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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 , 4 5 6 wmmm'^mmmm ; ;)rw^BBIipi| |P Pwrw*^g|IPPiliP||| pp|iP '■ iwiipipii.tiii'-^p^-wiw'WMiwf '!^ «''W.''''H.'i.«wvi^^ I THE ADVENTURES OF SIX YOUNG MEN m THE WII.DS OF MAINE AND CANADA ; OK. THE KIITOOIC -A^BOTTT CLUB. MY C. A. STEPHENS, MOOSE lllXTKES," ETC. THE YOUNG FULLY LLLUSTRATED. Itontion: DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS, i6oa, FLEET STREET, E.G. LiMMiMJk>.^.»«>ite zB" tt.imn'^-M' PC75 O X x\ CONTENTS. — » •CHAPTER r.\r,v: Informally ,^ I. Down East ox a Wheel --o II. RouciiiEK and Wilder grew the Way -jQ III. GooD-HYE, Bicycles. Oik to the Lakes . ^^ IV. Camping Out ,r ' • • • :>" V. Mooseiiead and the West Branch «i VI. Umbazooksous Meadows. Two Sides to a Story .... S-t VIJ. The Wood-sprites. A Nocturnal Scare n^ VIII. Bumble-bees' Nests. Stein's Adventure loi IX. Camping at the Great Dam. Uncle John's Story . . . . io8 X. Down the Alleguash. Uncle Amos' Story hi XT. RiKE and Moses O. go Moose-hunting. The Result . . . i2z XII. Riviere du Loup and the Saguenay i,i XIII. Lac St. Jean. Moses O. makes a Bad Shot 139 XIV. Camped on the Tshistagama. Stein Lost i .6 XV. A Caribou at B. v. Hunting by Torchlight 157 XVI. Setting Bear-traps. A Strong Fish. Odd Game .... 166 XVII. Another Caribou. Nugent's Fight with a Loup cervier . 173 XVIII. Bear versus Hedgehog. Karzy goes Beaver-hujjting . . . iSo XIX. A Rough-and-tumble Otter-hunt ,101 XX. The Woods-demon .... ^^^ XXL Qitebec. The Wood-sprites again. Farewell 216 PMiP W P^B^Hplpl^WffB^^^^WVS -i iiilffUMiiWju. r^^fm^'prn^jtm A.mm ^ ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Father Time as an Organ-grinder Frontispiece. The Club at the Cross-Road i6 The Ram took him again and sent him his whole Length 23 On the fly 27 Massacre of the Wakeley Family . . 29 " Zeke ! Zeke ! come back ! " .... 32 Drilling Holes in the Ledge ... -33 Snow's Falls one hundred Years ago . 37 A Maine Lake 38 Moses O. turning the Guide-post ... 43 Upper Fall, Cataract Brook .... 45 Sylvan Cascade, Cataract lirook ... 46 The Devil's Den 47 Silver Ripple Cascade, Black Brook . . 48 Screw-Auger Falls, Bear River ... 50 Steamer Welokennebacook 52 The L^pper Dam 53 Lake Welokennebacook 54 Camp Bellevue, Lake Molechunkamunk . 55 Camping Out - ... 57 Lake Molechunkamunk 58 Gentlemen Tourists' Camp 60 Interior of a Sportsman's Camp ... 61 Theodore Winthrop 62 Lake Mooseluckmeguntic 63 Spirit of Mooseluckmeguntic .... 64 Camp Henry, Rangeley Outlet ... 65 A Camp on Lake Mooseluckmeguntic . 67 A Settler's Log Cabin 68 The First Steamer on the Lakes . . . 6g PAGE Trout 70 Moosehead 7' Map of Moosehead Lake 72 First Glimpse of Moosehead .... 73 Mount Kineo 74 Moosehead from Mount Kineo ... 75 Billings' Falls in "The Gulf" ... 76 Socatean Stream Falls 77 Old wooden Railroad and " Bullgine ' 78 Brassau Rapids 79 A Party we saw . . 81 Waiting for her Coffee 85 "Grand Dad" 88 A Happy Family. — One we didn't meet 89- Katahdin from the Lake 90 Uncle Amos and Uncle Johnny ... 91 The Ladies' Camp 95 " Don't fire ! that air's an Ox " ... 99 Taking up Bumble-Bees' Nests 102 " I met the old Bear ....... 104 The Horse biting wildly at him . . . 106 Old Times on the Alleguash .... 109 In the dead Water 112 A Scene on the Alleguash 115 A Logging Camp 116 Junction of Alleguash and Aroostook . 123 " We both sprang to the Door " . . . 128 On the Stage 129 All aboard for the Saguenay .... 132 L'ance a I'eau, or Port of Tadousac . 133 Tadousac 134 Entrance to the Saguenay 135 mww ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Up the Sacjuenay 136 Scene in Ha Ha Bay I37 Nugent 140 Moses O, sets after a Loup cervier . 145 Moses O, a la tortoise 147 Camp on the Tshista^ama .... 148 Our Dining-Room I49 The Kitchen I49 The Ijlazing Fir '5' Up in the old Fir I55 A Caribou Barren 15^ Barren-ground Caribou ifjo Woodland Caribou Hoofs 161 Wolverine 164 Hoisting her gently over 165 Big Tracks 167 Capsized 168 His Head 169 I'AGK Shooting Ducks by Torchlight ... 170 Otelne Hunting Caribou I74 Beavers at Work 183 Breaking a Glut '88 Up the Brook 192 Otters Fishing '95 A Loggers' Camp 201 Capes Trinity and Eternity .... 205 The Wild Man 206 Statue Point 209 Les Tableaux 217 Champlain fighting the liattles of the Indians . 