outside world. She has on board a +physician to set broken bones and deal out drugs to the sick, and a +customs officer to see that not a dime's worth of merchandise of +any kind or nature is landed until a good round percentage of duty +is paid to him as the representative of the Newfoundland +Government, which holds dominion over all the east coast of +Labrador. This customs officer is also a magistrate, a secret +service officer, a constable, and what not I do not know--pretty +much the whole Labrador Government, I imagine. + +The accommodations on the Virginia Lake were quite inadequate for +the number of passengers she carried. The stuffy little saloon was +so crowded that comfort was out of the question. I had to use some +rather impressive language to the steward to induce him to assign +to me a stateroom. Finally, he surrendered his own room. The +ventilation was poor and the atmosphere vile, but we managed to +pull through. Our fellow-passengers were all either prospectors or +owners of fishing schooners. + +There was much ice to be seen when the heavy veil of grey fog +lifted sufficiently for us to see anything, and until we had +crossed the Strait of Belle Isle our passage was a rough one. It +was on the Fourth of July that we saw for the first time the bleak, +rock-bound coast of Labrador. In all the earth there is no coast +so barren, so desolate, so brutally inhospitable as the Labrador +coast from Cape Charles, at the Strait of Belle Isle on the south, +to Cape Chidley on the north. Along these eight hundred miles it +is a constant succession of bare rocks scoured clean and smooth by +the ice and storms of centuries, with not a green thing to be seen, +save now and then a bunch of stunted shrubs that have found a +foothold in some sheltered nook in the rocks, and perchance, on +some distant hill, a glimpse of struggling spruce or fir trees. It +is a fog-ridden, dangerous coast, with never a lighthouse or signal +of any kind at any point in its entire length to warn or guide the +mariner. + +The evening was well upon us when we saw the rocks off Cape Charles +rising from the water, dismal, and dark, and forbidding. All day +the rain had been falling, and all day the wind had been blowing a +gale, lashing the sea into a fury. Our little ship was tossed +about like a cork, with the seas constantly breaking over her +decks. Decidedly our introduction to Labrador was not auspicious. +Battle Harbour, twelve miles north of Cape Charles, was to have +been our first stop; but there are treacherous hidden reefs at the +entrance, and with that sea the captain did not care to trust his +ship near them. So he ran on to Spear Harbour, just beyond, where +we lay to for the night. The next day I made the following entry +in my diary: + +"Early this morning we moved down to Battle Harbour, where Mrs. +Hubbard left us to return home. It was a most dismal time and +place for her to part from her husband, but she was very brave. It +was not yet six o'clock, and we had had no breakfast, when she +stepped into the small boat to go ashore. A cold, drizzling rain +was falling, and the place was in appearance particularly dreary; +no foliage nor green thing to be seen--nothing but rocks, cold and +high and bleak, with here and there patches of snow. They pointed +out to us a little house clinging to the rocks high up. There she +is to stay until the steamer comes to take her home, to spend a +summer of doubts and hopes and misgivings. Poor little woman! It +is so hard for those we leave behind. I stood aside with a big +lump in my throat as they said their farewell." Up there in the +dark wilderness for which we were bound Hubbard talked with me +frequently of that parting. + +On July 6th, the day after we left Battle Harbour, the captain +informed us for the first time that the boat would not go to +Rigolet on the way up, and gave us the option of getting off at +Indian Harbour at the entrance to Hamilton Inlet or going on to +Nain with him and getting off at Rigolet on the way back. Hubbard +chose the former alternative, hearing which the customs officer +came to us and hinted that nothing could be landed until we had had +an interview with him. The result of the interview was that +Hubbard paid duty on our entire outfit. + +The next morning, Tuesday, July 7th, we reached Indian Harbour. +Amid a chorus of "Good-bye, boys, and good luck!" we went ashore, +to set foot for the first time on Labrador soil, where we were +destined to encounter a series of misadventures that should call +for the exercise of all our fortitude and manhood. + + + + +III. ON THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS + +The island of the White Bear group upon which is situated the +settlement of Indian Harbour is rocky and barren. The settlement +consists of a trader's hut and a few fishermen's huts built of +frame plastered over with earth or moss, and the buildings of the +Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, a non-sectarian +institution that maintains two stations on the Labrador coast and +one at St. Anthony in Newfoundland, each with a hospital attached. +The work of the mission is under the general supervision of Dr. +Wilfred T. Grenfell, who, in summer, patrols the coast from +Newfoundland to Cape Chidley in the little floating hospital, the +steamer Strathcona, and during the winter months, by dog team, +visits the people of these inhospitable shores. The main station +in Labrador is at Battle Harbour, and at this time Dr. Cluny +Macpherson was the resident physician. + +Dr. Simpson, a young English physician and lay missionary, was in +charge of the station at Indian Harbour. This station, being +maintained primarily for the benefit of the summer fishermen from +Newfoundland, is closed from October until July. Dr. Simpson had a +little steamer, the Julia Sheridan, which carried him on his visits +to his patients among the coast folk. We were told by the captain +of the Virginia Lake that the Julia Sheridan would arrive at Indian +Harbour on the afternoon of the day we reached there; that she +would immediately steam to Rigolet and Northwest River with the +mails, and that we undoubtedly could arrange for a passage on her. +This was the reason that Hubbard elected to get off at Indian +Harbour. + +The trained nurse, the cook, and the maid-of-all-work connected +with the Indian Harbour hospital ("sisters," they call them, +although they do not belong to any order) boarded the Virginia Lake +at Battle Harbour and went ashore with me in the ship's boat, when +I landed with the baggage. Hubbard and George went ashore in our +canoe. A line of Newfoundlanders and "livyeres" stood ready to +greet us upon our arrival. "Livyeres" is a contraction of live- +heres, and is applied to the people who live permanently on the +coast. The coast people who occasionally trade in a small way are +known as "planters." In Hamilton Inlet, west of Rigolet, all of +the trappers and fishermen are called planters. There the word +livyere is never heard, it having originated with with the +Newfoundland fishermen, who do not go far into the inlet. + +The "sisters" who landed with us had difficulty in opening their +hospital, as the locks had become so rusted and corroded that the +keys would not turn. We offered our assistance, and after removing +the boards that had been nailed over the windows to protect them +from the winter storms, we found it necessary to take out a pane of +glass in order that Hubbard might unlatch a window, crawl through +and take the lock off the door. The sisters then told us that Dr. +Simpson might not arrive with the Julia Sheridan until the +following day, and extended to us the hospitality of the station, +which we thankfully accepted, taking up our temporary abode in one +of the vacant wards of the hospital. + +Our first afternoon on Labrador soil we spent in assorting and +packing our outfit, while the Newfoundlanders and livyeres stood +around and admired our things, particularly the canoe, guns, and +sheath-knives. Their curiosity was insatiable; they inquired the +cost of every conceivable thing. + +The next afternoon (Wednesday) Dr. Simpson arrived on his steamer, +and, to our great disappointment, we learned that the Julia would +not start on the trip down the inlet until after the return of the +Virginia Lake from the north, which would probably be on Friday or +Saturday. The Labrador summer being woefully short, Hubbard felt +that every hour was precious, and he chafed under our enforced +detention. We were necessarily going into the interior wholly +unprepared for winter travel, and hence must complete our work and +make our way out of the wilderness before the rivers and lakes +froze and canoe travel became impossible. Hubbard felt the +responsibility he had assumed, and could imagine the difficulties +that awaited us should his plans miscarry. Accordingly, he began +to look around immediately among the fishermen and livyeres for +someone with a small boat willing to take us down the fifty miles +to Rigolet. Finally, after much persuasion and an offer of fifteen +dollars, he induced a young livyere, Steve Newell by name, to +undertake the task. + +Steve was a characteristic livyere, shiftless and ambitionless. He +lived a few miles down the inlet with his widowed mother and his +younger brothers and sisters. For a week he would work hard and +conscientiously to support the family, and then take a month's +rest. We had happened upon him in one of his resting periods, but +as soon as Hubbard had pinned him down to an agreement he put in an +immediate plea for money. + +"I'se huntin' grub, sir," he begged. "I has t' hunt grub all th' +time, sir. Could 'un spare a dollar t' buy grub, sir?" + +Hubbard gave him the dollar, and he forthwith proceeded to the +trader's hut to purchase flour and molasses, which, with fat salt +pork, are the great staples of the Labrador natives, although the +coast livyeres seldom can afford the latter dainty. While we were +preparing to start, Hubbard asked Steve what he generally did for a +living. + +"I hunts in winter an' fishes in summer, sir," was the reply. + +"What do you hunt? + +"Fur an' partridges, sir. I trades the fur for flour and molasses, +sir, an' us eats th' partridges." + +"What kind of fur do you find here?" + +"Foxes is about all, sir, an' them's scarce; only a chance one, +sir." + +"Do you catch enough fur to keep you in flour and molasses?" + +"Not always, sir. Sometimes us has only partridges t' eat, sir." + +We started at five o'clock in the evening in Steve's boat, the +Mayflower, a leaky little craft that kept one man pretty busy +bailing out the water. She carried one ragged sail, and Steve +sculled and steered with a rough oar about eighteen feet long. An +hour after we got under way a blanket of grey fog, thick and damp, +enveloped us; but so long are the Labrador summer days that there +still was light to guide us when at eleven o'clock Steve said: + +"Us better land yere, sir. I lives yere, an' 'tis a good spot t' +stop for th' night, sir." + +I wondered what sort of an establishment Steve maintained, and +drawing an inference from his personal appearance, I had misgivings +as to its cleanliness. However, anything seemed better than +chilling fog, and land we did--in a shallow cove where we bumped +over a partly submerged rock and manoeuvred with difficulty among +others, that raised their heads ominously above the water. As we +approached, we made out through the fog the dim outlines, close to +the shore, of a hut partially covered with sod. Our welcome was +tumultuous--a combination of the barking of dogs and the shrill +screams of women demanding to know who we were and what we wanted. +There were two women, tall, scrawny, brown, with hair flying at +random. The younger one had a baby in her arms. She was Steve's +married sister. The other woman was his mother. Each was loosely +clad in a dirty calico gown. Behind them clustered a group of +dirty, half-clad children. + +Steve ushered us into the hut, which proved to have two rooms, the +larger about eight by ten feet. The roof was so low that none of +us could stand erect except in the centre, where it came to a peak. +In the outer room were two rough wooden benches, and on a rickety +table a dirty kerosene lamp without a chimney shed gloom rather +than light. An old stove, the sides of which were bolstered up +with rocks, filled the hut with smoke to the point of suffocation +when a fire was started. The floor and everything else in the room +were innocent of soap and water. + +George made coffee, which he passed around with hardtack to +everybody. Then all but Steve and our party retired to the inner +room, one of the women standing a loose door against the aperture. +Steve curled up in an old quilt on one of the benches, while +Hubbard, George and I spread a tarpaulin on the floor and rolled in +our blankets upon it. + +We were up betimes the next morning after a fair night's sleep on +the floor. We again served hardtack and coffee to all, and at five +o'clock were once more on our way. A thick mantle of mist obscured +the shore, and Hubbard offered Steve a chart and compass. "Ain't +got no learnin', sir; I can't read, sir," said the young livyere. +So Hubbard directed the course in the mist while Steve steered. +Later in the day the wind freshened and blew the mist away, and at +length developed into a gale. Finally the sea rose so high that +Steve thought it well to seek the protection of a harbour, and we +landed in a sheltered cove on one of the numerous islands that +strew Hamilton Inlet, where we then were--Big Black Island, it is +called. + +George had arisen that morning with a lame back, and when we +reached the island he could scarcely move. The place was so barren +of timber we could not find a stick long enough to act as a centre +pole for our tent, and it was useless to try to pitch it. However, +the moss, being thick and soft, made a comfortable bed, and after +we had put a mustard plaster on George's back to relieve his +lumbago, we rolled him in two of our blankets under the lee of a +bush and let him sleep. Then, as evening came on, Hubbard and I +started for a stroll along the shore. The sun was still high in +the heavens, and the temperature mildly cool. + +A walk of a mile or so brought us to the cabin of one Joe Lloyd, a +livyere. Lloyd proved to be an intelligent old Englishman who had +gone to Labrador as a sailor lad on a fishing schooner to serve a +three-years' apprenticeship. He did not go home with his ship, and +year after year postponed his return, until at last he married an +Eskimo and bound himself fast to the cold rocks of Labrador, where +he will spend the remainder of his life, eking out a miserable +existence, a lonely exile from his native England. + +After he had greeted us, Lloyd asked: "Is all the world at peace, +sir?" He had heard of the Boer war, and was pleased when we told +him that it had ended in a victory for the British arms. His +hunger for news touched us deeply, and we told him all that we +could recall of recent affairs of public interest. I have said +that his hunger for news touched us. As a matter of fact, few +things have impressed me as being more pathetic than that old man's +life up there on that isolated and desolate island, where he spends +most of his time wistfully longing to hear something of the great +world, and painfully recalling the pleasant memories of his +childhood's home and friends, and the green fields and spring +blossoms he never will know again. And Lloyd's story is the story +of perhaps the majority of the settlers on The Labrador. + +The old man had a fresh-caught salmon, and we bought it from him. +We then sat for a few minutes in his cabin. This was a miserable +affair, not exceeding eight by ten feet, and, like Steve's home, so +low we could not stand erect in it. The floor was paved with +large, flat stones, and the only vent for the smoke from the +wretched fireplace was a hole in the roof. Midway between the fire +and the hole hung a trout drying. In this room Lloyd and his +Eskimo wife live out their life. During our visit the wife sat +there without uttering a word. Her silence was characteristic; +for, somewhat unlike our women, the women of Labrador talk but +little. + +When we had bidden Lloyd farewell, we carried the salmon we had +obtained from him back to camp, where Hubbard tried to plank it on +a bit of wreckage picked up on the shore. It fell into the fire, +and there was great excitement until, by our united efforts, we had +rescued it, and had seen part of it safely reposing in the frying +pan, while Steve set to work boiling the remainder in our kettle +with slices of bacon. As the gale continued to blow, it was +decided that we should remain in camp until early morning. Hubbard +directed Steve to pull the boat around to a place where it would be +near the water at low tide. He and I then threw down the tent, lay +on it, pulled a blanket over us and prepared for sleep. It was +about eleven o'clock, and darkness was just beginning to fall. Out +in the bay a whale was blowing, and in the distance big gulls were +screaming. It was our first night out in the open in Labrador, and +all was new and entrancing; and as slumber gradually enwrapped us, +it seemed to us that we had fallen upon pleasant times. + +At one o'clock (Friday morning) we awoke. By the light of the +brilliant moon we made coffee, called George and Steve and ate our +breakfast of cold salmon and hardtack. George's lumbago was very +bad, and he was unable to do any work. The rest of us portaged the +outfit two hundred yards to the boat, which, owing to Steve's +miscalculations as to the tide, we found high and dry on the rocks. +Working in the shallow water, with a cloud of mosquitoes around our +heads, it took us until 4.30 o'clock to launch her, by which time +daylight long since had returned. + +Once more afloat, we found that the wind had entirely died away, +and Steve's sculling pushed the boat along but slowly. Grampuses +raised their big backs everywhere, and seals, upon which they prey, +were numerous. The water was alive with schools of caplin. At +eleven o'clock we made Pompey Island, a mossy island of Laurentian +rock about thirty-five miles from Indian Harbour. Here we stopped +for luncheon, and after much looking around, succeeded in finding +enough sticks to build a little fire. I made flapjacks, and +Hubbard melted sugar for syrup. + +While we were eating, I discovered in the far distance the smoke of +a steamer. We supposed it to be the Julia Sheridan. Rushing our +things into the boat, we put off as quickly as possible to +intercept her. We fired three or four shots from our rifle, but +got only a salute in recognition. Then Hubbard and I scramble into +the canoe, which we had in tow, and began to paddle with might and +main to head her off. As we neared her, we fired again. At that +she came about--it was the Virginia Lake. They took us on board, +bag, baggage, and canoe, and Steve was dismissed. + +In an hour we were in sight of Rigolet, and I saw a Hudson's Bay +Company Post for the first time in my life. As our steamer +approached, a flag was run up in salute to the top of a tall staff, +and when it had been caught by the breeze, the Company's initials, +H. B. C., were revealed. The Company's agents say these letters +have another significance, namely, "Here Before Christ," for the +flag travels ahead of the missionaries. + +The reservation of Rigolet is situated upon a projection of land, +with a little bay on one side and the channel into which Hamilton +Inlet narrows at this point on the other. Long rows of whitewashed +buildings, some of frame and some of log, extend along the water +front, coming together at the point of the projection so as to form +two sides of an irregular triangle. A little back of the row on +the bay side, and upon slightly higher ground, stands the residence +of the agent, or factor as he is officially called, this building +being two stories high and otherwise the most pretentious of the +group. It is commonly called the "Big House," and near it is the +tall flagstaff. Between the rows of buildings and the shore is a +broad board walk, which leads down near the apex of the triangle to +a small wharf of logs. It was at this wharf that our little party +landed. + +Hubbard presented his letter of introduction from Commissioner +Chipman of the Hudson's Bay Company to Mr. James Fraser, the +factor, and we received a most cordial welcome, being made at home +at the Big House. We found the surroundings and people unique and +interesting. There were lumbermen, trappers, and fishermen--a +motley gathering of Newfoundlanders, Nova Scotians, Eskimos and +"breeds," the latter being a comprehensive name for persons whose +origin is a mixture in various combinations and proportions of +Eskimo, Indian, and European. All were friendly and talkative, and +hungry for news of the outside world. + +Lying around everywhere, or skulking about the reservation, were +big Eskimo dogs that looked for all the world like wolves in +subjection. We were warned not to attempt to play with them, as +they were extremely treacherous. Only a few days before a little +Eskimo boy who stumbled and fell was set upon by a pack and all but +killed before the brutes were driven off. The night we arrived at +Rigolet the pack killed one of their own number and ate him, only a +little piece of fur remaining in the morning to tell the tale. + +Within an hour after we reached the post, Dr. Simpson arrived on +the Julia Sheridan; but as he had neglected to bring the mail for +Northwest River Post that the Virginia Lake had left at Indian +Harbour, he had to return at once. Dr. Simpson not being permitted +by his principles to run his boat on Sunday, unless in a case of +great necessity, we were told not to expect the Julia Sheridan back +from Indian Harbour until Monday noon; and so we were compelled to +possess our souls in patience and enjoy the hospitality of Mr. +Fraser. I must confess that while I was anxious to get on, I was +at the same time not so greatly disappointed at our enforced delay; +it gave me an opportunity to see something of the novel life of the +post. + +While at Rigolet we of course tried to get all the information +possible about the country to which we were going. No Indians had +been to the post for months, and the white men and Eskimos knew +absolutely nothing about it. At length Hubbard was referred to +"Skipper" Tom Blake, a breed, who had trapped at the upper or +western end of Grand Lake. From Blake he learned that Grand Lake +was forty miles long, and that canoe travel on it was good to its +upper end, where the Nascaupee River flowed into it. Blake +believed we could paddle up the Nascaupee some eighteen or twenty +miles, where we should find the Red River, a wide, shallow, rapid +stream that flowed into the Nascaupee from the south. Above this +point he had no personal knowledge of the country, and advised us +to see his son Donald, whom he expected to arrive that day from his +trapping grounds on Seal Lake. Donald, he said, had been farther +inland and knew more about the country than anyone else on the +coast. + +Donald did arrive a little later, and upon questioning him Hubbard +learned that Seal Lake, which, he said, was an expansion of the +Nascaupee River, had been the limit of his travels inland. Donald +reiterated what his father had told us of Grand Lake and the lower +waters of the Nascaupee, adding that for many miles above the point +where the Nascaupee was joined by the Red we should find canoe +travel impossible, as the Nascaupee "tumbled right down off the +mountains." Up the Nascaupee as far as the Red River he had sailed +his boat. He had heard from the Indians that the Nascaupee came +from Lake Michikamau, and he believed it to be a fact. This +convinced us that the Nascaupee was the river A. P. Low, of the +Geological Survey, had mapped as the Northwest. The Red River +Donald had crossed in winter some twenty miles above its mouth, and +while it was wide, it was so shallow and swift that he was sure it +would not admit of canoeing. He could not tell its source, and was +sure the Indians had never travelled on it. In answer to Hubbard's +inquiries as to the probability of our getting fish and game, +Donald said there were bears along the Nascaupee, but few other +animals. He had never fished the waters above Grand Lake, but +believed plenty of fish were there. On Seal Lake there was a +"chance" seal, and he had taken an occasional shot at them, but +they were very wild and he had never been able to kill any. + +Strange as it may seem, none of the men with whom we talked +mentioned that more than one river flowed into Grand Lake, although +they unquestionably knew that such was the case. Their silence +about this important particular was probably due to the fact, that +while the Labrador people are friendly to strangers, they are +somewhat shy and rarely volunteer information, contenting +themselves, for the most part, with simple answers to direct +questions. Furthermore, they are seldom able to adopt a point of +view different from their own, and thus are unable to realise the +amount of guidance a stranger in their country needs. In fact I +discovered later that Skipper Blake and his son, who have spent all +their lives in the vicinity of Hamilton Inlet, never dreamed anyone +could miss the mouth of the Nascaupee River, as they themselves +knew so well how to find it. + +We were sitting in the office of the post on Sunday, comfortably +away from the fog that lay thick outside, when we were startled by +a steamship whistle. Out we all ran, and there, in the act of +dropping her anchor, was the Pelican, the company's ship from +England. In the heavy fog she had stolen in and whistled before +the flag was raised, which feat Captain Grey, who commands the +Pelican, regarded as a great joke on the post. Once a year the +Pelican arrives from England, and the day of her appearance is the +Big Day for all the Labrador posts, as she brings the year's +supplies together with boxes and letters from home for the agents +and the clerks. From Rigolet she goes to Ungava, then returns to +Rigolet for the furs there and once more steams for England. + +We found Captain Grey to be a jolly, cranky old seadog of the old +school. He has been with the Hudson's Bay Company for thirty +years, and has sailed the northern seas for fifty. He shook his +head pessimistically when he heard about our expedition. "You'll +never get back," he said. "But if you happen to be at Ungava when +I get there, I'll bring you back." "Sandy" Calder, the owner of +lumber mills on Sandwich Bay and the Grand River, who came from +Cartwright Post on Sandwich Bay with Captain Grey on the Pelican, +also predicted the failure of our enterprise. But Hubbard said to +me that he had heard such prophecies before; that they made the +work seem all the bigger, and that he could do it and would. + +At noon on Monday Dr. Simpson came with the Julia Sheridan, and we +said good-bye to Rigolet. The voyage down the inlet to Northwest +River Post was without incident, except that the good doctor was +much concerned as to the outcome of our venture, saying: "Don't +leave your bones up there to whiten, boys, if you can possibly help +it." We reached Northwest River at two o'clock on Tuesday +afternoon, and found the post to be much the same as Rigolet, +except that its whitewashed buildings were all strung out in one +long row. The welcome we received from Mr. Thomas Mackenzie, the +agent there in charge, was most gratifying in its heartiness. Mr. +Mackenzie is a bachelor, tall, lean, high-spirited, and the soul +hospitality. Hubbard promptly dubbed him a "bully fellow." +Probably this was partly due to the fact that he was the first man +in Labrador to give us any encouragement. We had not been there an +hour when he became infected with Hubbard's enthusiasm and said he +would pack up that night and be ready to start with us in the +morning, if he only were free to do so. + +To our great disappointment and chagrin, we found that Mackenzie +had no fish nets to sell. We had been unable to obtain any at +Rigolet, and now we were told that none was to be had anywhere in +that part of Labrador. Hubbard realised fully the importance of a +gill net as a part of our equipment and had originally intended to +purchase one before leaving New York; but he was advised by Mr. A. +P. Low of the Canadian Geological Survey that it would be better to +defer its purchase until we reached Rigolet Post or Northwest +River, where he said we could get a net such as would be best +adapted to the country. Hubbard had no reason to doubt the +accuracy of this information, as Mr. Low had previously spent +several months at these posts when engaged in the work of mapping +out the peninsula. Conditions, however, had changed, unfortunately +for us, since Mr. Low's visit to Labrador. Seeing the quandary we +were in, Mackenzie got out an old three-inch gill net that had been +lying in a corner of one of his buildings. He said he was afraid +it was worn out, but if we could make any use of it, we might take +it. We, too, had our doubts as to its utility; but, as it was the +best obtainable, Hubbard accepted it thankfully and Mackenzie had +two of his men unravel it and patch it up. + +During the afternoon we got our outfit in shape, ready for the +start in the morning. Following is a summary of the outfit taken +from an inventory made at Indian Harbour: Our canoe was 18 feet +long, canvas covered, and weighed about 80 pounds. The tent was of +the type known as miner's, 6 1/2 x 7 feet, made of balloon silk and +waterproofed. We had three pairs of blankets and one single +blanket; two tarpaulins; five duck waterproof bags; one dozen small +waterproof bags of balloon silk for note books; two .45-70 +Winchester rifles; two 10-inch barrel .22-calibre pistols for +shooting grouse and other small game; 200 rounds of .45-70 and +1,000 rounds of .22-calibre cartridges; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 pocket +folding kodak with Turner-Reich Verastigmat lens; thirty rolls of +films of one dozen exposures each, in tin cans, waterproofed with +electricians' tape; a sextant and artificial horizon; two compasses +and our cooking utensils and clothing. + +At Indian Harbour we had four 45-pound sacks of flour, but Hubbard +gave one sack to the pilot of the Julia Sheridan, and out of +another sack he had given the cook on the Julia sufficient flour +for one baking of bread, and we had also used some of this bag on +our way from Indian Harbour to Rigolet. This left two 45-pound +bags and about thirty pounds in the third bag, or 120 pounds in +all. There were, perhaps, 25 pounds of bacon, 13 pounds lard, 20 +pounds flavoured pea meal, 9 pounds plain pea flour in tins, 10 +pounds tea, 5 pounds coffee, 8 pounds hardtack, 10 pounds milk +powder, 10 pounds rice, 8 pounds dried apples, 7 pounds salt, 7 or +8 pounds tobacco and 30 pounds sugar. + +This outfit, it will be remembered, was designed for three men. +Hubbard tried to hire some of the native to accompany us a few +miles into the interior and carry additional provisions that we +might cache, but failed; they were all "too busy." + +Mackenzie treated us royally during the evening we spent at his +post, and we enjoyed his hospitality to the utmost, knowing that it +was to be our last night under shelter for weeks to come. Now we +were on the very edge of the wilderness. To-morrow we should enter +the unknown. + + + + +IV. THE PLUNGE INTO THE WILD + +It was nine o'clock on Wednesday morning, July 15, that we made the +start. Our canoe, laden deep with our outfit, was drawn up with +its prow resting snugly on the sandy bottom of the little strait +that is locally known as the Northwest River. Mackenzie and a +group of swarthy natives gathered on the shore to see us off. All +but the high-spirited agent were grave and sceptical, and shook +their heads at our persistency in going into a country we had been +so frequently warned against. + +The atmosphere was crisp, pure, and exhilarating. The fir trees and +shrubs gave out a delicious perfume, and their waving tops seemed +to beckon us on. The sky was deep blue, with here and there a +feathery cloud gliding lazily over its surface. The bright +sunlight made our hearts bound and filled our bodies with vigour, +and as we stood there on the edge of the unknown and silent world +we had come so far to see, our hopes were high, and one and all we +were eager for the battle with the wild. + +"I wish I were going with you; good-bye and Godspeed!" shouted +Mackenzie, as we pushed the canoe into deep water and dipped our +paddles into the current. In a moment he and the grave men that +stood with him were lost to view. Up through the strait into the +Little Lake we paddled, thence to the rapid where the waters of +Grand Lake pour out. With one end of a tracking line, Hubbard +sprang into the shallow water near the shore below the swift- +running stream, and with the other end fastened to the bow of the +canoe, pulled it through the rapid. A "planter's" family in a +cabin near by watched us wonderingly. + +Then we were in Grand Lake. Hubbard remarked that it looked like +Lake George, save that the hills were lower. For a few miles above +its outlet the shores on both sides of the lake are low. Then on +the south come bluffs that rise, stern and grand in their nudity, +almost perpendicularly from the deep, clear water, while on the +north come lower hills, the most part wooded, that retreat more +gently from the rocky shore. Heading for the extreme upper of the +lake, where Low's map and the natives had led us to expect we +should find the Northwest or Nascaupee River, we paddled along the +north shore to a point where we stopped among the rocks for a +luncheon of flapjacks and syrup. + +We were away without waste of time, paddling diagonally across the +lake to the south shore. The fleecy clouds had now thickened, and a +few drops of rain had fallen. In our course across the lake we +passed Cape Corbeau (Raven), but were so far out that the mouth of +the river of that name, which is just east of it, escaped our +attention. Cape Corbeau, it had been named by a French missionary, +because the ravens build their nests on its rocky top, and, perched +high up, croak at you warningly from afar. Always the ravens are +there. Involuntarily, as one croaked above our heads, "Nevermore" +echoed through my mind. "And my soul from out that shadow shall be +lifted nevermore." There were dark shadows ahead of us among the +rocks and the forests, and--But in a moment the thought was drowned +and forgotten in the beauties of the scenery. Beauties?--yes; for +bleak and desolate Labrador has a beauty and a charm all its own. + +Two hours after passing Cape Corbeau the rain began to pour, and at +7.30 o'clock, when we made camp on the south shore, we were well +soaked. We resumed our journey at 5.30 in the morning. A stiff +breeze was blowing, but by keeping in the lee of the shore we made +good progress. At ten o'clock, when we found it necessary to cross +to the north shore so as to shorten the distance, there was a +rising sea, and we had to lighten the canoe and ferry the cargo +over in two loads. + +It was soon after one o'clock that we reached the upper end of the +lake, where we found a stream about 125 yards wide that flowed with +a swift current from out a little lake. Into this lake after +luncheon we paddled, and when we reached its upper end, there was +the mouth of a river, which we immediately hailed as the Nascaupee, +the stream that was to lead us up to Lake Michikamau. Its mouth +was wide, and it seemed to answer so well all the descriptions we +had heard of the river for which we were searching that the +possibility of our being mistaken never once entered our heads; in +fact, we remained under the impression that it was the Nascaupee +until the last. + +But we were mistaken. We had passed the Nascaupee five miles +below, where it empties, together with the Crooked River, into a +deep bay extending northward from Grand Lake. At its mouth the +Nascaupee is divided by an island into two streams, and this island +is so thickly covered with trees, and the streams on either side of +it are so narrow, that when we crossed along in front of the bay no +break in the line of woods at the mouth of the river was +perceptible. Perhaps it will be said we should have explored the +bay. I know now myself that should have been done, but in justice +to Hubbard it must be remembered that none of us then had any +reason to suppose we should find a river at any place other than +the extreme upper end of the lake. Time and time again Hubbard had +asked the few natives who had been there if the Nascaupee entered +Grand Lake at its extreme upper end, and the answer invariably had +been: "Yes, sir; he do." Furthermore, it will have to be taken +into consideration how hard pressed Hubbard was by the fear that +the short summer would end before he had completed his work, and by +the consequent necessity of pushing on with all possible speed. + +The river up which we started to ascend with light hearts was the +Susan, a river which was to introduce us promptly to heart-breaking +hardships, a river which is to me associated with the most tragic +memories. + +On the southerly side of the little lake Porcupine Hill raises its +spruce-covered head a thousand feet above the water. Proceeding up +the Susan, we found that the river valley was enclosed by low +ridges covered with spruce and a few scattering white birch and +aspen trees. For the most part the banks of the river were steep +and high; where they were low the river formed little pond +expansions. For a mile above its mouth we had good canoeing. Up +to this point the river was not more than thirty yards wide, and +was deep, with little current. Then it began gradually to widen +and become shallow and swift, with a boulder-strewn bottom. Soon +we had to jump into the water, and with Hubbard at the end of the +tracking line, and George and I at either end of the canoe, haul, +lift, and push the heavily laden boat up the river, while we +floundered over the boulders. Sometimes we would be able to get +into the canoe and pole, but never for long. Around the worst +places we portaged the whole outfit, canoe and all. It was +desperately hard work, and when night came on and we went into +camp, we were only two miles above the little lake. + +Hard as it was, we should not have minded our work in the rapids so +much had it not been for the flies. For the first time we now +realised the full form of what had been told us about the fly pest +of Labrador. We had considered them annoying at Rigolet and +Northwest River, but as soon as we began to buck the rapids they +came upon us in clouds. They got into our nostrils, into our ears, +into our mouths, into our eyes even, and our faces and hands were +streaked with blood from their bites. They were villainous, +hellish. Hubbard frequently remarked that the mosquitoes seemed +friendly in contrast--and the mosquitoes were by no means +considerate of our feelings and comfort either. We had purchased +some cheesecloth at Rigolet for face nets, but the trial we had +given it during the afternoon had proved that it was too closely +woven for us to see through it and do our work, and it was useful +only as some measure of protection for our ears and necks. On our +faces we also tried some "fly dope" that we had purchased in New +York, but it kept the pests away for a few minutes only. + +The ordinary Labrador fly is smaller than a pinhead. You do not +feel it until after it has had its bite, and then the sensation is +like that of a fiery itch. In addition to this kind, we had to +withstand the attacks of flies called by the natives "bulldogs." +These beasts are about the size of the top joint of one's thumb. +They are well named. When they bite, you feel it immediately +beyond a doubt. We used to say they bit out pieces of our flesh +entire and flew up into the trees to eat them, and we used +frequently to beg George to try his luck at shooting the brutes. +However, it must be said to the credit of both kinds of flies that +they have one good habit--they "knock off" work at the approach of +the cool of evening, thus giving you a chance to bathe as well as +sleep. + +The rain was still pouring when we pitched our tent that first +night, but we had a good supper and were reasonably cheerful. +There were flapjacks dripping with the syrup of melted sugar, and +bacon, and hot bread, and coffee. + +"With this sort of work before us," said Hubbard, we must keep well +fed." + +"The river," said I, "certainly is the limit. If the Indians have +to travel on it much, I feel sorry for them." + +"Well," said Hubbard, "we've surely got our work cut out. At this +rate we're going to make pretty slow progress." + +"Blake told us," I ventured, "we could paddle up the river eighteen +or twenty miles, and that he had sailed his boat up that far. I'd +be willing to bet he never sailed it up this stream." + +"Oh," replied Hubbard, "he was mistaken in the distance. This must +be the place where he said the river tumbled off the mountain. +What do you say, boys," he added, "to throwing away some of the +outfit? We'll never make any progress if we attempt to carry it +all." + +"Let's stick to it a little longer," suggested George. + +However, we decided to abandon some clothing and a pail containing +about four pounds of lard; and as George, particularly, was opposed +to leaving behind us any provisions, it was decided to eat of them +lavishly and pay no attention to the hunt for the present. + +All night it continued to rain, and we broke camp and started +forward on Friday morning, July 17, in a drenching downpour. +George thought this was rather hard. While Hubbard was out of +hearing, he told me that the Indians never travelled in the rain, +and that he had never been expected to do so before. The fact was +that George had never before been on an expedition where there was +so much necessity for haste. + +We found the river on the second day to be even worse than our +worst fears had pictured it, and it kept growing worse as we +ascended. The water was so swift and shoal that we could take only +a part of the outfit in the canoe, which meant that we had to +return at intervals for the rest and track all the way, Hubbard +pulling on the line while George and I waded and pushed. Sometimes +we were scarcely knee deep in the water, and at other times we +would sink up to our armpits. Frequently we were swept off our +feet. Once or twice we forced the canoe and outfit through the +thick willows and alders that lined the river, and dragged them up +the steep bank and attempted to portage; but the country here had +been burned and fallen trees were piled high in every direction, so +that we were compelled to return to the river and resume our +efforts in the raging torrent. + +The work was awful, it was heartrending; and though we exerted +ourselves to the utmost from six o'clock in the morning until eight +at night, we advanced our camp only two miles that day. And when +we gathered around the fire at night, how we did "cuss" that river! +None of us, however, was discouraged, nor flinched at the prospect. +Our oil-tanned, cowhide moccasins and woollen trousers were +beginning to show the result of the attacks of bush, rock, and +water, but our blue flannel shirts and soft felt hats were still +quite respectable. Our coats we had left behind us as an +unnecessary encumbrance. + +While George was cooking breakfast on Saturday morning (July 18), a +red squirrel barked at us from a near-by tree. Drawing his pistol +from its holster, Hubbard said: + +"Wallace, let's see who shall have the honour of bringing to George +the first game of the trip." + +I acquiesced, and walking around the tree, caught the first glimpse +of the squirrel. At it I carefully aimed my pistol, and down it +came. It made a tiny morsel for three men, but as the "first game +of the trip," we hugely enjoyed it when George served it in a pot +of soup. + +At six o'clock we broke camp and laboured on, facing the same +desperate conditions that we had met the day before. It is true +that the rain had ceased to fall, but the good weather brought out +the flies in increasing swarms. We fairly breathed flies, and we +dreaded them far more than the hard work. Since they attacked us +first, we had left our faces unwashed so as to retain the "dope," +and they were streaming with a mixture of grease, dirt, blood, and +perspiration. + +The return of the sun also sent the mercury soaring. At noon that +Saturday it registered 90 degrees in the shade. Always at sunset, +however, the temperature dropped with startling suddenness, and a +variation of from fifty to sixty degrees between the maximum and +minimum record for one day was not an unusual thing as long as +summer lasted. + +Floundering up the boulder-strewn river that Saturday, we found the +heat so oppressive that it seemed to us we had got into the torrid +zone instead of up to within a few hundred miles of the Arctic +Circle. We resolved, however, that the obstacles interposed +against our advance by the unfeeling wild should make us fight only +the harder, George and I receiving much inspiration from Hubbard, +to whom difficulties were a blessing and whose spirit remained +indomitable up to the very end. And when we sat down to our +evening meal by a cosey fire, we had the satisfaction of knowing +that we had doubled our previous day's record and were four miles +further up the river. + +On our first Sunday out we remained in camp to rest. We were all +pretty tired, and enjoyed the long sleep in the morning. The day +was fine, but very warm. In the morning Hubbard caught about +twenty small trout, and after luncheon he and George went up the +river on a scouting trip. When they returned in the evening, they +reported important discoveries. First they had come upon a small, +rocky stream flowing into our river from the south, which stream +Hubbard felt sure must be the Red River the Blakes had told us +about, and a mile above that a two-mile stretch of good water. But +the discovery that pleased Hubbard the most was some old cuttings +that apparently had been made by Indians; he was of the opinion, as +were all of us, that they indicated we really were on the +Mountaineer Indian trail to Michikamau, and that we undoubtedly +soon should come upon lakes and other good water that would carry +us through; and the discoveries of the scouting trip buoyed up our +spirits wonderfully. + +On Monday morning (July 20) George took an axe and cut us a portage +route from our camp through a swamp a mile and a half to the foot +of a hill. This route we covered three times. It was impossible +for one man alone to carry the canoe through the swamp, and in +addition to it and the firearms we had at this period to transport +about five hundred pounds of baggage made up into packs of about +seventy-five pounds each. At first Hubbard and I found seventy- +five pounds a pretty good load to carry, and neither of us could +get even that on his back without help from George; but later on we +learned to back and carry with comparative ease a hundred pounds or +more. In packing we never used either shoulder or chest straps, +relying solely upon the head strap, which passes across the +forehead. + +When, after much groaning and sweating, we finally arrived with all +of our outfit at the foot of the hill, it took the combined efforts +of all three of us to get the canoe to the top, whence we followed +an old caribou trail for a mile along the summit, camping just +above the smooth water that Hubbard and George had seen on Sunday. +We were all completely exhausted when we reached camp. While +staggering along with the canoe a hundred yards from the tent, I +became so weak that I suddenly sank to the ground and the others +had to come to my rescue and bring in the canoe. But the night was +cool and starry, and we sat long by our fire and talked and drank +pea soup and tea, and when it came time for us to turn in to our +soft bed of fragrant spruce boughs, our troubles had been quite +forgotten. + +The good water that Hubbard and George thought was two miles long +shortened down, when we actually came to it the next morning, to +less than half a mile, affording us only a meagre opportunity to +make use of the canoe. For a little distance we again bucked the +rapids, and then left the river for a rough portage of a mile and a +half over the hills on the shore. Again at night we were +exhausted, but again we had a fine camp on a point overlooking the +river. The crisp air came laden with the perfume of spruce and +balsam. On the surrounding hills the fir trees were darkly +silhouetted against the sky, radiant with its myriads of stars. +The roar of the river could be heard dying away into a mere murmur +among the hills below. + +"Boys," said Hubbard, after we had made a good supper of a mess of +trout I had caught at midday, "this pays for all the hard work." + +Undoubtedly Hubbard was in fine fettle that evening, and as we lay +before the fire with that delicious feeling of languor which comes +from conscientious toil, he entertained George and me with +quotations from his favourite author, Kipling, while we puffed +comfortably upon our pipes. One verse he dwelt upon, as it seemed +particularly appropriate to our position. It was: + + When first under fire, if you're wishful to duck, + Don't look or take heed of the man that is struck; + Be thankful you're living and trust to your luck, + And march to your front like a soldier." + + + + +V. STILL IN THE AWFUL VALLEY + +The next day (Wednesday, July 22) was by far the most disheartening +of our journey up the valley of the Susan. We portaged all day +through gullies and swamps and over rough ridges, covering in all +about two miles and a half. All of us were overcome by the hard +work in the burning sun and the poisonous bites of the flies. I +was the most susceptible to the attacks of the flies; for ten days +I was fairly sick from the poison they instilled. The faces, +bands, and wrists of all of us were badly swollen and very sore. +My face was so swollen I could scarcely see. + +In the morning when we started forward the temperature was down to +thirty-three degrees, but at noon it had risen to ninety-two. +Hubbard was attacked with diarrhoea, and I with vomiting. We were +all too exhausted to eat when we stopped for luncheon, and lay on +the moss for an hour's rest, with the tent drawn over us to protect +us from the flies. + +On a low, barren knoll we cached that day eighty rounds of .45-70 +cartridges and 300 rounds of .22's, George marking the spot with a +circle of stakes. That left us 120 rounds of .45-70's and 500 +rounds of .22's. It had become strictly necessary to lighten our +packs, and we had begun to drop odds and ends every day. + +In the afternoon Hubbard shot with his pistol a spruce partridge +(grouse); it was the first seen by us on the trip. Together with a +yellowlegs George had shot, it seasoned a pot of pea soup. We +camped that night on a bluff, barren point, and Hubbard named it +"Partridge Point" in bonour of our first bird. + +On Thursday (July 23) Hubbard lay in the tent all day sick. All be +was able to eat was some hardtack dipped in tea. At his request +George and I scouted for trails. Each of us carried a rifle and +wore at his belt a pistol and a cup in addition to the sheath knife +we never were without. In our pockets we placed a half-pound +package of pea meal. George started westward up the river, and I +put for a high, barren bill two miles to the north. As I climbed +the hill I heard gulls on the other side, which told me water lay +in that direction, and when I reached the top, there at my feet, +like a silver setting in the dark green forest, lay a beautiful +little shoe-shaped lake. For miles and miles beyond the ridge I +was on, the country was flat and covered with a thick spruce +growth. + +To the northeast of the lake at my feet I could see the glimmer of +other water among the trees, and I decided to go on and +investigate. In doing so, I managed to get myself lost. +Descending the hill to the lake, I made my way through the thick +spruce growth in the swamp along the shore. A splash in the water +startled me, and soon I found the fresh tracks of a caribou. As he +had winded me, I knew it was useless to try to follow him. +Pressing my way on to the northeast, I came upon another small lake +and several small creeks. At midday I built a fire and made a cup +of pea meal porridge. While waiting for my meal to cook, I read a +letter that a friend had given me in New York, "to be opened after +one week's canoeing in Labrador." It was like a letter just +received from home. + +In the afternoon the sun became obscured by gathering clouds, and +in the thick underbrush through which my course led me I could see +scarcely twenty yards ahead. I attempted to get my direction with +the compass, but the needle would not respond. Trusting, however, +to my ability to find my course without it, I made my way on past +two more lakes. A grouse fluttered up before me, and I brought it +down with a pistol shot. After tying it to my belt, I decided it +was time to turn back home, as we called our camp, and struck off +by what I hoped would be a short cut through the swamp. Then it +was that I lost my bearings, and at dusk, when I hoped to reach the +first lake I had seen in the morning, I found myself on the shore +of a lake I had never seen before. + +Too weary to cook the grouse, or even build a fire and make a cup +of porridge, I threw myself on a flat rock, pillowed my head on the +trunk of a fallen spruce tree, drew a handkerchief over my face to +keep away the clouds of mosquitoes, and slept soundly. At dawn I +arose, built a fire, repaired my compass, and ate a cup of +porridge. I was not frightened, because with my compass again in +working order I knew I should have no difficulty in finding the +river, which must be somewhere to the south and which must lead me +back to camp. So to the southward I took my course, pushing my way +through thick brush and over marshes where the ground under my feet +went up and down like the waves of the sea. + +Towards noon I reached a barren hill, and from its summit saw the +river just beyond and the site of one of our old camping places +that I knew was eighteen miles below our last camp. Down to the +shore of the river I hurried, and built a fire for luncheon. The +partridge at my belt had been torn into shreds by the bushes, and +again a cup of porridge had to serve me for a meal. It was dark +when I reached camp, to find Hubbard greatly worried and George +away looking for me. + +There had been some good-natured arguments between Hubbard and me +as to the merits of our respective compasses, and as he now +appeared to have the better of it, he took advantage of the +occasion to chaff me unmercifully. Then when George returned they +both had fun with me for getting lost. + +"That's all right," I said, "your turn, Hubbard, will come later. +You haven't been lost yet, because you haven't been out of sight of +camp alone. Anyway, I just stayed out for a quiet evening by +myself." + +My absence on Friday did not delay our progress any; for Hubbard +was still unable to travel. On Saturday (July 25) he had not yet +fully recovered, but he decided to push forward. A drizzling rain +was falling as we started. Each of us carried a load some four +miles up the valley and returned; and then Hubbard, with a second +load, went ahead to make camp, while George and I, with the +remainder of the baggage, endeavoured to drag the canoe upstream. +Darkness came on when we were two miles below camp. While fording +the river, I was carried off my feet by the current and nearly +swept over the fall with a pack around my neck. + +Then George and I left the canoe on the bank for the night, and +each with his pack proceeded to push his way through the thick +willows and alders and over the rocks. It was so dark we could not +see each other. Falling down constantly and struggling to our feet +again, we stumbled on through the pitchy blackness and down-pouring +rain, until suddenly we discerned the glowing light of our campfire +and came upon Hubbard frying bacon. George and I were too tired to +eat; we were glad to lie down in our wet clothes on the bed of +spruce boughs that was ready for us and forget our troubles in +sleep. + +We rested on Sunday--and ate. A partridge I had shot the day +before was served stewed with rice and bacon for dinner, while for +supper we had twenty-two trout that Hubbard caught in the morning, +served with apple sauce and hot bread. This high living fully +recompensed us for our hard fight against nature and the elements, +and once more full of hope we lay down to sleep. + +In the morning (Monday, July 27) Hubbard arose with a feeling of +depression, but fair progress during the day brightened him up. A +typical fall wind blew all day, and we were very wet and very cold +when we went into camp at night. But with the coming of evening +the clouds were driven away before the wind, affording us an +occasional glimpse of the new moon hanging low in the heavens; and +this, together with the sound of the river and the roaring +campfire, soon cheered us up. No matter how weary and discouraged +we were during the day, our evening fire invariably brought to us a +feeling of indescribable happiness, a sweet forgetfulness of +everything but the moment's comfort. + +Our fire that Monday night was no exception to the general rule, +but after supper, while we were luxuriantly reclining before it on +a couch of boughs, Hubbard gave expression to a strange feeling +that had been growing on him and me in the last few days. It was +almost as if the solitude were getting on our nerves. Hubbard was +munching a piece of black chocolate, which he dipped at intervals +in a bit of sugar held in the palm of his left hand, when he said: + +"It's queer, but I have a feeling that is getting stronger from day +to day, that we are the only people left in the world. Have you +fellows experienced any such feeling?" + +"Yes," said I; "I have. I have been feeling that we must forever +be alone, going on, and on, and on, from portage to portage, +through this desolate wilderness." + +"That's it exactly," said Hubbard. "You sort of feel, that as you +are now, so you always have been and always will be; and your past +life is like a dream, and your friends like dream-folk. What a +strange sensation it is! Have you felt that way, George?" + +George took the pipe from his mouth, blew out a cloud of tobacco +smoke to join the smoke of the fire, and spat meditatively over his +shoulder. + +"Don't know as I have," he grunted. "I know there's mighty good +huntin' down the bay; and I've been thinkin' of Rupert's House [the +Hudson's Bay Company Post on James Bay where he was born], and what +the fellus I know there are doin' these days. I can't say they +seem like dream-folks to me; they're real enough, all right." + +Hubbard and I laughed. Solitude was an old story to our friend, +the English-Indian, and our "feelings" must have seemed to him +highly artificial, if not affected. + +Our progress on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 28 and 29) was the old +story of hard tracking in the river and difficult portaging. The +weather was cloudy and a chill wind blew. On Tuesday we advanced +our camp a little more than three miles, and on Wednesday a little +more than four. This continued slow work gave Hubbard serious +concern, and the condition of our larder and wardrobe was not +reassuring. Our bacon and sugar were going fast. Fish had become +an absolute necessity, and our catches had been alarmingly small. +There was also a lamentable lack of game. Far below we had heard +the chatter of the last red squirrel, and seen the last bear signs +and the last tree barked by porcupines. There were caribou trails +a-plenty, but seldom a fresh track. A solitary rabbit had crossed +our trail since we entered the valley, and there were no more +rabbit runs visible. We could only hope that as we neared the +"height of land," we should find more game--find plenty of caribou, +at least, on the moss-covered barrens. We had also noted a change +in the timber growth; neither birch nor aspen had we seen for a +week. + +Our moccasins were breaking through the bottoms, and this was a +serious matter; for while George had an extra pair, Hubbard and I +had only those on our feet. Hubbard's feet were very sore. Two of +his toe nails came off on Wednesday night, and a wide crack, which +must have made walking very painful, appeared in one of his heels. +The nearest thing we had to adhesive plaster was electrician's +tape, and with this he bandaged his heel, and tied it and his toes +up with pieces of cotton rags we had brought for cleaning rifles. + +It was on Thursday, July 30, that we reached the point where +another good-sized stream comes into the Susan, or where the river +may be said to divide into two branches. We found that the +southerly branch came over a low fall from the west, while the +other, or northerly branch, flowed down from the northwest. The +southerly branch was fully as large as the northerly--narrower but +deeper--and not nearly so swift and rocky. + +We were very uncertain as to which branch to follow, and Hubbard +sent George on a scouting trip up the southerly stream, which we +shall call Goose Creek, while he himself climbed a knoll to get a +look at the country. A half mile or so up Goose Creek George found +a blaze crossing the stream from north to south, which he +pronounced a winter blaze made by trappers, as the cuttings were +high up on the trees and freshly made. Half a mile above the blaze +George came upon the rotten poles of an old Indian wigwam, and this +discovery made Hubbard happy; he accepted it as evidence that Goose +Creek was the river mapped as the "Northwest" and the Indian route +to Michikamau. Accordingly it was decided to follow the southerly +branch, and to leave the main stream at this point. + +I was glad to leave the valley of the Susan. Our whole course up +the valley had been torturous and disheartening. We had been out +fifteen days from Northwest River Post and had covered only eighty +miles. Hubbard had been ill, and I had been ill. Always, as we +pressed onward, I dreaded the prospect of retracing our steps +through the Susan Valley. I hated the valley from end to end. I +have more reason to hate it now. To me it is the Valley of the +Shadow of Death. + + + + +VI. SEARCHING FOR A TRAIL + +When we portaged into Goose Creek on Friday, July 31st, Hubbard had +quite recovered from his illness, I, too, was well again, and our +appetites had returned. It is true that my legs and feet were much +swollen from the continuous work in the cold river, but the +swelling caused me no inconvenience. All of us, in fact, were in +better shape for the fight against the wild than at any time since +the start. + +For three or four miles up Goose Creek the rapids were almost +continuous, and we had to portage for practically the whole of the +distance. On August 1st and 2d the weather was cold, with a raw +wind and a continuous downpour of rain. At night the rain kept up +a steady drop, drop, drop through our tent. On the 2d, owing to +the inclemency of the weather, we did not travel; but the morning +of the 3d brought brilliant sunshine and with the perfume of the +forest in our nostrils we pushed on, soon reaching a flatter and a +marshy country, where the creek deepened and narrowed with a +sluggish current. Here the paddling was good, and for a little way +we made rapid progress. + +In this marshy stretch by the creek's bank we saw a beaver house, +and George stepped out of the canoe to examine it. + +"They're livin' here," he remarked. "If we're not too far away +when we camp to-night, I'm comin' down with a rifle and watch for +'em. They come out to play in the water in the evenin' and it's +not hard to get 'em." + +"What's the use of killing them?" I asked. What could you do with +a beaver if you got him?" + +"I'd cook it, and we'd have a good snack of beaver meat," said +George. "They're the finest kind of eatin', and I'd go a good way +for a piece of beaver tail; it's nice and greasy, and better than +anything you ever ate." + +As we paddled on, George continued to extol the virtues of beaver +meat, expatiating on many a "good snack" of it that he had +consumed. However, he did not return to the beaver house, for more +important things that evening claimed our attention. + +It was on this day that we reached a point where our branch creek +itself separated into two branches. Upon scouting them, we +discovered that each of these branches had for its origin a lake, +the two bodies of water from which they flowed being close together +some three miles to the westward. Apparently they were small +lakes, but we hoped to find that they belonged to a chain that +would carry us into the country, and their discovery encouraged us +to push on. + +This hope was strengthened by Indian wigwam poles that we found in +the vicinity. The poles, it is true, were old, indicating that the +Indians had not been there for several years; but as it had been a +long time since they had ceased to visit regularly Northwest River +Post, we thought we had reason to believe that the poles marked +what had been a permanent trail rather than the course of a hunting +expedition. Hubbard was particularly observant of these old Indian +signs. He was anxious to find them, and delighted when he did find +them. "Here are the signs," he would say, "we are on the right +trail." But we were not on the right trail. The right trail--the +Nascaupee route--was miles to the northward. We eventually did +stumble upon a trail to Michikamau, but it was another one--a very +old one--and we found it only to lose it again. + +While we were following up Goose Creek the condition of our +commissariat troubled us not a little. The scarcity of game had +forced us to draw heavily upon our stores. Only a little of our +lard and a small part of our twenty-five pounds of bacon remained. +"We must hustle for grub, boys," Hubbard frequently remarked. Our +diet, excepting on particular occasions, was bread and tea, fish +when we could get them, and sometimes a little pea soup. The pea +meal, plain and flavoured, was originally intended as a sort of +emergency ration, but we had drawn on our stock of it alarmingly. +Our flour, too, was going rapidly, and the time was drawing near +when we felt that the ration of bread must be cut down. + +The only thing, perhaps, that we really craved was fresh meat. For +several days after leaving the post we had experienced a decided +craving for acids, but that craving had been partially satisfied +when, on the barren hills that border the Valley of the Susan, we +found a few cranberries that had survived the winter. Every day +while we were on Goose Creek we caught a few small trout. When we +halted for any purpose, Hubbard always whipped the stream. He was +a tireless as well as an expert fisherman. He would fish long +after I had become discouraged, and catch them in pools where they +positively refused to rise for me. The trout thus obtained were +relished, but a fish diet is not strengthening, neither is it +satisfying, and as we had had no fresh meat since the day we landed +at Indian Harbour a month before, our longing for it had become +importunate. + +Imagine our joy, then, when on August 3d, the day we discovered the +petering out of Goose Creek, some fresh meat came our way. Most +unexpectedly was the day turned into one of feasting and +thanksgiving. As we were preparing, soon after passing the beaver +house, to pack at the foot of a rapid just below a little pond +expansion, Hubbard saw four geese swimming slowly down the stream. +He and George had just lifted their packs from the canoe, while I, +some little distance off, had mine on my back. Hubbard had his +rifle in his hands. George, who caught sight of the geese almost +as soon as Hubbard, grabbed my rifle from the canoe. "Drop!" cried +Hubbard, and down we all fell behind the little bank over which the +birds had been sighted. There was fresh meat swimming towards us, +and while we lay waiting for it to come in sight around the little +head of land the excitement was intense. + +Soon the leader appeared, and Hubbard and George fired almost +simultaneously. If ever there was a goose that had his goose +cooked, it was that poor, unfortunate leader. One of the bullets +from the .45-70 rifles that were aimed at him went through his +neck, cutting the bone clean and leaving his head hanging by two +little bits of skin. The other bullet bored a hole through his +body, breaking both wings. I did not blame him when he keeled over. +The leader disposed of, Hubbard and George again fired in quick +succession, and two of the other geese dropped just as they were +turning back upstream and vainly trying to rise on their wings, +which were useless so soon after the moulting season. The second +shot emptied George's rifle. He threw it down, grabbed a paddle +and went after one of the birds, which, only slightly wounded, was +flopping about in the water. + +Meanwhile Hubbard had fired twice at the fourth goose and missed +both times. His rifle also being empty now, he cast it aside, +seized his pistol, ran around the bank and jumped into the water in +time to head off the remaining goose as it was flopping upstream. +That brought the goose between him and George, and the bird was so +bewildered that Hubbard had time to fire at him twice with his +pistol and kill him, while George effectually disposed of the +wounded goose by swatting him over the head with the paddle. Thus +all four birds were ours, and our exultation knew no bounds. We +shouted, we threw our hats in the air and shouted again. Lifting +the birds critically, we estimated that we had on hand about fifty +pounds of goose meat. + +More luck came to us that same day when we halted for luncheon at +the foot of some rapid water. As soon as we stopped, Hubbard, as +usual, cast a fly, and almost immediately landed a half-pound +trout. Then, as fast as I could split them and George fry them, +another and another, all big ones, fell a victim to his skill. The +result was that we had all the trout we could eat that noon, and we +ate a good many. + +It was late in the afternoon when we reached the point where the +two brooks joined to form Goose Creek. Our scouting was finished +in less than two hours, and we went into camp early: for, as +Hubbard expressed it, we were to have a "heap big feed," and George +reminded us that it would take a good while to roast a goose. Our +camp was pitched at the foot of a semi-barren ridge a half-mile +above the junction of the brooks. George built a big fire--much +bigger than usual. At the back he placed the largest green log he +could find. Just in front of the fire, and at each side, he fixed +a forked stake, and on these rested a cross pole. From the centre +of the pole he suspended a piece of stout twine, which reached +nearly to the ground, and tied the lower end into a noose. + +Then it was that the goose, nicely prepared for cooking, was +brought forth. Through it at the wings George stuck a sharp wooden +pin, leaving the ends to protrude on each side. Through the legs +he stuck a similar pin in a similar fashion. This being done, he +slipped the noose at the end of the twine over the ends of one of +the pins. And lo and behold! the goose was suspended before the +fire. + +It hung low--just high enough to permit the placing of a dish under +it to catch the gravy. Now and then George gave it a twirl so that +none of its sides might have reason to complain at not receiving +its share of the heat. The lower end roasted first, seeing which, +George took the goose off, reversed it and set it twirling again. +After a time he sharpened a sliver of wood, stuck it into the goose +and examined the wound critically. + +"Smells like a Christmas goose when one goes through the kitchen +dead hungry before dinner," said Hubbard. + +"Um-m-n!" I commented. + +In a little while George tried the sharp splinter again. Hubbard +and I watched him anxiously. White juice followed the stick. Two +hours had passed, and the goose was done! + +Events now came crowding thick and fast. First, George put the +steaming brown goose in his mixing basin, and deftly and rapidly +disjointed it with his sheath knife. Meanwhile, with nervous +haste, Hubbard and I had drawn our knives, and with the tin basin +of goose before us, all three of us plumped down in a half-circle +on the thick moss in the light of the bright-blazing fire. Many of +the rules of etiquette were waived. We stood not on the order of +our falling to, but fell to at once. We eat, and we eat, at first +ravenously, then more slowly. With his mouth full of the succulent +bird, George allowed he would rather have goose than caribou. "I +prefer goose to anything else," said he, and proceeded to tell us +of goose hunts "down the bay" and of divers big Indian feasts. At +length all the goose was gone but one very small piece. "I'll eat +that for a snack before I sleep," said George, as he started to put +the giblets to stew for breakfast. + +The fire died down until nothing remained save a heap of glowing +embers. For a long time we sat in the darkness over an extra pot +of tea. At first, silence; and then, while George and I puffed +complacently on our pipes, Hubbard, who never smoked, entertained +us with more of Kipling. "The Feet of the Young Men" was one of +his favourites, and that night he put more than his usual feeling +into the words: + +"Now the Four-way Lodge is opened, now the Hunting Winds + are loose-- +Now the Smokes of Spring go up to clear the brain; +Now the Young Men's hearts are troubled for the whisper of the + Trues, +Now the Red Gods make their medicine again! +Who hath seen the beaver busied? +Who hath watched the black-tail mating? +Who hath lain alone to hear the wild-goose cry? +Who hath worked the chosen water where the ouananiche is waiting, +Or the sea-trout's jumping--crazy for the fly? + + He must go--go--go away from here! + On the other side the world he's overdue. + 'Send your road is clear before you when the old + Spring-fret comes o'er you + And the Red Gods call for you!" + +Again the silence. The northern lights flashed and swept in +fantastic shapes across the sky, illuminating the fir tops in the +valley and making the white lichens gleam on the barren hill above +us. We thought of the lake ahead with its old wigwams, and the +promise it held out of an easy trail to Michikamau made us feel +sure that the worst part of our journey was ended. Thus we sat +supremely happy and content until long past midnight, when we went +to our tent and our bed of fragrant spruce boughs, to be lulled +asleep by the murmuring waters of the creek below. + +The brooks into which Goose Creek divided near our camp of course +would not permit of canoeing, and the morning after our feast +(August 4) we portaged through a swamp into the lake that fed the +southerly one. We called this small body of water Mountaineer +Lake, because the Mountaineer Indians had been there. Besides +numerous cuttings and the remains of wigwams, we found the ruins of +a drying stage where they had cured meat or fish. From Goose Camp +to the lake shore George carried the canoe, and Hubbard and I each +a pack. Then while George and I returned for the remaining packs, +Hubbard waited by the lake. As be sat there alone, a caribou waded +into the water less than a hundred feet away, stopped and looked +fearlessly at him for a few moments, and then walked leisurely off +into the woods. + +"It seemed as if he wanted to shake hands with me," Hubbard said +when he told us of the incident. He had to let the deer depart in +peace, because both rifles were back with the last loads at Goose +Camp, and his pistol was in his bag. Needless to say, we were +bitterly disappointed at losing the first deer we had seen, and it +taught us the lesson always to take one rifle forward with the +first load on a portage. + +We spent the afternoon scouting in different directions, and +discovered that the only inlet to Mountaineer Lake ended in a bog a +mile or so up. A mile or more to the westward, however, George +discovered another and much larger lake, which in honour of him we +shall call Lake Elson. An old trail led from Mountaineer Lake to +Lake Elson, which George pronounced to be a caribou trail, but +which Hubbard believed to be an old portage, because it led from +lake to lake by the most direct course. There were no axe +cuttings, however, to indicate that the Indians had followed it. + +We tried the troll in Mountaineer Lake, but caught nothing. +Apparently there was nothing there but trout, of which fish I +caught eight at the inlet. I shot with my pistol a muskrat that +was swimming in the lake, but George did not cook it, as he said +the flesh would be too strong at that season. It was raining again +and the mosquitoes were out in millions, but with three geese still +on hand and a good lake ahead we were indifferent to such troubles +as that, although our clothing was not now in a condition +successfully to withstand much bad weather. + +Rags, in fact, were beginning to appear upon us all. One of +Hubbard's trousers legs was ripped clear down the front, and it was +continually streaming behind in the wind and getting caught in the +bushes, despite his efforts to keep it in place with pieces of +twine. At length he patched it with a piece of white duffel, and +exhibited his tailoring feat to us with much pride. + +About noon on August 5, after a two-mile portage, we reached Lake +Elson. On the way Hubbard sighted two caribou. He dropped his +pack and grabbed his rifle. They were 250 yards away and partially +hidden by the timber, and as they were approaching him, he waited, +believing he would get a better shot. But, while he was waiting, +what he called a "cussed little long-legged bird" scared them off, +by giving a sharp, shrill cry of alarm, which the deer evidently +were clever enough to construe as meaning that something out of the +ordinary was happening. + +Lake Elson proved to be about three and a half miles long and a +half mile wide. It lay in a basin surrounded by wooded hills. The +northerly portion was dotted with low, mound-like islands of drift, +with two or three irregular, rocky islands, all completely wooded. +It was a beautiful sheet of water, and, like all the lakes in +Labrador, as clear as crystal and very cold. On the northerly side +there were narrow straits and inlets, doubtless connecting the lake +with others to the northwest that were hidden by the growth. + +The outlet was at the southern end. It flowed through a pass in a +low ridge of hills that extended for a great distance east and +west, and emptied into a small lake, the waters of which were +discharged through a creek that flowed through a pass in another +low ridge that ran parallel with the first as far as we could see. +Between the two ridges was a marsh that extended westward for many +miles. The ridges and the hills surrounding the lakes were covered +with spruce and balsam. Nowhere along our route since we left +Northwest River Post, however, had we seen any timber of commercial +value; the largest trees did not exceed eight inches in diameter, +the generality being much smaller. + +We were somewhat disconcerted upon finding no further signs of +Indians, and feared we had lost the trail. Neither trapper's blaze +nor trapper's cutting was to be seen; for now we were beyond their +zone and in a country that apparently no white man and no breed had +ever viewed. We selected a site for our camp near the outlet at +the southern end of the lake. In the afternoon Hubbard and George +went to some bluffs that could be seen two or three miles to the +southward, to scout for a route to Michikamau and find the Indian +trail if possible. I remained behind to make camp. + +The days were now shortening rapidly; it was dark before eight +o'clock. In the grey of the twilight George returned. When he +hailed me, I was fishing in the outlet just below the camp, +standing on a rock in midstream to which I had waded. + +"Come 'long up to camp," he called. Once in the wilderness, we +made no distinctions as to master and servant; we were all +companions together. Hence George's familiar manner of address. + +"When I land two more trout," I shouted back. + +"You've got enough; come 'long now," he pleaded. There was that in +his tone that excited my curiosity; he seemed all of a sudden to +have acquired an unusual fondness for my society. "What's the +matter, George?" I asked. + +"I've been about lost," he returned. "Come on and I'll tell you." + +I was astonished. I had seen George drop a pack in the bush, where +everything for miles around looked alike to me, and without marking +the spot or apparently taking note of any guiding signs, he would +go directly to it again. I was with him one pitch-dark night when +he left a pack among alders and willows in the depth of a marsh, +and in the morning he went back two miles straight to the very +spot. How a man that could do this could get lost was beyond my +understanding. I hurried up to camp. + +"How did it happen, George?" I asked. + +"I just got turned 'round," he replied. "I didn't have any grub, +and I didn't have a pistol, or a fishhook, or any way to get grub, +and I didn't have a compass, and I was scared." + +"But don't you know how you got lost?" I persisted. + +"No, I don't," said George. "I just got lost. But I found myself +pretty quick. I never got lost before." + +The only way I could account for it was that he had permitted his +thoughts to wander. I asked him what he would have done if he had +not been able to find his way back. + +"Gone to the highest hill I could see," he answered with a grin, +"and made the biggest smoke I could make at its top, and waited for +you fellus to find me." + +While we were talking George was busily engaged in making the fire, +putting a goose to boil and preparing water for tea. The twilight +deepened, and ere we realised it darkness had come. Every moment +we expected to hear Hubbard, but he did not appear. + +"Another man lost," said I, with a forced lightness that illy +concealed the anxiety George and I both felt; we knew that Hubbard +not only had nothing to eat, but no matches to make a fire. + +Frequently we stopped our work and talk, to peer into the gathering +night and listen for the breaking of a twig. At length I took my +rifle and fired at intervals half a dozen shots; but the reports +echoed and died away without a reply. A damp north wind chilled +the air, and the gloom seemed particularly oppressive. + +"Hubbard will have a hard night out there in the bush," said +George. + +"Yes," I replied; "I don't suppose we can expect him back now +before morning; and when a man is lost in this wild country it's +pretty hard to find a little tent all by itself." + +I was thinking of my own experience farther back, and what might +happen should Hubbard fail to find us or we him. He was not so +fortunate as I had been, in that there was no river to guide his +return. However, at five o'clock in the morning he appeared. He had +spent a miserable night on a ridge two miles to the southward, wet +and shivering, with no fire, and tormented by mosquitoes. He +reported that from the ridge he could hear the roar of a rapid. +Darkness had prevented him from going on, and he had not seen the +rapid, but he was sure it was a part of a big river. + +At first he was loath to admit he had been lost, doubtless +remembering how he and George had "guyed" me when I had been out +all night and my prediction that his turn would come; but when +George confessed to having gone astray also, be made a clean breast +of it, telling us he was "lost good and plenty, and scared some, +too." Now I had my innings, and I must confess I took great +delight in returning some of the chaff they had given me. + +Hubbard decreed, in consequence of these experiences--getting lost- +-that thereafter each man at all times should have on his person an +emergency kit, to consist of matches, a piece of fish line, some +hooks and two or three flies, enclosed in a film box waterproofed +with electrician's tape. + +We remained in our camp on Lake Elson for two days in order to +scout and dry fish. It was the best fishing place we had yet come +to. During our stay we had all the trout we could eat, and we +dried and smoked forty-five large ones. The scouting proved that +Hubbard's "big river" was an important discovery. It lay two miles +to the south of us, flowing to the southeast. Hubbard sent George +to look at it, and he reported that it certainly came from large +lakes, as it was big, deep and straight. Could it come from Lake +Michikamau? + +While George was away Hubbard and I took a trip in the canoe around +the lake and through some inlets. At the northeast we discovered a +creek flowing into the lake, and as there were some old Indian +wigwams and cuttings near it, indicating the possibility of its +being part of a trail, we seriously considered the advisability of +following it up. From a knoll near by we could see to the +northwest other lakes into which the creek might possibly lead us; +but, after returning to camp, we considered the situation fully in +the light of George's report of the big river, and we decided that +to the big river we should go. + +This decision was not to prove an error of judgment; for the big +river was none other than the Beaver--an important part of an old +trail of the Indians to Lake Michikamau. + + + + +VII. ON A REAL RIVER AT LAST + +We broke camp in the forenoon of August 7th, and a few hours later, +after making two trips back and forth, we arrived with our baggage +on the bank of our new river. At last we had a real river to +travel on, its average width being between 100 and 150 yards. None +of us, of course, then knew that our real river was the Beaver, and +that in taking to it we had stumbled upon an old Indian route to +Lake Michikamau. If we had known this, it would have made a great +difference in our fortunes. + +Immediately below the point where we portaged into the river, +wooded ridges on either side hugged it close, forming a narrow +valley. Just above us the valley broadened, and a mile or so up a +big hill reared its barren summit above the black spruce trees at +its base, standing there like a lonely sentinel among the little +hills that bordered the widening river basin. Despite the fact +that we had reached a real river, we still had rapids to encounter, +and we had to make so many short portages that after we had +ascended the river two miles it was time to camp. + +We pitched our tent on a rising plateau just below a stretch of +rushing water. As soon as we stopped, Hubbard tried to fish, and +while I made camp he landed fifteen trout averaging nearly half a +pound each. They were most welcome, as the time had come when we +had to live off the country. Our bread ration was now cut down to +one-third of a loaf a day for each man. As we had no lard, it was +made simply of flour, baking powder, and water. It was baked in +our frying pan, and a loaf was about eight inches in diameter and +one inch thick, so that our daily ration was but a morsel. We also +decided that from now on we should use pea meal only on rare +occasions, and to reserve our other provisions, with the exception +of a few dried apples, tea, coffee and a little chocolate and +cocoa, to give us a start should we at any time find it necessary +to make a sudden dash for the Post. + +Our clothing was rapidly disintegrating. The front of Hubbard's +trouser leg was all torn open again, and once more he had to resort +to pieces of twine. We had frequent discussions at this period as +to whose appearance was the most beautiful. For a time Hubbard and +I would claim the distinction each for himself, but it usually +ended by our conceding the distinction to George. As a matter of +fact, with our unkempt hair and beards and our rags, we now formed +as tough looking a party of tramps as ever "came down the pike." +That night in camp I cut up my canvas leggings and used pieces of +the canvas to rebottom my moccasins, sewing it on with shoemaker's +thread. + +It was a glorious evening. A big moon rising over the bluffs +beyond us transformed the river into a silvery thread stretching +far down through the dark valley. Behind us the black spruce +forest made our roaring fire seem more cheerful in contrast. A +cold east wind had driven away the flies and the mosquitoes. +Supper eaten, our cup of contentment was full to the brim. After +all, the wilderness was not so inhospitable. Who would be anywhere +else, if he could? Not one of us. + +With the sensation that we were the only people in Labrador, a +fancy struck me and I suggested to my companions that we ought to +organise some sort of government. + +"We'll make you, Hubbard," I said, "the head of the nation and call +you the Great Mogul. Of course you will be commander-in-chief of +the army and navy and have unlimited power. We're your subjects." + +"I suspect," replied Hubbard, "you are looking for a political job. +However, I, of course, stand ready, like our politicians at home, +to serve the country when duty calls--if there's enough in it. As +the Great Mogul of Labrador, I appoint you, Wallace, Chief Justice +and also Secretary of State. George I shall appoint Admiral of the +Navy." + +"Where are my ships?" asked George. + +"Ships!", exclaimed Hubbard. "Well, there will be only one for the +present. But she's a good staunch one--eighteen feet long, with a +beam of thirty-three and a half inches. And she carries two quick- +fire rifles." + +With these and other conceits we whiled away the beautiful evening +hours. What a difference there was in the morning! We awoke--it +was Saturday, August 8--to find that the east wind had increased in +force and was accompanied by a driving, chilling rain. Reluctantly +we broke camp, and began a day of back-breaking, disheartening +work. The wind soughed dismally through the forests, and it was as +though late autumn had overtaken us in a night. The spruce boughs, +watersoaked, seemed to hang low for no other purpose than to strike +us in the face at every step, and the willows and alders along the +river that now and again obstructed our way appeared to be thicker +and wetter than ever. + +Under these conditions we had made six portages, the longest of +which was about three-quarters of a mile, and covered in all about +four and a half miles, when one o'clock came and we gave up the +fight for the day, to make our Sunday camp and try to get fish. We +were ravenously hungry, and ate even the heads of the dried trout +we had for luncheon, these being the last of those we caught and +smoked on Lake Elson. During the afternoon we put out for the +first time the old gill net Mackenzie had given us, and by hard +work with the rod caught a few more trout for supper. + +It still poured on Sunday morning. Hubbard fished all day, and I +the greater part of the forenoon. The net product of our labor was +forty-five trout, most of them little fellows. The gill net +yielded us nothing. In the afternoon George and I took the rifles +and started out in different directions to look for caribou. +Neither of us found any fresh tracks. I returned at dusk, to find +George already in camp and our supper of boiled fish ready to be +eaten. Our sugar was all gone by this time, and our supply of salt +was so low that we were using hardly any. In spite of us the salt +had been wet in the drenching rains we had encountered all up the +Susan Valley, and a large part of it had dissolved. + +While we all craved sugar and other sweets, I believe Hubbard +suffered the most from their absence. Perhaps the fact that George +and I used tobacco and he did not, was the explanation. He was +continually discussing the merits of various kinds of cake, +candies, and sweet things generally. Our conversation too often +turned to New York restaurants, and how he would visit various ones +of them for particular dishes. Bread undoubtedly was what we +craved the most. "I believe I'll never refuse bread again," +Hubbard would say, "so long as there's a bit on the table." + +Monday (August 10) brought with it no abatement of the driving rain +and cold east wind. Working industriously for half an hour before +breakfast, Hubbard succeeded in landing a single small trout, which +fell to me, while he and George ate thick pea meal porridge, of +which they were very fond. We made several short portages during +the morning, and, despite the dismal weather, our spirits +brightened; for we came upon old wigwam poles and axe cuttings, +which we accepted as proof that we were now surely on the Indian +trail to Michikamau. Towards noon Hubbard said: + +"Well, boys, we're on the right road, we've covered three miles +this morning, and this rain is killing, so we'll pitch camp now, +and wait for the weather to clear and try to get some fish ahead. +There are fish here, I know, and when the wind changes we'll get +them." + +After warming ourselves by a big fire and eating luncheon, Hubbard +and I took our rods and fished the greater part of the afternoon, +catching between us twelve or fifteen trout. + +"You had better cook them all for supper, George," said Hubbard. +"This is my mother's birthday, and in honour of it we'll have an +extra loaf of bread and some of her dried apples. And I tell you +what, boys, I wish I could see her now." + +On the following day (Tuesday, August 11) the weather had somewhat +moderated, but the east wind continued, and the rain still fell +during all the forenoon. We could get no fish at our camp, and at +two in the afternoon started forward, all of us hungry and steadily +growing hungrier. Hubbard whipped the water at the foot of every +rapid and tried every pool, but succeeded in getting only a very +few trout. While he fished, George and I made the portages, and +thus, pushing on as rapidly as possible, we covered about four +miles. + +While George and I were scouting on Sunday, we had each caught +sight of a ridge of rocky mountains extending in a northerly and +southerly direction, which we estimated to be from twenty to +twenty-five miles to the westward. Previous to Tuesday, these +mountains had not been visible from the river valley, but on that +day they suddenly came into view, and they made us stop and think, +for they lay directly across our course. However, we did not feel +much uneasiness then, as we decided that our river must flow +through a pass in the mountains far to the north, and follow them +down before turning east. + +Our camp on Tuesday night was rather a dreary one; but before noon +on Wednesday (August 12) the clouds broke, big patches of blue sky +began to appear, and with a bit of sunshine now and again, our +hearts lightened as we proceeded on our journey. + +At the foot of a half-mile portage Hubbard caught fourteen trout, +and our luncheon was secure. Three more portages we made, covering +in all about three miles, and then we shouted for joy, for there +ahead of us lay open water. Along it for five miles we gaily +canoed before stopping for luncheon. Hungry? Yes, we were hungry +even after devouring the fourteen trout and drinking the water they +were boiled in--I could have eaten fifty like them myself--but our +spirits were high, and we made merry. For the first time since +leaving Grand Lake there was good water behind us and good water +before us. + +At the last rapid we portaged the country had flattened out. Wide +marshes extended along the south bank of the river, with now and +then a low hill of drift. The north side was followed by a low +ridge of drift, well wooded. We landed for luncheon on the south +bank, at the foot of a wooded knoll, and there we made an +interesting discovery, namely, the remains of an old Indian camp +and the ruins of two large birch-bark canoes. In November, at +Northwest River Post, I heard the story of those canoes. + +Twelve years before, it appears, the band of Indians that had +camped there, being overtaken by early ice, was forced to abandon +its canoes and make a dash for the Post. Game was scarce, and the +fish had gone to deeper waters. The Indians pushed desperately on +overland, but one by one they fell, until at last the gaunt fiend, +Starvation, had claimed them all. Since that time no Indian has +ever travelled that trail--the route to Michikamau upon which we +had stumbled was thereupon abandoned. The Indians believe the +trail is not only unlucky, but haunted; that if while on it they +should escape Starvation--that terrible enemy which nearly always +dogs them so closely--they are likely to encounter the spirits of +them that died so many years ago. + +Not knowing anything of this tragic story, we merrily ate our +luncheon on the very spot where others in desperation had faced +death. It was to us an old Indian camp, and an additional reason +for believing we were on the right trail, that was all. While we +ate, the sun came out brilliantly, and we resumed our paddling +feeling ready for almost anything that might happen. And something +soon did happen--something that made the day the most memorable so +far of the trip. + +No rapids intercepted our progress, and in an hour we had paddled +three miles, when, at a place where the river widened, a big +woodland stag caribou suddenly splashed into the water from the +northern shore, two hundred yards ahead. I seized my rifle, and, +without waiting for the canoe to stop, fired. The bullet went +high. The caribou raised his head and looked at us inquisitively. +Then Hubbard fired, and with the dying away of the report of his +rifle, George and I shouted: "You hit 'im, Hubbard; you've got +'im!" The wounded caribou sank half way to his knees, but struggled +to his feet again. As he did so, Hubbard sent another shot at him, +but missed. Slowly the big deer turned, and began to struggle up +the bank. Again Hubbard and I fired, but both shots went low. + +We ran the canoe to shore, and while I made it fast, Hubbard and +George ran breathlessly ahead to where the caribou had disappeared. +I followed at once, and soon came upon them and the caribou, which +fallen thirty yards from the river with a bullet through his body +just back of the left shoulder. A trail of blood marked his path +from the river to where he lay. As the animal floundered there in +the moss, Hubbard, with the nervous impetuosity he frequently +displayed, fired again against George's protest, the bullet +entering the caribou's neck and passing down through his tongue the +full length. Then George caught the thrashing animal by the +antlers, and while he held its head down Hubbard cut its throat. + +We made our camp right where the caribou fell. It was an ideal +spot on the high bank above the river, being flat and thickly +covered with white moss. The banks at this point were all sand +drift; we could not find a stone large enough to whet our knives. +George made a stage for drying while Hubbard and I dressed the +deer. Our work finished, we all sat down and roasted steaks on +sticks and drank coffee. The knowledge that we were now assured of +a good stock of dried meat, of course, added to the hilarity of +feast. As we thought it best to hoard our morsel of flour, it was +a feast of venison and venison alone. + +While waiting for our meat to dry, we had to remain in camp for +three or four days. On the next afternoon (Thursday, August 13) +Hubbard and I paddled about three miles up the river to look for +fish, but we got no bites, probably because of the cold; in the +morning there had been a fringe of ice on the river shore. + +"We'll take it easy," said Hubbard while we were paddling upstream, +"and make a little picnic of it. I'm dead tired myself. How do you +feel, Wallace?" + +"I feel tired, too," I said. "I have to make an extra effort to do +any work at all." + +Hubbard was inclined to attribute this tired feeling to the freedom +from strain after our nerve-racking work of the last few weeks, +while I hazarded the opinion that our purely meat diet had made us +lazy. Probably it was due to both causes. + +As Hubbard was anxious to obtain definite knowledge as to what +effect the high ridge of rocky mountains had upon our river, George +and I, with the object of ascertaining the river's course, left +camp in the canoe on Friday morning (August 14), taking with us, in +addition to our emergency kits, our cups, some tea, and enough +caribou ribs for luncheon. We portaged around a few short rapids, +and then, about eight miles above our camp, came upon a lake +expansion of considerable size with many inlets. On the northerly +side of the lake was a high, barren hill, which afforded us a +splendid view of the surrounding country. + +Winding away to the southeast was the river we had ascended. To +the west was a series of lake expansions connected by narrow +straits, and beyond them were the mountains, which we estimated +rose about 2,500 feet above the country at their base. In +sheltered places on their sides, patches of ice and snow glistened +in the sunshine. Barren almost to their base, not a vestige of +vegetation to be seen anywhere on their tops or sides, they +presented a scene of desolate grandeur, standing out against the +blue sky like a grim barrier placed there to guard the land beyond. +As I gazed upon them, some lines from Kipling's "Explorer" that I +had often heard Hubbard repeat were brought forcibly to my mind: + +"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind + the Ranges-- + Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" + +Let us call these ranges the Kipling Mountains. + +To the north, hill after hill, with bald top rising above the +stunted trees on its sides, limited our range of vision. Far away +to the south stretched a rolling, wooded country. To the eastward +the country was flatter, with irregular ranges of low hills, all +covered with a thick growth of spruce and fir balsam. Beyond the +point where the water flowed from it southeasterly into the river +we had ascended, the lake at the foot of our hill seemed to extend +directly eastward for four for five miles; but the thick wood of +the valleys and low-lying hills made it difficult to see just where +it ended, so that from where we stood it was impossible to tell +what course the river took--whether it came from the east, bending +about in the lake expansion below us, or flowed from the west +through the lake expansions beyond. Away off to the northeast an +apparently large lake could be discerned, with numerous mound-like +islands dotting its surface. + +For a long time we stood and gazed about us. Far to the southeast +a tiny curl of smoke rose heavenward in the clear atmosphere. That +was Hubbard's campfire--the only sign of life to be seen in all +that wide wilderness. The scene was impressive beyond description. +It gave me a peculiar feeling of solemnity and awe that I shall +never forget. + +We found on our hill a few dead twigs of sub-Arctic shrubbery with +which to make a fire to broil our caribou ribs, and gathered some +mildly acid berries of a variety neither of us had ever seen +before, which we ate as a dessert. After luncheon George said he +thought we had better go to the westward to look for the river. + +"But how can it come through those mountains?" I asked. + +"I don't know as it can," he replied. "But," pointing to one of +the range, "I want to take a look at the country beyond from that +high mountain." + +So we returned to our canoe, and paddled to the westward a few +miles through two lake expansions, which brought us to the foot of +the mountains. We landed at a place where a small creek tumbled +down through a rocky pass. George went up his mountain alone. +During his absence, with my emergency kit, I caught ten six-inch +trout to be divided between us for supper, as only two of