221 Jacques Cartier 223 The Citadel 224 Famished Indians seeking Food at Quebec in 1608 227 Coasting on Toboggins 230 ii'i 221 223 224 227 230 THE ADVENTURES OF SIX YOUNG MEN IN MAINE AND CANADA. mfumifi^'^ss^ •'-"' iTi'.iaiSI'i ii « THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. INFORMALLY. |F our railroads, factories, flour-mills, and machine- shops were -perfect in construction, they would give forth, instead of thunderou and terrible noises, a grand, sweet music. Music js the synonym for per- fection. Last night I heard one of the most remarkable miisi- cal geniuses of this century ;]et forth the above idea at great length, and ic did seem as if he made his point. " Well, what of it? " do you ask? That was what I myself asked, after the lecturer had finished speaking. "What of it?" I said. "This may be true. But what have we young fellows of this generation got to do about it? Locomotives, trip-hammers, and fog-horns do not make sweet music; they make a grievous noise, and will go on doing so." " Not forever," replied the orator, with a grand air of prophecy. "Din, uproar, discord, and crime are the index of imperfection and error. The physical and moral forces are correlated. It is the mis- sion of Enlightened Man to reform and bring the world into harmony. We all are, or should be, workers to this end. Nature ordains this. We are happy or unhappy as we work for good music or for a racket." ■'■i H THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. ^^But many youngsters like a ' racket,' '' said a listener. " That is because they are temporarily wrong-headed," replied the musician. " But how shall we get to work to bring about this universal good music ? " I inquired. " Give us a practical idea, one we can work on. What shall /do?" " First and always, get knowledge. Second, put j'our knowledge into effect to the best of your judgment. This is a duty. Travel abroad. Get knowledge. Come home, and put it into effect." Pondering this, I fell asleep at last, and later on dreamed that Father Time, as a great organ-grinder, stood turning the crank of the world. It was a huge hand-organ and an enormous mill, combined. Time, hoary and "^c^a}', but with muscles like Atlas, had hung up his old scythe, and was turning, turning, with a mighty Titanic swing. Creation resounded to the grand yet sweetly-solemn strains. It was Pinafore. "Fm called little Buttercup, dear little But- tercup." As the venerable Monarch of the Ages turned on, things kept dropping out into the great universal meal-box beneath. First there came a Czar of Russia along with a lot of Nihilists, all ground fine. This batch was followed by Chancellor Bismarck with his Jews and Jesuits, ground finer still. I thought that it was on a foundation of this sort, stamped down hard like macadam, that New Europe was to be built. Then there dropped out a lot of coarse-cracked American poli- ticians : a very corrupt, bad-smelling grist indeed. A voice like fifty millions of people shouting together, cried, "Amen ! Grind 'em finer ! " But just then the grand old mill turned out a batch of strange and wonderful discoveries. New motors did the world's work. Electric lights gleamed from top to bottom of it. In the midst of the glorious illumination there popped out The Knock-about Club I ':» ■M. INFORMALLY. 15 lied ^ood c on. edge ravel . that afthe Dined. ig up 'itanic trains. ; But- kept there fine. 's and ion of )e "vvas poli- te like Grind icre and 'lectric llorious That waked me ; and I remembered that it had recently fallen to mv lot to record the doings of this Knock-about Club and introduce it to the reader. So I arose in haste (it was already eight o'clock), and got my pen. Why is it that there is always something so inherently awkward about introductions, manage them deftly as you can ? At the outset a question of etiquette troubles me : Can I properly introduce the Club ? For, being a member, it will infallibly be held by some that I am committing the ludicrous solecism of introducing myself, without so much as a letter of introduction ! True, I can urge that writers and historians are commonly ac- corded the privilege of introducing their characters, but must needs admit that it is a privilege they very often abuse by bringing to the reader's acquaintance some very queer people, to say the least. So much so that, for my own part, I am sometimes of the opinion that no writer should presume to introduce to his readers characters whom he would hesitate to present to his personal friends. But on this latter point I am happy to say that I can stand before the public with an easy and