our +caribou ribs remained. Near dark George came back. After climbing +half way to the summit of his mountain, he had encountered +perpendicular walls of rock that blocked his further progress. + +We made a fire of old wigwam poles, and roasted our fish before it +on a flat stone. A quart of hot tea between us washed down our +meagre supper, and then we made a bed of boughs. But when we tried +to sleep the icy wind that blew through the pass caused us to draw +closer to the fire, before which we alternately sat and lay +shivering throughout the night. Having brought no axe with us, we +could not build a fire of any size. I do not believe either of us +slept more than half an hour. + +"Which would you rather have, Wallace, a piece of bread or a +blanket?" George would ask at frequent intervals. + +"Bread," I always answered. At that he would chuckle. We had +tasted nothing but venison and fish since the day we killed the +caribou, and for bread we had an inexpressible craving. + +"Anyway," George would say, "this cold will weaken the flies." And +with this reflection he continued to comfort us as the nights +became chillier. + +In the morning we had to break the ice to get water for our tea, +which with the two remaining caribou ribs constituted our +breakfast. George then made another attempt at his mountain. +Again he failed to reach the summit, and I failed to induce any +more trout to rise. In a somewhat despondent mood we turned back, +and paddled for some distance into the lake expansions to the +eastward of the point where our river flowed out. Although we were +compelled to start for "home" before obtaining any definite +knowledge of the course of the river, we were of the opinion that +it came from the east. For all we knew, however, the river might +end in those lake expansions; we could not tell, as no current +could be discerned, and having no food we could not continue the +search. + +It was five o'clock in the evening when we reached camp, tired out +and as hungry as two wolves, and we astonished Hubbard with the +amount of venison we put out of sight. While George was +temporarily out of hearing, Hubbard said: + +"It's bully good to see you back again, Wallace. I was +disappointed when you didn't come back last night, and I've been +dead lonesome. I got thinking of my wife and home, and the good +things to eat there, and was on the verge of homesickness." + +"We were mightily disappointed, too, at not getting back," said I +between mouthfuls. "Up there on the lakes we put in the toughest +night yet, and we were thinking of the venison and warm blankets +down here at camp." + +Hubbard was much discouraged and depressed at our report of the +uncertain course of the river, although he was careful to conceal +his feelings from George. + +The next day (Sunday, August 16) we cut up our canvas guncases and +used some of the material to re-bottom our moccasins. What was +left over we put away carefully for future use. George cracked the +caribou bones and boiled out the marrow grease. He stripped the +fat from the entrails and tried out the tallow, preserving even the +cracklings or scraps. "We'll be glad to eat 'em yet," said he. +One of the hoofs he dressed and put with our store of meat. We +preserved everything but the head, the entrails and three of the +hoofs. The tallow we found an excellent substitute for lard. + +In the afternoon Hubbard and I caught thirty trout in an hour at +the rapid a mile and a half above our camp, and a few more in the +river close by the camp. High living during the day raised all of +our spirits. For breakfast we had the caribou heart, which George +thought at first he would roast but changed his mind and served +stewed. For dinner we had the tongue, the tidbit of the animal, +boiled with pieces of other parts. Hubbard's second bullet had +torn out the centre of the tongue, but what there was of it was +delicious. And at night we had the trout caught during the +afternoon, to which, as a Sunday luxury, was added a cake of bread. + +When we gathered around the fire in the evening Hubbard had +entirely recovered from his depression and took a more hopeful view +of the river. We discussed the matter thoroughly, and decided that +the river George and I had seen coming from the eastward must take +a turn farther north and break through the Kipling Mountains, and +that it might prove to be Low's Northwest River we all thought was +possible. + +At the same time we could not disguise the fact that it was +extremely probable we should have to portage over the mountains, +and the prospect was far from pleasing; but, ragged and almost +barefooted though we were, not a man thought of turning back, and +on Monday morning, August 17th, we prepared to leave Camp Caribou +and solve the problem as to where lay the trail of Michikamau. + + + + +VIII. "MICHIKAMAU OR BUST!" + +The temperature was three degrees below freezing when grey dawn at +half past four o'clock that Monday morning bid us up and on. The +crisp air and the surpassing beauty of the morning stirred within +us new hope and renewed ambition. And the bags of jerked venison +and the grease gave us faith that we should succeed in reaching our +goal. Though we had some food in stock, there was to be no +cessation in our effort to get fish; our plan was for Hubbard to +try his rod at the foot of every rapid while George and I did the +portaging. + +Before midday Hubbard had forty trout, one of them sixteen inches +long--the biggest we had caught yet. We stopped for luncheon on +the sandy shore of a pretty little lake expansion, and ate the +whole morning's catch, fried in caribou tallow, with unsweetened +coffee to wash it down. Then on we pushed towards the Kipling +Mountains. At a narrow strait between two lakes we left Hubbard to +fish, George and I going on two miles farther to the place where we +had spent that chilly night while scouting, and where our camp for +this night was to be pitched. + +Our object in going there was to give George another chance to view +the country on the other side of the mountain range. This time he +was to try another peak. As he disappeared up the mountain side, I +paddled back to get Hubbard, who was awaiting me with a good string +of big trout. The two-mile stretch of lake from where Hubbard was +fishing to our camping ground was as smooth as a sheet of glass. +The sun hanging low over the mountains and reflecting their nude +forms in the silvery water, and the dark green forest of fir trees +on the shores moved Hubbard to exclamations of delight. + +"Oh, if it could be painted just as it appears now!" he said. +"Why, Wallace, this one scene is worth all the groaning we've done +to get here. It's grand! grand!" + +At dark George returned to camp with the report that from his peak +he could see only higher mountains looming up to the westward. In +the shadow of the grey rocks of the grim old mountains that so +stubbornly held their secret of what lay beyond, we had a good +supper of trout and were happy, though through the gulch the creek +roared defiance at us, and off in the night somewhere a loon would +break out at intervals in derisive laughter. At the base of the +mountains the narrow lake reflected a million stars, and in their +kindly light the snow and ice patches on the slopes above us +gleamed white and brilliant. + +With our day's work the listlessness from which we had recently +suffered had entirely disappeared, and we felt ready to undertake +any task, the more difficult the better. Hubbard suggested giving +up route hunting if our river ended where we then were, and +striking right across the mountains with our outfit on our backs, +and we received the suggestion with enthusiasm. He talked, too, a +great deal about snowshoeing in winter to St. Augustine on the St. +Lawrence, cutting across country from the Kenemish River, which +flows into Groswater Bay opposite Northwest River Post. This trip, +which he held out as a possibility in the event of our missing the +last steamer out from Rigolet, seemed to appeal to him immensely. + +"I don't care if we are too late for the steamer," he said; "that +snowshoeing trip would be a great stunt." + +We found a great many wigwam poles near and in the pass hard by our +camp, while by the creek we came across the remains of both summer +and winter camps, probably those of hunters. "One of the beggars +was high-toned," said George; "he had a stove." This was evidenced +by the arrangement of stones within the circle of wigwam poles, and +a few pieces of wood cut stove-size. + +On Tuesday morning (August 18) we turned back and into the long, +narrow lake expansions to the eastward, and soon satisfied +ourselves that this was the right course. Our thermometer +registered 28 degrees that morning. The day dawned clear and +perfect; it was a morning when one draws in long breaths, and one's +nerves tingle, and life is a joy. Early in the forenoon we reached +rapids and quickly portaged around them; all were short, the +largest being not more than half a mile. At ten o'clock we ate +luncheon at the foot of one of the rapids where we caught, in a few +minutes, fourteen large trout. Just above this rapid the river +opened into long, narrow lakes, and the canoeing was superb. +Suddenly the river took a sharp turn to the westward, and appeared +to lead directly into the mountains. At that we sent up three +rousing cheers--the river problem seemed to be solved; apparently +the road to Michikamau lay straight before us. + +A little above the bend in the river we came upon an old gander and +goose and two unfeathered young. The gander with a great squawk and +flapping wings took to the bush, but we killed the old goose with a +rifle, and George "knocked over," as he expressed it, one of the +young ones with a pistol. More luck (and food) came to us a little +later. While George and I portaged around the last rapid that +evening, Hubbard caught fifty trout averaging over a pound each. +They jumped greedily to the fly, four or five rising at every cast. + +Above this rapid the river again took the form of a long, narrow +lake--a lake so beautiful that we were entranced. It was evening +when we arrived, and the very spirit of peace seemed to brood over +the place. Undoubtedly we were the first white men that had ever +invaded its solitude, and the first human beings of any kind to +disturb its repose for many years. On the north a barren, rocky +bluff rose high above the water; at all other places the shores +were low and wooded. A few miles to the westward could be seen the +barren Kipling Mountains, and between them and us was a ridge of +low hills covered with black-green spruce. The sun was setting in +our faces as we paddled slowly along the lake, and as it went down +behind the mountains a veil was gradually drawn over the lovely +scene. Not a breath of air was stirring, and hardly a sound broke +the stillness save the ripple at the bow of the canoe and the soft +splash of the paddles. In the placid waters two otters were +swimming and diving. One was timid and remained at a distance, but +the other was bold and inquisitive and came close to the canoe. +Here and there all over the lake, its mirror-like surface was +broken by big jumping trout. Two loons laughed at us as we drew +the canoe on to the sandy beach of a low jutting point, and they +continued to laugh while we pitched our camp in the green woods +near the shore and prepared our supper of roast goose. It was a +feast day. With goose, plenty of trout and good water for +paddling, it was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. + +Our high spirits still remained when we broke camp in the morning +(Wednesday, August 19), but they were destined soon to be dashed. +Not long after we started we found ourselves in good-sized lakes, +with arms extending in every direction. All day we hunted for the +river, but found only small streams emptying into the lakes. The +country now was much rougher, and much more rocky and barren, than +any we had seen since we left the coast. The trees were more +stunted and gnarled, and the streams usually had a bed-rock bottom. +In the course of the day Hubbard shot three rock ptarmigans-- +"rockers," George called them. They were the first we had seen, +and were still wearing their mottled summer dress; later in the +season they are a pure, spotless white. Towards evening we made +our way to a point on the northwesterly part of the lakes where a +small stream came through a mountain pass, and there went into +camp. + +We were much disappointed at our failure to find the river, but not +disheartened. In order to make certain that we had not overlooked +it, we decided to paddle back the next day as far as the last rapid +and make one more careful search. Failing then to find the river, +we should portage through the mountain pass at the entrance to +which we had camped. + +"Do you remember," asked Hubbard, "the slogan of the old Pike's +Peakers?--'Pike's Peak or Bust?'" + +"Yes," said I; "and very often they busted." + +"Well," said Hubbard, "we'll adopt it and change it to our needs. +'Michikamau or Bust,' will be our watchword now." + +And sitting around the fire, we all took it up and repeated +determinedly, "Michikamau or Bust!" + +The morning of the next day (Thursday, August 20) we occupied in +mending our moccasins with parts of the caribou skin. George also +took the venison from the bags and hung it over the fire to give it +a little more drying, as it had begun to mould. In the afternoon +Hubbard and I, in accordance with the plan we had adopted, paddled +back over our course and re-explored the lower lakes. We +discovered nothing new. The fact was that these lakes were the +source of the Beaver River. + +While we were paddling about we came upon two old and two young +loons. The old ones tried to lure us away from their young, by +coming very near the canoe. The young loons made frequent dives, +but we succeeded in catching one of them. Finally, however, we +restored it to its parents, and when the loon family was re-united +there was great rejoicing in the household. In the pool at the +foot of the last rapid we spent an hour fishing, and caught eighty- +one trout, averaging, perhaps, a half-pound each. Upon our return +to camp in the evening we dressed our catch and hung the fish to +dry over a slow, smoky fire. + +The river having come to an end, our only course now was to cross +the mountains, and on Friday (August 21), with "Michikamau or +Bust!" for our slogan, we began our portage along the stream that +flowed through the pass near our camp. A heavy rain was falling. +During the first part of the day, in the course of which we crossed +three small ponds, the travelling was fairly good; but during the +latter part it was exceedingly rough and difficult. We pitched our +tent that night on the divide; in other words, we had reached the +place where small streams flowed both east and west. + +The cold rain continued when we broke camp the next morning +(Saturday, August 22). For a time we again encountered rough work, +forcing a passage over rocks and through thick brush and scrambling +down high banks, and then, as we neared the end of the pass, the +portage became less difficult. Before noon we came upon a lake of +considerable size and unmistakable signs that in directing our +course through the pass we had kept upon the old Indian trail. On +the edge of the lake--we shall call it Lake Hope--trees had been +blazed to make plain the exact point where the portage trail left +the water, and near this place were sweat holes where the medicine +men had given baths to the sick. Much drift wood showing axe +cuttings was on the shore, and we picked up an old canoe paddle of +Indian make. All this led us to believe we were on waters +connected directly with Lake Michikamau (which was the fact), and +we thought that possibly we had reached a deep bay said to extend +from the main body of the lake some thirty miles in a southeasterly +direction. + +Where we launched our canoe the mountain pass was very narrow, and +on the southerly side, rising almost perpendicularly from the water +to a height of eight or nine hundred feet, stood a hill of +absolutely bare rock. The wind was blowing the rain in sheets over +its face, and, despite the wet and chill, we paused to enjoy the +grandeur of the scene. We had travelled about six miles through +the pass, and this hill marked its end; the mountain barrier that +at one time seemed so formidable had not proved so difficult to +cross after all. And in accomplishing the pass we had reached the +great interior plateau--the land that lay hidden behind the ranges. + +After we had paddled along Lake Hope a hundred yards, we struck a +sharp-pointed rock that tore a hole through the bottom of the +canoe. This accident forced us to take refuge on a near-by island +where George could repair the damage and procure gum from the +spruce trees to cover the patch. + +Sunshine came with Sunday morning (August 23), and we dried our +blankets and camp outfit before starting forward, so that it was +after ten o'clock when we quit the island. Lake Hope proved to be +long and narrow, and we soon realised that it could not be +Michikamau's southeast bay; but at the western end we hoped to find +a strait connecting it with another lake, and as we approached the +western end with a feeling of uncertainty as to what lay beyond, +George remarked: "It's like goin' into a room where there's a +Christmas tree." + +Sure enough there was a strait, and as we turned into it, we saw +beyond big water stretching away to the westward for miles. +"There's a Christmas tree without a doubt," said Hubbard. We felt +positive now that this second lake was Michikamau's southeast bay, +and we broke the solemn stillness of the wilderness with three +lusty cheers. It is violating no confidence to say here that the +second lake was not Michikamau's southeast bay; it was simply the +peculiarly-shaped body of water that appears on my map under the +name, Lost Trail Lake. + +Two and a half miles up Lost Trail Lake we climbed a barren ridge, +where we found blueberries, mossberries and bake-apple berries. +The latter berry is salmon-coloured, and grows on a plant +resembling that of the strawberry. The berry itself resembles in +form the raspberry, and has a flavour like that of a baked apple, +from which fact it derives its name. It ripens after the first +frost. The mossberry is small and black, resembling in shape and +size the blueberry, and is sweet and palatable after being touched +with frost. It is usually found on the moss clinging to rocks. On +the ridge it grew in abundance, and we ate a great many. The +blueberry of Labrador is similar to the blueberry of the United +States. + +Some distance beyond where we got the berries we went into camp. +Trolling on the way, we caught a namaycush (lake trout), the first +we had seen on the trip. In our camp on Lost Trail Lake we were +held all of Monday (August 24) by a gale that beat the water into a +fury. We took advantage of the opportunity to try our gill net, +sinking it on the lee shore, but it was so rotten it would not hold +a fish large enough to get fast in it, and we finally threw it away +as a useless encumbrance. + +In the course of the day Hubbard and climbed a hill not far away, +while I remained in camp to do some "chores." They found bake- +apple berries in abundance--the only spot we came across where they +grew in any great quantity--and had a good look at a lake we had +previously sighted two miles to the north. This lake was larger +than the one we were on, being about twenty-five miles long; it +was, in fact, the largest body of water by far that we had seen +since leaving Grand Lake. Its size impressed Hubbard with the +fatal belief that it, rather than Lost Trail Lake, was connected +with Michikamau, and to it he decided to go. Our experience there +led us to call it Lake Disappointment. + +We portaged into it on Tuesday morning (August 25). Our course was +over a neck of land which was mostly soft marsh partially covered +with spruce. We did not know then that in abandoning Lost Trail +Lake for Lake Disappointment we were wandering from the Indian +trail to Michikamau. Some Indians I met during the winter at +Northwest River Post told me that a river flowed out of the western +end of Lost Trail Lake into the very southeast bay of Lake +Michikamau we were longing so much to see. This was the trail. And +we lost it. + +We ate our luncheon on the southern shore of Lake Disappointment. +That afternoon and the next two days (August 26 and 27) we spent in +paddling about the lake in a vain search for a river. Thirty or +more miles a day we paddled, and found nothing but comparatively +small creeks. One of these we followed almost to its source, and +then returned to the lake again. We were living pretty well. +While we were on these lakes near the mountains we killed four +geese and one spruce-grouse, and caught about eighty half-pound +trout, two two-pound namaycush and a five-pound pike. + +The pike we got in this unsportsmanlike manner: We were fishing for +trout in a creek that emptied into Lake Disappointment in a +succession of falls, and found that while there were some above the +lower fall, none could be induced to rise where the creek at the +foot of the lower fall made an ideal pool for them. We were +lunching on a rock near this pool when Hubbard suddenly remarked: + +"There's only one reason why trout don't rise here." + +"What's that?" I asked. + +"Pike," he answered laconically, and left his luncheon to fasten a +trolling hook on his trout line. After he had fixed a piece of +cork to the line for a "bobber," he baited the hook with a small +live trout and dropped it into the pool. "Now we'll have a pike," +said he. + +Scarcely had he resumed his luncheon when the cork bobbed under, +and he grabbed his rod to find a big fish on the other end. He +played it around until it was near the shore, and as it arose to +the surface I put a pistol bullet through its head. Then Hubbard +hauled in the line, and he had our five-pound pike. + +There were two occasions when we felt particularly like feasting. +One was when we were progressing with a clear course ahead and were +happy, and the other was when we were not sure of the way and were +blue. That night we were blue; so we had a feast of goose and +pike. Hubbard planked the pike, and it was excellent. All of our +food was eaten now without salt, but we were getting used to its +absence. + +After our feast Hubbard astonished George and me by taking out a +new pipe I had brought along to trade with the Indians, and filling +it with the red willow bark George and I had been mixing with our +tobacco. We watched him curiously as be lighted it; for, with the +exception of a puff or two on a cigarette, he had never smoked +before. He finished the pipe without flinching. I asked him how +he liked it. + +"Pretty good," he said. Then after a pause he added: "And I'll +tell you what; if ever I start out again on another expedition of +this sort, I am going to learn to smoke; watching you fellows makes +me believe it must be a great comfort." + +George and I had been mixing red willow bark with our tobacco, +because our stock had become alarmingly low. In fact, it would +have been entirely gone had not Hubbard presented us with some +black plug chewing he had purchased at Rigolet to trade with the +Indians. The plugs, having been wet, had run together in one mass; +but we dried it out before the fire, and, mixed with the bark, it +was not so bad. Later on George and I took to drying out the tea +leaves and mixing them with the tobacco. + +On Wednesday morning (August 26) when we left camp to continue the +search for a river, we decided to leave the caribou skin behind us; +its odour had become most offensive, and in spite of our efforts to +keep out the flies they had filled it with blows and it was now +fairly crawling with maggots. On Thursday when we were passing the +same way, George gave a striking example of his prescience. He was +at the stern paddle, and turned the canoe to the place where we had +left the hide. + +"What are you stopping for?" asked Hubbard. + +"I thought I would get that caribou skin, wash it off, and take it +along," said George. + +"What in the world do you expect to do with it? + +"Well," answered George quietly, "we may want to eat it some day." + +Hubbard and I both laughed. Nevertheless Hubbard jumped out of the +canoe with George and helped him wash the skin, and we took it +along. And, as George predicted, the day came when we were glad we +did. + +It was on Thursday night that, disgusted and weary, we gave up the +search for a river. Our camp was on the north shore of Lake +Disappointment, down near the western end. Hubbard now expressed +the opinion that we should have to portage north or northwest +across country. His idea was that by proceeding north we should +eventually reach the river that Low had mapped as flowing from +Michikamau, the so-called Northwest. If we reached the latitude in +which the river was supposed to be and could not find it, Hubbard's +plan then called for our turning directly west. + +The situation that confronted us was serious. Hubbard had recently +had another attack of diarrhoea, and was weak. The patches we put +on our moccasins would last only a day or two, and we were +practically barefoot. Our rags were hanging in strips. Our +venison was going rapidly, and our flour was practically gone. To +portage across country meant that we should probably not have many +opportunities for fishing, as we should not have any stream to +follow. Getting game had proved uncertain. Even were we to face +towards home, we had not sufficient provisions to carry us half way +to Northwest River Post. + +That Thursday evening in camp we discussed the situation from all +sides. We knew that if we pressed on winter in all probability +would overtake us before we reached a post, but we decided that we +should fight our way on to Lake Michikamau and the George River. +There was no doubt about it, we were taking a long chance; +nevertheless, we refused to entertain the thought of turning back. +Daring starvation, we should on the morrow start overland and see +what lay beyond the hills to the northward. "Michikamau or Bust!" +was still our slogan. + + + + +IX. AND THERE WAS MICHIKAMAU! + +From the northwesterly end of Lake Disappointment we portaged on +Friday (August 28) across a neck of land to two small, shallow +lakes that lay to the northward, and in the teeth of a gale paddled +to the northern shore of the farther lake. There we went into camp +for the day in order that Hubbard might rest, as he was still weak +from the effects of his recent illness. We took advantage of the +opportunity to patch up our moccasins and clothing as best we +could, and held a long consultation, the outcome of which was, that +it was decided that for the present, at least, we should leave +behind us our canoe and the bulk of our camp equipment, including +the tent, and push on with light packs, consisting of one blanket +for each man, an axe, the two pistols, one rifle, and our stock of +food. + +Before us there apparently stretched miles of rough, rocky country. +Our equipment and stock of food at this time made up into four +packs of about 100 pounds each. The canoe, water-soaked and its +crevices filled with sand, must now have weighed nearly a hundred +pounds. It was a most awkward thing to carry over one's head when +the wind blew, and where there were rocks there was danger of the +carrier falling and breaking, not only the canoe, but his own +bones. This meant that if our entire outfit were taken along, +practically every bit of land we travelled would have to be covered +twice. In leaving the canoe behind, we, of course, should have to +take chances on meeting intervening lakes; but, once in the region +of northern Michikamau, there seemed a fair chance of our falling +in with Indians that would take us down the George River, and the +advantages of light travel were obvious with winter fast +approaching. + +The stock of food we had to carry would not weigh us down. The +dried venison had been reduced to a few pounds, so that we had to +eat of it sparingly and make our principal diet on boiled fish and +the water in which it was cooked. We had just a bit of flour, +enough to serve bread at rare intervals as a great dainty. Nothing +remained of our caribou tallow and marrow grease. It is true we +held in reserve the "emergency ration"; but this consisted only of +eighteen pounds of pea meal, a pint of rice, and a small piece of +bacon. This ration we had pledged ourselves to use only in case of +the direst necessity, should we be compelled to make a forced +retreat, and we felt we must not think of it at this time as food +on hand. + +In camp on Friday night I could see that Hubbard was worrying +considerably. Nervously active by habit, he found delay doubly +hard. The days we had spent on Lake Disappointment in a vain +search for a river had been particularly trying on his nerves, and +had left him a prey to many fears. The spectre of an early winter +in this sub-Arctic land began to haunt him constantly. The days +were slipping away and were becoming visibly shorter with each +sunset. If we could get to the Indians on the George, we should be +safe; for they would give us warm skins for clothing and replenish +our stock of food. But should we meet with more delays, and arrive +on the George too late for the caribou migration, and fail to find +the Indians, what then? Well, then, our fate would be sealed. +Hubbard was the leader of the expedition and he felt himself +responsible, not only for his own life, but, to a large extent, for +ours. It is little wonder, therefore, that he brooded over the +possibilities of calamity, but with youth, ambition, and the ardent +spirit that never will say die, he invariably fought off his fears, +and bent himself more determinedly than ever to achieve the purpose +for which he had set out. Frequently he confided his fears to me, +but was careful to conceal all traces of them from George. + +In light marching order we went out on Saturday morning (August +29), making rapid progress to the northward, through a thick growth +of small spruce timber and over a low ridge; but scarcely had we +gone a mile when we were compelled to halt. There in front of us +was a small lake extending east and west. It was not more than an +eighth of a mile across it, but a long distance around it. Back we +went for the canoe, and at the same time brought forward the whole +camp outfit. Again we tried light marching order, and again a lake +compelled us to go back for the canoe and outfit. And thus it was +all day: a stretch of a mile or so; then a long, narrow lake to +cross, until finally we were forced to admit that our plan of +proceeding with light packs and without the canoe was +impracticable. + +Hubbard was feeling stronger on Saturday evening, and we had a +pleasant camp. George made a big fire of tamarack, and we lay +before it on a couch of spruce boughs and ate tough boiled venison +and drank the broth; and, feeling we had made some progress, we +were happy, despite the fact that we were in the midst of a +trackless wilderness with our way to Michikamau and the Indians as +uncertain as ever. + +Sunday morning (August 30) broke superbly beautiful, and the day +continued clear and mild. We made an early start; for every hour +had become precious. While we were doing this cross-country work +without any streams to guide us, it was George's custom to go ahead +all the way from half a mile to two miles and blaze a trail, so +that when we were travelling back and forth bringing up the packs +and the canoe we might not go astray. In the course of the morning +we came to two small lakes, which we paddled over. + +We had believed that our goose chases were over; for these birds +now having grown their feathers, could fly, and were generally +beyond the reach of our pistols and the uncertain aim of a rifle at +anything on the wing. For two days we had heard them flying, and +now and then would see them high in the air. But while we were +crossing one of the small lakes this Sunday, five geese walked +gravely down the bank and into the water ahead of the canoe. One +of them we got with a pistol shot; the others flew away. In +another lake we reached late in the day we came upon five or six +ducks. They were not far away, but dived so frequently we were +unable to shoot them with pistol or rifle. A shotgun might have +enabled us to get nearly all the geese as well as the ducks and +other game we saw on the wing and in the water on other occasions. +We often expresseid the regret that we had no shotgun with us. At +one time Hubbard had intended that one should be taken, but later +decided that the ammunition would be too bulky. + +A low, semi-barren ridge running east and west lay just beyond the +small blue-green lake in which we saw the ducks towards evening. +About seven miles beyond the ridge to the north was a short range +of high, barren mountains that were perhaps a trifle lower than the +Kipling Mountains. Upon ascending the ridge we heard the rushing +of water on the other side, which sound proved to come from a small +fall on a stream expanding and stretching out, to the eastward in +long, narrow lakes. Apparently these lakes were the headquarters +of a small river flowing to the southeast, and in all probability +here was the source of the Red River, which, as I have described, +flows into the Nascaupee some fifteen or eighteen miles above Grand +Lake. + +The whole character of the country had now changed. It was very +rocky and steadily growing more barren. Ridges and hills extended +to the mountains on the north. Great boulders were piled in +confusion behind us and in front of us. Portaging over them had +been most difficult and dangerous. A misstep might have meant a +broken leg, and as it was, the skin had been pretty nearly all +knocked off of our shins from the instep to the knee. + +Below the fall we had discovered was a deep pool in which Hubbard +caught, with his emergency kit and a tamarack pole, twenty trout +averaging twelve inches in length. We camped near this pool. The +hard work of the day had brought on Hubbard another attack of his +old illness; apparently it was only by a great exertion of will- +power that he kept moving at all during the afternoon, and at night +he was very weak. Before supper he drank a cup of strong tea as a +stimulant, and was taken immediately with severe vomiting. + +Watching his suffering, the thought came to me whether, +disregarding all other considerations, I should not at this point +strongly insist on the party turning back. I was aware, however, +of the grim determination of the man to get his work done, and was +convinced of the uselessness of any attempt to sway him from his +purpose. Moreover, I myself was hopeful of our ability to reach +the caribou grounds; I felt sure that Hubbard's grit would carry +him through. Looking back now, I can see I should have at least +attempted to turn him back, but I am still convinced it would have +been useless. I thoroughly believe only one thing would have +turned the boy back at that time--force. + +After this vomiting ceased, Hubbard said he felt better, but he ate +sparingly of the boiled fish we had for supper. George and I also +felt a bit weak, and our stomachs were continually crying out for +bread or some other grain food. As we reclined before the fire, +Hubbard had George tell us of various Indian dishes he had +prepared. After he had entered into these gastronomic details with +great gusto, George suddenly said: + +"Wouldje believe it, fellus?--I once threw away a whole batch of +cookies." + +"No!" we both cried. + +"Fact," said George. + +"For Heaven's sake," said Hubbard, "why did you do it?" + +"Well," said George, "it was when I first went cookin' in a +surveyor's camp. The cookies wasn't as good as I thought they +ought to be, and I was so ashamed of 'em that I took the whole lot +out and buried 'em. Supposin'," added George, in an awed whisper, +"supposin' we had 'em now!" + +"Why what in the world would you do with them?" asked Hubbard. + +"Um!" grunted George. "Well, I guess we'd find a way to use 'em, +all right." + +The story of the buried cookies started us all to talking of +doughnuts, and cake, and pie, and Hubbard extolled the merits of +the chocolate served at one of the New York hotels. + +"Wallace," he at length asked, "do you like pig's knuckles?" + +"I like," I replied, "anything that can be eaten." + +"Well," confided Hubbard, "I know a place down on Park Row where +they serve the best pigs' knuckles you ever ate. I used to go +there for them when I was on the old Daily News. They cook them +just right, and serve a big plate of nice greasy cabbage or +sauerkraut with them, and a cup of pretty good coffee. We'll have +to go there some time when we get back." + +And until it was time to go to sleep Hubbard continued to talk of +the good dinners he had eaten when a child and of those his wife +had recently prepared at his Congers home. + +As he had decided that before proceeding farther we should know +something of the country that lay to the northward, Hubbard on +Monday morning (August 31) sent George on a scouting trip to the +short range of mountains just ahead. He and I planned to spend the +day catching and drying fish. For some reason the fish refused to +rise near the camp, and Hubbard, who was so weak he could hardly +stand, returned to lie down, while I went farther down the stream. +Towards luncheon-time I returned with only two or three small fish. +Hubbard was still resting in the tent, but soon after I had begun +to repair my fishing rod by the fire he came out and joined me. + +"Oh, how glad I'll be, Wallace," he said, "to get to Michikamau and +finish my work here and get home again! I've been wondering when +that will be. I'm afraid," he added slowly, "I've been a bit +homesick to-day." + +"We'll surely get there soon, old man," I said encouragingly, "and +when we do get there, we'll appreciate it more than ever. Just +think how it will be to eat good bread, and all we want of it." +"Yes," he said, "and then we'll be glad we came here, and can laugh +at the recollection of these terrible ridges, and the whole awful +country, and the hard times we've been through. I'm dead glad I +had just you two fellows come with me. If I'd had a single man +that growled about the grub and work, or wanted to quit, it would +have been hell. But we haven't had a growl or a word about +quitting or turning back." + +"There's no reason for quitting," said I. "And as for growling, +there's no call for it. We've done the best we could, and that's +enough to make any real man satisfied." + +"That's so," said Hubbard. "Take things as they come and make the +best of them--that's good philosophy. I was thinking that here it +is the last of August, and we don't know where we are; and it +bothered me some as I lay there in the tent. But we've done our +best and ought to be satisfied." + +In the afternoon I took my rod and went about three miles to the +westward, where I came upon an isolated pond with no apparent +outlet. Everywhere I could see the trout jumping, and by sundown +had as long a string of them as I could conveniently carry. It was +an hour after dark when I reached camp. George had returned, and +they were beginning to fear that I was lost. + +George had climbed the mountains, and he reported a fair line of +travel to the northwest, with a "long lake that looked like a +river," and, some distance northwest of that, "big water" and a +tolerably good route for portages. What he told us led Hubbard to +decide to continue on with the canoe and our entire outfit. George +brought back with him two grouse he had shot. + +The next morning (Tuesday, September 1) Hubbard was much better, +and we began September with a renewed effort. It was rough and +painful portaging over rocks and knolls. Every forty or fifty rods +we came upon deep ponds with water so clear we could see the +pebbles on the bottom. Between these ponds boulders were piled +indiscriminately. In directing our course to the northwest we +avoided the mountains that had lain just ahead. For two days we +pushed on among the boulders, then over a wide marsh and through a +heavy spruce growth, which brought us, on September 3d, to George's +"lake that looked like a river." Let us call it Mary Lake. + +Along Lake Mary we paddled, in the pouring rain that began that +day, some five miles to its western end; and there, near a creek +that flowed into it, we found the remains of an old Indian camp. +George looked the camp over critically and remarked: + +"The beggars killed two caribou, and they broke every bone up and +boiled out the last drop of grease." + +"What was it--a summer or a winter camp?" asked Hubbard. + +"A summer," said George. "And they'd been fishing, too. There's a +good fishing place--just try it!" + +We did try it, and we had a fairly good catch of large trout. For +supper we had a few of the trout boiled, together with the water, +with one spoonful of flour for each man stirred in. We ate the +fish entire, entrails, head, and all, and from that time on we let +no part of the fish we caught be thrown away. Everything now in +the way of food George divided carefully into three equal parts, +even the fish broth. By this time we had not enough flour on hand +to make more than half a dozen cakes of bread, and we continued to +use only a spoonful or two a day for each man, mixing it with game +or fish broth; in this way we hoped it would satisfy to some extent +our craving for grain, and last longer. + +As evening approached the sky cleared, and a big full moon tipped +the fir trees with silver and set Lake Mary to gleaming. The air +was filled with the perfume of the balsam and spruce, and it acted +as a tonic on our spirits and drove away the depression of the +day's work in the rain. Hubbard seemed to be as full of vim as +ever, and all of us were quite contented. + +Sitting on the couch of boughs, George looked up at the sky and +said: + +"There's a fine Indian story about that moon." + +Of course Hubbard and I begged that he tell it to us. + +"Well," said George, "it's a long story about a boy and girl that +lived together in a wigwam by a great water. Their father and +mother were dead, and the boy had learned to be a great hunter, +because he had to hunt for them both, though he was young. One day +he found a tree that was very high, and he climbed it, and told his +sister to climb it with him; and they climbed higher and higher, +and as they climbed, the tree grew taller and taller; and after a +while they reached the moon. And then the boy laid down to sleep, +and after a while he woke up with a bright light shinin' in his +face--it was the sun passin' 'long that way. The boy said he would +set a snare for the sun and catch it, and the next night he had his +snare set when the sun came 'long, and he caught the sun, and then +it was always bright on the moon. + +"There's a lot more to that story," added George, after a pause, +"and I'll tell it to you some time; but it's too long and too late +to tell it to-night." + +Unfortunately we never heard the continuation of the tale. George +often hinted at interesting folklore stories about the milky way +and different stars, and various other things in nature; but this +was the nearest approach to a story we ever wrung from him. + +From our last camp on Lake Disappointment to our camp at the +western end of Lake Mary we had travelled about twenty-five miles. +In leaving the latter camp on September 4th we inclined our course +directly west, to reach the "big water" George had seen from his +mountain. During the next four days we encountered bad weather. +As evening came on the sky would clear and remain clear until +morning, when the clouds and rain would reappear. On the 4th there +was sleet with the rain, and on the 6th we had our first snow, +which soon was washed away, however, by rain. + +Our progress on the 4th was along the edge of a marsh between two +low, wooded ridges, and then over the marsh and through several +ponds, upon the shore of one of which we camped early in order that +George might climb a hill, view the country and decide upon the +shortest and best route to the "big water." He reported it about +three miles ahead. + +It had been our rule to defer our bathing until the evening's chill +had quieted the flies, but now there was no need of that, as the +colder weather had practically killed them for the season. About +this time I noticed that Hubbard did not take his usual bath, and I +remarked: + +"The weather is getting pretty cold for bathing in the open, isn't +it?" + +"Yes," said Hubbard; "but I wouldn't let that stop me if I weren't +ashamed of my bones. To tell you the truth, Wallace, I'm like a +walking skeleton." + +It was true. We were all very thin, but our lack of food told upon +Hubbard's appearance the most, as he was naturally slender. + +The "big water" George thought was only three miles away proved to +be like the wisp of hay that is held before the donkey's nose to +lead him on. Day after day we floundered through swamps and +marshes, over rocky, barren hills, and through thick growths of +willows and alders, and at the end of the day's journey it would +apparently be as far off as ever. The explanation was that in the +rarefied atmosphere of interior Labrador distances are very +deceptive; when George reported that the "big water" was three +miles ahead it must have been fully fifteen. + +On the 5th, while crossing the barrens we came upon some +blueberries and after eating our fill we were able to gather enough +to supply each man with a big dish of them for supper. We were +working our way over some bluffs on the afternoon of the 6th, when +George, who was carrying the canoe, became separated from Hubbard +and me. The wind was blowing hard, and he had difficulty in +keeping the boat above his head. Suddenly I heard a call, and, +looking back, saw George running after me, empty-handed. Hubbard +did not hear the call, and went on. I dropped my pack, and waited +for George to come up. + +"You fellus better wait for me," he panted. "I can't manage the +canoe alone in the wind, and if we get separated, I might strike +the lake one place and you somewhere else. And," added George, +sententiously, "you fellus have got the grub." + +We shouted to Hubbard to wait, and when he answered, George and I +returned for the canoe. Hubbard, however, kept on, and George and +I carried the canoe ahead until we reached the thick woods into +which he had disappeared; then George went back for my pack. +Presently we heard Hubbard call from the depths of the woods, and a +little later the sound of an axe. + +As we learned later, he had dropped his pack, and was blazing a +trail towards us in order that he might find it again. He was as +nervous as George had been over his narrow escape from being +permanently separated from the rest of the party, and at a time +when such a happening would have had serious consequences for us +all. Under the best of circumstances, the prospect of being left +alone in the midst of that inhospitable wilderness was enough to +appal. + +On the 7th we reached a creek, and launched the canoe. Hubbard +went ahead to fish below the rapids in the creek while George and I +brought down the canoe and outfit, making several short portages. +That night we camped two miles down the stream. Hubbard had +caught, by hard work, thirty small trout, half of which we ate for +supper. + +We were still ravenously hungry after we finished the trout, but +the bag contained only one more meal of venison and we did not dare +draw on it. This, together with the difficulty we were having in +reaching the "big water," set Hubbard to worrying again. He was +especially anxious about the sufficiency of the material he had +gathered for a story, fearing that if he failed to reach the +caribou grounds there would not be enough to satisfy his +publishers. I told him I thought he already had enough for a +"bang-up" story. + +"Anyway," I said, "we'll reach the caribou grounds, and see the +Indians yet. George and I will go with you to the last ditch; you +can count on us to the finish." + +"All right," said Hubbard, evidently relieved. "If you boys aren't +sick of it, it's on to the caribou grounds, late or no late. But I +feel I've got you fellows in a tight place." + +"We came with our eyes open," I replied, "and it's not your fault." + +On the morning of September 8th, following our stream out to a +shoal, rocky bay, we reached the "big water" at last. It was the +great body of water that I have mapped out as Windbound Lake. +Forty miles we had portaged from Lake Disappointment. We were +practically out of food of any kind. Looking over the great +expanse of water stretching miles away to the westward, we wondered +what our new lake had in store for us of hope and success, of +failure and, despair. Would it lead us to Michikamau? If not, +what were we to do? + +On its farther shore, about twenty miles to the northwest, rose in +solemn majesty a great, grey mountain, holding its head high above +all the surrounding world. It shall be known as Mount Hubbard. To +this mountain we decided to paddle and view the country. +Instinctively we felt that Michikamau lay on the other side. We +launched our canoe after a light luncheon of trout and a small +ptarmigan George had shot. Once in the course of the afternoon we +stopped paddling to climb a low ridge near the shore and eat +cranberries, which we found in abundance on its barren top. From +the ridge we could see water among the hills in every direction. +In the large lake at our feet were numerous wooded islands. + +We camped at dusk on one of these islands, and on Wednesday, +September 9th, launched our canoe at daybreak, to resume our +journey to Mount Hubbard. We reached its base before ten o'clock. +Blueberries grew in abundance on the side of the mountain, which, +together with the country near it, had been burned. One of us, it +was decided, should remain behind to pick berries, while the others +climbed to the summit. I volunteered for the berrypicking, but I +shall always regret it was not possible for me to go along. + +Before Hubbard and George returned, I had our mixing basin filled +with berries, and the kettle half full. The day was clear, crisp +and delightful--one of those perfect days when the atmosphere is so +pure and transparent that minute objects can be distinguished for +miles. On the earth and on the water, not a thing of life was to +be seen. The lake, relieved here and there with green island- +spots; the cold rocks of distant mountains to the northeast; the +low, semi-barren ridges and hills that we had travelled over +bounding the lake to the eastward, and a ridge of green hills west +of the lake that extended southward from behind Mount Hubbard as +far as the eye could reach--all combined to complete a scene of +vast and solemn beauty; and I, alone on the mountain side picking +blueberries, felt an inexpressible sense of loneliness--felt myself +the only thing of life in all that boundless wilderness-world. + +From the moment Hubbard and George had left me, I had not seen or +heard them. But up the mountain they went through the burnt spruce +forest, up for four miles over rocks, up and up to the top; and +then to the westernmost side of the peak they went and looked-- +looked to the West; and there, only a few miles away, lay +Michikamau with its ninety-mile expanse of water--the lake we so +long had sought for and fought so desperately to reach. It was +there, just beyond the ridge I had seen extending to the southward. + + + + +X. PRISONERS OF THE WIND + +It was four o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun was getting low, +that I, near the base of the mountain and still industriously +picking berries, heard a shout from Hubbard and George at the canoe +on the shore of the lake below. I was anxious to hear the result +of their journey, and hurried down. + +"It's there! it's there!" shouted Hubbard, as I came within talking +distance. "Michikamau is there, just behind the ridge. We saw the +big water; we saw it!" + +In our great joy we fairly hugged each other, while George stood +apart with something of Indian stoicism, but with a broad grin, +nevertheless, expanding his good-natured features. We felt that +Windbound Lake must be directly connected with Michikamau, and that +we were now within easy reach of the caribou grounds and a land of +plenty. It is true that from the mountain top Hubbard and George +had been unable to trace out the connection, as Windbound Lake was +so studded with islands, and had so many narrow arms reaching out +in the various directions between low, thickly-wooded ridges, that +their view of the waters between them and Michikamau was more or +less obscured; but they had no doubt that the connection was there. + +"And," added Hubbard, after I had heard all about the great +discovery, "good things never come singly. Look there!" + +I looked where he pointed, and there on the rocks near George's +feet lay a pile of ptarmigans and one small rabbit. I picked them +up and counted them with nervous joy; there were nine--nine +ptarmigans, and the rabbit. + +"You see," said Hubbard reverently, "God always gives us food when +we are really in great need, and He'll carry us through that way; +in the wilderness He'll send us manna." On similar occasions in +the past Hubbard had made like remarks to this, and he continued to +make them on similar occasions in the future. Invariably they were +made with a simplicity that robbed them of all cant; they came from +the man's real nature. + +While George dressed three of the birds, Hubbard and I built a fire +on the rocks by the shore. Since early morning, when we had a +breakfast of thin soup made with three thin slices of bacon and +three spoonfuls of flour, we had had nothing to eat, and our hunger +was such, that while dinner was cooking, we each took the entrails +of a bird, wrapped them as George told us the Indians did, on the +end of a stick, broiled them over the fire and ate them greedily. +And when the ptarmigans were boiled what a glorious feast we had! +In using a bit of bacon for soup in the morning we had drawn for +the first time on our "emergency ration"--the situation seemed to +warrant it; nevertheless, we were as bent as ever on hoarding this +precious little stock of food. + +At five o'clock we paddled up the lake to the northeast, to begin +our search for the connection with Michikamau. Hubbard dropped a +troll as we proceeded, and caught two two-pound namaycush, which, +when we went into camp at dusk on a small island, George boiled +entire, putting into the pot just enough flour to give the water a +milky appearance. With this supper we had some of the blueberries +stewed, and Hubbard said they would have been the "real thing if we +only had a little sugar for them." + +All day on September 10th we continued our search for the +connection with Michikamau, finally directing our course to the +southwest where a mountain seemed to offer a view of the waters in +that direction. It was dark when we reached its base, and we went +into camp preparatory to climbing to the summit in the morning. We +had been somewhat delayed by wind squalls that made canoeing +dangerous, and before we made camp rain began to fall. We caught +no fish on the troll that day, but Hubbard shot a large spruce- +grouse. At our evening meal we ate the last of our ptarmigans and +rabbit. + +"George," said Hubbard, after we had eaten our supper, "you have a +few more of mother's dried apples there. How would it be to stew +them to-night, and stir in a little flour to thicken them? +Wouldn't they thicken up better if you were to cook them to-night +and let them stand until morning?" + +"Guess they would," replied George. "There ain't many of 'em here. +Shall I put them all to cook? + +"Yes," said Hubbard, "put them all to cook, and we'll eat them for +breakfast with that small trout Wallace caught and the two +ptarmigan entrails." + +In the morning (September llth) we drew lots for the trout, and +George won. So he took the fish, and Hubbard and I each an +entrail, and, with the last of the apples before us that Hubbard's +mother had dried, sat down to breakfast. + +"How well," said Hubbard, "I remember the tree on the old Michigan +farm from which these apples came! And now," he added, "I'm eating +the last of the fruit from it that I shall probably ever eat." + +"Why," said George, "don't you expect to get back to eat any more?" + +"That isn't it," replied Hubbard. "Father signed a contract for +the sale of the farm last spring, and they're to deliver the +property over to its new owners on the fifteenth of this month. +Father wanted me to come to the farm and run it, as he's too old to +do the work any longer; but I had other ambitions. I feel half +sorry now I didn't; for after all it's home to me, and always will +be wherever I go in the world. How often I've watched mother +gathering these apples to dry! And then, the apple butter! Did +you ever eat apple butter, boys?" + +George had not, but I had. + +"Well," continued Hubbard, "there was an old woman lived near us +who could make apple butter better than anybody else. Mother used +to have her come over one day each fall and make a big lot for us. +And, say, but wasn't it delicious! + +"I've told you, Wallace, about the maple sugaring on the farm, and +you had some of the syrup I brought from there when I visited +father and mother before I came away on this trip. We used to +bring to the house the very first syrup we made in the spring, +while it was hot--the first, you know, is always the best--and +mother would have a nice pan of red hot tea biscuits, and for tea +she'd serve the biscuits with cream and the hot new syrup. And +sometimes we'd mix honey with the syrup; for father was a great man +with bees; he kept a great many of them and had quantities of +honey. He had a special house where he kept his honey, and in +which was a machine to separate it from the comb when the comb was +not well filled. In the honey house on a table he always had a +plate with a pound comb of white clover honey, and spoons to eat it +with; and he invited every visitor to help himself. + +"Once, I remember, a neighbour called on father, and was duly taken +out to the honey house. He ate the whole pound. 