limpid conscience. My fellow-clubsmen are irreproachable. Each one carries a certificate of moral character in his face and bearing. Reader, — particularly y"" young lady reader, — they are nice young men, whatever may be thought of the name of the Club. On the former point, and just as I was setting off to take Madam Grundy's opinion, or that of some of her leading repre- sentatives, our artist called and offered me a sketch in pencil of the Club en route for The JVoods, or rather on our journey " Down East." It occurs to me to offer a picture, which is to a certain extent true as a photographic likeness, as an informal introduction. Informal in this case, as the reader will observe, means on a bicycle : that light and air}' hermaphrodite betwixt feet and wings when the road isn't too sandy. ..,Jt.U.a,^ilM.u.a^^..^1/r...t^.^t.^ .b^.^ .^:.^'-J^-.f^ ^ .. 1 6 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. 11 5 II ! The locality selected by our artist-comrade for his introductory effort is a turn of the carriage-road shortly after crossing the Massa- chusetts State line into New Hampshire, at a point where a guide- board says, '^'^ Exeter 11 milesP \J.\>^-^'^K-^ , i THE CLUB AT THE CROSS-ROAD. Here we are, young ladies and gentlemen, hat in hand; and with the aid of a few brief explanatory remarks, I hope we shall be 1 INFORMALLY. 17 \ |d; and lall be able to find ourselves sufficiently well acquainted to journey on together in quest of knowledge and adventures. That^ I may add, was the object of the Club's present tour: to see everything worth seeing, to hunt, to fish, to camp out and have a good time. Our Club was quite an impromptu affair. Six months ago, not one of us, save in a single instance, knew, or had ever heard, of the other members. We first became acquainted on the occasion of the "Bicycle Meet" at Boston, last summer, when we were for the week the guests of our present Captain, Mr. Harold S. Dearborn. Finding that our ideas ran in similar channels, we then agreed to spend our summer vacation together, and go down East on our bicycles — our object being, at first, to test whether a country tour on bicycles was practicable or not. When we left Boston, on the 28th of June, we had no idea of taking so long a trip as we were finally led to do. But the farther we went the better we enjoyed it, and so in the end had come nigh penetrating to Hudson Bay itself ! — not on our bicycles, however; though we ran out a spoke from the " Hub" of a hundred and ninety miles on these, to begin with. As a running accompaniment to our artist's picture, I am advised to subjoin a few facts as to the ■personnel of the Club. At the head of the file, so politely doffing his straw helmet, is Captain H. S. Dearborn, citizen of Boston, Junior in college, in his twentieth year, and an enthusiastic amateur sportsman, base-ball player, and sculler; withal, a good shot. Strong point, U. S. His- tory and Biographies of Eminent Statesmen. Special weakness (as far as observed), a certain moth-like attraction toward a pretty face: in other words, has an intense admiration for beauty. Following the Captain, comes Roscoe C. Wayne, citizen of New York city, eighteen years old, fitted to enter college this 3'ear, afflicted with a rich parent, a. small, silky moustache, and a belief that New York is all, or almost all, of America. Chiefly remarkable for being a good fellow generally, and liberal with his cash. No special i8 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. f K. S 1 IT" I ; I [ ■ weakness thus far discovered. Fairly level-headed, and prides him- self on that. After him Freeland Stein, who hails from the great city of the white shutters, marble doorsteps, and a Public Building, also marble; a thin, thoughtful youth of seventeen, yet a remarkably good bicycler, who took to his machine as naturally as a duck to water. Said to be threatened with half a million, almost any day now. Strong point, mineralogy. Has a very line cabinet of specimen ores, crystals, gems, etc., already collected. In connection with his penchant, the follow- ing story is told of him when eighteen months old. One day he was missed, and only found after a lengthy search, sitting in a neighboring alley, crying bitterly. The cause of his young grief was, apparently, his inability to get on his feet, owing to the load he had put in his apron, the corners of which he held tightly clutched up. Being inspected, the apron was found to contain