'Will you have +some more?' asked father. 'Don't care if I do,' said the +neighbour. So father set out another pound comb, which the +neighbour proceeded to put out of sight with a facility fully equal +to that with which he demolished the first. 'Have some more,' said +father. 'Thanks,' said the neighbour, 'but maybe I've had enough.' +I used to wonder how the man ever did it, but I guess I myself +could make two pounds of honey disappear if I had it now." + +Hubbard poured some tea in the cup that had contained his share of +the apple sauce, and after carefully stirring into the tea the bit +of sauce that clung to the cup, he poured it all into the kettle in +which the sauce had been cooked and stirred it again that he might +get the last bit of the apples from the tree on that far-away +Michigan farm. Then he poured it all back into his cup and drank +it. + +"I believe it sweetened the tea just a little," he said, "and +that's the last of mother's sweet apples." + +Breakfast eaten, we had no dinner to look forward to. Of course +there was the "emergency ration," but we felt we must not draw on +that to any extent as yet. Hubbard was much depressed, perhaps +because of his reminiscences of home and perhaps because of our +desperate situation. We still had to find the way to Michikamau, +and the cold rain that fell this morning warned us that winter was +near. + +The look from the mountain top near our camp revealed nothing, +owing to the heavy mist and rain. Once more in the canoe, we +started southward close to the shore, to hunt for a rapid we had +heard roaring in the distance. Trolling by the way, we caught one +two-pound namaycush. The rapid proved to be really a fall where a +good-sized stream emptied into the lake. We had big hopes of +trout, but found the stream too shoal and rapid, with almost no +pools, and we caught only a dozen small ones. + +Towards evening we took a northwesterly course in the canoe in +search of the lake's outlet to Michikamau. While paddling we got a +seven-pound namaycush, which enabled us to eat that night. Our +camp was on a rock-bound island, partially covered with stunted +gnarled spruce and fir trees. The weather had cleared and the +heavens were bright with stars when we drew our canoe high upon the +boulder-strewn shore, clear of the breaking waves. The few small +trout we had caught we stowed away in the bow of the canoe, as they +were to be reserved for breakfast. + +Early in the morning (September 12th) we were awakened by a +northeast gale that threatened every moment to carry our tent from +its fastenings, and as we peered out through the flaps, rain and +snow dashed in our faces. The wind also was playing high jinks +with the lake; it was white with foam, and the waves, dashing +against the rocks on the shore, threw the spray high in the air. +Evidently there was no hope of launching the canoe that day, and +assuming indifference of the driving storm that threatened to +uncover us, we settled down for a much-needed morning sleep. At +ten o'clock George crawled out to build a fire in the lee of some +bushes and boil trout for a light breakfast. Soon he stuck his +head in the tent, and his face told us something had happened even +before he said: + +"Well, that's too bad." + +"What's too bad?" asked Hubbard anxiously. + +"Somebody's stole the trout we left in the canoe." + +"Who?" asked Hubbard and I together. + +"Otter or somebody--maybe a marten." (George always referred to +animals as persons.) + +We all went again to look and make sure the fish were not there +somewhere; but they were really gone, and we looked at one another +and laughed, and continued to make light of it as we ate a +breakfast of soup made of three little slices of bacon, with two or +three spoonfuls of flour and rice. + +We occupied the day in talking--visiting, Hubbard called it--and +mending. Hubbard made a handsome pair of moccasins, using an old +flour sack for the uppers and a pair of skin mittens for the feet. +George did some neat work on his moccasins and clothing, and I made +my trousers look quite respectable again, and ripped up one pair of +woollen socks to get yarn to darn the holes in another. Altogether +it was rather a pleasant day, even though Hubbard's display of his +beautiful new moccasins did savour of ostentation and thereby +excite much heartburning on the part of George and me. + +Our second day on the island was Sunday, September 13th. We awoke +to find that the wind, rain, and sleet were still with us. Our +breakfast was the same as all our meals of the previous day--thin +bacon soup. The morning we spent in reading from the Bible. +Hubbard read Philemon aloud and told us the story. I read aloud +from the Psalms. George, who received his religious training in a +mission of the Anglican Church on James Bay, listened to our +reading with reverent attention. + +Towards noon the storm began to moderate, and in a short stroll +about the island we found some blueberries and currants, which we +fell upon and devoured. At one o'clock the wind abated to such an +extent that we succeeded in leaving the island and reaching the +mainland to the northeast. The wind continuing to abate, we +paddled several miles in the afternoon looking in vain for the +outlet. In the course of our search we caught a namaycush, and +immediately put to shore to eat it. While it was being cooked we +picked nearly a gallon of cranberries on a sandy knoll. We camped +near this spot, and for supper had a pot of the cranberries stewed, +leaving enough for two more meals. + +For several days past now, when George and I were alone, he had +repeated to me stories of Indians that had starved to death, or had +barely escaped starvation, and a little later he spoke of these +things in Hubbard's presence. To me he would tell how weak he was +becoming, and how Indians would get weaker and weaker and then give +up to it and die. He also spoke of how he had heard the big +northern loons cry at night farther back on the trail, which cries, +he said, the Indians regarded as sure signs of coming calamity. +At the same time he was cheerful and courageous, never suggesting +such a thing as turning back. His state of mind was to me very +interesting. Apparently two natures were at war within him. One-- +the Indian--was haunted by superstitious fears; the other--the +white man--rejected these fears and invariably conquered them. In +other words, the Indian in him was panicky, but the white man held +him fast. And in seeing him master his superstitious nature, I +admired him the more. + +Until this time it had been Hubbard's custom to retire to his +blankets early, while George and I continued to toast our shins by +the fire and enjoy our evening pipe. Then George would turn in, +and I, while the embers died, would sit alone for an hour or so and +let my fancy form pictures in the coals or carry me back to other +days. In our Sunday night's camp on Windbound Lake, however, +Hubbard sat with me long after George was lost in sleep, and +together we talked of the home folks and exchanged confidences. + +I observed now a great change in Hubbard. Heretofore the work he +had to do had seemed almost wholly to occupy his thoughts. Now he +craved companionship, and he loved to sit with me and dwell on his +home and his wife, his mother and sister, and rehearse his early +struggles in the university and in New York City. Undoubtedly the +boy was beginning to suffer severely from homesickness--he was only +a young fellow, you know, with a gentle, affectionate nature that +gripped him tight to the persons and objects he loved. Our little +confidential talks grew to be quite the order of things, and often +as the days went by we confessed to each other that we looked +forward to them during all the weary work hours; they were the +bright spots in our dreary life. + +A tremendous gale with dashes of rain ushered in Monday morning, +September 14th. Again we were windbound, with nothing to do but +remain where we were and make the best of it. A little of our thin +soup had to serve for breakfast. Then we all slept till ten +o'clock, when Hubbard and I went out to the fire and George took a +stroll through the bush on the shore, in the hope of seeing +something to shoot. While I cleaned my rifle and pistol, Hubbard +and I chatted about good things to eat and the days of yore. + +"Well, Wallace," he said, "I suppose that father and mother are to- +day leaving the old farm forever, and that I never can call it home +again. I dreamed of it last night. Over fifty years ago father +cleared that land when he was a young man and that part of Michigan +was a wilderness. He made a great farm of it, and it has been his +home ever since. How I hate to think of them going away and +leaving it to strangers who don't love it or care more for it than +any other plot of ground where good crops can be raised! Daisy +[his sister] and I grew up together there, and I used to tell her +my ambitions, and she was always interested. Daisy gave me more +encouragement in my work than anyone else in the world. I'd never +have done half so well with my work if it hadn't been for Daisy." + +After a moment's silence, he continued: + +"That hickory cleaning rod for the rifle we lost on a portage on +the big river [the Beaver] father cut himself on the old farm and +shaped it and gave it to me. That's the reason I hated so to lose +it. If we go back that way, we must try to find it. Father wanted +to come with me on this trip; he wanted to take care of me. He +always thinks of me as a child; he's never quite realised I'm a +grown man. As old as he is, I believe he could have stood this +trip as well as I have. He was a forty-niner in California, you +know, and has spent a lot of his life in the bush." + +When George returned--empty-handed, alas!--we had our dinner. The +menu was not very extensive--it began with stewed cranberries and +ended there. The acid from the unsweetened berries made our mouths +sore, but, as George remarked, "it was a heap better than not +eatin' at all." + +Perhaps I should say here that these were the hungriest days of our +journey. What we suffered later on, the good Lord only knows; but +we never felt the food-craving, the hunger-pangs as now. In our +enforced idleness it was impossible for us to prevent our thoughts +from dwelling on things to eat, and this naturally accentuated our +craving. Then, again, as everyone that has had such an experience +knows, the pangs of hunger are mitigated after a certain period has +been passed. + +In the afternoon George and I took the pistols and ascended a low +ridge in the rear of the camp to look for ptarmigans. Soon George +exclaimed under his breath: + +"There's two! Get down low and don't let 'em see you; the wind +blows so they'll be mighty wild. I'll belly round to that bush +over there and take a shot." + +He crawled or wriggled along to the bush, which was the nearest +cover and about forty yards from the birds. With a dinner in +prospect, I watched him with keen anxiety. I could see him lying +low and carefully aiming his pistol. Suddenly, bang!--and one of +the birds fluttered straight up high in the air, trying desperately +to sustain itself; then fell into the brush on the hillside below. +At that George raised his head and gave a peculiar laugh--a laugh +of wild exultation--an Indian laugh. He was the Indian hunter +then. I never heard him laugh so again, nor saw him look quite as +he did at that moment. As the other bird flew away, he rose to his +feet and shouted: + +"I hit 'im!--did you see how he went? Now we'll find 'im." + +But we didn't. We beat the bushes high and low for an hour, and +finally in disappointment and disgust gave up the search. The bird +lay there dead somewhere, but we never found it, and we returned to +camp empty-handed and perhaps, through anticipation, hungrier than +ever. + +On Tuesday (September 15th) the high west wind had not abated, and +the occasional sleet-squalls continued. We were dreary and +disconsolate when we came out of the tent and huddled close to the +fire. For the first time Hubbard heard George tell his stories of +Indians that starved. And there we were still windbound and +helpless, with stomachs crying continually for food. And the +caribou migration was soon to begin, if it had not already begun, +and there seemed no prospect of the weather clearing. + +We made an inventory of the food we were hoarding for an emergency, +and found that in addition to about two pounds of flour, we had +eighteen pounds of pea meal, a little less than a pint of rice, and +a half a pound of bacon. George then told another story of Indians +that starved. At length he stopped talking, and we sat silent for +a long while, staring blankly at the blazing logs. + +Slowly the minutes crawled. In great gusts the wind swept down, +howling dismally among the trees and driving the sleet into our +faces. Still we sat cowering in silence when Hubbard arose, pushed +the loose ends of the partially burned sticks into the fire and +stood with his back to the blaze, apparently deep in thought. +Presently, turning slowly towards the lake, he walked down through +the intervening brush and stood alone on the sandy shore +contemplating the scene before him--the dull, lowering skies, the +ridges in the distance, the lake in its angry mood protesting +against his further advance, the low, wooded land that hid the gate +to Michikamau. + +Weather-beaten, haggard, gaunt and ragged, he stood there watching; +then seemed to be lost completely in thought, forgetful of the wind +and weather and dashing spray. Finally he turned about briskly, +and, with quick, nervous steps, pushed through the brush to the +fire, where George and I were still sitting in silence. Suddenly, +and without a word of introduction, he said: + +"Boys, what do you say to turning back?" + + + + +XI. WE GIVE IT UP + +For a moment I was dazed at the thought--the thought of turning +back without ever seeing the Indians or caribou hunt, and I could +not speak. George, however, soon found his tongue. He was still +willing to go on, if need be, and risk his life with us. + +"I came to go with you fellus," he said, "and I want to do what you +fellus do." + +"But," I said to Hubbard, "don't you think it will be easier to +reach the Indians on the George, or even the George River Post, +than Northwest River Post? We must surely be near the Indians; we +shall probably see the smoke of their wigwams when we reach +Michikamau. It is likely we shall find them camping on the big +lak--either Mountaineers or Nascaupee--and if we get to them +they'll surely help us." + +"Yes," answered Hubbard, "if we get to them they'll help us; but +these miserable westerly and northwesterly gales may keep us on +these waters indefinitely, or even on the shore of Michikamau at a +spot where we may not be able to launch our canoe or reach the +Indians for days, and that would be fatal. The caribou migration +is surely begun, and perhaps is over already, and there's no use in +going ahead." + +I saw his point and acquiesced. "I suppose it's best to turn back +as soon as the wind will let us," I said; "for it's likely to +subside only for a few hours at a time at this season, and perhaps +if we don't get out when we can, we may never get out at all. But +what does George say?" I asked, turning to our plucky companion. + +"Oh," said he, "I'd like to turn back, and I think it's safest; but +I'm goin' to stick to you fellus, and I'm goin' where you go." + +"Well," said Hubbard, "what's the vote?--shall we turn back or go +on?" + +"Turn back," said I. + +"Very well, then" he replied quietly; "that's settled." + +The decision reached, George's face brightened perceptibly, and I +must confess we all felt better; a great burden seemed to have been +lifted from our shoulders. It had required courage for Hubbard to +acknowledge himself defeated in his purpose, but the acknowledgment +once made, we thought of only one thing--how to reach home most +quickly. Hubbard was now satisfied that the record of our +adventures would make a "bully story," even without the material he +had hoped to gather on the George, and his mind being easy on that +point, he discussed with animation plans for the homeward trip. + +"We'll have to catch some fish here," he said, "to take us over the +long portage to Lake Disappointment. We ought to be able to dry a +good bit of namaycush, and on the way we'll probably have a good +catch of trout at the long lake [Lake Mary], and another good catch +where I used the tamarack pole. And then when we get to Lake +Disappointment we ought to get more namaycush." + +"Yes," said I; "and the berries should help us some." + +"What do you think the chances of getting caribou are?" Hubbard +asked George. + +"We saw some comin' up," replied George, "and there ought to be +more now; I guess we'll find 'em." + +"If we kill some caribou," continued Hubbard, "I think we'd better +turn to and build a log shack, cure the meat, make toboggans and +snowshoes, wait for things to freeze up, and then push on to the +post over the snow and ice. We can get some dogs at the post, and +we'll be in good shape to push right on without delay to the St. +Lawrence. It'll make a bully trip, and we'll have lots of grub. +What would we need to get at the post, George?" + +"Well," said George, "we'd need plenty of flour, pork, lard, beans, +sugar, tea, and bakin' powder; and we might take some condensed +milk, raisins, currants, rice, and molasses, and I'd make somethin' +good sometimes." + +"That's a good idea," said Hubbard, whose mouth was evidently +watering even as mine was. "And we might take some butter, too. +And how would oatmeal go for porridge?--don't you think that would +be bully on a cold morning?" + +"Yes," assented George; "we could eat molasses on it, or thin up +the condensed milk." + +"We shall probably have caribou meat that we can take along +frozen," Hubbard went on. "Frozen caribou meat is bully; it's +better than when it's fresh killed. Did you ever eat any, +Wallace?" + +"No," said I; "the only caribou meat I've ever eaten was what we've +had here." + +"Then," said Hubbard, "there's a rare treat in store for you. The +first I ever ate was on my Lake St. John trip. The Indian I had +with me used to chop off pieces of frozen caribou with an axe, and +fry it with lard, and we'd just drink down the grease. It was +fine." + +"It's great," said George. + +"Well," said Hubbard, coming back to the present, I'm dead glad +we've decided to strike for the post. If this wind will ever let +up, we must get at it and catch some fish. I lay awake most of +last night thinking it all over and planning it all." + +"I was awake most of the time, too," said George; "my feet were +mighty cold." + +There was no fishing on the day we decided to turn back, as the +wind confined us to camp, and all we had to eat was rice and bacon +soup; but our anticipations of home to some extent overcame the +clamour of our stomachs, and we passed the time chatting about the +things we intended to do when we regained "God's country." + +"I'm going to take a vacation," said Hubbard. "I'll visit father +and mother, if they're in the east, and sister Daisy, and maybe go +to Canada with my wife and stay a little while with her people. +What will you do, boys?" + +I told of my plans to visit various relatives, and then George +described a trip he was going to make to visit a sister whom he had +not seen since he was a little boy, closing the description with a +vivid account of the good things he would have to eat, and what he +would cook himself. It was always so--no matter what our +conversation was about, it sooner or later developed into a +discussion of gastronomy. + +In the evening Hubbard had me make out a list of the restaurants we +intended to visit when we got back to New York and take George to. +I have the list yet, but since my return I have never had the heart +to go near any of the places it mentions. From the talk about +restaurants Hubbard suddenly turned to lumber camps, asking George +and me if we had ever visited one. We replied that we had not, and +wondered what had brought lumber camps into his mind. We soon +learned. + +"You've missed something," he said. "We'll make it a point to call +at Sandy Calder's camp when we go back, and make him give us a feed +of pork and beans and molasses to sop our bread in. They're sure +to have them." + +"Do they have cake and pie?" asked George. + +"Yes, in unlimited quantities; and doughnuts, too--at least they +used to in the Michigan lumber camps I've visited." + +"That sounds good," I remarked--"the pork and beans and molasses, +best of all. When I was a boy I was fond of bread and molasses-- +good, black molasses--but I haven't eaten any since. I'd like to +have a chance at some now." + +"So should I," said Hubbard; "I'd just roll my bread in it +lumberjack fashion." + +"Do they have gingerbread in the camps?" asked George. + +"Yes," said Hubbard; "gingerbread is always on the table." + +"How do they make it? + +"Well, I don't just know; but I'll tell you what, George--if you +want to know, I'll ask Mrs. Hubbard to show you when we get home, +and I know she'll be delighted to do it. She's the best cook I +ever knew." + +"Do you think she would mind?" + +"Oh, no; she'd be very glad to do it. You must stop at our house +for a while before you go back to Missanabie, and she will teach +you to cook a good many things." + +And so our conversation continued until we turned to our blankets +and sought the luxury of sleep, I to dream I was revelling in a +stack of gingerbread as high as a house that my sisters had baked +to welcome me home. + +To our ever-increasing dismay, the northwest gale continued to blow +almost unceasingly during the next few days. Sometimes towards +evening the wind would moderate sufficiently to permit us to troll +with difficulty along the lee shore of an island, but seldom were +we rewarded with more than a single namaycush, and so far from our +getting enough fish to carry us over our long portage to Lake +Disappointment, we did not catch enough for our daily needs, and +were compelled to draw on our little store of emergency provisions. +On Wednesday (September 16th) we ate the last bit of bacon and the +last handful of rice we had so carefully hoarded. We succeeded +that day in reaching the rapid where we caught the few trout that +some animal stole from us, and there we camped. From this point we +believed we could more readily gain the bay where we had entered +the lake, and begin our retreat when the wind subsided. + +The Canada jay, a carrion bird about the size Of a robin that is +generally known through the north as the "whiskey jack," had always +hovered about our camps and been very tame when, in the earlier +days of our trip, we had refuse to throw away; but now these birds +called at us from a greater distance, seeming to know we were +looking at them with greedy eyes. George told us that their flesh +had saved many an Indian from starvation, and that the Indians +looked upon them with a certain veneration and would kill them only +in case of the direst need. Our compunctions against eating +carrion birds had entirely disappeared, and the course of the +whiskey jacks in holding aloof from camp when they were most needed +used to make George furious. + +"See the blamed beggars!" he would ejaculate. "Just look at 'em! +We've been feedin' 'em right long, and now when it's their turn to +feed us, look at 'em go!" + +On Thursday (September 17th) George got his revenge. Stealthily he +crept upon a whiskey jack in the bush and shot it with a pistol. +"They're pretty tough," he said, upon returning with his prize to +camp, "and will take a long time to cook." We did not care for +that; we ate that bird, bones and all, stewed in a big pot of water +with two or three spoonfuls of flour and an equal amount of pea +meal. + +That was our breakfast. We had no luncheon; for although we spent +the entire day trolling up and down the lee shore, it was not until +evening that we caught any fish. The wind was icy and set us all +a-shiver, our hands were benumbed by the cold water, and we were +just beginning to despair when we landed a two-pound namaycush, and +a little later a five-pounder. Then, wet to the skin and chilled +to the bone, we paddled back to camp, to cheer ourselves up with a +good fire and a supper of one-third of the larger fish, a dish of +stewed sour cranberries and plenty of hot tea. + +"I feel more satisfied every time I think of our decision to turn +back," said Hubbard, as, with supper eaten, we reclined comfortably +before the fire. "I had a pretty hard night of it though, on +Monday; for I hated to turn back without seeing the Indians." + +"I was awake thinkin' about it, too," said George. "I told you +about havin' cold feet, and that they kept me awake." He paused, +and we felt that something was coming. At length out it came: +"Well, they did, but that wind out in the lake kept me awake more +than the cold feet. I knew that wind was makin' the huntin' good +down the bay, the game was comin' down there now, and the young +fellus I used to hunt with had been wishin' for this very wind that +was keepin' us here, and they were glad to see it, and were out +shootin' waveys [a species of wild goose]; and here we boys was, up +against it for sure." + +Hubbard and I had to laugh at George's confession, and we joked him +a little about being homesick. + +"Well," said Hubbard, "we'll soon get away now; this wind must let +up some time. Talking about the bay reminds me that I want to +arrange for a trip to Hudson's Bay next summer. I want a nice, +easy trip that I can take Mrs. Hubbard on. I'd like to go up early +and return in the fall, and maybe get some wavey shooting. Could +you get one or two good men besides yourself to go with us, +George?" + +George said he thought he could, and after Hubbard had invited me +to make one of the party, they went into minute details as to the +food they would take with them, planning an elaborate culinary +outfit. + +Just before George went to bed, Hubbard and I, using the trees that +stood close to the fire for a support, stretched a tarpaulin over +our heads, to shelter us from the rain and sleet. Beyond the +circle of our bright-blazing fire the darkness was profound. As +the wind in great blasts swept over the tops of the trees, its +voice was raised to piercing shrieks that gradually died away into +low moans. We thought of the vast wilderness lying all about us +under the pall of a moonless and starless night. Where had all the +people in the world gone to, anyway? + +But, sitting there on our couch of boughs beneath the tarpaulin, in +the grateful warmth of the high-leaping flames, we found it very +cosey. And we talked of the places and persons that were somewhere +beyond the solitudes. + +"You don't mind sitting here for a while and chatting, do you, +b'y?" said Hubbard. "It's very cold and shivery in the tent." +"B'y" was a word we had picked up from the Newfoundland fishermen, +who habitually use it in addressing one another, be the person +addressed old or young. At first Hubbard and I called each other +"b'y" in jest, but gradually it became with us a term almost of +endearment. + +"No, b'y," I answered; "I would much rather be out here with you +than in the tent." + +"I was thinking," said Hubbard, "of how I loved, in the evening +after dinner last winter, to sit before the wood fire in our grate +at Congers, and watch the blaze with Mina [Mrs. Hubbard] near me. +What a feeling of quiet, and peace, and contentment, would come to +me then!--I'd forget all about the grind at the office and the +worries of the day. That's real happiness, Wallace--a good wife +and a cheerful fireside. What does glory and all that amount to, +after all? I've let my work and my ambition bother me too much. +I've hardly taken time for my meals. In the morning I'd hurry +through breakfast and run for my train. I haven't given my wife +and my home the attention they deserve. That wife of mine, +Wallace, deserves a great deal of attention. She's always thinking +of my comfort, and doing things to please me, and cooking things I +like. But I must be boring you with all this talk about my own +affairs." + +"No, b'y," I said; "I like to hear about them. I've always been +interested in witnessing how happy you and your wife have been +together." + +"She's been a good wife to me, Wallace; and as time has gone on +since our marriage we've grown closer and closer together." + +I see you're like every other man that gets a good wife--you've +found the real key to the house of a man's happiness." + +"That's so. A single man, or a man with an uncongenial wife whom +he doesn't love and who doesn't love him, may be as rich as +Croesus, and gain all the honours in the world, and he won't +possess an atom of the happiness of a poor man congenially married. +Did I ever tell you about the day I was married?--the trouble I +had?" + +"I don't remember that you did. Although I suspected something +unusual on foot, I didn't hear of your, marriage until after the +deed was done. You didn't take me into your confidence, you know." + +"That was because we had never camped together then, b'y. If we +had camped together, I'd have told you all about it. Mina and I +had not intended to get married so soon. We were to have been +married in the spring, but that January I received an assignment +for a trip through the South, and I knew it would keep me away +until after our wedding date. I didn't want to postpone the +wedding, so I decided, if I could get Mina's consent, to make my +trip our honeymoon. She was at her parents' home in Canada, and +there was no time to lose, and I telegraphed asking her to come on +at once and get married. She was a brick and consented, and then I +was in such a nervous state of anticipation I was afraid the folks +where I was stopping would discover something was up, so the day +before I expected Mina to arrive I ran over to Jersey to spend the +night with my old friend Dr. Shepard, the minister. + +"Well, Mina's train was due at the Grand Central Station early in +the morning, and I had to catch a train from Jersey a little after +five o'clock to meet her. I was afraid I'd oversleep, and I kept +awake nearly all night. Long before the train was due I was down +at the station and took a seat in the waiting room. And what do +you suppose I did?" + +"What?" said I. + +"Why," said Hubbard, with a cheerful grin, "I fell to thinking so +hard about what was going to happen that I sat there in the station +and let the train I was so afraid to lose come and go without ever +hearing it." + +Under the sleet-covered tarpaulin, there in the interior of +Labrador, Hubbard and I laughed heartily. + +"And was the bride-elect kept waiting?" I asked. + +"No," said Hubbard; "I hustled over a couple of miles to another +line and got a train there, and as Mina fortunately didn't arrive +as early as expected, I was in time." + +The fire had died down and the darkness was beginning to close in +upon us. I arose to renew the fire, and when the logs had begun to +blaze again, and I had resumed my seat, I saw that the drawn and +haggard look had returned to Hubbard's face, and that he was +staring wistfully out over the fire into the impenetrable gloom. + +"What is it, b'y?" I said. + +"That was a great trip, Wallace--that southern trip. I want to +visit some of the places again with Mina and live over our +honeymoon. And," he went on--"yes, I want some more of the good +southern cooking. You ought to eat their cornbread, Wallace! -- +there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world. They cook corn +meal in a dozen ways, from corn pone to really delicate dishes. +And they know how to cook chickens, too. Their chickens and yams +and cornbread are great. It makes my mouth water to think of even +the meals I've eaten in the mountaineers' cabins--wild hog, good +and greasy; wild honey, hoecake, and strong black coffee. When I +get home I'm going to experiment in camp with cooking corn meal, +and I've got an idea that a young sucking pig roasted before the +fire like George roasted the goose would be great." + +There we were, plunged once more into a discussion about food, and +it was after midnight when the talk about roasting pigs, and +stuffing pigs, and baking this, and baking that, came to an end. +Even then Hubbard was loath to seek the tent, it was so "cold and +shivery"; but he expressed himself as being fairly comfortable when +he had followed my example and toasted himself thoroughly before +the fire immediately before turning in with a pair of socks on his +feet that had been hung up to warm. + +On Friday (September 18th) a fierce northwest gale again kept us on +the lee shore, and all we got on the troll was a three-quarter- +pound namaycush. Hubbard and I also fished conscientiously at the +rapid near which we were still camping, and our combined efforts +yielded us only two eight-inch trout and a twenty-inch trout. +Trying as we were to get fish ahead for our long portage, it was +most depressing. + +Despite the steady gnaw, gnaw at the pit of our stomachs, we had +cut down our meals to the minimum amount of food that would keep us +alive; we were so weak we no longer were sure where our feet were +going to when we put them down. But all the fish we had to smoke +was two or three. And on Friday night we ate the last bit of our +flour; it was used to thicken the water in which we boiled for +supper some entrails, a namaycush head and the two little trout we +had caught during the day. + +All that night the northwest gale was accompanied by gusts of rain +and snow. On Saturday (September 19th) the mercury dropped to 32 +degrees, and the air was raw. Not a single fish were we able to +catch. George and I smoked a pipe for breakfast, while Hubbard +imbibed the atmosphere. A bit of the smoked fish we had hoped to +keep, boiled with a dash of pea meal in the water, did us for +luncheon and supper. + +Heretofore we had slept each rolled in his own blanket, but it was +so cold in the tent that night we had to make a common bed by +spreading one blanket beneath us on a tarpaulin and lying spoon- +fashion with the other two blankets drawn over us. The blankets +were decidedly narrow for three men to get under, and it was +necessary for us to lie very close together indeed; but our new +method enabled us to keep fairly warm and we continued its use. + +On Sunday (September 20th) the temperature dropped to 29 and the +squalls continued. In desperation we broke camp in the morning and +tried to cross the lake with our outfit, but the wind soon drove us +back to shelter. While we were out on the lake we caught a +namaycush on the troll, and this fish we had for luncheon, together +with some cranberries we found on a ridge near where we had taken +refuge on the shore. A little later I was attacked with vomiting +and faintness. When I tried to swing an axe, I reeled and all but +lost consciousness. + +Late in the afternoon the squalls subsided, and we made another +attempt to escape from the prison in which we were slowly starving. +Fortunately the wind continued fair and there were no cross-seas; +and on and on we paddled in the direction of--home! Oh, the great +relief of it! For nearly two weeks we had been held on that +dreadful lake. Day after day the relentless storm had raged, while +hunger leered at us and tormented us with its insistent clamour as +we, with soaked rags and shivering bodies, strove vainly to prevent +the little stock of food from diminishing that we felt was our only +hold on life. And now we were going home! + +Darkness had long since fallen when we reached an island near the +point where we had entered the lake. In a driving rain we pitched +our camp. For supper we had the last of the little stock of fish +that we had been able to dry. This meant that, in addition to our +stock of tea, the only food we had left on hand was sixteen pounds +of pea meal. But we did not worry. We were going home. And on +Monday morning, September 2lst, though the wind was again blowing a +gale, and the passage among the spray-covered rocks was filled with +risk, we paddled over to the mainland, ready to begin our race for +life down the trail we had fought so hard to ascend. + + + + +XII. THE BEGINNING OF THE RETREAT + +Upon reaching the mainland we stopped to assort and dry our +baggage. All of us felt we had entered upon a race against +starvation, and everything that was not strictly necessary to aid +our progress to Northwest River Post we threw away. In addition to +many odds and ends of clothing we abandoned about three pounds of +tea. Tea was the one thing of which we had carried an abundance, +and though we had used it freely, we had more than we deemed +necessary to carry us through. + +While we were nearing the shore, we sighted three little ducklings +bobbing up and down in the tumbling waves and repeatedly diving. +They were too far off to reach with a pistol, and Hubbard took his +rifle. It seemed almost like attacking a fly with a cannon, but +with our thoughts on grub, none of us was impressed with its +incongruity then. After Hubbard had fired two or three shots, one +of the ducklings suddenly turned over. We paddled to it with +feverish haste, and found that it had been stunned by a bal + +that had barely grazed its bill. It was a lucky shot; for if the +bullet had gone through the duckling's body there would have been +little left of it to eat. + +While George and I were drying the camp equipment, Hubbard caught +five small trout in the stream that emptied into the lake at this +point--the stream we had followed down. These fish we ate for +luncheon. Once more ready to start, we pushed up the stream to the +place where we had last camped before reaching the lake, and there +we again pitched our tent. For supper we made soup of the +duckling. It was almost like coming home to reach this old camping +ground, and it cheered us considerably. The first day of the +forty-mile portage we had to make before reaching fairly continuous +water had been, as a whole, depressing. Rain, accompanied by a +cold wind, began to fall early in the afternoon. The weather was +so cold, in fact, that the trout would not rise after we caught the +five near the lake, and this made us uneasy as to how the fishing +would prove farther down the trail. The day's journey, moreover, +had made it clear, in spite of our efforts to hide the fact from +one another, that we were much weaker than when we last had made +portages. We had reached the stage where none of us could carry +the canoe alone. Decidedly we were not the same men that had set +out so blithely from the post eight weeks before. As for myself, I +had shortened my belt thirteen inches since July 15th. + +It became the custom now for George and me to go ahead with the +canoe for a mile or so while Hubbard brought forward in turn each +of the three packs for about an eighth of a mile. Then George and +I would return to him, and, each taking a pack, we would advance to +the place where the canoe had been left. Sometimes, however, this +routine was varied, Hubbard now and then helping George with the +canoe while I juggled with the packs until they returned to me. +Despite the fact that we had fewer as well as lighter packs to +carry than on the up trail, our progress was slower because of our +increasing weakness. Whereas it had taken us three days on the up +trail to portage the fifteen miles between Lake Mary and Windbound +Lake, it now took us five days to cover the same ground. + +On Tuesday, the 22d, the second day of our portage, it rained all +the time, and for the greater part of the day we floundered through +marshes and swamps. We caught no fish and killed no game. Hubbard +tried to stalk a goose in a swamp, wading above his knees in mud +and water to get a shot; but he finally had to fire at such long +range that he missed, and the bird flew away, to our great +disappointment. Our day's food consisted of half a pound of pea +meal for each man. During the day Hubbard had an attack of +vomiting, and at night, when we reached our second camping ground +above the lake, we were all miserable and thoroughly soaked, though +still buoyed up by the knowledge that we were going home. + +The cold rain continued on the 23d until late in the day, when the +sky cleared and evening set in cold and crisp. That day I was +attacked with vomiting. Our food was the same as on the day +previous, with the addition of some mossberries and cranberries we +found on the barren ridge over which we crossed. It was another +day of hard portaging on stomachs crying for food, and when we +pitched our camp we were so exhausted that we staggered like +drunken men. Silent and depressed, we took our places on the seat +of boughs that George had prepared by the roaring fire; but after +we had eaten our meagre supper and drunk our tea, and our clothes +had begun to dry in the genial glow, we found our tongues again; +and, half forgetting that, starving and desperate, we were still in +the midst of the wilderness, far from human help, we once more +talked of the homes that were calling to us over the dreary wastes; +talked of the dear people that would welcome us back and of the +good things they would give us to eat; talked until far into the +night, dreading to go to the cold tent and the wet blankets. + +We awoke on the morning of the 24th to find six inches of snow on +the ground and the storm still raging, with the temperature down to +28. Soon after we began plodding through the snow on a pea-soup +breakfast, George left us to hunt geese. The night before he had +told Hubbard he would kill a goose in the morning, if he were +permitted to go on with a rifle. He had heard the geese flying, +and believed they had alighted for the night in a small lake some +distance ahead. The knowledge that he was a famous goose hunter +"down the bay" made his confidence impressive; still we were +doubtful about his succeeding in his quest; for the geese had been +so hard to approach of late we were beginning to fear we should +never shoot any more. For half an hour after George had taken his +pack and a rifle and gone on, Hubbard and I slowly followed his +trail through the snow. Then in the distance we heard a "Bang!" +and after a short interval, "Bang!--Bang!"--three shots in all. + +"He's seen them," said Hubbard. + +"And shot one," said I. + +"I'm not so sure of that," returned Hubbard; "I'm afraid they flew +and he tried to wing them, and if that's the case the chances are +against him." + +Presently we came upon George's pack near the western end of the +little lake, and we stopped and anxiously waited for him to appear. +In a few moments he came. + +"You can kick me," he began with apparent disgust; then, observing +the look of keen disappointment upon Hubbard's haggard face, he +quickly changed his tone. "That's all right, fellus," he said; "I +got a goose. I saw 'em out there fifty yards from shore, and I +bellied along through the brush as close as I dared, and fired and +knocked one over. Then the others flew out about two hundred yards +farther, and I thought I'd chance another shot; for if I didn't try +I wouldn't get another, and if I did I might knock one over. So I +shot again and did get another. Then the rest of the flock rose +up, and I tried to wing one, but missed, and they've gone now. But +there's two dead ones out in the lake." + +Joy?