one cobble-stone, weight two pounds, two lumps of coal, two ditto of coke, eleven potsherds of stone china-ware, and about twice that number of broken glass bits. He resisted, and screamed loudly when the nurse went to scatter this treasure, and had ultimately to be carried home with the whole collec- tion intact. What is still more curious, he says he distinctly remem- bers the incident — which suggests the inquiry whether any reader, distinctly or otherwise, remembers an event occurring in his eigh- teenth month! Next follows Mr., or perhaps better. Master Prey Karsner of Cin- cinnati, our special artist, and a cousin-german of our captain. " Karzy " is the boy^ being but just turned fifteen. We thmk he pos- sesses genius, and he sometimes appears to think so himself, having, like Artemus Ward, an enjoyable appreciation of his own peculiar talent. Karzy wished to go to Italy this year, to pursue his art stud- ies, having graduated from the High School of his native city a year ago. It is a question of dollars and cents, I believe. I have little doubt that a bicycle is much better for him than a palette. But his van lit u fOfte fsoml rJasj I I INFORMALLY. 19 him- f the irble; vcler, to be point, crems, bllow- tie was iboring irently, : in bis Being , weigbt lerds ot ass bits, itter this e coUec- remem- V reader, lis eigh- [r of Cin- captain. he pos- [f, having, pecuUav art stud- nty a year lave littK' But his M heart longs alter Rome and its studios. In fact, he looks somewhat like a Roman, and his nose is wholly Roman. Next to last trundles Moses O. Davis, a landed proprietor from one of the rural counties of the Iloosier section. Moses doesn't take much stock in colleges and the like, but goes in for living in a large sense. Nothing excites Moses O., not even the Indiana election last lall. "Corn grows all the same/' Moses says. The matter of another fellow's getting awfully mad with him seems always to im- press Moses as a jolly little joke: a thing to laugh at in a large, lazy way. Nobody ever saw Moses himself mad yet. There is a bet in the Club that he cannot get mad. Moses says he would like to sec the man that gets him mad. He rides a fifty-six inch wheel, and is correspondingly big all over, but not yet very mature, and is prob- ably still under eighteen. As to the matter of his age and birthday, jMoses says there were so many of them in the family, that he believes the old lady forgot to set it down. He plays a cornet, and is the bugler to the Club; also plays the tiddle; but plays an aiitophone best of all, and remarks of this latter instrument that it is a ij:reat savinjr of a fellow's brains, and "makes mighty interesting music.'' Bringing up the rear is "No. 6," or, "the scribe," whom the artist — following nature and fact, as he says — figures as just recovering :an upright position from one of his ordinary attitudes of misfortune. It is mortifying, but cannot be helped. It must be allowed that it often happens. The Club attributes it sometimes to scribe's palsy, sometimes to thg bewildering deflection of light through his eye- glasses. c. ■ t.j^«.-.^f..-. .U^-,.-. , j,_ _^^..l II [ \ 1 I 1! ? CHAPTER I. DOWN EAST ON A WHEEL. BICYCLE is indeed an odd-looking vehicle; and to see half a dozen fellows dashing along on them at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, is pretty sure to attract the undivided attention of people not accustomed to the sight. "Look a there, Hiram!" we heard one farmer, in a potato-field killing bugs,*sing out to another gather- ing green pease the other side of the line wall. " Gosh a' mighty! Only see them fellers agoing it atop of them w^agon wheels! What for 'nation' sake be they a-settin' on.^" Another time, as we were passing through M Plantation, far up in Maine, in the " greenback " region, we had got an early start one morning, and were trundling along in the wheel ruts; and our cap- tain, in the exuberance of his spirits, had put on a spurt and gone ahead. It was about sunrise. There were farms scattered here and there along the road; and the good folks were at this hour just rousing out to milk their cows. Dearborn's bicycle was a nickel-plated one ; and as he darted noiselessly along the road, an old farmer standing at the corner of his barn with two tin milk-pails on his arm, caught sight of him, and stopped short in the middle of a mighty yawn. Probably his eyes were not yet fairly open. His old lady was coming along the path from the house with another pail. "Marm!" he sang out to her, "there goes old Split-huf himself, straddle of a streak o' lightnin', I vum! See his old forked tail glisten ! " * Bug. Ill America, the name of a vast multitude of insects. It fai \rou was [net. [the la V( DOWN EAST ON A WHEEL. 