--the word fails to express our feeling. George and I hurried +back for the canoe, and when we paddled out, there, sure enough, +were the two geese, one dead and the other helpless with a broken +wing. George ended the life of the wounded goose with a pistol, +and we paddled back to our packs and built a big fire in the lee of +a thick clump of trees. The snow had turned into a fierce, driving +rain, but that did not bother us. To dress the geese did not take +long. We put the giblets and entrails to boil immediately, and, to +quiet our impatience while waiting for them to cook, George cut +from the necks a piece of skin and fat for each of us. These we +warmed on the end of a stick, taking great care not to heat them +enough to permit a single drop of the oil to escape from the fat; +then, half raw as they were, we ate them down greedily and found +them delicious. It was really wonderful how much happiness that +bit of game brought us. As we were eating the giblets and entrails +and drinking the broth, we freely admitted that never before had we +sat down to such a banquet. + +"And," remarked Hubbard, "just think how original is our menu. +I'll bet there isn't a menu in New York that contains boiled goose +entrails." + +On the 25th the fierce northwest gale still blew, and the air was +again filled with snow. But still we pushed onward. Let the wind +blow, and the snow and rain come as they liked, they could not stop +us--we were going home. We portaged this day to another of our old +camps by a small lake. On the evening before we had eaten the +wings and feet of the geese boiled. For breakfast we had half a +goose, for luncheon we had pea soup, and at night we had the other +half of the goose left over from the morning. We scorched the +bones in the fire and ate even them. These meals did not begin to +satisfy our appetites, but they were sufficient to give us a little +new life. + +While we were sitting around the fire Hubbard wished me to promise +to spend Thanksgiving Day with him that year--if we reached home in +time. For two years I had spent the day at his home, and +Thanksgiving, he said, must be our reunion day always. No matter +what happened, we must always make a special effort to spend that +day together in the years to come. We must never drift apart. We +were brothers, comrades--more than brothers. We had endured the +greatest hardships together, had fought our way through that awful +country together, had starved together; and never had there been +misunderstanding, never a word of dissension. + +From this time on we talked less about what we should eat when we +reached civilisation. True, we would sometimes lapse into +restaurant and home-dinner talks, but we fought against it as much +as possible, realising that to permit our thoughts to dwell on good +things to eat accentuated our distress. Gradually we talked more +and more of childhoods days, and incidents, long forgotten, came +vividly before us. It was a psychological phenomenon I cannot +account for; but it was the case with all of us--Hubbard, George, +and myself. + +During these trying times we had one never-failing source of +amusement, which, because it was the only one, was all the more +valued and taken advantage of. I refer to our appearance. George +had shaved once since we had gone into the country, but neither +Hubbard nor I had known the caress of a razor since we left the +post on July 15th. None of us had felt the loving touch of the +scissors upon his hair since leaving New York in June, and our +heads were shaggy masses of more or less dishevelled and tangled +locks. Long-continued exposure to sun and storm and the smoke of +campfires had covered our faces with a deep coat of brown. Our +eyes were sunken deep into their sockets. Our lips were drawn to +thin lines over our teeth. The skin of our faces and hands was +stretched tight over the bones. We were almost as thin, and almost +the colour of the mummies one sees in museums. + +As for our clothing, it was still hanging upon us, and that is +about all that can be said of it. Our trousers, full of rents, +were tied together with pieces of fish line. The bottoms of our +moccasins were so hopelessly gone that we had our feet wrapped in +rags, with pieces of fishline tied around what remained of the +uppers. Our flannel shirts were full of rents. Around our necks +we wore red bandanna handkerchiefs. Our soft felt hats had become +shapeless things so full of rents that if it were not for the +bandanna handkerchiefs we wore in them our hair would have +protruded at every point. + +Frequently we would picture ourselves walking into our homes or +through the streets of New York as we then were, and laugh at the +thought. "Wallace," Hubbard would say, "the cops wouldn't let you +walk a block; they'd run you in sure. You're the most +disreputable-looking individual I ever saw, by long odds." And I +would retort: "I'd make a good second to you; for you're the worst +that ever happened." + +It was on Saturday morning, the 26th, that we reached the western +end of Lake Mary and completed fifteen miles of our forty-mile +portage. We pitched our tent, as we had done before, on the site +of the old Indian camp, near the brook George had pointed out as a +good fishing place. The rain and wind continued in the morning, +but at midday the sun came out and we were able to dry our +blankets. Always we waited for the sun to dry the blankets; for we +had had so many articles of clothing burned while hanging before +the fire we did not dare to trust the blankets near it. + +While we were following our old trail to the lake, Hubbard +decapitated a duck with a rifle bullet, and we went into camp with +high hopes of more food in the way of fish. Hubbard's rod was +hopelessly broken, so he took mine, now much wound with linen +thread, but, still usable if not very pliable, and while I made +camp and George prepared the duck for luncheon, he caught twenty +trout of fair size, which caused our spirits to run high. + +Luncheon over, Hubbard resumed his fishing, and I stole away with +my rifle along the marshes in the hope of seeing a caribou. When I +returned towards dusk without having sighted any game, I found a +stage over the fire and George hanging up trout to dry. Hubbard, +it appeared, had caught ninety-five more. Our exultation knew no +bounds. We had not dreamed of any such catch as that. By +remaining in camp and fishing another day, we should, at this rate, +be able to dry nearly enough trout to see us through to Lake +Disappointment. + +We were as happy and as free from care as children. Our great +success here made us feel sure that down below, where we had caught +so many fish on our inbound journey, we should again get plenty-- +all we should need, in fact--and our safety seemed assured. We +admitted we had felt doubts as to the outcome, which we had not +expressed out of consideration for one another. But now we felt we +could look forward to reaching home as a certainty. And, feeling +freer to indulge our fancies, our talk at once returned to the good +things we were going to eat. + +Sunday, the 27th, was warm and clear, with a southwest wind, and +everything seemed favourable for more fish. For breakfast we ate +the last of our goose, and for luncheon trout entrails and roe. +While George and I were drying fish during the forenoon, Hubbard +caught fifty more. One big fellow had sores all over his body, and +we threw it aside. Towards noon the fish ceased to rise, the pool +probably being fished out. After luncheon I again left camp with +my rifle in the vain hope of sighting a caribou. + +The gloom of night was beginning to gather when I returned. As I +approached, stepping noiselessly on the mossy carpet of the forest, +I saw Hubbard sitting alone by the bright-burning fire, mending his +moccasins. Something in his attitude made me pause. He was +bareheaded, and his long, unkempt hair hung half way down to his +shoulders. As he sat there in the red glow of the fire, with the +sombre woods beyond and the lonely stretch of lake below, and I +took note of his emaciated form and his features so haggard and +drawn, I seemed for the first time to realise fully the condition +to which the boy had been brought by his sufferings. And while I +stood there, still unobserved, I heard him softly humming to +himself: + + "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, + Let me hide myself in Thee." + +How strangely the old hymn sounded among those solitudes! After a +little I again started to advance, and as I stepped upon a dry +branch Hubbard stopped his singing and looked up quickly. + +"Wallace," he exclaimed, "I'm glad to see you! George and I have +been having a long Sunday talk and we missed you. We were wishing +you'd come. No luck?" + +"No," said I; "nothing but old trails; not a fresh track anywhere. +What were you talking about?" + +"We had a chapter from the Bible and a little talk about it. I've +been thinking about my class of boys in the Sunday-school at +Congers, and how glad I'll be to get back to them again; I've a lot +I want to tell them. It's restful just to think of that little +church, and this Sunday afternoon I've been thinking about it a +good deal." + +George was lying in the tent, and Hubbard and I joined him and +continued our conversation there. Hubbard spoke of the luck we had +had in catching trout, saying: "It's God's way of taking care of us +so long as we do our best." It was wonderful to see how, as his +body became weaker, his spirit grew brighter. Steadily he became +more gentle and affectionate; the more he suffered the more his +faith in the God of his youth seemed to increase. + +Early the next morning (September 28th) George, who was the first +to be stirring, poked his head into the tent, and with an air of +mystery asked me for my pistol. A moment later we heard a shot. +Hubbard and I both looked out, to see George returning with empty +hands and an expression of deep chagrin. + +"What are you shooting at now?" asked Hubbard. + +"The blackest marten I ever saw," said George. "I knocked him +over, but he got on his feet again and was into the lake and away +before I could reach him. The beggar was right here in camp tryin' +to make off with that fish with sores we threw away. He might have +made good eatin' if we'd got him." + +As the day was squally with snow, and a heavy wind was kicking up a +sea on the lake, we decided to remain in camp another day and smoke +the fish a little more. While we kept the smoke going under the +stage, we sat by the fire and chatted. The day's rations consisted +of three fish for each man at each of the three meals. By way of a +little variety we roasted some of the fish on sticks. We were all +very weak, but George explained that away. + +"The Indians," he said, "always go to pieces after they've been +hard up for a while and finally get grub. Then they feed up and +get strong again. It's the grub comin' all of a sudden that makes +you weak. Your mind feelin' easier, you feel you can't do +anything." + +Hubbard and I agreed that George was right. Our minds certainly +had relaxed; homeward bound with enough fish on hand to last us for +several days, we had no doubts as to the future. We decided, +however, that whatever the weather conditions in the morning might +be, we should break camp and push on with the greatest possible +speed, as it was the part of wisdom to make our supply of fish +carry us down the back trail as far as possible. So we went to our +blankets more than eager for the morning's start, and more +confident we should get out safely than at any time since we began +the retreat. + + + + +XIII. HUBBARD'S GRIT + +Two things soon became plain after our struggle back to the post +was resumed. One was that winter was fast closing in upon us; the +other was that Hubbard's condition was such as might well cause the +gravest concern. The morning that we broke camp on Lake Mary +(Tuesday, September 29th), was ushered in by a gale from the west +and driving snow. The mercury had dropped to 24, and all of us +were a-shiver when we issued from the tent. While George and I +were preparing the outfit for travel Hubbard caught twelve trout in +the pool. On the lake we encountered as heavy a sea as our little +canoe could weather, and we had to struggle hard for an hour to +reach the farther shore. Upon landing, Hubbard was again attacked +with diarrhoea. George and I carried the packs up the high bank to +a sheltered spot in the woods, but when I returned to Hubbard he +insisted on helping me to carry the canoe. Up the steep ascent we +laboured, and then, as we put the canoe down, Hubbard said: + +"I'm dead tired and weak, boys; I think I'll have to take a little +rest." + +After building him a roaring log fire, George and I carried the +canoe a mile and a half ahead through the driving snow, which was +of the wet kind that clings to every bush and tree, robing the +woods in a pure and spotless white that inevitably suggests +fairyland. But I was not in a mood to admire the beauty of it all. +Upon our return to Hubbard he announced that we should have to camp +where we were for the day, that he might have time to recuperate. +The delay affected him keenly. We should eat nearly as much food +in our idleness as we should in moving onward, and the thought of +drawing on our thirty-five pounds of dried fish without making +progress was anything but pleasant. + +The wintry weather did not worry us; for we knew the snow then +falling would disappear before the ground became covered for good, +and we felt sure we should reach the Susan Valley before freezing- +up time, in which event ice would assist rather than retard our +progress, as even with the Susan River open it would be impossible +to use the canoe in its shoal, rapid waters. As for Hubbard's +condition, I suppose it worried me more than anyone else. George +had failed to note the signs of increasing weakness in our leader +that I had, and Hubbard himself was so under the influence of his +indomitable spirit that for a long time he apparently did not +realise the possibility of an utter collapse. + +By the campfire that night he was confident we should be able to +make up the next day for the delay caused by his weakness. For a +long time he sat silently gazing into the fire, but as he had just +been expressing a longing to see his wife, if only for a moment, I +knew he did not see the blaze before him. He was looking into +another fire--a big, wood fire in an old-fashioned fireplace in the +cheerful sitting-room of a far-away Congers home, and his wife was +by his side. He put out his arm to draw her closer to him. I +could see it all and understand--understand the look of perfect +happiness that his fancy's picture brought to his face. But when +George arose to throw some more logs on the fire, the shower of +sparks that flew heavenward brought him suddenly back to reality-- +to the snow-covered woods of Labrador. + +"I hope we shall be able to find another house in Congers with a +fireplace such as our old one had," he said, turning to me as if he +knew I had been reading his thoughts. "In the evening we sit long +before the fire without lighting a lamp. Sometimes we make believe +we're camping, and make our tea and broil some bacon or melt some +cheese for our crackers over the coals, and have a jolly time. I +want you, b'y, to visit us often and join us in those teas, and see +if you don't find them as delightful as we do." + +The next morning (September 30th) Hubbard said he was much better, +and gave the order to advance. We made a short march, camping just +beyond the long swamp on the edge of the boulder-strewn country we +had found so hard to traverse on the upward trail. On the way we +stopped for a pot of tea at a place in the swamp where we had +previously camped, and there discovered a treasure; namely, the +bones of a caribou hoof we had used in making soup. We seized upon +the bones eagerly, put them in the fire and licked the grease off +them as it was drawn out by the heat. Then we cracked them and +devoured the bit of grease we found inside. + +It was agreed that from this point George and I should carry the +canoe about two miles ahead, while Hubbard carried the packs to a +convenient place beyond the swamps and there pitched camp. It was +about dusk when George and I, after a laborious struggle among the +boulders and brush, put the canoe down and turned back. As we +approached the place that had been selected for a camp, we looked +expectantly for the glow of the fire, but none was to be seen. At +length we heard axe strokes, and came upon Hubbard cutting wood. +He greeted us with rather a wan smile. + +"I've been slow, boys," he said. "I haven't got the firewood cut +yet, nor the boughs for the bed. I've only just pitched the tent." + +"I'll get the other axe," I said quickly, "and help you while +George builds the fire." + +"No, no," he protested; "you get the boughs while I'm getting the +wood." + +"I can get the boughs after we have the wood chopped; it won't take +me long and you must let me help you." + +At that Hubbard said, "Thank you, b'y," in a tone of great relief. +Then he added slowly, "I'm still a bit weak, and it's hard to work +fast to-night." + +It was the first time since we left the post that he consented to +anyone doing any part of his share of the work. It is true that +since we had turned back I had been relieving him of his share of +carrying the canoe, but I was able to do so only by telling him I +much preferred toting the boat to juggling with the packs. From +this time on, however, he consented, with less resistance, to +George or myself doing this or that while he rested by the fire. +The fact was he had reached the stage where he was kept going only +by his grit. + +October began with tremendous gales and a driving rain mixed with +sleet, that removed all traces of the snow. The sleet stung our +faces, and we frequently had to take refuge from the blasts in the +lee of bushes and trees so as to recover our breath; but we managed +to advance our camp three miles on the first, pitching the tent on +the shore of one of the limpid ponds among the boulders. For +supper we ate the last of the dried fish, which again left us with +only the diminishing stock of pea meal, and none of us did much +talking when we crouched about the fire. + +On Friday (October 2d), with high hopes of getting fish, we hurried +ahead with our packs to the pool where Hubbard had caught the big +trout with his emergency kit and the tamarack pole, and near which +we had camped for a day while he rested and George made a trip to +the mountains from which he discovered Lake Mary and Windbound +Lake. The sight of the old camping place brought back to me the +remembrance of how sick Hubbard had been there a month before, and +how the thought had come to me to try to make him give up the +struggle. + +The weather was very unfavourable for trouting--a cold west wind +was blowing accompanied by snow squalls--but Hubbard caught two +within a few minutes, and George boiled them with a bit of pea meal +for luncheon. Then, leaving Hubbard to try for more fish, George +and I went back to the canoe. While we were returning to camp, +George shot a duck with my rifle. It was a very fat black duck, +and we gloated long over its fine condition. Only three more trout +rewarded Hubbard's afternoon's work. However, we had duck for +supper, and were nearer home, and that comforted us. + +I remember that while we sat by the fire that evening George +produced from somewhere in the recesses of his pockets a New York +Central Railroad timetable on which was printed a buffet lunch +menu, and handed it to us with the suggestion that we give our +orders for breakfast. Hubbard examined it and quickly said: + +"Give me a glass of cream, some graham gems, marmalade, oatmeal and +cream, a jelly omelette, a sirloin steak, lyonnaise potatoes, +rolls, and a pot of chocolate. And you might bring me also," he +added, "a plate of griddle cakes and maple syrup." + +Every dish on that menu card from end to end we thoroughly +discussed, our ultimate conclusion being that each of us would take +a full portion of everything on the list and might repeat the +order. + +It was on this evening also that, while calculating the length of +time it would take us to travel from point to point on our back +trail, we began the discussion as to whether it would be better to +stick to the canoe on the "big river" (the Beaver) and follow it +down to its mouth, wherever that might be, or abandon the canoe at +the place where we had portaged into the river from Lake Elson, and +make a dash overland with light packs to the Susan Valley and down +that valley to the hunters' cabins we had seen at the head of Grand +Lake, where we hoped we might find a cache of provisions. Hubbard +was strongly in favour of the latter plan, while George and I +favoured the former. As the reader knows, I had a great dread of +the Susan Valley, and expressed my feelings freely. But we all had +the idea that the "big river" emptied into Goose Bay (the extreme +western end of Hamilton Inlet), and Hubbard reasoned that we might +reach the broad waters of the bay far from a house, be windbound +indefinitely and die of starvation on the shore. On the other +hand, we were sure of the route through the Susan Valley, and, in +his opinion, it would be better to bear the ills we had borne +before than fly to others we know not of. I cannot deny that his +argument had weight, but we decided that for the present we should +hold the matter in abeyance. One thing we felt reasonably sure of, +and that was we should get fish in the big river, and we eagerly +counted the days it would take us to reach it. + +Bright and cold and crisp was Saturday morning (October 3d), with +black wind-driven clouds and occasional snow squalls later in the +day. About noon, when Hubbard had gone ahead with a pack, George +and I sighted two small black ducks while we were canoeing across a +pond. They were quietly swimming about fifty yards in front of us. +I passed my rifle ahead to George. He carefully knelt in the +canoe, and took a deliberate aim while I held my breath. Then, +Crack! went the rifle, and but one duck rose on the wing. Quick as +a flash, without removing the rifle from his shoulder, George threw +the lever forward and back. Instantly the rifle again spoke, and +the bird in the air tumbled over and over into the water. The +first duck had been decapitated; the other received a bullet +through its body. + +The moment was intense; for we had only a little fish for +breakfast, and the outlook for other meals had seemed dismal +indeed; but George was stoicism itself; not a word did he utter, +nor did a feature of his face change. When, after picking up the +ducks, we touched the shore, I jumped out, took his hand and said +"George, you're a wonder." But be only grinned in his good-natured +way and remarked: "We needed 'em." Tying the birds' legs together, +be slung them over his shoulder, and proudly we marched to the +place where Hubbard was awaiting us, to make his heart glad with +our good fortune. One of the ducks we ate on the spot, and the +other we had for supper at our camp by a little pond among the +moonlit hills. + +The thermometer registered only 10 degrees above zero on Sunday +morning (October 4th), but there was not a cloud in the sky, and we +should have enjoyed the crisp, clear air had it not been for the +ever-present spectre of starvation. All the food we had besides +the pea meal was two of the fish Hubbard had caught two days +before. One of these we ate for breakfast, boiled with a little +pea meal. Our old trail led us up during the forenoon to the shore +of one of the larger of the small lakes with which the country +abounded. This lake we crossed with difficulty, being compelled to +break the ice ahead of the canoe with our paddles. + +On the opposite shore we stopped to make a fire for tea--that was +all we thought we should have for luncheon; just tea. George +stepped into the timber to get wood, and in a moment returned and +asked me for my pistol. + +"I saw a partridge in there," he said quietly. + +Presently Hubbard and I heard the pistol crack, and we counted, at +short intervals, four shots. + +"There's something up," said Hubbard, and we started to our feet +just as George came in view with a grin on his face and four +spruce-grouse in his hand. He always did those things in that +quiet, matter-of-fact way. + +Two of the birds George cooked immediately, and as he served to +each an equal share, Hubbard said: + +"Boys, we should thank the Lord for this food. It has seemed +sometimes, I know, as if He had forgotten us; but He has not. Just +now when we needed food so much He gave us these partridges. Let +us thank Him." + +So we bowed our heads for a moment, we three gaunt, ragged men, +sitting there by our fire in the open, with the icy lake at our +backs and the dark wilderness of fir trees before us. + +During the afternoon we bagged two more grouse. Hubbard shot them +as they fluttered up before him on the trail, and a meal on the +morrow was assured. The day's work practically completed our +forty-mile portage; for we camped at night on the first little lake +north of Lake Disappointment. It was well that we had about +reached fairly continuous water. None of us would have been able +to stand much longer the strain of those rough portages day after +day. Fortunate as we had been in getting game at critical moments +since leaving Windbound Lake, the quantity of food we had eaten was +far below that which was necessary to sustain the strength of men +who had to do hard physical work. + +It had become so that when we tried to sit down our legs would give +way and we would tumble down. Hubbard was failing daily. He +habitually staggered when he walked, and on this last day of our +long portage he came near going all to pieces nervously. When he +started to tell me something about his wife's sister, he could not +recall her name, although it had been perfectly familiar, and this +and other lapses of memory appeared to frighten him. For a long +time he sat very still with his face buried in his hands, doubtless +striving to rally his forces. And the most pitiable part of it was +his fear that George and I should notice his weakness and lose +courage. + +But he rallied--rallied so as again to become the inspirer of +George and me, he who was the weakest physically of the three. + + + + +XIV. BACK THROUGH THE RANGES + +In our camp on the first little lake north of Lake Disappointment +we ate on Monday morning (October 5th) the last of the grouse we +had killed on the previous day, and when we started forward we +again were down to the precious little stock of pea meal. In a +storm of snow and rain we floundered with the packs and canoe +through a deep marsh, until once more we stood on the shore of the +big lake where we had spent the weary days searching for a river-- +Lake Disappointment. We built a fire on the shore to dry our rags +and warm ourselves; for we were soaked through and shivering with +the cold. Then we launched the canoe and paddled eastward. + +Late in the afternoon we landed on an island that contained a semi- +barren knoll, but which otherwise was wooded with small spruce. On +the knoll we found an abundance of mossberries, and soon after we +had devoured them we happened upon a supper in the form of two +spruce-grouse. George and Hubbard each shot one. The sun's +journey across the sky was becoming noticeably shorter and shorter, +and before we had realised that the day was spent, night began to +close in upon us, and we pitched camp on the island. + +In the morning (October 6) our breakfast flew right into camp. +George crawled out early to build a fire, and a moment later stuck +his head in the tent with the words, "Your pistol, Wallace." I +handed it out to him, and almost immediately we heard a shot. Then +George reappeared, holding up another spruce-grouse. + +"This grub came right to us," he said; "I knocked the beggar over +close by the fire." + +While we were eating the bird, Hubbard told us he had been dreaming +during the night of home. Nearly every day now we heard that he +had been dreaming the night before of his wife or his mother; they +were always giving him good things to eat, or he was going to good +dinners with them. + +It had rained hard during the night, but with early morning there +came again the mixture of rain and snow we had endured on the day +before. When we put off in the canoe, we headed for the point +where we expected to make the portage across the two-mile neck of +land that separated Lake Disappointment from Lost Trail Lake; but +soon we were caught by a terrific gale, and for half an hour we sat +low in the canoe doing our best with the paddles to keep it headed +to the wind and no one speaking a word. The foam dashed over the +sides of our little craft, soaking us from head to foot. Tossed +violently about by the big seas, we for a time expected that every +moment would be our last. Had George been less expert with the +stern paddle, we surely should have been swamped. As it was we +managed, after a desperate struggle, to gain the lee side of a +small, rocky island, upon which we took refuge. + +At length the wind abated and the lake became calmer, and, +venturing out once more, we made for the mainland some distance to +the west of where we had intended to make our portage. There we +stumbled upon a river of considerable size flowing in a +southwesterly direction from Lake Disappointment into Lost Trail +Lake. This river we had missed on the up trail and here had lost +the old Indian trail to Michikamau. I volunteered to take my rifle +and hunt across the neck of land separating the two lakes while +Hubbard and George ran the rapids; but presently I heard them +calling to me, and, returning to the river, found them waiting on +the bank. + +"We'll camp just below here for the night," said Hubbard, "and +finish the river in the morning. I couldn't manage my end of the +canoe in a rapid we were shooting and we got on a rock. You'd +better shoot the rapids with George after this." + +I suppose Hubbard's weakness prevented him from turning the canoe +quickly enough when occasion required, and he realised it. + +All we had to eat that night was a little thin soup made from the +pea meal, and an even smaller quantity had to serve us for +breakfast. In the morning (October 7th) we shot the rapids without +incident down into Lost Trail Lake, and, turning to the eastward, +were treated to a delightful view of the Kipling Mountains, now +snow-capped and cold-looking, but appearing to us so much like old +friends that it did our hearts good to see them. It was an ideal +Indian summer day, the sun shining warmly down from a cloudless +sky. Looking at the snow-capped peaks that bounded the horizon in +front of me, I thought of the time when I had stood gazing at them +from the other side, and of the eagerness I had felt to discover +what lay hidden beyond. + + "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind + the Ranges-- + Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. + Go!" + +Well, we had gone. And we had found what lay hidden behind the +ranges. But were we ever to get out to tell about it? + +We stopped on the shore of Lost Trail Lake to eat some badly-needed +cranberries and mossberries. The mossberries, having been frozen, +were fairly sweet, and they modified, to some extent, the acid of +the cranberries, so that taken together they made a luncheon for +which we, in our great need, were duly grateful. After eating as +many of the berries as our stomachs would hold, we were able to +pick a pan of them to take with us. + +Paddling on, we passed through the strait connecting Lost Trail +Lake with Lake Hope, and, recalling with grim smiles the +enthusiastic cheers we had sent up there a few weeks before, sped +rapidly across Lake Hope to the entrance of our old mountain pass, +camping for the night on a ridge near the old sweat holes of the +medicine men. Our supper consisted of a little more pea soup and +half of the panful of berries. + +While we were lying spoon-fashion under the blankets at night, it +was the custom for a man who got tired of lying on one side to say +"turn," which word would cause the others to flop over immediately, +usually without waking. On this night, however, I said "turn +over," and as we all flopped, Hubbard, who had been awake, +remarked: "That makes me think of the turnovers and the spicerolls +mother used to make for me." And then he and I lay for an hour and +talked of the baking days at the homes of our childhood. Under- +the-blanket talks like this were not infrequent. "Are you awake, +b'y?" Hubbard would ask. "Yes, b'y," I would reply, and so we +would begin. If we happened to arouse George, which was not usual, +Hubbard would insist on his describing over and over again the +various Indian dishes he had prepared. + +Weak as we were upon leaving Lake Hope (October 8), we did an +heroic day's work. We portaged the entire six miles through the +mountain pass, camping at night on the westernmost of the lakes +that constitute the headwaters of the Beaver River, once more on +the other side of the ranges. We did this on a breakfast of pea +soup and the rest of our berries, and a luncheon of four little +trout that Hubbard caught in the stream that flows through the +pass. I shot a spruce grouse in the pass, and this bird we divided +between us for supper. It was a terrible day. The struggle +through the brush and up the steep inclines with the packs and the +canoe so exhausted me that several times I seemed to be on the +verge of a collapse, and I found it hard to conceal my condition. +Once Hubbard said to me: + +"Speak stronger, b'y. Put more force in your voice. It's so faint +George'll surely notice it, and it may scare him." + +That was always the way with Hubbard. Despite his own pitiable +condition, he was always trying to help us on and give us new +courage. As a matter of fact, his own voice was getting so weak +and low that we frequently had to ask him to repeat. + +And the day ended in a bitter disappointment. On our uptrail we +had had a good catch of trout at the place where the stream flowing +out of the pass fell into the lake near our camp, and it was the +hope of another good catch there that kept us struggling on to +reach the end of the pass before night. But Hubbard whipped the +pool at the foot of the fall in vain. Not a single fish rose. The +day had been bright and sunshiny, but the temperature was low and +the fish had gone to deeper waters. + +It was a dismal camp. The single grouse we had for supper served +only to increase our craving for food. And there we were, with +less than two pounds of pea meal on hand and the fish deserting us, +more than one hundred and fifty miles from the post at Northwest +River. By the fire Hubbard again talked of home. + +"I dreamed last night," he said, "that you and I, Wallace, were +very weak and very hungry, and we came all at once upon the old +farm in Michigan, and mother was there, and she made us a good +supper of hot tea biscuits with maple syrup and honey to eat on +them. And how we ate and ate!" + +But George's customary grin was missing. In silence he took the +tea leaves from the kettle and placed them on a flat stone close +by the fire, and in silence he occasionally stirred them with a +twig that he broke from a bush at his back. At length, the tea +leaves having dried sufficiently, he filled his pipe from them, +and I filled my pipe. We had not had any tobacco to smoke for +many days. + +The silence continued. On my right sat George, his cheeks sunken, +his eyes deep down in their sockets, his long black hair falling +over his ears--there he sat stiffly erect, puffing his tea leaves +with little apparent satisfaction and gazing stoically into the +fire. I could guess what was passing through his mind--the +stories of the Indians that starved. + +On my left was Hubbard. He had assumed the attitude that of late +had become characteristic when he was dreaming of his wife and his +mother and his far-away home. His elbows were resting on his +knees, and his hands were supporting his head. His long hair hid +his bony fingers and framed his poor, wan face. His sunken eyes, +with their look of wistful longing, were fixed on the blazing +logs. + +The silence became so oppressive that I had to break it: + +"George," I said, "were you never hungry before?" + +"Never in my life was short of grub till now," he answered +shortly. + +At that Hubbard, aroused from his reverie, looked up. + +"Well, I can tell you, George," he said, "there are worse places +than Labrador to starve in." + +"How's that?" grunted George. + +If you had been as hungry as I have been in New York City, you'd +know what I mean," said Hubbard. "It's a heap worse to be hungry +where there's lots of grub around you than in the bush where +there's none. I remember that when I first went to New York, and +was looking for work, I found myself one rainy night with only +five cents in my pocket. It was all the money I had in the world, +and I hadn't any friends in the city, and I didn't want to write +home, because nearly all the people there had no faith in my +venture. I was soaking wet and good and hungry; I hadn't been +eating much for several days. Well, I went to a bakery and blew +in my last nickel on stale rolls and crullers and took them to my +room. Then I took off my wet clothes and got into bed to get warm +and snug, and there I ate my rolls and crullers, and they were +bully. Yes, I remember that although my room rent was overdue, +and I didn't know where my breakfast was coming from, I was +supremely happy; I sort of felt I was doing the best I could." + +We went to bed that night feeling that our lives now depended on +whether fish could be caught below. + +More than anxious were we for the morrow, because then we should +go to the first rapid on the Beaver River below the lakes, and +there in the pool, where two fishings had yielded us more than one +hundred and thirty trout on the up trail, test our fortunes. + +The morning (October 9th) dawned crisp and wintry. The sun rose +in a cloudless sky and set all the lake a-glinting. On the peaks +of the Kipling Mountains the sunbeams kissed the snow, causing it +to gleam and scintillate in brilliant contrast to the deep blue of +the heavens above and the dark green of the forests below. Under +normal circumstances we should have paused to drink in the beauty +of it all; but as we in our faithful old canoe paddled quickly +down over the lake I am afraid that none of us thought of anything +save the outcome of the test we were to make of our fortunes at +the rapid for which we were bound. It is difficult to be +receptive to beauty when one has had only a little watered pea +meal for breakfast after a long train of lean and hungry days. We +were glad only that the sun was modifying the chill air of the +dawn, thus increasing our chance of getting fish. + +How friendly the narrow lake looked where we had seen the otter at +play at sunset and where the loons had laughed at us so +derisively. And the point, where we had camped that August night +and roasted our goose seemed very homelike. We stopped there for +a moment to look for bones. There were a few charred ones where +the fire had been. They crumbled without much pressure, and we +ate them. No trout were jumping in the lake now--its mirror-like +surface was unbroken. All was still, very still. To our somewhat +feverish imagination it seemed as if all nature were bating its +breath as if tensely waiting for the outcome at the fishing pool. + +I can hardly say what we expected. I fear my own faith was weak, +but I believe Hubbard's was strong--his was the optimistic +temperament. How glad we were to feel the river current as it +caught the canoe and hurried it on to the rapid! Suddenly, as we +turned a point in the stream, the sound of the rushing waters came +to us. A few moments more and we were there. Just above the +rapid we ran the canoe ashore, and Hubbard with his rod hurried +down to the pool and cast a fly upon the water. + + + + +XV. GEORGE'S DREAM + +Since the weather had become colder we always fished with bait, if +any were available, and so, when after a few minutes a small trout +took Hubbard's fly, he made his next cast with a fin cut from his +first catch. Before he cast the fly, George and I ran the canoe +through the rapid to a point just below the pool where we had +decided to camp. Then, leaving George to finish the work of +making camp, I took my rod and joined Hubbard. All day long, and +until after dusk, we fished. We got sixty. But they were all +tiny, not averaging more than six inches long. + +The test of our fortunes was not encouraging. Hubbard especially +was disappointed, as he had been cherishing the hope that we might +catch enough to carry us well down the trail. And what were sixty +little fish divided among three ravenous men! We ate fifteen of +them for luncheon and eighteen for supper, and began to fear the +worst. The pea meal now was down to one and a half pounds. + +It was late when we gave up trying to get more fish, but we sat +long by the fire considering the possibility of finding scraps at +the camp down the Beaver where we had killed the caribou on August +12. The head, we remembered, had been left practically untouched, +and besides the bones there were three hoofs lying about +somewhere, if they had not been carried off by animals. We knew +that these scraps had been rotting for two months, but we looked +forward hopefully to reaching them on the morrow. + +No lovelier morning ever dawned than that of Saturday (October +10th), and until midday the weather was balmy and warm; but in the +afternoon clouds began to gather attended by a raw west wind. +While George and I shot the rapids, Hubbard fished them, catching +in all seventeen little trout. Some of the rapids George and I +went through in the canoe we should never, under ordinary +conditions, have dreamed of shooting. But George expressed the +sentiments of all of us when he said: "We may as well drown as +starve, and it's a blamed sight quicker." Only when the river +made actual falls did George and I resort to portaging. However, +we did not make the progress we had hoped, and much disappointed +that we could not reach Camp Caribou that night, we camped at the +foot of the last fall above the lake expansion on the shore of +which George and I had ascended a hill to be rewarded with a +splendid view of the country and the Kipling Mountains. Our day's +food consisted of three trout each at each of our three meals. + +Sunday (October 1lth) was another perfect day. It was wintry, but +we had become inured to the cold. We each had a pair of skin +mittens, which although practically gone as to the palms, served +to protect our hands from the winds. Before we started forward I +read aloud John xvii. Again in the morning we divided nine little +trout among us, and the remaining eight we had for luncheon. The +weather was now so cold that do what we would we never again could +induce a trout, large or small, to take the bait or rise to the +fly. + +In the course of the day George took two long shots at ducks, and +missed both times; it would have been phenomenal if he hadn't. +There was one fall that we could not shoot, and we landed on the +bank to unload the canoe. All three of us tried to lift the canoe +so as to carry it about thirty yards down to where we could again +launch it, but we were unable to get it to our heads and it fell +to ground with a crash. Then we looked at one another and +understood. No one spoke, but we all understood. Up to this time +Hubbard and I had kept up the flction that we were "not so weak," +but now all of us knew that concealment no longer was possible, +and the clear perception came to us that if we ever got out of the +wilderness it would be only by the grace of God. + +With difficulty we dragged the canoe to the launching place, and +on the way found the cleaning rod Hubbard's father had made for +him, which had been lost while we were portaging around the fall +on our upward journey. Hubbard picked the rod up tenderly and put +it in the canoe. + +An hour before sunset we reached Camp Caribou, the place where we +had broiled those luscious steaks that 12th of August and had +merrily talked and feasted far into the night. Having dragged the +canoe up on the sandy shore, we did not wait to unload it, but at +once staggered up the bank to begin our eager search for scraps. +The head of the caribou, dried and worm-eaten, was where we had +left it. The bones we had cut the meat from were there. The +remnants of the stomach, partially washed away, were there. But +we found only two hoofs. We had left three. Up and down and all +around the camp we searched for that other hoof; but it was gone. + +"Somebody's taken it," said George. "Somebody's taken it, sure--a +marten or somebody." + +When all the refuse we could find had been collected, and the tent +had been pitched on the spot where it stood before, George got a +fire going and prepared our banquet of bones and hoofs. The bit +of hair that clung to the skin on the upper part of the hoofs he +singed off by holding them a moment in the fire. Then, taking an +axe, be chopped the hoofs and bones up together, and placed some +of the mess in the kettle to boil. A really greasy, though very +rancid, broth resulted. Some of the bones and particularly the +hoofs were maggoty, but, as Hubbard said, the maggots seemed to +make the broth the richer, and we drank it all. It tasted good. +For some time we sat gnawing the gristle and scraps of decayed +flesh that clung to the bones, and we were honestly thankful for +our meal. + +The bones from which we made our broth were not thrown away. On +the contrary we carefully took them from the kettle and placed +them with the other bones, to boil and reboil them until the last +particle of grease had been extracted. There was little left on +the head save the hide, but that also was placed with the pile of +bones, as well as the antlers, which were in velvet, and what +remained of the stomach and its contents. + +After we had finished gnawing our bones, George sat very quiet as +if brooding over some great problem. Finally he arose, brought +his camp bag to the fire, and, resuming his seat, went low into +the recesses of the bag. Still holding his hand in the bag, he +looked at me and grinned. + +"Well?" said I. + +"Sh-h-h," he replied, and slowly withdrawing his hand held up--an +ounce package of cut plug tobacco! + +I stared at the tobacco, and then again caught George's eye. Our +smiles became beatific. + +"I've been savin' this for when we needed it most," said George. +"And I guess the time's come." + +He handed me the package, and I filled my pipe, long unused to +anything save leaves from the teapot and red willow bark. Then +George filled his pipe. + +From the fire we took brands and applied them to the tobacco. +Deep, deep were our inhalations of the fragrant smoke. + +"George," said I, "however in the world could you keep it so +long?" + +"Well," said George--puff, puff--"well, when we were gettin' so +short of grub "--puff--"thinks I"-- puff--"the time's comin'"-- +puff, puff--"when we'll need cheerin' up"--puff--"and, says I,"-- +puff--"I'll just sneak this away until that time comes." + +"George," said I, lying back and watching the smoke curl upward in +the light of the fire, "you are not a half bad sort of a fellow." + +"Wallace," said be, "we'll have a pipeful of this every night +until it is gone." + +"I'd try it, too," said Hubbard wistfully, "but I know it would +make me sick, so I'll drink a little tea." + +After he had had his tea, he read to us the First Psalm. These +readings from the Bible brought with them a feeling of +indescribable comfort, and I fancy we all went to our blankets +that night content to know that whatever was, was for the best. + +With the first signs of dawn we were up and had another pot of +bone broth. Again the morning (October 12th) was crisp and +beautiful, and the continuance of the good weather gave us new +courage. While the others broke camp, I went on down the river +bank in the hope of finding game, but when, after I had walked a +mile, they overtook me with the canoe I had seen nothing. While +boiling bones at noon, we industriously employed ourselves in +removing the velvet skin from the antlers and singeing the hair +off. In the afternoon we encountered more rapids. Once Hubbard +relieved me at the stern paddle, but he was too weak to act +quickly, and we had a narrow escape from being overturned. + +While making camp at night, George heard a whiskey jack calling, +and he sneaked off into the brush and shot it. We reserved it as +a dainty for breakfast. As we sat by the fire gnawing bones and +chewing up scorched pieces of antlers, we again discussed the +question as to whether we should stick to the canoe and run the +river out to its mouth or abandon the canoe where we had entered +the river. As usual George and I urged the former course. + +"When you're in the bush stick to your canoe as long as you can," +said George; "that's always a good plan." + +But Hubbard was firm in the belief that we should take the route +we knew, and renewed his argument about the possibility of getting +windbound on Goose Bay, into which we thought the river flowed. +Being windbound had for him especial terrors, due, I suppose, to +his normally active nature. Another thing that inclined him +towards taking the old trail was his strong faith that we should +get trout in the outlet to Lake Elson, where we had such a +successful fishing on the inbound journey. He argued, +furthermore, that along what we then thought was the Nascaupee +River we should be able to recover the provisions we had abandoned +soon after plunging into the wild. + +"However," he said in closing, "we'll see how we feel about it to- +morrow. I'll sleep on it." + +I remember I dreaded so much a return to the Susan Valley that I +told Hubbard it seemed like suicide to leave the river we were on +and abandon the canoe. I felt strongly on the subject and +expressed my opinion freely. But it was a question of judgment +about which one man's opinion was as likely to be right as +another's and, recognising this, we never permitted our +discussions as to the best course to follow to create any ill- +feeling. + +On Tuesday (October 13th) the weather continued to favour us. We +shot the rapids without a mishap, and camped at night within three +miles of where we had entered the river. But still the question +about leaving it was undecided. The whiskey jack and a bit of pea +meal helped our pot of bone broth at breakfast, and in addition to +more broth we had in the evening some of the caribou stomach and +its contents and a part of a moccasin that Hubbard had made from +the caribou skin and had worn full of holes. Boiled in the kettle +the skin swelled thick and was fairly palatable. + + +Clouds and a sprinkle of rain introduced the morning of Wednesday +(October 14th). While the bones were boiling for breakfast, +George brought out the caribou skin that he had picked up on the +shore of Lake Disappointment after we had abandoned it. Now as he +put a piece of it in the kettle, we recalled his prophecy that +some day we might want to eat it, and laughed. Into the pot also +went one-sixth of a pound of pea meal together with a few lumps of +flour that we carefully scraped from a bag we had thrown away in +the summer and found near the camp. While we were eating this +breakfast (and really enjoying it) we again considered the problem +as to whether or not we should leave the river. In the course of +the discussion George said quietly: + +"I had a strange dream about that last night, fellus." + +We urged him to tell us what it was. + +"It was a strange dream," he repeated, and hesitated. Then: +"Well, I dreamed the Lord stood before me, very beautiful and +bright, and He had a mighty kind look on His face, and He said to +me: 'George, don't leave this river--just stick to it and it will +take you out to Grand Lake where you'll find Blake's cache with +lots of grub, and then you'll be all right and safe. I can't +spare you any more fish, George, and if you leave this river you +won't get any more. Just stick to this river, and I'll take you +out safe.' + +"The Lord was all smilin' and bright," continued George, "and He +looked at me very pleasant. Then He went away, and I dreamed we +went right down the river and came out in Grand Lake near where we +had left it comin' up, and we found Blake there, and he fed us and +gave us all the grub we wanted, and we had a fine time." + +It was quite evident that George was greatly impressed by his +dream. I give it here simply for what it is worth. At the same +time I cannot help characterising it as remarkable, not to say +extraordinary; for none of us had had even a suspicion that the +river we were on emptied into Grand Lake at all, much less that +its mouth was near the point where we left the lake. But I myself +attached no importance to the dream at the time, whatever I may +think now; I was chiefly influenced, I suppose, in my opposition +to the abandonment of the river by the unspeakable dread I had +felt all along of returning to the Susan Valley--was it a +premonition?--and no doubt it was only natural that Hubbard should +disregard the dream. + +"It surely was an unusual dream," he said to George; "but it isn't +possible, as you know, for this river to empty into Grand Lake. +We were talking about leaving the river until late last night, and +you had it on your mind--that's what made you dream about it." + +"May be it was," said George calmly; "but it was a mighty strange +dream, and we'd better think about it before we leave the river. +Stick to the canoe, Hubbard, that's what I say. Wallace and I 'll +shoot the rapids all right. They're sure to be not so bad as +we've had, and I think they'll be a lot better. We can run 'em, +can't we, Wallace?" + +I added my opinon to George's that there would be more water to +cover the rocks farther down, and said that however bad the rapids +might be I should venture to take the stern paddle in every one +that George dared to tackle. But Hubbard only said: + +"I still think, boys, we should take the trail we know." + +"That means suicide," I said for the second time, rather bitterly, +I fear. "We'll surely leave our bones in that awful valley over +there. We're too weak to accomplish that march." + +Once more Hubbard marshalled his arguments in favour of the +overland route, and George and I said no more that morning. + +Soon after we relaunched the canoe something occurred to change +the current of our thoughts. A little way ahead of us, swimming +slowly down the river, George espied a duck. No one spoke while +we landed him, rifle in hand, on the bank. Cautiously he stole +down among the alders and willows that lined the shore, and then +crawled on hands and knees through the marsh until the duck was +opposite to him. It seemed a very small thing for a rifle target +while it was moving, and as George put the rifle to his shoulder +and carefully aimed, Hubbard and I watched him with nerves drawn +to a tension. Once he lowered the rifle, changed his position +slightly, then again raised the weapon to his shoulder. He was +deliberation personified. Would he never fire? But suddenly the +stillness of the wilderness was broken by a loud, clear report. +And Hubbard and I breathed again, breathed a prayer of gratitude, +as we saw the duck turn over on its back. With his long black +hair falling loosely over his ears, ragged, and dripping wet with +the marsh water, George arose and returned to us. Stopping for a +moment before entering the canoe, he looked heavenward and +reverently said: + +"The Lord surely guided that bullet." + +It was still early in the morning when we arrived at the point +where we had portaged into the river. George prepared the duck-- +small it was but very fat--for a delicious, glorious luncheon, and +while it was cooking we had our last discussion as to whether or +not we should leave the river. + +"Well," I at length said to Hubbard, "a final decision can be +deferred no longer. It's up to you, b'y--which route are we to +take?" + +"I firmly believe," said Hubbard, "that we should stick to our old +trail." + +George and I said no more. The question was settled. Hubbard was +the leader. Immediately after luncheon we set to work preparing +for the march overland. In addition to several minor articles of +equipment, we decided to leave behind us the artificial horizon, +the sextant box, and one of the axes. When our light packs had +been prepared, we turned the canoe bottom up on the river bank. I +hated to leave it. I turned once to pat and stroke the little +craft that had carried us so far in safety. To me it was one of +our party--a dear friend and comrade. It seemed cruel to abandon +it there in the midst of the wilderness. In my abnormal state of +mind I could scarcely restrain the tears. + +But the best of friends must part, and so, shouldering our light +packs, we bid the canoe a last farewell, and staggered forward to +the horrors in store for us on the trail below. + + + + +XVI. AT THE LAST CAMP + +We began our march back to the Susan Valley with a definite plan. +Some twenty-five miles below, on the Susan River, we had abandoned +about four pounds of wet flour; twelve or fifteen miles below the +flour there was a pound of powdered milk, and four or five miles +still further down the trail a pail with perhaps four pounds of +lard. Hubbard considered the distances and mapped out each day's +march as he hoped to accomplish it. We had in our possession, +besides the caribou bones and hide, one and one-sixth pounds of +pea meal. Could we reach the flour? If so, that perhaps would +take us on to the milk powder, and that to the lard; and then we +should be within easy distance of Grand Lake and Blake's winter +hunting cache. + +Hubbard was hopeful; George and I were fearful. Hubbard's belief +that we should be able to reach the flour was largely based on his +expectation that we should get fish in the outlet to Lake Elson. +His idea was that the water of the lake would be much warmer than +that of the river. He had, poor chap! the fatal faculty, common +to persons of the optimistic temperament, of making himself +believe what he wanted to believe. Neither George nor I remarked +on the possibilities or probabilities of our getting fish in Lake +Elson's outlet, and just before we said good-bye to the canoe +Hubbard turned to me and said: + +"Wallace, don't you think we'll get them there? Aren't you +hopeful we shall?" + +"Yes, I hope," I answered. "But I fear. The fish, you know, b'y, +haven't been rising at all for several days, and perhaps it's +better not to let our hopes run too high; for then, if they fail +us, the disappointment won't be so hard to bear." + +"Yes, that's so," he replied; "but it makes me feel good to look +forward to good fishing there. We will get fish there, we will! +Just say we will, b'y; for that makes me feel happy." + +"We will--we'll say we will," I repeated to comfort him. + +Under ordinary conditions we should have found our packs, in their +depleted state, very easy to carry; but, as it was, they weighed +us down grievously as we trudged laboriously up the hill from the +river and over the ridge to the marsh on the farther side of which +lay Lake Elson. On the top of the ridge and on the slope where it +descended to the marsh we found a few mossberries, which we ate +while we rested. Crossing the marsh, we stepped from bog to bo + +when we could, but a large part of the time were knee-deep in the +icy water and mud. Our feet at this time were wrapped in pieces +of a camp blanket, tied to what remained of the moccasin uppers +with pieces of our old trolling line. George and I were all but +spent when we reached our old camping ground on the outlet to Lake +Elson, and what it cost Hubbard to get across that marsh I can +only imagine. + +As soon as we arrived Hubbard tried the fish. It did not take him +long to become convinced that there was no hope of inducing any to +rise. It was a severe blow to him, but he rallied his courage and +soon apparently was as full of confidence as ever that we should +be able to reach the flour. While Hubbard was trying the fish, +George looked the old camp over carefully for refuse, and found +two goose heads, some goose bones, and the lard pail we had +emptied there. + +"I'll heat the pail," he said, "and maybe there'll be a little +grease sticking to it that we can stir in our broth." Then, after +looking at us for a moment, he put his hand into the pail and +added: "I've got a little surprise here. I thought I'd keep it +until the bones were boiled, but I guess you might as well have it +now." + +From out of the pail he brought three little pieces of bacon--just +a mouthful for each. I cannot remember what we said, but as I +write I can almost feel again the thrill of joy that came to me +upon beholding those little pieces of bacon. They seemed like a +bit of food from home, and they were to us as the rarest dainty. + +George reboiled the bones with a piece of the hide and the +remainder of the deer's stomach, and with this and the goose bones +and heads we finished our supper. We were fairly comfortable when +we went to rest. The hunger pangs were passing now. I have said +that at this time I was in an abnormal state of mind. I suppose +that was true of us all. The love of life had ceased to be strong +upon us. For myself I know that I was conscious only of a feeling +that I must do all I could to preserve my life and to help the +others. Probably it was the beginning of the feeling of +indifference, or reconciliation with the inevitable, that +mercifully comes at the approach of death. + +In the morning (Thursday, October 15th) we again went over our +belongings, and decided to abandon numerous articles we had +hitherto hoped to carry through with us--my rifle and cartridges, +some pistol ammunition, the sextant, the tarpaulin, fifteen rolls +of photograph films, my fishing rod, maps, and note book, and +various other odds and ends, including the cleaning rod Hubbard's +father had made for him. + +"I wonder where father and mother are now," said Hubbard, as he +took a last look at the cleaning rod. For a few moments he clung +to it lovingly; then handed it to me with the words, "Put it with +your rifle and fishing rod, b'y." And as I removed the cartridge +from the magazine, and held the rifle up for a last look before +wrapping it in the tarpaulin, he said: "It almost makes me cry to +see you leave the fishing rod. If it is at all possible, we must +see that the things are recovered. If they are, I want you to +promise me that when you die you'll will the rod to me. It has +got us more grub than anything else in the outfit, and it's +carried us over some bad times. I'd like to have it, and I'd keep +and cherish it always." + +I promised him that he certainly should have it. Well, the rod +was recovered. And now when I look at the old weather-beaten +piece of wood as it reposes comfortably in my den at home, I +recall this incident, and my imagination carries me back to those +last fishing days when Hubbard used it; and I can see again his +gaunt form arrayed in rags as he anxiously whipped the waters on +our terrible struggle homeward. It is the only thing I have with +which he was closely associated during those awful days, and it is +my most precious possession. + +As we were chewing on a piece of hide and drinking the water from +the reboiled bones at breakfast, Hubbard told us he had had a +realistic dream of rejoining his wife. The boy was again +piteously homesick, and when we shouldered with difficulty our +lightened packs and began the weary struggle on, my heart was +heavy with a great dread. Dark clouds hung low in the sky, but +the day was mild. Once or twice while skirting Lake Elson we +halted to pick the few scattering mossberries that were to be +found, once we halted to make tea to stimulate us, and at our old +camp on Mountaineer Lake we again boiled the bones and used the +water to wash down another piece of the caribou hide. + +In the afternoon George took the lead, I followed, and Hubbard +brought up the rear. Suddenly George stopped, dropped his pack, +and drew Hubbard's pistol, which he carried because he was heading +the procession. Hubbard and I also halted and dropped our packs. +Into the brush George disappeared, and we heard, at short +intervals, the pistol crack three times. Then George reappeared +with three spruce-grouse. How our hearts bounded! How we took +George's hand and pressed it, while his face lighted up with the +old familiar grin! We fingered the birds to make sure they were +good and fat. We turned them over and over and gloated over them. +George plucked them at once that we might see their plump bodies. +It is true we were not so very hungry, but those birds meant that +we could travel just so much the farther. + +We pushed on that we might make our night camp at the place where +we had held the goose banquet on the 3d of August--that glorious +night when we were so eager to proceed, when the northern lights +illuminated the heavens and the lichens gleamed on the barren +hill. Hubbard, I noticed, was lagging, and I told George quietly +to set a slower pace. Then, to give Hubbard encouragement, I fell +to the rear. The boy was staggering fearfully, and I watched him +with increasing consternation. "We must get him out of here! We +must! We must!" I kept saying to myself. The camping place was +only two hundred yards away when he sank on the trail. I was at +his side in a moment. He looked up at me with a pitiful smile, +and spoke so low I could scarcely hear him. + +"B'y, I've got to rest here--a little--just a little while...you +understand...My legs--have given out." + +"That's right, b'y, take a little rest," I said. "You'll be all +right soon. But rest a little. I'll rest a bit with you; and +then we'll leave your pack here, and you walk to camp light, and +I'll come back for your pack." + +In a few minutes he got bravely up. We left his pack and together +walked slowly on to join George at the old goose camp on Goose +Creek. Then I returned for the pack that had been left behind. + +George boiled one of the grouse for supper. Hubbard told us he +was not discouraged. His weakness, he said, was only momentary, +and he was sure he would be quite himself in the morning, ready to +continue the march homeward. After supper, as he was lying before +the fire, he asked me, if I was not too tired, to read him the +latter part of the sixth chapter of Matthew. I took the Book and +read as he requested, closing with the words: + +"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day +is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more +clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, +saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, +Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do +the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have +need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God +and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto +you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow +shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the +day is the evil thereof." + +"How beautiful, how encouraging that is!" said Hubbard, as I put +away the Book. He crawled into the tent to go to sleep. Then: +"I'm so happy, b'y, so very, very happy to-night...for we're going +home...we're going home." And he slept. + +Before I lay down I wrote in my diary: + +"Hubbard is in very bad shape--completely worn out physically and +mentally--but withal a great hero, never complaining and always +trying to cheer us up." + +George said he was sick when he went to rest, and that added to my +concern. + +Friday morning (October 16th) came clear, mild, and beautiful. I +was up at break of day to start the fire, and soon was followed by +George and a little later by Hubbard. We all said we were feeling +better. George shot a foolhardy whiskey jack that ventured too +near the camp, and it went into the pot with a grouse for +breakfast. The meal eaten, we all felt very much stronger, but +decided that more outfit must be abandoned. I gave George my +extra undershirt and a blue flannel shirt, both of which he +donned. Every scrap we thought at the time we could do without, +including many photograph films and George's blanket, was cached. + +After Hubbard read aloud John xv, we resumed the struggle. +Naturally George and I relieved Hubbard of everything he would +permit us to. The fact was, we could not have taken much more and +moved. When Hubbard broke down on the trail, it was strictly +necessary for me to make two trips with the packs; although his +weighed something less than ten pounds, I could not have carried +it in addition to my own if my life had depended upon it. + +Just below the place where Hubbard caught so many fish that day in +August that we killed the geese, we stopped for a moment to rest. +Hardly had we halted when George grabbed Hubbard's rifle, +exclaiming, "Deer!" About four hundred yards below us, a +magnificent caribou, his head held high, dashed across the stream +and into the bush. He was on our lee and had winded us. No shot +was fired. One fleeting glance, and he was gone. Our feelings +can be imagined. His capture would have secured our safety. + +We struggled on. At midday we ate our last grouse. At this +stopping place George abandoned his waterproof camp bag and his +personal effects that he might be able to carry Hubbard's rifle. +This relieved Hubbard of seven pounds, but he again failed before +we reached our night camp. It was like the previous evening. +With jaws set he tottered grimly on until his legs refused to +carry him farther, and he sank to the ground. Again I helped him +into camp, and returned for his pack. + +We pitched the tent facing a big rock so that the heat from the +fire, blazing between, might be reflected into the tent, the front +of which was thrown wide open. Of course George and I did all the +camp work. Fortunately there was not much to do; our camps being +pitched on the sites of previous ones, we had stakes ready to hand +for the tent, and in this part of the country we were able to find +branches and logs that we could burn without cutting. We still +had one axe with us, but neither George nor I had the strength to +swing it. + +The night was cold and damp. For supper we had another piece of +the caribou hide, and water from the much-boiled bones with what I +believed was the last of the pea meal--about two spoonfuls that +Hubbard shook into the pot from the package, which he then threw +away. As we reclined in the open front of the tent before the +fire, I again read from the Bible, and again a feeling of +religious exaltation came to Hubbard. "I'm so happy, and oh! so +sleepy," he murmured, and was quiet. He did not make his usual +entry in his diary. In my own diary for this date I find: + +"Hubbard's condition is pitiable, but he bears himself like the +hero that he is--trying always to cheer and encourage us. He is +visibly failing. His voice is very weak and low. I fear he will +break down at every step. O God, what can we do! How can we save +him!" + +On Saturday (October 17th) threatening clouds overcast the sky, +and a raw wind was blowing. It penetrated our rags and set us a- +shiver. At dawn we had more water from the bones and more of the +hide. Cold and utterly miserable, we forced our way along. Our +progress was becoming slower and slower. But every step was +taking us nearer home, we said, and with that thought we +encouraged ourselves. At noon we came upon our first camp above +the Susan River. There George picked up one of our old flour +bags. A few lumps of mouldy flour were clinging to it, and he +scraped them carefully into the pot to give a little substance to +the bone water. We also found a box with a bit of baking powder +still in it. The powder was streaked with rust from the tin, but +we ate it all. + +Then Hubbard made a find--a box nearly half full of pasty mustard. +After we had each eaten a mouthful, George put the remainder in +the pot. He was about to throw the box away when Hubbard asked +that it be returned to him. Hubbard took the box and sat holding +it in his hand. + +"That box came from Congers," he said, as if in a reverie. "It +came from my home in Congers. Mina has had this very box in her +hands. It came from the little grocery store where I've been so +often. Mina handed it to me before I left home. She said the +mustard might be useful for plasters. We've eaten it instead. I +wonder where my girl is now. I wonder when I'll see her again. +Yes, she had that very box in her hands-in her hands! She's been +such a good wife to me." + +Slowly he bent his head, and the tears trickled down his cheeks. + +George and I turned away. + +It was near night when we reached the point near the junction of +the Susan River and Goose Creek where we were to cross the river +to what had been our last camping ground in the awful valley, and +which was to prove our last camp in Labrador. Hubbard staggered +along during the afternoon with the greatest difficulty, and +finally again sank to the ground, completely exhausted. George +took his pack across the river. While he crouched there on the +trail, Hubbard's face bore an expression of absolute despair. At +length I helped him to his feet, and in silence we forded the +shallow stream. + +Our camp was made a short distance below the junction of the +streams, among the fir trees a little way from the river bank. +Here and there through the forest were numerous large rocks. +Before one of these we pitched the tent, with the front of it open +to receive the heat from the fire as it was reflected from the +rock. More bone water and hide served us for supper, with the +addition of a yeast cake from a package George had carried +throughout the trip and never used. Huddling in the front of the +tent, we counselled. + +"Well, boys," said Hubbard, "I'm busted. I can't go any farther-- +that's plain. I can't go any farther. We've got to do +something." + +In the silence the crackling of the logs became pronounced. + +"George," Hubbard continued, "maybe you had better try to reach +Blake's camp, and send in help if you're strong enough to get +there. If you find a cache, and don't find Blake, try to get back +with some of the grub. There's that old bag with a little flour +in it--you might find that. And then the milk powder and the lard +farther down. Maybe Wallace could go with you as far as the flour +and bring back a little of it here. What do you say, b'y?" + +"I say it's well," I answered. "We've got to do something at +once." + +"It's the only thing to do," said George. "I'm willin', and I'll +do the best I can to find Blake and get help." + +"Then," said Hubbard, "you'd better start in the morning, boys. +If you don't find the bag, you'd better go on with George, +Wallace; for then there would be no use of your trying to get back +here. Yes, boys, you'd better start in the morning. I'll be +quite comfortable here alone until help comes." + +"I'll come back, flour or no flour," I said, dreading the thought +of his staying there alone in the wilderness. + +We planned it all before Hubbard went to sleep. George and I, +when we started in the morning, were to carry as little as +possible. I thought I should be able to reach the flour bag and +be back within three days. We were to prepare for Hubbard a +supply of wood, and leave him everything on hand that might be +called food--the bones and the remainder of the hide, a sack with +some lumps of flour sticking to it that I had recovered at this +camp, and the rest of the yeast cakes. George and I were to +depend solely on the chance of finding game. + +"I'm much relieved now," said Hubbard, when it had all been +settled. "I feel happy and contented. I feel that our troubles +are about ended. I am very, very happy and contented." + +He lay down in his blanket. After a little he said: +"B'y, I'm rather chilly; won't you make the fire a little bigger." + +I threw on more wood, and when I sat down I told him I should keep +the fire going all night; for the air was damp and chill. + +"Oh, thank you, b'y," he murmured, "thank you. You're so good." +After another silence, the words came faintly: "B'y, won't you +read to me those two chapters we've had before?--the fourteenth of +John and the thirteenth of First Corinthians...I'd like to hear +them again, b'y...I'm very...sleepy...but I want to hear you read +before...I go...to sleep." + +Leaning over so that the light of the fire might shine on the +Book, I turned to the fourteenth of John and began: "'Let not your +heart be troubled'" I paused to glance at Hubbard. He was asleep. +Like a weary child, he had fallen asleep with the first words. +The dancing flames lit up his poor, haggard, brown face; but upon +it now there was no look of suffering; it was radiant with peace. + +George lay by his side, also asleep. Thus I began a night of +weary vigil and foreboding. My heart was heavy with a +presentiment of something dreadful. In the forest beyond the fire +the darkness was intense. There was a restless stir among the fir +tops; then a weary, weary sighing. The wind had arisen. I dozed. +But what was that! I sat suddenly erect. + +On the canvas above me sounded a patter, patter, patter. Rain! + +Gradually the real and the seeming became blended. Beyond the +fire-glow, on the edge of the black pall of night, horrid shapes +began to gather. They leered at me, and mocked me, and oh! they +were telling me something dreadful was going to happen. A sudden +jerk, and I sat up and stared wildly about me. Nothing but the +sighing tree-tops, and the patter, patter, patter of the rain. +The fire had died down. I struggled to my feet, and threw on more +wood. + +Again the horrid shapes leered at me from out the gloom. Then I +heard myself exclaiming, "No, no, no!" The nameless dread was +strong upon me. I listened intently for Hubbard's breathing. Had +it ceased? I crawled over and peered long and anxiously at his +face--his face which was so spectral and wan in the uncertain +firelight. Twice I did this. A confused sense of things evil and +malicious, a confused sense of sighing wind and pattering rain, a +confused sense of starts and jerks and struggles with wood, and +the night wore on. + +The black slowly faded into drab. The trees, dripping with +moisture, gradually took shape. The day of our parting had come. + + + + +XVII. THE PARTING + +It was a drizzling rain, and the sombre clouds hung low in the +sky. The wind appeared to be steadily increasing. The day was +Sunday, October 18th. Presently George sat up, rubbed his eyes +and gazed about him for a moment in bewilderment. + +"Mornin', Wallace," he said, when he had collected his senses, +"that blamed rain will make the travellin' hard, won't it?" + +He tied the pieces of blanket to his feet, and started for the +river to get a kettle of water with which to reboil the bones. +The movement aroused Hubbard, and he, too, sat up. + +"How's the weather, b'y?" he asked. + +"It makes me think of Longfellow's 'Rainy Day,"' I replied. "'The +day is cold, and dark, and dreary.'" + +"Yes," he quickly returned; "but + + "'Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; + Behind the clouds is the sun still shining.'" + +I looked at him with admiration. + +"Hubbard," I exclaimed, "you're a wonder! You've a way of making +our worst troubles seem light. I've been sitting here imagining +all sorts things." + +"There's no call to worry, by," he smilingly said; "we'll soon +have grub now, and then we can rest and sleep--and get strong." + +He arose from his blanket, and walked out of the tent to look at +the sky. Slowly he returned, and sank wearily down. + +"I'm feeling stronger and better than I did last night," he said; +"but I'm too weak to walk or stand up long." + +When our breakfast of bones and hide boiled with a yeast cake was +ready, he sat up in the tent to receive his share. While drinking +the water and chewing the hide, we again carefully considered how +long it should take George to reach Grand Lake, and how long it +would be before help could arrive, if he were able to obtain any, +and how long it would require me to reach the flour and return. +It was, roughly speaking, forty miles to Grand Lake, and fifteen +miles to the flour. + +That there was room for doubt as to whether my strength would +carry me to the flour and back again, we all recognised; and we +fully realised, that if George failed to reach Grand Lake, or, +reaching there, failed to find Blake or Blake's cache, our doom +would be sealed; but so long had death been staring us in the face +that it had ceased to have for us any terror. It was agreed, +however, that each man should do his best to live as long as +possible. I told Hubbard I should do my utmost to be back in +three days, even if I did not find the flour. + +Hubbard remained seated in the front of the tent while George and +I went about gathering a supply of wood that we thought should +last him until someone returned. George also brought a kettle of +water from the river, and thoughtfully placed it near the fire for +Hubbard's use in boiling the bones and hide, all of which we left +with him together with the yeast and some tea. I also turned over +to him the pair of blankets he had delivered to me at Halifax--the +birthday gift from my sisters. + +These preparations for Hubbard's comfort completed, George and I +returned to the tent to arrange the kits we were to take with us. +Hubbard sat in the middle of the tent towards the rear; George and +I on either side of him in the front. Hubbard gave George his +pistol and compass, and I had my own pistol and compass. The +pistols we fastened to our belts along with a sheath knife and tin +cup. Having a case for my compass, I wore it also on my belt; +George placed his in his pocket. Each of us had half a blanket, +this to be our only covering at night. George placed his half, +together with a tea pail and some tea, in the waterproof bag he +had been using to carry food. This bag he bound with a pack +strap, leaving a loop to sling over his shoulder. I also bound my +half a blanket with a pack strap, thinking as I did so that I soon +might want to eat the strap. And then, when George and I had +filled our waterproof boxes with wax taper matches, and placed a +handful of pistol cartridges in our pockets, we were ready to +start. + +At this point I suggested it might be well for each man to make a +note of such disposition as he desired made of his effects. +George made an entry in his note book, and asked Hubbard to write +when we were gone a letter to Mr. King, the Hudson's Bay Company's +agent at Missanabie, in reference to his (George's) affairs at +that post. I then made the last entry in my diary, and with it +wrote what I believed might be a last message to my sisters and my +friend and associate in business, Mr. Alonzo G. McLaughlin. I put +the diary with my other papers in my camp bag, and placed the bag +in the rear of the tent, where the note Hubbard was to write for +George was also to be placed; we believed that if worst came to +worst the tent was more likely to be found than our bodies down on +the trail. Hubbard had been watching us silently while we did +these things, and now he said: + +"Wallace, if you get out of this, and I don't, you'll have to +write the story of the trip." + +I expressed some doubt as to my ability, but he made me promise I +would do the best I could. I also promised, at his request, that +if I survived him I should place his diary in his wife's hands. + +"Thank you, b'y," he said. "And now before you leave me won't you +read to me again?--I want to hear that fourteenth chapter of John +and the thirteenth of First Corinthians. I fell asleep last night +while you were reading, I was so tired. I'm sleepy now, very +sleepy; but I'll keep awake this time while you read." + +I got my testament from my camp bag and read both chapters +through, noting as I read that the look of happiness and peace was +returning to Hubbard's poor, wan face. When I had finished, he +said quietly: + +"Thank you, b'y, thank you very much. Isn't that comforting?-- +'Let not your heart be troubled.' It makes me feel good. I've +faith that we'll all be saved. I'm not worried. McLean was +caught just as we are. He sent a man for help and got out all +right. God will send us help, too." + +"Yes," said I, "and we shall soon be safe home." + +"We'll soon be safe home" repeated Hubbard--safe home. How happy +that makes me feel!" + +It was time for George and me to go. But I could not say good-bye +just yet. I turned my back to Hubbard and faced the fire. The +tears were welling up into my eyes, and I struggled for self- +control. George sat silent, too, and his face was strangely +drawn. For a full ten minutes we sat silently gazing into the +fire. Finally George arose. + +Well, Wallace, we'd better start now." + +"Yes," I said; "we'd better start." + +I collected myself as best I could, and, turning to Hubbard, held +out my hand. + +"Good-bye, b'y; I'll be back soon." And then, as I looked into +his poor, wistful eyes, I broke down and sobbed. + +I crawled over to him, and put my arm about him. I kissed his +cheek, and he kissed my cheek. We embraced each other, and for a +moment held our faces close together. Then I drew away. + +George was crying, too. The dear fellow went over to Hubbard, +stooped and kissed his cheek. + +"With God's help, I'll save you, Hubbard!" + +Hubbard kissed his cheek, and they embraced. + +George slung his bundle on his shoulder, and I took up mine. We +turned to go. But I had to return. I stooped and again kissed +Hubbard's cheek, and he again kissed mine. He was quite calm--had +been calm throughout. Only his eyes shone with that look of +wistful longing. + +"Good-bye, boys, and God be with you!" + +"Good-bye!" + +"Good-bye!" + +And George and I left him. About twenty yards away I turned for a +last look at the tent. Hubbard evidently had immediately lain +down; for he was not to be seen. All I saw was the little peak of +balloon silk that had been our home for so many weeks, the fire +blazing between it and the big rock, the kettle of water by the +fire, and the white moss and the dripping wet fir trees all about. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Some one hundred and fifty yards farther on George and I forded a +brook, after which our course was through closely-grown, +diminutive fir trees until we came to a series of low, barren +knolls. On these knolls we found some mossberries. Then we +pushed on. It was dreadfully slow travelling. The wind was in the +east, and was rising. The drizzling rain had become a downpour, +and it was dashed into our faces in sheets. The cold was +increasing. Our hands were stiff and numb. Somewhat after midday +George threw down his pack. "We'll have a spell [rest] and a cup +of tea to warm us up," he said. + +I did not protest. The previous night had been a trying one, and +I was very tired. We drew together some wood. With his sheath- +knife George whittled some shavings, and a fire was soon blazing. +When the kettle had been placed over the fire to boil, George drew +out of his bag a package--yes, it was a half-pound package of pea +meal! At first I could not believe my eyes, and I stood stupidly +staring as George prepared to stir some of it into the kettle. At +length I found my tongue. + +"George," I cried indignantly, "where did you get that pea meal?" + +"Hubbard gave it to me this morning while you were gettin' wood," +he answered promptly. + +"But why did you take it? + +"He made me take it. I didn't want to, but he said I must. He +said we'd be workin' hard, and we'd need it, and if we didn't have +somethin' to eat, we couldn't travel far and couldn't get help to +him. We ought to have it as much for his sake as for ours, he +said, and I had to take it from him to make him feel right." + +Hubbard had evidently reserved that last half-pound of pea meal to +be used in a last extremity, and as the argument he had used to +force it on George had been at least specious, I could say +nothing. George put one-third of the package (one-sixth of a +pound) into the kettle, and we each drank a pint of the soup. It +was very thin, but it did us good. + +After a half-hour's rest, we pressed on as rapidly as possible, +but when night overtook us we could not have travelled more than +six miles from camp. To the storm, as well as our weakness, was +due our slow progress. As the afternoon wore on, the storm became +furious. The rain descended in drenching sheets, and staggering +blasts of wind drove it into our faces. Even if darkness had not +stopped us, further progress in the face of the tempest would have +been impossible. + +We selected for our bivouac as sheltered a spot as possible in a +spruce growth, hauled together a good supply of small dead trees +and made a fire. For supper we had one-half of what remained of +the pea meal, reserving the other half (one-sixth of a pound) for +breakfast. There was a little comfort to be gained from the fire. +The rain still descended upon us in sheets. The blast of wind +drove the smoke into our eyes and blinded us. Despite our +weariness we could not sleep. George lay down, but I sat +crouching before the fire. We tried to keep our pieces of blanket +over our heads, but when we did so we nearly suffocated. Now and +again one or the other would rise to throw on more wood. Towards +midnight the wind shifted, and snow began to fall. It fell as I +never saw snow fall before. And the wind never ceased, and the +smoke was more blinding than ever, and the night grew colder. + +There were fully six inches of snow on the ground when the clouds +broke just before dawn, and before the first rays of the sun +greeted us the wind died away. It was Monday, October 19th. With +the return of daylight we ate the rest of the pea meal, and +resumed our march down the valley. The daylight proved that my +eyes had been greatly affected by the smoke of our night's fire. +Everything had a hazy appearance. George complained of the same +trouble. Soon after we started, George came upon a grouse track +in the fresh snow, and followed it to a clump of bushes a short +distance off. He aimed his pistol with great care, but the bullet +only knocked a few feathers out of the bird, and it flew away, to +George's keen chagrin and my bitter disappointment. + +The flour bag we were to look for was on the opposite or south +side of the river, and it was necessary to cross. Before noon we +reached a place at which George said it would be as easy to ford +the stream as at any other. The icy water came almost up to our +armpits, but we made the other shore without mishap. There we +halted to build a fire and thaw ourselves out; for immediately +upon emerging from the river our clothing froze hard and stiff. +While waiting we had some hot tea, and as quickly as possible +pushed on. We must reach the flour bag that night. + +I found it hard to keep the pace George was setting, and began to +lag wofully. Several times he had to wait for me to overtake him. +We came upon a caribou trail in the snow, and followed it so long +as it kept our direction. To some extent the broken path aided +our progress. In the afternoon we came upon another grouse track. +George followed it to a clump of trees, where the bird was +discovered sitting on a limb. This time his aim was accurate, and +the bird fell at his feet. Quickly he plucked the wings, cut them +off and handed me one with the remark: "They say raw partridge is +good when a fellus' weak." It was delicious. I ate the wing, +warm with the bird's life blood, bones and all, and George ate the +other wing. + +I soon found it utterly impossible to keep George's pace, and +became so exhausted that I was forced to take short rests. At +length I told George he had better go ahead and look for the +flour; that I should rest, follow his trail and overtake him +later. He went on, but just over the bare knoll we were crossing +I found him sitting in the snow waiting for me. + +"I don't feel right to go ahead and leave you," he said. "Do you +see that second knoll?" He pointed to one of a series of round +barren knolls about half a mile down the river. + +"Yes," I answered. + +"Well, don't you remember it? No? Why, that's where we camped +when we threw the flour away, and that's where we'll stop to- +night. We'd better eat a mouthful to help us on." + +He had plucked the head and neck of the grouse, and now proceeded +to cut them off near the body. To me he gave the neck, and ate +the head himself--raw, of course. + +It was just dusk when we reached the knoll George had designated. +Straightway he went to a bush, ran his hand under it and pulled +out--the bag we were looking for. We opened it eagerly. As has +been said, we left about four pounds of flour in it. Now there +was a lump of green and black mould. However, we rejoiced at +finding it; for it was something and it might sustain our lives. +It might send George to the lard, and keep Hubbard and me until +help could arrive. + +On this side of the Susan the country for some distance had been +burned; but, while there were no standing trees, and the place was +entirely unsheltered, fallen spruce trees covered the ground in +every direction, so we found no difficulty in getting together a +good pile of dry wood for our night's fire, and we soon had a +rousing big one going. For supper we ate all of the grouse boiled +with some of the flour mould stirred in. It was a splendid +supper. + +I had not sat long before the fire when I felt a strange sensation +in my eyes. It was as if they had been filled with sharp +splinters, and I found it impossible to open them. I was +afflicted with smoke-blindness, which is almost identical in its +effect to snow-blindness. George filled my pipe with dried tea +leaves and just a bit of his precious tobacco; then lit it for me, +as I could not see to do it myself. After our smoke we lay down, +and I slept heavily; it was practically the first sleep I had had +in three days. Some time in the night George awoke me to make me +eat a little of a concoction of the mouldy flour and water, cooked +thick and a trifle burned after the style of nekapooshet, an +Indian dish of which George was very fond. At the first signs of +dawn he again roused me, saying: + +"It's time to be up, Wallace. We're goin' to have more snow to +travel in." + +He was right. The clouds were hanging low and heavy, and the +first scattering flakes were falling of a storm that was to last +for ten days. I was able to open my eyes in the morning, but +everything still looked hazy. We boiled some of the wretched +mouldy flour for breakfast, and then divided what remained, George +taking the larger share, as he had the most work to do. Looking +critically at my share, he asked: + +"How long can you keep alive on that?" + +"It will take me two days to reach Hubbard," I replied, "and the +two of us might live three days more on it--on a pinch." + +"Do you think you can live as long as that?" said George, looking +me hard in the eye. + +"I'll try," I said. + +"Then in five days I'll have help to you, if there's help to be +had at Grand Lake. Day after to-morrow I'll be at Grand Lake. +Those fellus'll be strong and can reach camp in two days, so +expect 'em." + +It was time for us to separate. + +"George," I asked, "have you your Testament with you?" + +"It's the Book of Common Prayer," he said, drawing it from his +pocket; "but it's got the Psalms in it." + +He handed me the tiny leather-covered book, but I could not see +the print; the haze before my eyes was too thick. I returned the +book to him, and asked him to read one of the Psalms. Quite at +haphazard, I am sure, he turned to the ninety-first, and this is +what he read: + +"Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High; shall abide +under the shadow of the Almighty. +"I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my stronghold: my +God, in him will I trust. +"For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter: and from +the noisome pestilence. +"He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe +under his feathers: his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield +and buckler. +"Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night: nor for the +arrow that flieth by day; +"For the pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the sickness +that destroyeth in the noon-day. +"A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right +hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. +"Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold: and see the reward of the +ungodly. +"For thou, Lord, art my hope: thou hast set thine house of defence +very high. +"There shall be no evil happen unto thee: neither shall any plague +come nigh thy dwelling. +"For he shall give his angels charge over thee: to keep thee In +all thy ways. +"They shall bear thee in their hands: that thou hurt not thy foot +against a stone. +"Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the +dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet. +"Because He hath set His love upon me, therefore will I deliver +him: I will set him up, because he hath known my name. +"He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in +trouble; I will deliver him and bring him to bonour. +"With long life will I satisfy him: and show him my salvation" + +The Psalm made a deep impression upon me. "For he shall give his +angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways." How +strange it seems, in view of what happened to me, that George +should have read that sentence. + +We arose to go on our separate ways, George twenty-five miles down +the valley to Grand Lake, and I fifteen miles up the valley to +Hubbard. The snow was falling thick and fast. + +"You'd better make a cape of your blanket," suggested George. +"Let me fix it for you." + +He placed the blanket around my shoulders, and on either side of +the cloth where it came together under my chin made a small hole +with his knife. Through these holes he ran a piece of our old +trolling line, and tied the ends. Then he similarly arranged his +own blanket. + +I held out my hand to him. + +"Good-bye, George. Take care of yourself." + +He clasped my hand warmly. + +"Good-bye, Wallace. Expect help in five days." + +Near the top of a knoll I stopped and looked back. With my +afflicted eyes I could barely make out George ascending another +knoll. He also stopped and looked back. I waved my hand to him, +and he waved his hand to me and shouted something unintelligible. +Then he disappeared in the snow, and as be disappeared a silence +came on the world, to remain unbroken for ten days. + + + + +XVIII. WANDERING ALONE + +With every hour the storm gathered new force, and over the barren +knolls, along which my course for some distance lay, the snow +whirled furiously. The track George and I had made on our +downward journey soon was obliterated. Once in the forenoon, as I +pushed blindly on against the storm, I heard a snort, and, looking +up, beheld, only a few yards away, a big caribou. He was standing +directly in my path. For a second he regarded me, with his head +thrown back in fear and wonder; and then, giving another snort, he +dashed away into the maze of whirling snow. + +My eyes troubled me greatly, and the pain at length grew so +intense that I was forced to sit down in the snow for perhaps half +an hour with both eyes tightly closed. I was keeping some +distance from the river, as the obstructions here were fewer than +near the bank. In the afternoon it occurred to me that I might +have turned in my course, and I took my compass from its case, to +satisfy myself that I was going in the right direction; but my +sight was so impaired that I could not read the dial, nor be +certain which way the needle pointed. And I wondered vaguely +whether I was becoming totally blind. + +My day's progress was not satisfactory. I had hoped to reach the +place where George and I had forded the river, and cross to the +north shore before bivouacking, but in the deepening snow it was +impossible. With the first indications of night, I halted in a +thick spruce grove near the river and drew together a fairly good +supply of dead wood. On the under side of the branches of the fir +trees was generally to be found a thick growth of hairy moss, and +with a handful of this as tinder it did not take me long to get a +good fire blazing. Close to the fire I threw a pile of spruce +boughs that I broke from low branches and the smaller trees. I +melted snow in my cup for water, and in this put a few lumps of +mould from the flour bag, eating the mixture after it had cooked a +while. On the couch of boughs by the fire I spent a fairly +comfortable night, waking only at intervals to throw on more wood +and shake the snow from my back. + +The storm was still raging in the morning (Wednesday, October +21st). With the first grey streaks of dawn, I boiled another cup +of snow water and mould, and then, slinging the flour bag over my +shoulder, began my day's struggle. The snow was now knee-deep. +Soon I reached the fording place. The river was beginning to +freeze over. For two or three yards from shore the ice bore my +weight; then I sank up to my waist in the cold current. +Approaching the other shore, I broke the outer ice with my arms +until it became thick enough to permit me to climb out upon it. + +The ice that immediately formed on my clothing make walking +impossible, and reluctantly I halted to build a fire and dry +myself. This took fully an hour and a half, to my extreme +vexation. I realised now that my hope of reaching Hubbard that +night was vain. While I dried my clothing, I made a cup of tea. +I had just enough left for two brewings, so after drinking the tea +I preserved the leaves for further use, wrapping them carefully in +a bit of rag. Once more on my way up the valley, I found, to my +consternation and almost despair, that my eyes would again compel +me to stop, and for nearly an hour I sat with them closed. That +night, with the snow still falling, though very lightly, I made my +couch of boughs by a fairly comfortable fire, and rested well. + +On Thursday morning (October 22d) a light snow was failing, and +the weather was very cold. The cup of thin gruel that I made from +the green lumps of mould nauseated me, and I had to brew some tea +to settle my stomach and stimulate me. With my piece of blanket +drawn over my head to protect my ears from the biting wind, and +with my hands wrapped in the folds, I continued my struggle +towards camp. I had to force my way, blindly and desperately, +through thick clumps of fir trees, and as the branches were +hanging low under their weight of feathery snow, I continually +received a deluge of snow in my face. + +My stock of matches was small and time was precious, and I did not +stop at noon to build a fire. Even when night began to close in +upon me I still plodded on, believing that I now must be near +Hubbard. The snow was falling gently, and as there was a moon +behind the clouds the night was sufficiently light for me to make +my way tediously through the trees, with the roar of the rapids to +guide me. It must have been near midnight when, utterly +exhausted, I was forced to abandon the hope of finding Hubbard +before morning. Fearing that the mould would again sicken me, I +ate nothing when I halted; I simply collected a few dry sticks and +huddled for the remainder of the night by a miserable fire, dozing +and awaking with a shudder from awful dreams. + +The storm continued during the night, and with the morning of +Friday (October 23d) broke upon the world and me with renewed +fury. I prepared myself another dose of the mould, and forced it +down. I was nervously anxious to get on and find Hubbard. I knew +I must be near him now, although the snow had changed the whole +face of the country and obliterated all the landmarks. Soon I +crossed a brook, frozen and covered with snow, that I felt must be +the one near our camp. Eagerly I looked about me for the tent. +Because of the falling snow and the snow-bent branches, I could +scarcely see twenty yards in any direction. From snow-covered +rock to snow-covered rock I went, believing each in turn to be the +tent, but always to meet disappointment. Repeatedly I stopped to +peer into the maze of snow for smoke. But there was none. Again +and again I shouted. But there was no answer. The tent was +really near me, but it kept its secret well. + +I travelled on and on. I became desperate. Over and over I +repeated to myself, "I must find Hubbard before night comes--I +must find him--I must--I must." At length the first signs of +night warned me that I must collect my wood, that I might be as +comfortable as possible through the dreary hours of darkness. As +night came on the storm moderated. The wind ceased. An unwonted, +solemn, awful stillness came upon the world. It seemed to choke +me. I was filled with an unutterable, a sickening dread. +Hubbard's face as I had last seen it was constantly before me. +Was he looking and waiting for me? Why could I not find him? I +must find him in the morning. I must, I must. Before going to +sleep I made some more gruel and tea, drinking them both as a +duty. + +The snow was falling gently on Saturday (October 24th), the wind +had mercifully abated, and the temperature was somewhat milder. +After more gruel and the last cup of tea I was to have in my +lonely wanderings, I renewed my search for Hubbard. I decided +that possibly I was below the camp, and pushed on to the westward. +Finally I became convinced I was in a part of the country I had +never seen before. I began to feel that possibly I was far above +the camp; that a rescuing party had found Hubbard, and that, as my +tracks in the snow had been covered, they had abandoned the hope +of finding me and had returned. They might even have passed me in +the valley below; it was quite possible. But perhaps George's +strength had failed