21 and to at the attract med to rmer, in gather- « Gosh 1 wagon ;ion, far start one our cap- ind gone here and rousing ated one ; landing at rht sight Probably along the f himselt, rked tail 3 Before Dearborn had got fairly past and round the turn, the rest of us hove in sight, in full chase. " And, marm ! " shouted the old man, " here comes another of 'um ! — twin brother to him ! — and another I — and another ! Run, marm — get the Bible! " " Marm " disappeared, but whether for the holy volume or a bumper of hot water, we did not remain to learn. The great annoyance is meeting teams. Now, a bicycle has just as good a right on the public highway as any other vehicle. But the public has not yet come to quite believe that it has. Drivers of teams often act as if they thought that a bicycler had no rights whatever which they ought to respect. It was our policy to carefully avoid all quarrels on this point. Almost always, the horses would prick up their ears, and often show signs of alarm. In all such cases, we at once dis- mounted and stood quietly by our machines. The teams would then generally pass us without further trouble. But it is necessary for the bicycler to have both patience and discretion. Especially should he use care and courtesy when meeting carriages driven by ladies. Fre- quently in the country, the farmers' wives and daughters will be met, driving to and from the village store. A Down-East farmers horse is often a very ticklish animal, seldom more than half broken from a colt, and addicted to shying at every new object it sees. Frequently it is the farmer's pet beast, — never allowed to carry over three persons in the wagon, and they must all walk up the hills, — and in the matter of keeping and usage, sometimes fares better than the farmer's wife. One day we met a rackety old express wagon drawn by a fat, rough-haired, gray mare, and driven by an elderly woman whose face was mostly concealed within the depths of a very extraordinary bon- net. The mare saw us, stopped and began to back and prance; while the poor old lady shook the reins, crying out to her horse and to us in a very thin, distressed voice, "Whoa, dear I Whoa, dear I Du pray, mittm ' •*it>M«&i!Mi^ibAM|[^ 22 THE KxXGCK-ABOl'T CLUB. I i i> III % young men, git them frisky-Iookin' things o' yourn out o' the road! Dolly's so timid of 'em! " In a moment we were off, and '* Rike '' taking '' Dolly " by the bit, led her past — much to the old aunty's relief. "I dunno who you be," she said to him, " but I'm sure I'm very much obleeged to ye.'' Another day, while passing through the town of G , we met a Tartar. It was quite early in the morning, and the road none too good. Presently we saw a man coming toward us, driving a flock of sheep. Not wishing to scatter the flock, we dropped ofl'our bicycles and stood aside for them to pass. As the man came nearer we saw that there was one of the sheep which he was not driving exactly, but iiheeling it like a wheelbarrow; that is to sav, he had the sheep's hind-legs in his hands, and was making the creature walk before him on his fore- legs. It struck us as being a very odd performance. It was a large ram, with big, curling horns. ^' That's one way to drive a sheep! " Rike observed. '' Wal, it's a good way,'' replied the fumer, who was an oldish man in a drilling frock, and a very much sweated and stained palm-leaf hat. *' A rather cruel way, I should say," said Rike. "You think so?" queried the old fellow, with a grin and a broad stare at our vehicles. " Yes, I do," exclaimed Rike, somewhat emphatically. " Wal, novvv' drawled the old man, with a quizzical look on his puckered face, " if you think I'd better, I'll let him down. I'll do most anvthing to oblees^e sech a nice-lookinij lot o' young fellers " — and he let the sheep's hind-legs drop. The animal straightened up, stamped one foot, and shook his head, as if the unnatural position he had been in had caused a rush of blood in that direction. Then he took a step toward us, and before we had the least thought of dodging, gave Rike a tremendous knock which pitched him sprawling into the sand between the wheel-ruts. ^ s I teni DOllW FAST OX A WHEEL. road! le bit, u be," met a crood. 