him, and help never would come to any of us. + +I turned about, and again started down the valley. After a time I +attempted to cross the ice on the river, to try and discover some +familiar landmark on the south shore. In midstream, where the +current had not permitted thick ice to form, I broke through. The +water was nearly up to my armpits. Standing there with the icy +current swirling about me, I said, "What's the use?" It seemed to +me I had reached the limit of human endurance. Instead of trying +to struggle on, how much pleasanter to permit myself to sink +beneath the water and thus end it all! It would be such a relief +to die. + +Then there came to me the remembrance that it was my duty to live +as long as I could. I must do my best. As long as I had any +strength left, I must exert myself to live. With a great effort I +climbed out on the hard ice, and made my way back to the north +shore. Night was approaching. I staggered into the spruce +growth, and there came upon the same brook I have previously +mentioned as crossing. Near its bank I made my night fire. That +fire was within two hundred yards of the tent. Perhaps it is just +as well that I did not know it. + +The snow, which had fallen rather mildly, all day, thickened with +the coming of night. All the loose wood was now buried under the +snow, and it was with difficulty that I gathered a scant supply +for the night. My wet rags were freezing hard and stiff. I moved +about, half-dazed. I broke only a few branches for my bed, and +sat down. Scarcely had I done so when a woman's voice came to me, +kindly and low and encouraging. + +"Hadn't you better break a few more boughs?" it said. "You will +rest better then." + +There was no mistaking the voice. It was clear and distinct. It +was the voice of my wife, who had been dead for more than three +years. I remember it did not impress me as being at all strange +that my wife, who was dead, should be speaking to me up there in +the Labrador wilderness. It seemed to me perfectly natural that +she should be looking after my comfort, even as she had done in +life. I arose and broke the boughs. + +I am not a spiritist. I have never taken any stock in the theory +that the spirits of the dead are able to communicate with the +living. So far as I have thought about them at all, it has been +my opinion that spiritists are either fools or frauds. But I am +endeavouring to give a faithful account of my feelings and +sensations at the time of which I am writing, and the incident of +the voice cannot be ignored. Perhaps it was all a delusion--an +hallucination, if you will, due to the gradual breaking down of my +body and mind. As to that, the reader can form his own +conclusions. Certain it is, that from this time on, when I needed +help and encouragement the most, I felt a vague assurance that my +wife was by my side; and I verily believe, that if it had not been +for this,--hallucination, delusion, actuality, reality, or +whatever it may have been,--I should now be in a land where the +truth about these things is probably known for certain. + +At times I even thought I saw my wife. And often, often +throughout those terrible days her voice came to me, kindly and +low and encouraging. When I felt I really could plod no farther +through the snow, her voice would tell me not to lose heart, but +to do my best, and all would be right in the end. And when, +wearied beyond measure at night, I would fall into a heavy sleep, +and my fire would burn low, a hand on my shoulder would arouse me, +and her voice would tell me to get up and throw on more wood. Now +and again I fancied I heard the voice of my mother, who died when +I was a boy, also encouraging and reassuring me. Indescribably +comforting were those voices, whatever their origin may have been. +They soothed me, and brought balm for my loneliness. In the +wilderness, and amid the falling snow, those that loved me were +ministering unto me and keeping me from harm. At least, so it +seemed to me. And now, as I think of those dear voices, and feel +once more that loving touch on my shoulder, there comes back to me +that verse from the Psalm George read at our parting--"For He +shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy +ways." + +It is all like a half-dream to me now. I know that after Saturday +night (October 24th), when I bivouacked within a stone's throw of +Hubbard's tent, I lost all count of the days, and soon could not +recall even the month. I travelled on and on, always down the +valley. Sometimes I fancied I heard men shouting, and I would +reply. But the men did not come, and I would say to myself over +and over again, "Man proposes, God disposes; it is His will and +best for all." + +The flour mould nauseated me to such an extent that for a day at a +time I could not force myself to eat it. The snow clogged in all +that was left of my cowhide moccasins (larigans), and I took them +off and fastened them to my belt, walking thereafter in my +stocking feet. I wore two pairs of woollen socks, but holes +already were beginning to appear in the toes and heels. The +bushes tore away the legs of my trousers completely, and my +drawers, which thus became the sole protection of my legs from the +middle of my thighs down, had big holes in them. Each night I cut +a piece of leather from my moccasin uppers, and boiled it in my +cup until morning, when I would eat it and drink the water. I +found afterward, carefully preserved in my match box, one of the +brass eyelets from the moccasins. Probably I put it away thinking +I might have to eat even that. + +I knew there was something the matter with my feet; they +complained to me every night. They seemed to me like individuals +that were dependent upon me, and they told me it was my duty to +care for them. But I gave no heed to their complaints. I had +enough to do to care for myself. My feet must look out for +themselves. Why should I worry about them? + +And still it snowed, night and day--sometimes gently, sometimes +blindingly; but always it snowed. Once while plodding along the +side of a rocky hill, I staggered over the edge of a shelving rock +and fell several feet into a snow drift. I was uninjured, but +extricating myself was desperately hard work, and it was very +pleasant and soft in the snow, and I was so tired and sleepy. Why +not give it up and go to sleep? But she was with me, and she +whispered, "Struggle on, and all will be well," and reluctantly I +dragged my poor old body out. + +There were times when the feeling was strong upon me that I had +been alone and wandering on forever, and that, like the Wandering +Jew, I must go on forever. At other times I fancied I was dead, +and that the snow-covered wilderness was another world. +Instinctively I built my fire at night under the stump of a fallen +tree, if I could find one; for the rotten wood would smoulder +until morning, and a supply of other wood was very hard to get. + +One evening I remember crossing the river, which had now gone into +its long winter sleep tucked away under a blanket of ice and snow, +and building a fire under a rotten stump on the south side behind +a bank near the shore. I felt that I must be well down the +valley. My supply of wood was miserably small, but I had worked +hard all day and could not gather any more. I fell down by the +fire and struggled against sleep. She told me I must not sleep. +When I dozed, her hand on my shoulder would arouse me. Thus the +night passed. + +At dawn I realised in a vague sort of way that the clouds had at +last broken away; that the weather was clear and biting cold. +Before me was the river. It had been a raging torrent when I +first saw it; now it lay quiet and still under its heavy winter +blanket. At my back the low bank with its stunted spruce trees +hid the ridge of barren, rocky hills and knolls that lay beyond. + +A few embers of the rotten stump were smouldering, sending +skyward, with each fitful gust of the east wind, a fugitive curl +of smoke. A few yards away lay a dead tree, with its branches +close to the snow. If I could break some of those branches off, +and get them back to my smouldering stump, I might fan the embers +into a blaze, get some heat and melt snow in my cup for a hot +drink. Not that I craved the drink or anything else, but it +perhaps would give me strength to go just a little farther. + +I pulled my piece of ragged blanket over my shoulders and +struggled to my feet. It was no use. I swayed dizzily about, +took a few steps forward and fell. I crawled slowly back to the +smouldering stump and tried to think. I felt no pain; I was just +weary to the last degree. Should I not now be justified in +surrendering to the overpowering desire to sleep? Perhaps, I +argued, it would strengthen me. I could no longer walk; why not +sleep? But still I was told that I must not... + +Was Hubbard still waiting and watching for me to come back?-- +somewhere in that still wilderness of snow was he waiting and +watching and hoping? Perhaps he was dead, and at rest. Poor +Hubbard... + +Why did not the men come to look for us--the trappers that George +was to send? Had they come and missed me, and gone away again? +Or was George, brave fellow, lying dead on the trail somewhere +below? How long had I been wandering, anyway... + +My sisters in far-away New York, were they hoping and praying to +hear from me? Perhaps they never would. There was a certain +grave in a little cemetery on the banks of the dear old Hudson. +It had been arranged that I should lie beside that grave when I +went to sleep forever. Would they find my bones and take them +back? . . . + +How enthusiastic Hubbard had been for this expedition! It was +going to make his reputation, he thought. Well, well, man +proposes, God disposes; it was His will and best for all. + +I found myself dozing, and with an effort to recover myself sat up +straight. The sun was making its way above the horizon. I looked +at it and hoped that its warming rays would give me strength to do +my duty--my duty to live as long as I could. Anyway, the storms +had passed! the storms had passed! + +I dozed again. It may have been that I was entering upon my final +sleep. But gradually I became hazily conscious of an unusual +sound. Was it a shout? I was aroused. I made a great effort and +got on my feet. I listened. There it was again! It was a shout, +I felt sure it was a shout! With every bit of energy at my +command, I sent up an answering "Hello!" All was silent. I began +to fear that again I had been deceived. Then over the bank above +me came four swarthy men on snow-shoes, with big packs on their +backs. + + + + +XIX. THE KINDNESS OF THE BREEDS + +The unintelligible words that George shouted to me from the knoll +after we parted on Tuesday (October 20th) were an injunction to +keep near the river, as the men he would send to rescue Hubbard +and me would look for us there. As he proceeded down the valley +his progress was slow and tedious, owing to his weakness, the +rough country, and the deepening snow. Towards noon he came upon +the newly made track of a porcupine, followed it a short distance +into a clump of trees, where he soon saw the round quill-covered +animal in the snow and shot it. Immediately he built a fire, and +singed off quills and hair. Then, as he related to me afterwards, +he considered, talking aloud to himself, what was best to do with +his prize. + +"There's them fellus up there without grub," he said. "Maybe I'd +better turn about and take 'em this porcupine. But if I do, it +won't last long, and then we'll be worse off than ever. This +snow's gettin' deeper all the time, and if it gets so deep I can't +walk without snowshoes, we'll all die for sure. No, I'd better go +on with this porcupine to help me." + +So after boiling a piece of the porcupine in his tea kettle and +eating it, he continued down the valley. By his fires be always +talked to himself to keep himself company, and that night he said: + +"This 's been a tough day, and I ain't where I ought to be. But +I'll eat a good snack of this porcupine now with some of the +flour, and in the mornin' I'll have another good snack, and +that'll make me stronger and I can travel farther to-morrow. I +ought to get most to Grand Lake to-morrow night." + +But so far from getting anywhere near Grand Lake the next day, he +did not complete his twenty-five-mile journey for several days to +come. The snow became so deep he could hardly push through it. +He carefully hoarded the bones of his porcupine, thinking he might +have to eat them; but Providence sent him more food. When the +first porcupine was eaten, he came upon and killed another, and +when that was gone, he shot a third. He also succeeded in +shooting several grouse. If it had not been for this game, he +would not have lived to do the hard work that was before him. + +The pieces of blanket in which his feet were wrapped were +continually coming off, and frequent halts were necessary to +readjust them. He must not let his feet freeze; for then he would +not be able to walk, and not only would he perish himself, but +"there'd be no hope for them fellus up there." One day he came +upon a man's track. He was exultant. That it was a trapper's +trail he had no doubt. Staggering along it with all the speed he +could command, he shouted wildly at every step. Presently he +discovered that he was following his own trail; he had been +travelling in a circle. The discovery made him almost frantic. +He stopped to reason with and calm himself. Said he, so that all +the listening wilderness might hear: + +"Them fellus up there in the snow have got to be saved. I said to +Hubbard, 'With God's help I'll save you,' and I'm a-goin' to if my +legs hold out and there's anybody at Grand Lake." And then he +went on. + +His progress down the valley that day was only a mile and a half. +It was most discouraging. He must do better. The powdered milk +we had abandoned he did not find, but on October 26th he recovered +our old lard pail. Some of the lard he ate, some he used in +cooking a grouse, and the rest he took along with him. + +Below the place where he bivouacked that night the snow was not so +deep, and early the next morning George once more beheld the broad +waters of Grand Lake. The journey he had expected to make in +three days had actually taken him seven. He arrived at Grand Lake +three days after I, wandering in the valley above, lost all track +of time. + +A few miles above its mouth the Susan River bends to the +southward, and from that direction reaches the little lake that +lies just north of the extreme western end of Grand Lake, so that +George, proceeding down the river on the south bank, eventually +came to the little lake's western shore. Along this shore he made +his way until he reached the point of land formed by the little +lake and the branch of the Beaver River that flows a little south +of east to merge its waters in the little lake with those of the +Susan. The water here had not been frozen, and George found his +further progress arrested. He was in a quandary. The trapper's +tilt for which he was bound was on the south shore of Grand Lake +about seven or eight miles from its western end, and in order to +reach the tilt he would have to continue on south around the end +of the lake. + +The land on the other side of the swirling stream to which George +had come was the island at the mouth of the Beaver that separates +it into two branches, and which forms the western shore of the +swift stream or strait that, flowing to the southward, discharges +the waters of the little lake into Grand Lake. George thought, +however, that this island was a part of the western boundary of +Grand Lake, and he determined to reach it. But how? To swim +across was impossible. Well, then, he would build a raft. And, +although he had no implements, he did. He hauled together several +fallen trees, laid them in a row and bound them at one end with +his pack strap and at the other with a piece of our old trolling +line. When this was done, be hacked himself a pole with his +sheath-knife, threw his bag containing a piece of a porcupine and +some grouse on the raft, launched it, jumped on it himself and +pushed out into the stream. + +One or two good shoves George gave with his pole, and then found +he no longer could touch bottom. He was at the mercy of the swift +current. Down into the little lake he was swept, and thence +through the strait right out into Grand Lake. A high sea was +running, and the frail raft promptly began to fall to pieces. +"Have I escaped starvin' only to drown?" thought George. It +certainly looked like it. "But," said he to himself, "if I drown +them fellus up there will be up against it for sure." So he +determined not to drown. He got down on his hands and knees, and, +although the icy seas broke relentlessly over him, he held the +floating sticks in place, at the same time clinging tenaciously to +his food bag; for, as he confided to me later, "it would have been +just as bad to escape drownin' only to starve as it would have +been to escape starvin' only to drown." + +Farther out on the broad bosom of the lake George was carried. +"Now," said he, "if I jump, I'll drown; and if I don't, I'll drown +anyway. So I guess I'll hang on a little longer." And hang on he +did for something like two hours, when the wind caught his raft +and drove it back to the southern end of the island at the mouth +of the Beaver. "You can't lose me," said George, as he landed. +He and his game bag were saved, but his difficulties were not +ended by any means. + +While the wind was driving him back, George caught sight of the +branch of the Beaver that flows almost due south directly into +Grand Lake, forming the island's western shore. Standing on this +shore, he made a shrewd guess. "I'll bet," he said, "my dream was +right, and here we have the same river we were on when we said +good-bye to the canoe." What interested him the most, however, +was a row boat he espied a little south of the island on the +opposite shore. Apparently it had been abandoned. "If can reach +that boat," said George, "and it'll float and I don't find Blake +or any grab at his tilt, I'll put right off for the post, and send +help from there to them fellus up there." + +There was no doubt about it, he would have to take chances with +another raft. Although his rags were beginning to freeze to his +body, he did not stop to build a fire, neither did he wait to eat +anything. At first it seemed hopeless to try to launch a raft; +for the bank on the western side of the island was very steep. +Farther north, however, ice had formed in the river for some +distance from the shore, and to this ice George dragged fallen +trees and bound them as he had done before. It was the labour of +hours, the trees having to be dragged for considerable distances. +Once more afloat, George found no difficulty in touching bottom +with his pole, and in the gathering dusk he reached the other +shore. + +Supposing that he was still many miles from a place where there +was any possibility of finding a human being, he decided to +bivouac for the night; but first he must examine the rowboat he +had sighted from the island. This made necessary the fording of a +small stream. Hardly had he emerged from the water, when, from +among the spruce trees farther back from the shore, there came a +sound that brought him to a sudden standstill and set his heart to +thumping wildly against his ribs. It was a most extraordinary +sound to hear when one supposed one was alone in a wilderness, and +when all had been solemnly still save for the dashing of waves +upon a shore. On the night air there came floating to George the +cry of a little child. + +"When I heard that youngster scream," said George, in telling me +about the incident, "I knew folks was there, and I dropped my bag, +and I tore my piece of blanket from my shoulders, and I runned and +I runned." + +In the course of the summer Donald Blake had built himself a log +house on the spot to which George was so wildly fleeing. The +rowboat George had spied belonged to him, but the house, standing +back in a thick clump of trees, had not been visible from the +water. On the evening of George's arrival, Donald and his brother +Gilbert were away, and Donald's wife and another young woman who +stayed with her to keep her company were alone. The latter young +woman, with Mrs. Blake's baby in her arms, was standing at the +door of the house, when suddenly she heard a crashing noise in the +bush in front of her, and the next moment there loomed up before +her affrighted vision in the gloaming the apparition of a gaunt +and ragged man, dripping wet, and running towards her with long, +black hair and straggling beard streaming in the wind. She turned +and fled into the house. + +"O Mrs. Blake! O Mrs. Blake!" she cried, "'tis somethin' dreadful +comin'! 'tis sure a wild man!" + +Greatly alarmed, Mrs. Blake went to the door. George, panting and +still dripping, stood before her. + +"Lord ha' mercy!" she piously exclaimed, throwing up her arms. + +"Don't be scared, ladies," panted George; "I couldn't hurt a +rabbit. Ain't there any men here?" + +His ingratiating manner reassured the frightened women, and +explanations followed. All the natives of the vicinity of +Hamilton Inlet had been wondering what had become of us, and Mrs. +Blake quickly grasped the situation. Kindness itself, she took +George in. Donald and Gilbert, she said, would be back directly. +She made him hot tea, and put on the table for him some grouse +stew, molasses, and bread and butter, all the time imploring him +to sit down and warm himself. But George was too excited to sit +down. Up and down he paced, the melting ice on his rags making +tiny rivulets on his hostess's spotless floor. Most of the breeds +who live near the western end of Hamilton Inlet are remarkably +cleanly, this probably being due to their Scotch blood. + +George at length calmed himself sufficiently to turn his attention +to the meal that had been prepared for him. He had salt for his +meat, molasses to sweeten his tea and a bountiful supply of good +bread. He ate greedily, which fact he soon had cause to regret; +for later in the evening he began to bloat, and for several days +thereafter he writhed with the colic. But for the present he +thought of nothing save the satisfaction of the appetite that had +been regenerated by the food he had been able to obtain after +leaving me. It was especially difficult for him to tear himself +away from the bread. As there must be an end to all things, +however, George eventually stopped eating, and then he started to +go for his bag. But Mrs. Blake said: + +"No, Donald'll get he. Sit down, sir, and rest." + +A little later Donald and Gilbert appeared. We had made Donald's +acquaintance, it will be remembered, at Rigolet; it was he who had +sailed his boat up the Nascaupee and had given us the most +information about that river. When he had heard George's story, +there was no need to urge him to make haste. Lithe, ambitious, +and in the habit of doing a dozen things at a time, Donald was +activity itself. His brother Gilbert, a young fellow of +seventeen, commonly called Bert, was also eager to start to the +rescue of Hubbard and me. They told George it was fortunate he +had arrived when he did, as in a day or so they would have been +away on their trapping paths. + +"But didn't you see Allen Goudie's tilt, sir? asked Donald, when +George had finished telling about his trip down what he supposed +to be the Nascaupee River. "She's on th' Nascaupee right handy to +th' bank, and in fair sight from th' river, sir." + +"If there's a tilt on the Nascaupee," said George, "you can kick +me." + +Donald asked him to tell more about the river we were on, and +George drew a rough map of its leading features. Then it was that +George learned that the river of our distress was really the +Susan. + +"And we passed right by the mouth of the Nascaupee?" he asked. + +He was informed that such was the case. + +"Well," said George, "I'll be blamed!" "Blamed" was George's most +violent expletive; I never heard him use profanity. + +Donald told George he must not think of going back with the +rescuing party, as his weakness would retard its progress. So +George marked on the map he had made of the Susan's course the +general situation of our last camp. He warned Donald that th + +deep snow up the valley might have prevented me from reaching the +tent, but that in any event they would find me near the river. + +Hearing that, Donald quickly decided that more men were needed for +the rescuing party; for if either Hubbard or I was found alone the +party would have to separate in order to continue the search for +the other man. The packs, besides, would be too heavy for two men +to carry and make the rapid progress that was necessary. +Fortunately Allen Goudie and a young fellow named Duncan McLean +were at the former's winter tilt on the Nascaupee, seven miles +across the lake from Donald's. The hour was late and the lake was +rough, but Donald and Gilbert started for them in their rowboat +immediately after making ready their packs of provisions and camp +equipment, prepared for an early start up the Susan the next day. + +At noon (October 28th) they were back with both Allen and Duncan, +and at once loaded the packs into the boat. Then the four men +rowed up through the little lake to the first rapid on the Susan, +hauled the boat up on the shore, donned their snowshoes, +shouldered their packs, and started up the valley. Running when +they could, which the rough country would not permit of their +doing often, they camped at night ten miles above their boat. + +The next morning (October 29th) they cached some provisions to +lighten their packs, and as they proceeded fired a rifle at +intervals, thinking there was now a chance of coming upon either +Hubbard or me. As a matter of fact they must have passed me +towards evening. They were on the north side of the river, and it +was the evening when I staggered down the north shore, to cross +the ice at dusk and make my last bivouac in the lee of a bank on +the south shore. Whether I had crossed the river before they came +along, or whether, hidden by the trees and the falling snow, I +passed them unobserved on the same shore, I do not know; the fact +is, they camped that night about a mile and a half above me, and +about twelve miles below Hubbard's tent. + +There was only one thing that saved me from being left alone to +die--these trappers' keen sense of smell. In the morning (October +30th) while they were breaking camp preparatory to continuing on +up the valley, Donald Blake fancied that he smelled smoke. He +spoke to Allen Goudie about it, and both men stood and sniffed the +air. Yes, Allen smelled smoke, too. It was unmistakable. The +wind was blowing up the valley; therefore someone must have a fire +below them. Hastily finishing the work of breaking camp, the four +men shouldered their packs and turned back. + +Close down to the shore of the river they scrambled, and hurried +on, shouting and discharging a rifle. At length they paused, to +give exclamations of satisfaction. They had found my track +leading across the ice to the other shore. Only a moment they +paused, and then, following the trail, they broke into a run, +redoubling their shouts and repeatedly discharging the rifle. +They had smelled my smouldering rotten stump, but if a whiff of +smoke was now rising it was too small for them to see. My trail, +however, led them to the bank over which they heard my feeble +answering shout. So down the bank they scrambled, to come to a +sudden halt, transfixed with amazement, as they told me +afterwards, that such a wreck as I could stand and live. + +The spectacle I presented certainly must have been an unusual one- +-a man all skin and bones, standing in drawers and stocking feet, +with the remnants of a pair of trousers about his hips, there in +the midst of the snow-covered forest. They were heavily clad and +had their caps pulled far down over their ears to protect them +from the biting wind, while I did not even have my hat on. + +It was some time before I could realise that living men were +before me. As if in a half-dream, I stood stupidly gazing at +them. But with the return of sensibility I recollected that +George had gone to find Donald Blake, and gradually it dawned upon +me that he was there. I spoke his name "Donald Blake." At that +Donald stepped forward and grasped my hand warmly and firmly like +an old friend. + +"Did George get out and send you?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir; it was he that sent us, sir. He's safe at my house." + +Have you found Hubbard?" + +"Not yet, sir. We smelled smoke a mile and a half above, where +our camp was last night, an' came down to find you, sir." + +I remember telling Donald that he had better leave me something to +eat, and go on to Hubbard as fast as he could. He replied that +Duncan and Bert, the two young fellows, would stay with me, while +he and Allen would continue on up the valley. During this talk, +the kind-hearted trappers had not been idle. While two of them +cut wood for a rousing fire and put the kettle on for tea, the +others made a cosey couch close to the blaze and sat me on it. +They gave me a very small piece of bread and butter. + +"You'd better eat just a small bit at first, sir," said Allen. +"You're fair starved, and much grub at th' beginnin' might be th' +worse for you." + +Before I had my tea, Donald and Allen were ready to start. Allen +hesitated for a moment; then asked: + +"If the other man be dead, sir?" + +"Dead?" I said. "Oh, no, he won't be dead. You'll find him in +the tent waiting for you." + +"But if he be dead?" persisted Allen. "He may be, and we sure +can't bring th' body out now, sir." + +Although still struggling against the fear that my reason told me +was only too well founded, I requested, that in the event of what +they thought possible proving to be the case, they wrap the body +in the blankets they would find in the tent, and build for it a +stage high enough from the ground to protect it from animals. I +also asked that they bring back with them all the things they +should find in the tent, including the rifle and camera, and +especially the books and papers of all descriptions. + +Promising that all should be done as I wished, and again +cautioning me against eating too much, Allen and Donald departed, +leaving me a prey to anxiety and fear as to the news they should +bring back. + + + + +XX. HOW HUBBARD WENT TO SLEEP + +A pot of hot tea soon was ready, and I drank some of it. + +"I hopes you feels better, sir," then spoke young Duncan MacLean. +"A smoke'll taste good now. Got a pipe, sir?" + +I produced my pipe, and he held out to me a plug of tobacco. + +"Take he an' fill th' pipe, sir." + +With the plug in my possession, I drew my sheath-knife to cut it. +But Gilbert Blake objected. + +"He's a big un, sir, to cut tobacca with. Let me fill he, sir." + +Obediently I handed him my pipe to be filled, and when it had been +returned to me one of the boys struck a match and held it to the +bowl while I puffed. Then Duncan took the plug from the log where +Gilbert had left it, and, holding it out to me, said: + +"He's yours, sir; I brought he for you. An'," added Duncan +impressively, "there's more when he's gone, sir." + +The tea and the great leaping blaze warmed me, the tobacco +stimulated me, and my tongue was loosed. I talked and I talked. +It was good to have human society and human sympathy again. The +boys told me how George had finally reached them after his +struggles, and what news of the world they had heard. After a +little they gave me a bit more bread, and told me I had better +sleep while they built a break to keep the wind, which had shifted +to the west, from my couch. And, while watching them fell trees +for the wind-break and vaguely wondering whether I should ever be +strong and able to move about like that again, I did go to sleep. + +When, after an hour had passed, I awoke, the boys made me drink +more tea and eat another piece of bread. Then Duncan took his +rifle, and remarking, "The 's deer signs right handy, an' a bit o' +deer's meat might do you good, sir," strode off into the bush. +Late in the afternoon he returned without having been rewarded in +his hunt, and took a seat with Gilbert near my feet as I reclined +on the boughs. Twilight came and then darkness, and I, lying +before the crackling flames, wondered, as they burned ever +brighter, whether Donald and Allen had yet found Hubbard, and +hoped against hope that they had found him alive. Instinctively I +felt that I should prepare for the worst, but I cudgelled my brain +for specious arguments to make myself believe he had survived, and +went on hoping. + +My feet had been paining me all day. I tried to take off my +socks, but blood clots held them fast to the raw flesh. The fact +was, they had been frozen. It was hardly to be wondered at--the +wonder was, how I, wandering for ten days in a bitter snowstorm +almost naked as to my lower extremities, escaped with my life. +Under ordinary circumstances, a physician has told me, the +exposure would have killed me in short order; but, having been +living in the open for months, I had become gradually inured to +the cold, and the effect of the exposure was thus greatly +mitigated. There were only two or three nights on the entire trip +when any of us went to bed with dry feet, and that none of us ever +had the slightest symptom of a cold certainly speaks volumes for +an out-of-door life. + +Although I ate very sparingly on the day the trappers found me, I +soon began to suffer greatly from bloating and nausea. In the +night I was very ill. The boys did everything they could for me. +They were excellent nurses, those rough, brown fellows of the +forest, anticipating my every wish. When once or twice in the +night I tried to walk a few steps from the fire to relieve my +nausea, their faces and actions showed plainly their concern. +That I might not stagger into the fire, they would rise to stand +between it and me. One of them remained awake all night, to keep +the fire going and to help me should I need anything. + +The sun was again showing itself above the horizon, setting the +expanse of fir trees and snow aglow, and the boys, having placed +the kettle over the fire for breakfast, were cutting more wood, +when Donald and Allen suddenly came over the bank, as they had +done on the morning before. Their packs were as large as ever, +and they had Hubbard's rifle. I knew at once that the worst had +happened. "His wife and mother!"--like lightning the thought +flashed through my mind. A dizziness came over me, and for a +moment I could not breathe. Donald spoke: + +"Yesterday evenin' we found th' tent, sir. He were fastened up +tight with pins on th' inside, an' hadn't been opened since th' +snow began. Says I to Allen, sir, 'Th' poor man's dead, 'tis sure +he's dead.' An' Allen he opened th' tent; for I had no heart to +do it, sir, and there th' poor man was, wrapped all up in th' +blankets as if sleepin', sir. But he were dead, sir, dead; and he +were dead for a long time. So there was nothin' to do but to wrap +th' poor man safe in th' things that were there, an' bring back +th' papers an' other things, sir." + +We kept silent, we five men, until Donald added: + +"We saw a place when right handy to th' tent where you'd had a +fire by a brook, sir." + +"Yes," I said; "I built that fire--so that really was the brook +near our tent!" + +"'Twere th' mercy of God, sir," said Allen, "that you didn't know +th' poor man were there dead; you would ha' given up yourself, +sir." + +Having a superstitious horror of the dead, Donald would not touch +the body, and without assistance Allen had been unable to place it +on a stage as I wished. However, he arranged it carefully on the +ground, where, he assured me, it would be perfectly safe. He +suggested that I permit them to bury the body where it was, as it +would be quite impossible to transport it over the rough country +for weeks to come, or until Grand Lake had frozen solid and the +ice on the Susan River rapids become hard enough to bear the +weight of men with a sled. Both Donald and Allen were willing to +go back to the log-house on Grand Lake, and get the tools +necessary for digging the grave. + +But it would be bad enough for me to return home without Hubbard +alive, and I felt that I simply must get the body out and take it +with me. And, although the trappers could not understand my +reasons, I refused to consent to its burial in the wilderness. In +spite of their superior knowledge of the country and the weather +conditions, I felt that the body could be taken down to the post +later, but recognised the impracticability, if not impossibility, +of undertaking the task immediately. + +When Donald and Allen turned over to me the papers they had found +in the tent, I took up Hubbard's diary wondering if he had left a +last message. In the back part of the book was a letter to his +mother, a note to his wife, the evident attempt again to write to +his wife, and the letter to the agent at Missanabie written on +George's behalf. From these I turned hastily to the diary proper. +Yes, there was an entry written on the day George and I had left +him, and this is what I read: + +"Sunday, October 18th, 1903. + +Alone in camp, junction Nascaupee and some other stream--estimated +(overestimated, I hope) distance above head of Grand Lake 33 +miles. + +"For two days past we have travelled down our old trail with light +packs. We left a bit of flour-- wet--about 11 miles below here-- +12 miles (approx.) below that about a pound of milk powder--4 +miles below that about 4 pounds of lard. We counted on all these +to help us out in our effort to reach the head of Grand Lake where +we hoped to find Skipper Tom Blake's trapping camp and cache. On +Thursday, as stated, I busted. Friday and Saturday it was the +same. I saw it was probably hopeless for me to try to go farther +with the boys, so we counselled last night and decided they should +take merely half a blanket each, socks, etc., some tea, tea pail, +cups and the pistols, and go on. They will try to reach the flour +to-morrow. Then Wallace will try to bring a little and come back +to me. George will go on to the milk and lard and to Skipper +Blake's, if he can, and send or lead help to us. I want to say +here that they are two of the very best, bravest and grandest men +I ever knew, and if I die it will not be because they did not put +forth their best efforts. Our past two days have been trying +ones. I have not written my diary because so very weak. Day +before yesterday we caught sight of a caribou, but it was on our +lee, and winding us got away before a shot could be fired. +Yesterday at our old camp we found the end we had cut from a flour +bag. It had a bit of flour sticking to it. We boiled it with our +old caribou bones, and it strengthened the broth a little. We +also found a can of mustard we had thrown away. Mina gave it to +me as we were coming away, saying she had no use for it and it +might be good for plasters here. I sat and held it in my hand a +long time thinking how it came from Congers and our home, and what +a happy home it was, and what a dear, dear girl presided. Then I +took a bite of it and it was very good. We mixed some in our bone +soup and it seemed to stimulate us. We had a bit of caribou skin +in that same pot. It swelled up thick and was very good. Last +night I fell asleep while the boys were reading to me. This +morning I was very, very sleepy. After the boys left--they left +me tea, the caribou bones and another end of a flour sack found +here, a rawhide caribou moccasin and some yeast cakes--I drank a +cup of strong tea and some bone broth. I also ate some of the +really delicious rawhide (boiled with bones) and it made me +stronger--strong to write this. The boys have only tea and 1-2 +pound of pea meal. Our parting was most affecting. I did not +feel so bad. George said: 'The Lord help us, Hubbard. With His +help I'll save you if I can get out.' Then he cried. So did +Wallace. Wallace stooped and kissed my cheek with his poor, +sunken bearded lips--several times--and I kissed his. George did +the same, and I kissed his cheek. Then they went away. God bless +and help them. + +"I am not so greatly in doubt as to the outcome. I believe they +will reach the flour and be strengthened, that Wallace will reach +me, that George will find Blake's cache and camp and send help. +So I believe we will all get out. My tent is pitched in open-tent +style in front of a big rock. The rock reflects the fire, but now +it is going out because of the rain. I think I shall let it go +and close the tent till rain is over, thus keeping out wind and +saving wood. To-night or to-morrow perhaps the weather will +improve, so I can build fire, eat the rest of my moccasins and +have some more bone broth. Then I can boil my belt and oil-tanned +moccasins and a pair of cowhide mittens. They ought to help some. + +"I am not suffering. The acute pangs of hunger have given way to +indifference. I'm sleepy. I think death from starvation is not +so bad. But let no one suppose I expect it. I am prepared--that +is all. I think the boys will be able, with the Lord's help, to +save me." + +Bravo, Hubbard! nothing could down your spirit for long, could +there? So high was your spirit that you could not know it was +impossible for your poor old body to hold it any longer. Your +hand was firm when you wrote, b'y, speaking eloquently of that +which most of all was you. "It is a man's game," you said one +day, in referring to our desperate struggle to reach those we +loved. Well, you played it to the limit, b'y, and it was a man's +death. My friend, I am proud of you. + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +Putting down the coverless book in which Hubbard's brave last +words had been written, I sat and thought. The tea, the bones and +the other things we had left with him had been found in the tent +with the body. The tent was closed as he said he was going to +close it, and the snow, which began to fall that Sunday night, had +not been disturbed. He had been found well wrapped in the +blankets, as if sleeping. Yes, it was quite evident that after +making that last entry in his diary on the day we left him, he had +lain down, and there all alone amid the solitudes of desolate +Labrador, there in the wild that had called to him with a voice to +which he must needs harken, had gone to sleep, and sleeping had +not awakened. + + + + +XXI. FROM OUT THE WILD + +Donald and Allen returned at once to the log house on Grand Lake, +leaving with the boys and me their tent and tent-stove. Donald +also gave me a pair of high sealskin boots with large, soft +moccasin bottoms. It was their expectation that we should remain +in camp until they got back with other things to aid my journey +out; but, although I was still very ill, and the heated tent was +comfortable, I found waiting irksome, and at daylight the next +morning (Sunday, November 1st) the boys and I pulled up stakes. +To protect my hands during the journey I made a pair of mittens +from a piece of blanket duffel that had been brought back from the +tent where Hubbard was. + +A pretty good path had been trodden in the snow by the trips of my +rescuers up and down the valley, and following along it, with +Duncan and Gilbert on their snowshoes ahead of me packing it down +still further, I did not sink very deeply; nevertheless, such was +the condition of my feet that every step I took was painful. As +the boys carried all that was to be carried, I managed, however, +to walk about ten miles during the day. We camped at a place +where the four trappers on their journey in had cached a fat +porcupine. For supper I ate a bit of the meat and drank some of +the broth, and found it very nourishing. + +On the following day we met Donald and Allen as they were +returning to aid us. Allen brought with him a pair of trousers to +cover my half-naked legs. At sunset we reached the rowboat, which +had been left near the mouth of the Susan, and as we approached +Donald's log-house something more than an hour later a rifle was +fired as a signal that we were coming. When we landed, George was +there on the starlit shore to welcome us. I hardly knew him. His +hair had been cut, he had shaved off his ragged beard, and he was +dressed in clean clothing that Donald had lent him. He, of +course, had heard of Hubbard's death from Donald and Allen, and +when he clasped my hand in a firm grip to help me from the boat, +he said: + +"Well, Wallace, Hubbard's gone." + +"Yes," I said, "Hubbard's gone." + +He was good enough to say he was glad I had escaped, and then in +silence we followed the trail up to the house the first human +habitation I had seen for months. There was only one room in the +house, and there all of us, men and women alike, slept as well as +ate; but it was scrupulously clean--the floor, table, chests and +benches had been scoured until they shone and to me it seemed +luxurious. The family did everything for me that was within their +power. Donald gave me fresh underclothes, and his wife made me +drink some tea and eat some rice and grouse soup before I lay down +on the bed of skins and blankets they had prepared for me on the +floor by the stove. + +My two-days' walk had completely exhausted me, and I had a severe +attack of colic and nausea. George then told me of his +sufferings. Mrs. Blake, it appeared, had baked a batch of +appetising buns, and George, not profiting by his experience after +his indiscretion on the night of his arrival, had partaken thereof +with great liberality, the result being such as to induce the +reflection, "Have I escaped drownin' and starvin' only to die of +over-feedin'?" + +The women of the household slept in bunks fastened to the wall, +and while they prepared themselves for their night's rest the +lamps were turned low and we men discreetly turned our backs. +Just before this incident we had family worship, which consisted +of readings from the Bible and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, +in accordance with the usual custom of the household. Donald, our +host, professed not to be a religious man, but never a day passed +that he did not offer thanks to his Maker, he regularly subscribed +one-tenth of his income to the support of the Methodist Mission, +he would not kill a deer or any other animal on Sunday if it came +right up to his door, his whole life and his thoughts were decent +and clean, and he was ever ready to abandon his work and go to the +rescue of those who needed help. It may be thought strange that +he should observe the forms of the Anglican Church in his family +worship and subscribe to the Methodist Mission. The explanation +is, that denominations cut absolutely no figure in Labrador; to +those simple-hearted people, whose blood, for the most part, is +such a queer mixture of Scotch, Eskimo, and Indian, there is only +one church--the Church of Jesus Christ,--and whenever a Christian +missionary comes along they will flock from miles with the same +readiness to hear him whatever division of the Church may claim +his allegiance. + +So accustomed had I become to living in the open that I soon found +the atmosphere of the closed room unendurable, and several times +during the night I had to go out to breathe. I was down on the +shore of Grand Lake for a breath of the crisp winter air when the +sun rose. It was glorious. Not a cloud was there in all the deep +blue vault of the heavens, and, as the sunbeams peeked over Cape +Corbeau, the lake was set a-shimmering and the snow on the +surrounding hills radiated tiny shafts of fire. It was to me as +if the sun were rising on a new world and a new life. Our +hardships and their culminating tragedy seemed to belong to a dim +and distant past. What a beautiful world it was after all! and +how I thanked God that I lived! + +Allen Goudie had offered George and me the use of his sailboat in +returning to Northwest River Post, and it was agreed that he and +Duncan should row us over to his tilt on the Nascaupee. So after +breakfast George and I said good-bye to Donald and the rest of his +household, and three hours later were welcomed by Allen's wife. +Again we received every attention that kindly hearts could +suggest. We remained at Allen's two days while he and Duncan made +a pair of oars and fitted up the sailboat for our trip to the +post. With the soap and warm water and bandages provided by Mrs. +Goudie I was able to dress my feet. One foot especially had been +affected, and from it I cut with a jack knife much gangrenescent +flesh. + +It was on Thursday morning, November 5th, that George and I, +warmly dressed in Donald's and Allen's clothes, set sail in a +snowstorm for the post through the thin ice that was forming in +the river. Upon reaching Grand Lake we found the wind adverse and +the snow so thick we could not see our course, but after we had +hovered about a fire on the shore until well into the afternoon, +the wind shifted to the west and the storm abated, enabling us to +proceed a little farther on our journey, or until signs of +approaching night compelled us to take refuge in a trapper's tilt +near Cape Blanc on the southern shore. This was the tilt that +George, in his struggle out, had supposed he would have to reach +to get help. It was about six by seven feet, and as it contained +a tent-stove we were able to make ourselves comfortable for the +night after our supper of tea and bread and butter and molasses +thoughtfully provided by Mrs. Goudie. + +The next morning was clear and beautiful, and although there was +scarcely wind enough to fill the single sail of our little craft, +we made an early start. Towards noon the wind freshened and soon +was blowing furiously. The seas ran high, but George and I had +become so used to rough weather and had faced danger so often that +we ran right on in front of the gale, I at the tiller, and he +handling the sail rope and bailing the water out when occasionally +we shipped a sea. The rate at which we travelled quickly brought +us to the rapid at the eastern end of the lake, and through this +we shot down into the Little Lake, and thence through the strait +known as the Northwest River out into Groswater Bay. It was about +3.30 o'clock in the afternoon when, turning sharply in below the +post wharf, we surprised Mackenzie, the agent, and Mark Blake, the +company's servant, in the act of sawing wood close down by the +shore. + +That they were astonished by the sudden appearance of the boat +with its strange-looking occupants, was evident. They dropped +their crosscut saw, and stood staring. In a moment, however, +Mackenzie recognised George, who, having had a hair cut and a +shave, looked something like his old self, and came to the +conclusion that the other occupant of the boat must be I. He came +quickly forward, and, grasping my hand as I stepped from the boat, +asked abruptly: + +"Where's Hubbard?" + +"Dead," I said. "Dead of starvation eighty miles from here." + +Mark Blake, a breed but not related to Donald, took charge of +George, and as Mackenzie and I walked to the post house, I gave +him a brief account of Hubbard's death and my rescue. He had been +warmly attracted to Hubbard, and his big heart was touched. I saw +him hastily brush away a tear. Taking me into the kitchen, he +instructed his little housekeeper, Lillie Blake, Mark's niece, to +give me a cup of cocoa and some soda biscuit and butter, while he +made a fire in the dining-room stove. Lillie cried all the time +she was preparing my lunch. + +"I feels so sorry for you, sir," she said. "An' 'tis dreadful th' +poor man's starvin', an' he were such a pretty man. In th' summer +I says, before you went t' th' bush, sir, he's sure a pretty man. +'Tis wonderful sad, 'tis wonderful sad t' have he die so." + +Oh, that pleasant kitchen, with the floor and all the woodwork +scrubbed white and the rows of shining utensils on the shelves! +And the comfort of the great