1 sheep. - d stood Lt there heeling -legs in lis lore- 5 a large Llish man leaf hat. a broad k on his ll do most and he his head, of blood re we had kk which The rest of us scrambled to get our bicycles out of the way. And of all the haw-haws, I never heard anything beat that old fellow's in the drilling frock. Rike jumped up, but before he could get off his knees to his feet, the ram took him again from behind, and sent him his whole length. And again that heartless old barbarian doubled up and laughed. One niicrht have lieard him half a mile off. THE RAM TOOK HIM AGAIN AND SENT HIM HIS WHOLE LENGTH. At this we began to bestir ourselves to rescue our man. Moses O. seized a fence-pole, and in another moment would have broken the rani's back, had not the old farmer, breaking off in the midst of his laugh, shouted, '' Avast you! " and running adroitly up, again grabbed the ram's hind-legs. Rike had got up. He was covered with dirt and much ruffled in temper. "1 BB •mrni < -I ■wmnmim mm m'^^mm'mmmmmmmmm^ 34 T///-: KXOCK-ABOUT CLUB. "You are ,1 mean old party!'' he exclaimed. "If you were not quite so old and ^ray, I would punch your head lor you! ■' " O, wal now! " drawled the ram-wheeler. "If ye think best tu, ye needn't stan' ler that a mite. I ain't so old yit that I ask enny favers of ye.'' He was such a queer, tough old specimen, and so ready for a fracas, that we laughed — all but Wayne. " Come along, Rike,"' said Moses O., "or you'll get the worst of it agam: t " We got our comrade remounted and moved on. The last we saw of the old farmer and his ram, he was wheeling the beast up to a pair of bars leading into a pasture beside the road. Our nearest approach to an accident, which, however, resulted in nothing worse than a ludicrous tumble, happened one afternoon on the old country road in the town of W . After climbing a pretty steep hill, there is here a long descent to northward. We had to toil up the hill on foot. But as the descent from the top did not look very for- midable, we mounted, and with our brakes well in hand, started to run down. At the foot of the descent there is a moderately sharp turn in the road, round a clump of thick white maples; and on the lower side of the turn, just round it, stands a small district schoolhouse. School was in session at the time, and the door stood open. We bore down in grand style, at the rate of a mile in three min- utes, or less, and were soon nearing the turn. All would have gone well enough had we not had the misfortune to meet a very large load of hay, just coming round the turn, drawn by a yoke of oxen. We did not see the load till within fifty yards of it. The road was but a narrow one. There was but one thing for us to do. " Skip the gutter, Charlie ! " ^^ Sauve qui -pent P"* "Gee, Buck!" yelled the bare-armed teamster who was driving with a pitchfork. But his gec-ing Q.i\vi\n that e earth d over which trans- They imper- »ur two le now :a — so lof mica ng has ich have jope and ]he boys leading Itter, and ;ns were Unless botli rare and valuable. With boyish generosity they made up a package containing some of the finest of the crystals, and sent it to the professor, intrusting it to the late Gov. Lincoln, then a member of Congress, who was about setting; off for Washington. At that early day, much of the journey to the national capital had to be performed on horseback. The governor took the package, but either he lost it en 7-oiitc, or else it was stolen from him. It never reached its destination. There is little doubt that by some secret agency these tourmalines found their way into the cabinets of certain European mineralogists. During the two following years, a great many crystals and fragments were picked up about the ledge. Thus far, however, no attempt had been made to blast. But in tlie spring of 1823, Cyrus and Hannibal Hamlin (the same who has since been Vice-President of the United States), both younger brothers of Elijah, and then aged thirteen and fit'teen, determined lo explore the hill and its ledges. As lew, if any, specimens could be found around the ledge, they bought a pound of powder, and borrowing some blasting tools, attacked the principal ledge with great spirit. It is no easy task for lads of this age to drill and blast rock, proper- ly held, the drill soon sticks fast in the hole. The s a f e t y fuse had not then been invented. All blasts had to be loaded with a wire in- serted in the hole, which was afterwards pulled out. This tiny channel was then primed with powder, which v/as commonly fired by a train of swingletow, — a dangerous business at best. The two boys drilled five holes in the ledge, which they loaded and blasted out, one after the other. The surface of the ledge had looked gray n I ii , ! ! 