wood-burning stove roaring out a tune +to us on that frosty winter evening! As I sat there sipping the +deliciously rich cocoa, Mackenzie joined me, and while Lillie +cooked the dinner I must tell him over and over again my story. +And in spite of herself the tender-hearted little housekeeper +would cry and cry. + +The dinner, which consisted of grouse, potatoes, marmalade, bread, +and tea, was served in the dining room, which was also the living +room. Mackenzie sat at the head of the table, I at the foot, and +on a lounge to one side sat Atikamish, a small Mountaineer Indian +hunting dog, gravely alert for the bones his master would +occasionally toss to him. Atikamish had very good table manners. +He caught the bones neatly and deftly, and he invariably chewed +them up without leaving his seat or changing his position. My +appetite was returning, and I ate well; but it was fully two weeks +before I could eat without experiencing distress later. When that +blessed time arrived, I never could get enough; Lillie was always +pressing me to eat, and for a time I had at least six meals a day. + +After dinner Mackenzie got Mark Blake to cut my hair and shave off +my beard. Then he took me to my room upstairs, where a stove was +crackling out a welcome and a big tub of warm water had been +prepared for me. After my bath, he again came up to rub my legs, +which were much swollen from frostbite, and to dress my foot with +salve. In a suit of Mackenzie's flannel pajamas I then went to my +soft bed, and lay snug and warm under the blankets. It was the +first real bed I had lain in for nearly four months, and oh, the +luxury of it! + +It is impossible for me to express the gratitude I feel towards +those good friends. They nursed me with the tenderest care. +Mackenzie's big Scotch heart and the woman's sympathetic instinct +of the little housekeeper anticipated my every want, and he and +she never could seem to satisfy themselves with doing things for +my comfort. When I left the post with Hubbard I weighed 170 +pounds; a week after my return I weighed ninety-five. But with +the care they took of me my general health was soon restored, and +I rapidly put on flesh. + +My difficulties, however, were not yet ended. Hubbard's body was +still to be recovered from the wild and repatriated, and during +the long months that ensued before it could be reached I lived in +constant dread lest it should be destroyed by animals, until at +length the dread amounted almost to an obsession. Moreover, the +gangrene in my foot became worse, and if it had not been for the +opportune arrival in that dreary land of an unfortunate young +medical student, it in all likelihood would have killed me. + + + + +XII. A STRANGE FUNERAL PROCESSION + +The young medical student was George Albert Hardy, of Prince +Edward Island. Everybody called him "Doctor," and for all +practical purposes he was a regular physician and surgeon; for if +he had been able to do two or three months' more hospital work he +would have received his degree. The reason he had hastily +abandoned his studies and sought professional service with the +lumber company that maintains camps at the western end of the +Hamilton Inlet was that he had fallen a victim to consumption. He +arrived at Northwest River Post on November 8th on a small +schooner that brought supplies from Rigolet for Mackenzie and the +Muddy Lake lumber camp at the mouth of the Grand River. + +The schooner remained only an hour at Northwest River, and Dr. +Hardy had to continue on to Muddy Lake with her, but he found time +to operate on my left foot, which was badly affected, and advise +me how to continue its treatment myself. The doctor said that the +mail boat, the Virginia Lake, which had carried him to Rigolet, +would return there within three weeks for her last trip to +Newfoundland of the season, and he urged me to take advantage of +that opportunity to go home, and get proper treatment for my feet. +The temptation was great, but I felt it was my duty not to leave +Labrador without Hubbard's body. + +It was my plan to engage dog teams and start with the body for the +coast so soon as it could be brought to the post. Everybody +agreed that it could not be recovered before January, and +Mackenzie argued strongly against the practicability of +transporting it with dogs, suggesting that we place it in the old +post mission chapel until navigation opened in the spring, when it +could be sent home on the mail steamer. But I knew I must get +home as soon as possible, and my mind was made up to take the body +with me, if I had to haul it all the way to Quebec. + +The great toe on my left foot growing steadily worse, it became +necessary for me again to see the doctor. Groswater Bay and Goose +Bay by this time were frozen solid, and on December 4th I +travelled to Muddy Lake, where Dr. Hardy was stationed, by dog +team and komatik, Willie Ikey, an Eskimo employed by Monsieur +Duclos, the manager of the French trading post across the +Northwest River, acting as my driver. Upon my arrival I was +cordially welcomed by Mr. Sidney Cruikshanks, the lumber "boss"; +Mr. James McLean, the storekeeper, and Dr. Hardy. It was arranged +that I should stop and sleep with the doctor at McLean's house. +The doctor did some more cutting, and under his careful treatment +my foot so improved that it was thought I could with safety return +to the post on December 15th, to prepare letters and telegrams for +the winter mail, which was scheduled to leave there by dog team +for Quebec on the 18th. It was the 20th before the mail got away, +and with it went the first news of Hubbard's death to reach his +relatives and friends. + +My dispatches, forwarded from Chateau Bay, the outpost of the +Canadian coast telegraph service, were received in New York on +January 22d, the letters two months later. + +Immediately upon my return to Northwest River, my feet began to +trouble me again. Word was sent to Dr. Hardy, who, regarding it +as a call of duty, arrived on December 31st. I very much regret +to say, that in responding to the call, Dr. Hardy received a chill +that hastened, if it did not cause, his death. After examining my +feet upon his arrival, he advised me to return with him to Muddy +Lake. So it was arranged that George, with Mackenzie's dogs and +komatik, should drive Dr. Hardy and me to the Kenemish lumber +camp, twelve miles across Groswater Bay, where there was a patient +that required attention, and that from there Hardy and I should go +on to Muddy Lake with other dogs. Alas! the doctor never saw +Muddy Lake again. + +Before starting, I learned from Allen Goudie and Duncan MacLean, +who came from the interior to spend New Year's Day, that Grand +Lake was frozen hard and an attempt might be made to bring out +Hubbard's body. Accordingly, I engaged Duncan MacLean and Tom +Blake, also a breed, to undertake the task with George, and to +recover, so far as possible, the photographic films and other +articles we had abandoned at Goose Camp and Lake Elson. Blake was +the father of Mackenzie's housekeeper, and lived at the rapid at +the eastern end of Grand Lake. As he had, at the request of +friends, frequently prepared bodies for burial, it was arranged +that he should head the expedition, while George acted as guide, +and the agreement was that, weather permitting, the party should +start inland on January 6th. A coffin, made by the carpenter at +Kenemish was all ready to receive the body when it should arrive +at the post. + +George was to have driven Dr. Hardy and me to Kenemish on January +3d, but as there was a stiff wind blowing and the thermometer +registered 40 degrees below zero, we postponed our departure until +the following day. The morning was clear, and the temperature was +34 below. The dogs, with a great howling and jumping, had hardly +settled down to the slow trot which with only fair travelling is +their habitual gait, when we observed that the sky was clouding, +and in an incredibly short time the first snowflakes of the +gathering storm began to fall. Soon the snow was so thick that it +shut us in as with a curtain, and eventually even old Aillik, our +leader, was lost to view. + +"Bear well t' th' east'ard, an' keep free o' th' bad ice; the's +sure t' be bad ice handy t' th' Kenemish," had been Mark Blake's +parting injunction. So George kept well to the eastward as, hour +after hour, we forged our way on through the bending, drifting +snow. At length we came upon land, but what land we did not know. +The storm had abated by this time, and a fresh komatik track was +visible, which we proceeded to follow. On all sides of us ice was +piled in heaps as high as a house. We had been travelling +altogether about six hours, and the storm had ceased, when we came +upon a tilt on the shore of a deep bay, and, close by it, a man +making passes with a stick at a large wolf, which, apparently +emboldened by hunger, was jumping and snarling about waiting for a +chance to spring in upon him. + +The noise of our approaching komatik caused the wolf to slink off, +and then the man hurried to the tilt, reappeared with a rifle and +shot the beast as it still prowled among the ice hills. He proved +to be Uriah White, a trapper. Not at all excited by his +adventure, he welcomed us to his tilt. In throwing off his +mittens to fire his rifle at the wolf, he had exposed his naked +hands to the bitter cold, and they had been frost-bitten. While +thawing out his hands at a safe distance from the stove, he +informed us that he had been "handy 'nuf to he [meaning the wolf] +to see that he were a she." + +The condition of my feet had not permitted me to leave the komatik +during our long journey, and I suffered severely from the cold. +George and, alas! Hardy, were also thoroughly chilled, though they +had occasionally exercised themselves by running behind. Uriah +prepared for us some hot tea and hardtack, and gave us our +bearings. We were about four miles east of Kenemish, and an hour +later we arrived there. + +The lumber camp at the mouth of the Kenemish River is composed of +a saw mill, a storehouse in which also live the native helpers, a +cookhouse, a part of which is given over to lodgings for the Nova +Scotian lumbermen, and a log stable for the horses that do the +general work about the camp and in the woods. Hugh Dunbar, the +engineer, extended a warm welcome to the doctor and me, and his +wife, who did the camp cooking, made us comfortable in the +cookhouse. I was destined to remain at the camp for many weeks, +and I cannot help testifying to the gratitude I feel to those +lumber folk, especially Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar, Wells Bently, the +storekeeper; Tom Fig, the machinist, and Archie McKennan, Leigh +Stanton and James Greenan. + +The chill he had received during the trip from Northwest River so +affected Dr. Hardy that he was unable to proceed to Muddy Lake. +Two days after our arrival he had a severe hemorrhage, and the +following day another. They forced him to take to his bed, and +thereafter he rose only occasionally for half an hour's rest in a +chair. He was a deeply religious nature, and, realising that he +was doomed, he awaited the slow approach of death with calm +resignation. + +And my feet steadily grew worse. Three days after our arrival at +Kenemish I could not touch them to the floor. The doctor and I +lay on couches side by side. I could not even bear the weight of +the bed-clothes on my feet, and Dunbar built a rack from the hoops +of an old flour barrel to protect them. Under the doctor's +direction, Mrs. Dunbar every day removed the bandages from my +feet, cleansed them with carbolic acid water and rebandaged them. +Dunbar and the other men carried me in their arms when it was +necessary for me to be taken from my couch. My temperature ran up +until it reached 103 1/2. The doctor then said there was only one +way to save my life--to cut off my legs. + +"And," he added, "I'm the only one here that knows how to do it, +and I'm too weak to undertake it. So were both going to die, +Wallace. There's nothing to fear in that, though, if you trust in +God." + +The doctor was an accomplished player of the violin, but he had +left his own instrument at Muddy Lake, and the only one he could +obtain at Kenemish was a miserable affair that gave him little +satisfaction. So while he lay dying by the side of his patient +who he thought was also dying, he, for the most part, gratified +his love of music and sought to comfort us both by softly singing +in his sympathetic tenor voice the grand old hymns of the church. +"Lead Kindly Light" and "Nearer My God to Thee" were his +favourites, and every syllable was enunciated clearly and +distinctly. + +But he was mistaken in thinking that I, too, was to die. Soon +there was an improvement noticeable in the condition of both of my +feet, and gradually they grew better. + +"It's truly a miracle that the Lord is working," said the doctor. +"You were beyond human aid. I've prayed from the bottom of my +heart that you'd get well. I've prayed a dozen times a day, and +now the prayer is answered. It's the only one of my prayers," he +added sadly, "that has been answered since I have been in +Labrador." + +During January and February the cold was terrific. The spirit +thermometer at the camp was scaled down to 64 degrees below zero, +and on several days the spirit disappeared below the scale mark +before 8 o'clock in the evening. For a week the temperature +never, even at midday, rose above 40 below. The old natives of +the bay said there never had been such a winter before. Not a man +in the camp escaped without a frozen nose and the cheeks and chins +of all of them were black from being nipped by the frost. Bently +declared that he froze his nose in bed, and Mrs. Bently bore +witness to the truth of the statement. But Bently's nose was +frosted on an average of once a day. + +Nearly all of this time I lay at the lumber camp worrying about +Hubbard's body. One day late in January, when I had been hoping +that the body had been safely brought out, Mackenzie and George +arrived from Northwest River with the news that the storms had +been so continuous it had not been deemed wise to attempt the +journey inland. I wished to be removed at once to the post, +thinking that my presence there might hasten matters, but Dr. +Hardy said there would be no use of having two dead men, and I was +forced to be content with promises that the expedition would get +under way as soon as possible. + +Early in February the doctor said I might try my feet on the +floor. The result was the discovery that my knees would not bear +me, and that I should have to learn to walk all over again. +Recovering the use of my legs was a tedious job, and it was not +until February 29th that I was able to return to Northwest River. +After leaving Kenemish I never saw the unfortunate young doctor +again; for he died on March 22d. + +Back at Northwest River, I was able to stir things up a bit, and +bright and early on Tuesday morning, March 8th, George, Tom Blake, +and Duncan MacLean, composing the expedition that was to recover +Hubbard's body, at last left the post, prepared for their +difficult journey into the interior. I regretted much that my +physical condition made it impossible for me to accompany them. +Their provisions were packed on an Indian flat sled or toboggan, +and their tent and other camp equipment on a sled with broad flat +runners that I had obtained especially for the transportation of +the body from some Indians that visited the post. At the rapid +they were to get Tom Blake's dogs to haul their loads to Donald +Blake's at the other end of Grand Lake. After that, the hauling +was all to be done by hand, as it is quite impossible to use dogs +in cross-country travelling in Labrador. + +In the course of the afternoon snow squalls developed, and all day +Wednesday and Thursday the snow fell heavily. I knew the storm +would interfere with the progress of the men, but I hoped they had +succeeded in reaching Donald's, and were at that point holding +themselves in readiness to proceed. What was my disappointment, +then, when towards noon on Sunday Douglas and Henry Blake, Tom's +two young sons, came to the post to announce that their father was +at home! He had made a start up Grand Lake, they said, but the +storms had not permitted the party to advance any farther than the +Cape Corbeau tilt. + +Douglas had accompanied the men to Cape Corbeau, which point it +had taken an entire day to reach, as the dogs, even with the men +on their snowshoes tramping a path ahead, sank so deeply in the +snow that they could hardly flounder along, to say nothing of +hauling a load. It was evident, therefore, that the dogs would +retard rather than accelerate the progress of the party on Grand +Lake, and when the Cape Corbeau tilt was reached on Tuesday night +it was decided that Douglas should take them back to the rapid. +On Wednesday morning the storm was raging so fiercely that it was +considered unsafe to go ahead for the present. George, moreover, +complained of a lame ankle, and said he required a rest. So Tom +came to the conclusion that if he remained at the tilt he would be +eating the "stock of grub" to no purpose, and when Douglas turned +homeward with the dogs he went with him. George and Duncan were +to stay at the tilt until the travelling became better, Douglas +said, and then push on to Donald's and wait for Tom there. + +Douglas's story made it plain that the weather conditions on Grand +Lake had been fierce enough to appal any man, but as there had +been no snow since Friday night I could not understand what Tom +was doing at the rapid on Sunday, and with Mackenzie's consent I +had Mark immediately harness the post dogs and drive me up to his +house. I arrived there considerably incensed by his inactivity, +but I must say that his explanation was adequate. He asked me if +I had been able to see anything of Grand Lake, and made me realise +what it meant to be out there with a high west wind of Arctic +bitterness drifting the snow in great clouds down its thirty-seven +miles of unbroken expanse. There was no doubt that the men had +done the best they could, and after instructing Tom that, if more +provisions were needed, to obtain them at Donald's at my expense, +and receiving from him an assurance that he would again start for +Hubbard's body as soon as the weather would permit, I returned, +mollified, to the post. + +It was on this day (Sunday, March 13th) that I received my first +news from home and the outside world, Monsieur Duclos, who had +been on a trip north, bringing me two telegrams from New York. +They conveyed to me the comforting assurance that all was well at +home, being replies to the dispatches I had sent in December. +Received at Chateau Bay, they had been forwarded to me three +hundred and fifty miles by dog teams and snowshoe travellers. + +Tom Blake started on Monday morning, the 14th, and Tuesday at noon +joined George and Duncan at Donald's. On Wednesday the three men +began their march up the Susan. The weather continuing fair, they +made good progress and had no difficulty in finding the site of +our last camp. Hubbard's body, with the tent lying flat on top of +it, was under eight feet of snow. Near the spot a wolverine had +been prowling, but the body was too deeply buried for any animal +to scent it, and in its quiet resting place it lay undisturbed. +It was fortunate that it had not been placed on a stage, as I had +suggested; for in that event it would undoubtedly have been +destroyed. + +Continuing on inland, the men recovered the photographic films, +the sextant, my fishing rod, and other odds and ends we had +dropped on the trail as far back as Lake Elson. Tom and Duncan +praised George unstintingly for the unvarying accuracy with which +he located the things. With the country and smaller trees buried +under a great depth of snow, and no landmarks to guide him, George +would lead the other men on, and, with no searching about or +hesitancy, stop and say, "We'll dig here." And not once did his +remarkable instinct play him false. + +"'Tis sure wonderful," said Tom, in telling me about it. "I ne'er +could ha' done it, an' no man on Th' Labrador could ha' done it, +sir. Not even th' Mountaineers could ha' done it." And Duncan +seconded Tom's opinion. + +On Sunday, March 27th, I was sitting in the cosey post house +wondering where George and the others were, when suddenly George +appeared from out the snow that the howling gale was whirling +about. My long suspense was ended. The body had been recovered +in good condition, George said. Wrapped in the blankets that +Hubbard had round him when died--the blankets he had so gaily +presented me with that June morning on the Silvia--and our old +tarpaulin, which George had recovered farther back on the trail, +it had been dragged on the Indian sled forty miles down over the +sleeping Susan River, and thence out over Grand Lake to the Cape +Corbeau tilt, where the men had been compelled to leave it the day +before owing to the heavy snowstorm that then prevailed. From the +tilt the men had gone on to Tom's house at the rapid to spend the +night, and George had now come down to the post to relieve my mind +with the news that the body was safe. + +It was arranged that the next morning George and Duncan should +take the post dogs and komatik, drive up to Cape Corbeau and bring +the body down. The morning was calm and fine, and they started +early. It was a strange funeral procession that returned. The +sun was setting when, on their way back, with the body lashed to +the komatik, they passed over the rapid where Hubbard that +beautiful July morning had sprung vigorously into the water to +track the canoe into Grand Lake. How full of hope and pleasurable +anticipation he had been when we paddled through the Little Lake! +Over the snow and ice that now hid the lake the seven dogs that +were hauling his corpse strained and tugged, ever and anon +breaking into a trot as George and Duncan, running on their +snowshoes on either side of the komatik, urged them forward with +Eskimo exclamations or cracked their long whip over a laggard. No +need to urge any one of them on, however, when they came in sight +of the post. Darkness was falling. Knowing that their daily meal +was near at hand, the dogs broke into a run, and with much howling +and jumping swung around the point and up to the buildings. + + + + +XXIII. OVER THE ICE + +With the body at the post, it was my intention to hire dog teams, +and, accompanied by George, start with it at once for home, +travelling up Hamilton Inlet to the ocean, and then down along the +coast to Battle Harbour, or some port farther south, where we +might happen on a ship that would take us away from the land where +we had suffered so much. More than three weeks elapsed, however, +before we could get away from the Northwest River. It was about +325 miles over the ice to Battle Harbour, and Mackenzie and the +others continued to argue against the feasibility of my plan. For +a time it did seem as if it would be impossible to carry it out. +First of all, I had trouble with Hubbard's coffin. When we +received the body, the plain spruce box that had been made for it +was found not to be deep enough. I sent over a request to James +Greenan, the carpenter at Kenemish, that another one be made as +speedily as possible. He replied that the last board they had on +hand had been used in making a coffin for poor Dr. Hardy, but said +that if I would return to him the coffin we had, he believed he +could raise the sides to the requisite height. Mackenzie +immediately despatched Mark with the dogs and komatik to carry the +coffin to Kenemish, and on April 4th it was returned with the +necessary alterations. The body meanwhile had lain wrapped in the +blankets and tarpaulin in a storehouse where the temperature +practically was as low as it was out of doors. Now we placed it +in the box with salt as a preservative, and everything was ready +for our long journey. + +Then arose the question as to where I could get dogs. Two teams +were needed, one for the body and one for our baggage. Not a dog +owner could I find who would undertake the task. I sent imploring +messages for twenty-five miles around, but all to no purpose. +They would not even undertake the ninety-mile journey to Rigolet. +Some, I knew, did not like the idea of travelling with a corpse, +and others, like Tom Blake, did not have enough dogs to haul our +loads. In despair I went to Monsieur Duclos on April 19th and +urged him to lend me his team to take us as far as Rigolet, +telling him that Mackenzie was willing to let us have his team for +the trip to Rigolet, but that another was needed. The French post +dogs had just returned from a long journey, and Monsieur Duclos +said they were not fit for travel, but finally, to my great joy, +he very kindly consented to let me have them, with Belfleur, a +French-Indian, as driver, after they had a couple of days' rest. + +It was Mackenzie's custom to make an annual trip to Rigolet on +post business, and this usually took place in May; but he +expedited his arrangements so as to be able to leave with us and +thus save his dogs an additional journey. Belfleur arrived with +his dogs early on the morning of April 21st. Unfortunately Fred +Blake, Mackenzie's driver, was not on hand, but it was decided +that Belfleur should go ahead with George and the coffin, and that +Mackenzie and I should follow with the baggage the next morning. +It was nine o'clock when the eight dogs that were to haul the two +men and the coffin got under way. All the natives were sorry to +see George go, his genial manners and cheerful grin having made +him a prime favourite. Mackenzie's little housekeeper and Mark +Blake's wife, who had been George's hostess, wept copiously. + +Mackenzie, Fred Blake, and I got off at six o'clock the next +morning. Our seven big dogs were howling and straining on the +long traces as I said good-bye to all the good friends that had +been so kind to me and had gathered to see me leave. It took us +until evening of the following day to reach Rigolet. The Eskimo +dogs almost invariably leave a house and arrive at one with a +great flourish, but between times they settle down to a gentle +pace and have to be urged on with exclamations and much snapping +of the whip. Ours were much better travellers than those +belonging to the French post, and, despite the fact that they had +a heavier load to haul and were one less in number, we overtook +George and Belfleur on the afternoon of the second day. A part of +the time Mackenzie and Fred ran beside the komatik on their +snowshoes to get warm, but my knees were still so weak that I had +to stick to the komatik all the way. We spent the night at the +log cabin of a breed, and before noon the next day came to the +cabin of one Bell Shepard, where we learned George and Belfleur +had spent their second night. + +It is considered a gross beach of etiquette on The Labrador to +pass a man's house without stopping for bread and tea, and so we +had to turn in to see Bell. As he served us with refreshment, he +gave us a startling bit of news, to wit: that there was a great +war raging in the outside world, with Great Britain, the United +States, and Japan on one side, and Russia, France, and Germany on +the other. + +"I's sure 'tis true, sir," he insisted, upon observing that +Mackenzie and I appeared incredulous. "I's just come frum +Rigolet, an' Scott, th' trader, had th' word by th' telegraph to +Chateau. So 'tis sure true, sir, an' 'tis bad word for us poor +folk on Th' Labrador, with th' prices to go up, as they tells me +they sure will, on flour an' pork." + +We found out later that such a report had really spread up the +coast from dog driver to dog driver until it had reached Rigolet, +and it was not until I got to Battle Harbour that I learned that +its basis was the beginning of the conflict between Russia and +Japan. + +At Rigolet we were again hospitably received by Fraser, the +factor. The news of Hubbard's death had preceded us; in fact it +had been carried up and down the coast all the way from Cape +Charles to Cape Chidley. Awaiting me was a letter from Dr. Cluny +Macpherson, of the Deep Sea Mission at Battle Harbour, who, I was +informed, had recently been to Rigolet and had hoped to see me. +The letter proved to contain much valuable information as to +stopping places and the probabilities of getting dogs between +Rigolet and Battle Harbour, as well as the good news that a +steamer was expected at Battle Harbour early in May. + +I also learned from Fraser that Mr. Whitney, editor of Outing +magazine, of which Hubbard had been the associate editor, had sent +a message to the telegraph operator at Chateau Bay requesting him +to lend me every assistance possible and "to spare no expense." +Well-meant though the message was, it had the effect of increasing +my difficulties. Duly exaggerated and embellished, it had spread +up the coast until every dog owner gained the impression that a +little gold mine was about to pass through his country. I found +this out when I tried to get dog teams to carry me to Cartwright +Post, the next stage on my journey. A haughty person named Jerry +Flowers, it appeared, had a monopoly just then of the dog-team +business in the vicinity of Rigolet, and when we arrived at the +post he proceeded to deal with me in the high-handed manner common +to trust magnates. The regular rate paid by traders for +transportation over the eighty odd miles between Rigolet and +Cartwright was from ten to twelve dollars a team, but for the two +teams I needed Jerry expected me to pay him sixty dollars. + +While I was still arguing with the immovable Jerry, John Williams, +an old livyere, fortunately arrived from West Bay, which is half +way to Cartwright, and Fraser used his influence with John to such +good purpose that he consented to take us with his dog team at +least as far as his home at the regular rate. John had only six +dogs, but he told us we should be able to get an additional team +at William Mugford's two miles beyond Rigolet. + +The strait at Rigolet was open, and when, late in the afternoon of +Monday, April 25th, we bade Mackenzie and Fraser farewell, George +and I, with our baggage and Hubbard's body, were taken across +through the cakes of floating ice in one of the Company's big +boats, manned by a crew of brawny post servants. + +On the other shore we loaded the baggage and coffin on John's +komatik, and with him driving the dogs and George and I walking +behind on snowshoes, we reached Mugford's at dusk. There we +stopped for the night, being served with the meals that the people +all down the coast usually eat at that time of the year--bread and +molasses and tea. With one or two exceptions we had to sleep on +the floor at the places where we stopped; for the houses generally +contained only one room divided by a partition. Almost all of the +houses had low extensions used as a storage place, and there +Hubbard's body would rest over night. Never did we pay anything +for our entertainment; poor as the people are, they would be +greatly offended if a traveller they took in offered them money. + +Generally speaking, we had good weather for our long journey to +Battle Harbour and pretty fair going. Day after day we followed +the coast line south, crossing from neck of land to neck of land +over the frozen bays and inlets. Sometimes we encountered ridges +on the necks of land, and then we would have to help the dogs haul +the loads to the top. Resuming our places on the komatiks, we +would coast down the slopes, with the dogs racing madly ahead to +keep from being run over. If the descent was very steep, a drag +in the form of a hoop of braided walrus hide would be thrown over +the front of one of the komatik runners, but even then the dogs +would have to run their hardest to preserve a safe distance +between them and us, and out on the smooth ice of the bays we +would shoot, to skim along with exhilarating swiftness. As we +proceeded south we were interested in observing signs of spring. +Towards the end of our journey we encountered much soft snow and +water-covered ice. + +Mugford agreed to help us out with his four dogs as far as West +Bay. Arriving there, we found that only one team was procurable +for the rest of the trip to Cartwright, so John Williams continued +on with us all the way. Forty or fity miles a day is about all +that dogs can be expected to accomplish with average going, and we +spent two days between Rigolet and Cartwright, reaching the +Hudson's Bay Company Post at Sandwich Bay on the evening of +Wednesday, April 27th, to receive kindly welcome from the agent, +Mr. Swaffield. Again at Cartwright we had some difficulty in +getting dogs, and it was not until Friday morning that we could +push on. These delays were exasperating, for I was bent on +catching the steamer that Dr. Macpherson informed me in his letter +was due at Battle Harbour early in May. + +Our journey resumed, it was a case of fighting dog owners all the +way. Seal Islands, about ninety miles farther down the coast, we +reached on Saturday night, April 30th. There we had the good +fortune to be entertained by a quaint character in the person of +Skipper George Morris, a native trader. He had been expecting us, +and he greeted me as if I had been his long-lost brother. + +"Dear eyes!" he exclaimed, wringing my hand in his bluff, cordial +way; "Dear eyes! but I'se glad to see you--wonderful glad!" + +The skipper's house was far above the average of those on the +coast. It had two floors with two rooms each, and his good wife +kept everything clean and bright. Soon after our arrival the +skipper got out for our edification two shotguns--one single, and +the other double-barrelled--each of which was fully six feet long +from butt to muzzle and had a bore of one and one-half inches. + +"Th' Boers ha' been fightin' England," said he, "an' I got un [the +gun] t' fight, sir. Dear eyes! if th' Boers ha' come handy t' us, +I thinks I could ha' kept un off, sir. I knows I could wi' them +guns. I'd sure ha' shot through their schooners, sir, if un was +big as th' mail boat an' steamers like th' mail boat. I'd ha' +shot through un, sir, an' th' mail boat's a big un, sir, as you +knows." + +The next day was May Day. I knew that at home the birds and the +flowers had returned, and that in dear old New York gay parties of +children were probably marching to the parks. What a May Day it +was on The Labrador! The morning ushered in a heavy snow storm, +with a tremendous gale. Thinking of the steamer due at Battle +Harbour, I suggested that, despite the storm, we might make a +start. But the skipper exclaimed: + +"Dear eyes! an' start in this gale! No, no, th' dogs could ne'er +face un, sir." + +And as George and our drivers thought likewise, we spent the day +resting with the old skipper and his wife, warmly housed and +faring sumptuously on wild duck, while the storm outside seemed to +shake the world to its very foundations. + +On May 2d the snow had almost ceased falling and the wind had +somewhat subsided, when at eleven o'clock we parted from the +quaint old skipper whose "Dear eyes!" continued to lend emphasis +to his remarks up to the last that we saw of him. Rounding a +point of land soon after leaving Seal Islands, we came suddenly +upon two runaway dogs from a team that had been stormbound at Seal +Islands like ourselves. The runaways were thoroughly startled by +our sudden appearance, and took to their heels, with our teams, +composed respectively of ten dogs and twelve dogs, after them. +The ice we were on had been swept clear of snow by the wind, the +hauling was easy, and our dogs almost flattened themselves out in +their effort to get at the strangers and chew them up. The pace +became terrific, but there was nothing to do but hold on tight and +trust to luck. For perhaps five miles our wild ride lasted, and +then, the strange dogs turning to the snow-covered land, our teams +abandoned the race and condescended to pay some heed to their +masters' excited observations. Fortunately the chase had carried +us in the direction for which we were bound. + +Early in the afternoon we reached a cache of cod heads, and +stopped while the dogs were fed one each. Poor brutes! they had +had nothing to eat since Friday night--this was Monday--and I +imagine a rather scant meal even then; for at this time of the +year the stock of salt seal meat and fat and dried cod heads and +caplin that the natives put up in the summer and fall for dog food +is nearly exhausted, and what remains is used very economically. +Often the dogs receive only one scanty meal every other day. Our +drivers had intended to feed their teams at Seal Islands, but on +account of the scarcity of dog food none could be purchased. + +At four o'clock in the afternoon we reached Norman Bay, where we +found a miserable hut unoccupied save by an abundance of filth, +two cats, and one hen. As there were no tracks visible in the +snow, the people evidently had been away since the storm began on +Saturday night. We built a fire in the stove, made tea and fed +ourselves, the cats, and the hen from our grub bag. I invariably +insisted that our drivers travel as long as there was light, which +at this season lasted until after eight o'clock, and we pushed on +until we came to Corbett's Bite, a place that also rejoices in +the name of New York, the same having been facetiously bestowed +upon it by some fisherman wag, because four small huts had been +collected there to make a "city." + +The inhabitants of New York had all moved to their fishing +quarters farther out on the coast when we arrived, and we took +possession for the night of the best of the huts. Filth and slush +lay an inch deep on the floor of the single room. A hole in the +roof provided a means of escape for the smoke from the fire we +built in an improvised fireplace, and, at the same time, a +constant source of fear on our part lest some of the dogs which +roamed at will over the roof, fall through it and into our fire. +An old bench and loose boards taken from a semi-partition in the +room served as beds for our party, and we passed a fairly +comfortable night. + +We were off at daylight, and at half-past eight that morning (May +3d) reached Williams Harbour, where I had hoped to engage the +teams of John and James Russell and proceed immediately to Battle +Harbour, which place was now only a few miles off. But the +Russells were away and did not return until night, so that we were +unable to proceed until the following morning. With their teams +of eight and six dogs the Russells got us away early, however, and +at half-past eleven that morning (May 4th) we arrived at Fox +Harbour, eight miles across the bay from Battle Harbour. Now a +new problem presented itself, which was all the more exasperating +for the reason that we were in sight of our goal. The ice pack +was in the bay, and it was quite impossible to cross it until the +wind might shift and blow the pack out. It is true that by a +tortuous trail some thirty miles around we could with dogs reach +Cape Charles, just below Battle Harbour; but none of the few +drivers that knew the trail was anxious to undertake the journey, +and as the probabilities were that even if we did succeed in +reaching Cape Charles we should be in the same fix there as where +we were, our only course seemed to be to remain at Fox Harbour and +wait. No vessel, they told us, had yet arrived either at Battle +Harbour or Cape Charles. + +George Wakeham, an old English fisherman from Devonshire, who had +spent forty years of his life on The Labrador and had an Eskimo +wife, welcomed us to his house. Near it was an eminence called +Watch Hill, from which the general situation of the ice pack could +be observed. Day after day I climbed Watch Hill, and for hours at +a time with a telescope viewed the ice and gazed longingly at +Battle Harbour in the distance. On the morning of the ninth day +the pack appeared to be spreading, and I decided to run the risk +of getting fast in the ice, and make at least an attempt to start. +So George and I and the five natives that were to row us over got +the boat afloat, prepared for a start immediately after luncheon. + +Meanwhile George and I ascended Watch Hill for another look at the +ice pack. Upon scanning the distant shore line through the +telescope we discovered a speck moving in the bay away over near +Battle Harbour. A little later we were assured that it was a big +row-boat laboriously making its way through the ice. It came +nearer and nearer, obviously headed for Fox Harbour. At noon it +arrived, and its brawny crew of fishermen said they had come for +us. Dr. Macpherson had sent them. The steamer that the doctor +had written me was expected had arrived at Cape Charles with a +cargo for a new whale factory, and probably would sail for +Newfoundland the next day. Having heard we were on our way down +the coast, and divining that we were held at Fox Harbour by the +ice, Dr. Macpherson had sent the boat so that we might be sure to +get the steamer. I marvelled greatly at these evidences of the +doctor's thoughtfulness for us who were absolute strangers to him, +and was deeply touched. + +We placed the coffin in the boat, together with our baggage, and +started at once. The men had instructions to take us directly to +the ship as she lay off Cape Charles, and after a row of about +thirteen miles we reached her at five o'clock in the afternoon. +She was the Aurora, one of the Newfoundland sealing fleet. It was +like reaching home to be on shipboard again, and I felt that my +troubles were ended. The mate, Patrick Dumphry, informed me, +however, that her commander, Captain Abraham Kean, was at Battle +Harbour, and that the steamer would not sail before the following +night. So, wishing to have Hubbard's coffin prepared for the +voyage, and to meet and thank Dr. Macpherson, I had the men row me +back the five miles to Battle Harbour. + +There I learned that, upon receiving the first news of my proposed +attempt to bring out Hubbard's body, Dr. Macpherson had made a +special trip of twenty-five miles to Chateau Bay, to telegraph to +New York suggesting that arrangements be made with Bowering & Co., +the owners of the Aurora, to have that steamer pick us up at +Battle Harbour. Perhaps I should say here that the kindness of +the doctor to us was only what might have been expected from a +gentleman by birth and breeding who, with his charming wife, +buries himself on the desolate coast of Labrador, in order to do +his Master's work. Pitiable indeed would be the condition of the +poor folk on The Labrador were it not for Dr. Grenfell and his +brave co-workers of the Deep Sea Mission. For hundreds of miles +along the coast they travel on their errands of mercy, braving the +violent storms of the bitter Arctic winter, sleeping in the +meanest of huts, and frequently risking their lives in open boats +on the raging sea. Many is the needy one for whom they have found +work, many is the stricken soul that they have comforted, and many +is the life that their medical skill has saved. + +At the doctor's house I received my first letters from home, and +the first accurate news of what had been transpiring in the +outside world. While there I also met Captain Kean. +Unfortunately the people in New York had not made the arrangement +Dr. Macpherson had suggested, but the captain assumed the +responsibility of carrying us to Newfoundland, saying that we +should go as his guests. He is a former member of the +Newfoundland parliament, and a man of influence as well as +initiative, and it was lucky for us that he commanded the Aurora, +else we, in all probability, should have had to push farther down +the coast with dogs, or waited at Battle Harbour for the first +appearance of the mail boat. + +The next day (Friday, May 13th) a firm of traders at Battle +Harbour, under Dr. Macpherson's supervision, lined Hubbard's +coffin with sheet lead and sealed it hermetically. The body was +still frozen and in good condition. In the afternoon we were +taken to the Aurora by Dr. Macpherson and a crew of his men, and +established in the cabin, while Hubbard's coffin was carefully +stowed away in the hold, there to remain until it was transferred +at St. Johns to the Silvia, the steamer on which my old friend, so +full of life and ambition, had sailed from New York, and which now +was to carry him back a corpse. + +Because of a delay in getting her unloaded, the Aurora did not +sail until Saturday evening. The sky was all aglow with a +gorgeous sunset when we weighed anchor and steamed out of Cape +Charles Harbour down across the straits of Belle Isle. The night +was equally glorious. As darkness fell, the sky and sea were +illuminated by the northern lights. There was no wind and the sea +was calm. Close to our port side an iceberg with two great spires +towered high above us; another large iceberg was on our starboard. +Before us Belle Isle and the French shore were dimly visible. +Behind us the rocky coast of Labrador gradually faded away. + + + + +XXIV. HUBBARD'S MESSAGE + +Out voyage from Labrador to Newfoundland was uneventful, and on +Tuesday morning, May 17th, the Aurora steamed into St. Johns +Harbour. I was on the bridge with Captain Kean when we passed +through the narrows, eagerly looking to see if the ship was there +that was to take us home. To my great satisfaction the Silvia was +at her wharf, and George and I lost no time in presenting +ourselves to my old friend Captain Farrell, her commander, who was +engaged on deck when we arrived. He literally took me to his arms +in welcome, and like everyone in St. Johns showed me the greatest +consideration and kindness. Bowring & Company, the owners of the +Aurora, placed at my disposal their steam launch and such men as I +needed, to aid me in the transference of the body from the Aurora +to the Silvia, and they would make no charge for either this +service or for our passage from Cape Charles to St. Johns. + +On Friday morning, May 20th, the Silvia sailed from St. John's, +and one week later (Friday the 27th), with her flag at half mast, +steamed slowly to her dock in Brooklyn. + +It was a sad home-coming. Scarcely a year before, Hubbard, light- +hearted and gay, filled with hope and ambition and manly vigour, +had stood by my side on that very deck as together we waved +farewell to the friends that were gathered now to welcome George +and me back. I thought of how, when we were fighting our way +across the desolate wilderness, he had talked of, and planned for, +this hour; and thought of his childlike faith that God would take +care of us and lead us safely out. And then I asked myself why +George and I, whose faith was so much the weaker, had been spared, +while Hubbard, who never lost sight of the religion of his youth, +was left to die. I felt that I was the least deserving. And I +lived. And Hubbard died. Why? I had no answer to the question. +That was God's secret. Perhaps Hubbard's work, in the fulness of +His plan, had been completed. Perhaps He still had work for me to +do. + +We laid him to rest in a beautiful spot in the little cemetery at +Haverstraw, at the very foot of the mountains that he used to +roam, and overlooking the grand old Hudson that he loved so well. +The mountains will know him no more, and never again will he dip +his paddle into the placid waters of the river; but his noble +character, his simple faith, a faith that never wavered, but grew +the stronger in his hour of trouble, his bravery, his indomitable +will--these shall not be forgotten; they shall remain a living +example to all who love bravery and self-sacriflce. + +The critics have said that Hubbard was foolhardy, and without +proper preparation he plunged blindly into an unknown wilderness. +I believe the early chapters of this narrative show that these +criticisms are unfounded, and that Hubbard took every precaution +that could occur to a reasonable mind. Himself a thorough student +of wilderness travel, in making his preparations for the journey +he sought the advice of men of wider experience as to every little +detail and acted upon it. + +Others tell how fish-nets might have been made from willow bark +"after the manner of the Indians," and describe other means of +securing food that they claim men familiar with woodcraft would +have resorted to. The preceding chapters show how impracticable +it would have been for us to have consumed our small stock of +provisions while manufacturing a fish-net from bark; and how we +did resort to every method at our command of procuring food. +Unfortunately we fell upon a year of paucity. The old men of the +country bore witness that never before within their memory had +there been such a scarcity of game. + +But by far the most serious criticism of all, to my mind, is that +against the object of the expedition. It has been said that, even +had Hubbard succeeded in accomplishing everything that he set out +to do, the result would have been of little or no value to the +world. In answer to this I cannot do better than to quote from +the eloquent tribute to Hubbard's expedition made by his old +college friend, Mr. James A. LeRoy, in the magazine issued by the +Alumni Association of their alma mater. + +"Editorial wiseacres," says Mr. LeRoy, "may preach that such +efforts as Hubbard made are of no great immediate value to the +world, even if successful. But the man who is born with the +insatiable desire to do something, to see what other men have not +seen, to push into the waste places of the world, to make a new +discovery, to develop a new theme or enrich an old, to contribute, +in other words, to the fund of human knowledge, is always +something more than a mere seeker for notoriety; he belongs, +however slight may be his actual contribution to knowledge, +however great his success or complete his failure, to that +minority which has from the first kept the world moving on, while +the vast majority have peacefully travelled on with it in its +course. The unpoetical critic will not understand him, will find +it easy to call him a dreamer; yet it is from dreams like these +that have come the world's inspirations and its great +achievements." + +Without any trace of the finicality that so often is pure +morbidity, Hubbard was the most conscientious man I ever knew, a +man who was continually thinking of others and how he might help +them. Doubtless some will see in his brave life's struggle only a +determination to win for himself a recognised place as a writer +and expert upon out-of-door life; but those who were privileged to +enjoy his intimacy know that the deep, underlying purpose of the +man was to fit himself to deliver to the world a message that he +felt to be profoundly true--a message that should inspire his +fellow-men to encounter the battle of life without flinching, that +should make them realise that unceasing endeavour and loyalty to +God, their conscience and their brothers are indeed worth while. +He died before he reached the goal of his ambition, but I do not +believe that his message was undelivered. + +Only men that have camped together in a lonely, uninhabited +country can in any degree comprehend the bond of affection and +love that drew Hubbard and me ever closer to each other, as the +Labrador Wild lured us on and on into the depths of its desolate +waste. "The work must be done," he used to say, "and if one of us +falls before it is completed, the other must finish it." His +words ring in my ear as a call to duty. I see his dear, brave +face before me now. I feel his lips upon my cheek. The smoke of +the camp-fire is in my blood. The fragrance of the forest is in +my nostrils. Perhaps it is God's will that I finish the work of +exploration that Hubbard began. + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lure of the Labrador Wild, by Dillon Wallace diff --git a/old/tlolw10.zip b/old/tlolw10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f69aa0d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tlolw10.zip |