34 THE KNOCK- A BOUT CLUB. and weather-worn. But the explosions threw out great pieces of bright- colored lcfidolitc\ broad sheets of mica, and glittering fragments of quartz ; and the last blast opened down to a soft spot in the ledge where the rock had become decomposed. l^'ggi"g in this with the points of their drills, they broke through into a cavity which would have held, perhaps, two or three bushels. This dusty hole was partly tilled with what seemed to be sand. Thrusting in his hand, Hannibal groped in the loose stuff a moment, then drew out something which, glittering in his fingers, proved to be a mag- niticent tourmaline crystal, of a rich green color, and clear as a gem. "Hurrah ! " shouted the lad. "Hurrah I WeVe found a handsomer one than 'Lige did ! " Well might the boy hurrah. They had found the most beautiful tourma- line which the earth has ever yielded, perhaps. It was a perfect crystal, per- fect at each faceted extremitv, and tinelv formed. In length it was two and a half inches, by two inches in diameter — a huge, clear, dark-green gem. Scratching away with renewed eagerness, the boys soon emptied the "pocket "of its contents. From it they took out over twenty crystals, of varying colors and tints, but mainh' red and green. Some of these were fully three inches long and an inch in diameter, banded, or rather clouded, red, white, and green. Of these splendid gems they look out enough to nearly fill a two-quart basket ; while an ox-cart was required to enable them to get home their fine specimens of mica and lepidolite- Altogether, this "find " far surpassed those found by their older brother, Elijah. The lads were jubilant, for, boy -like, they had prosecuted the blasting less for the love of beautiful specimens than for the money they expected to realize from the sale of the stones. They had learned from Elijah the names of several eminent mineralo- gists, both of Europe and America. To these they at once addressed let- ters, stating what they had to sell. And from time to time thereafter, Cyrus, who had meanwhile bought out Hannibal's interest, sold the most of the gems. What sums he received for them it is now impossible to ascertain ; for not many years afterwards he removed to Texas, where he died. But it is likely that he received, in those early days, but a comparatively trifling price < he crystals. "' is all that is really known of the fate of those wonderful tourma- linesv t'i ..y \v'ere dispersed over the world. Some of the finest are said to be in tho famou:- Imperial Collection of Minerals at Vienna. DOll'N EAST ON A WHEEL. 35 aright- [uartz ; le rock 1 into a 3 dusty nt, then a mag- mer one touvma- stal, per- tw'o and en gem. ptied the •ystals, of lese were clouded, nough to enable together, ah. The ss for the alize from In 1825 Professor Shepard, then a young and enthusiastic mineralogist, obtained some fine tourmalines here. And after hnn, the ill-fated Professor Webster found one or two beautiful crystals. Here Professor Addison Verrill, of Yale College, prosecuted some of his boyhood researches in mineralogy, finding on one occasion a very fine nugget of tin weighing several pounds. A great many persons have searched and blasted the ledges ; and it is believed that crystals might still be obtained by further mining. But noth- ing obtained here of late can compare with those exquisitely beautiful gems which the Hamlin boys found. Dr. A. C. Hamlin, a relative of the family, possesses what is probably the finest collection of Mount Mica tourmalines in this country. One ot his crvstals is remarkable for havinji a red and iireen shaft, surmounted at its faceted *' point" by a snow-white crown — a veritable queen of crystals. Mount Mica is scarcely a mountain, in the usual sense, but simply a ledgy hill in a pasture. Great heaps of broken stone attest to the vigorous search which later mineralogists iiave made. On the occasion of our visit I was able to secure nothing liner than a good, clear specimen of lepidolite and a bit of green tourmaline, the fragment of a crystal. But the ledges look as if they might be hugging hidden treasures within their stony bosoms. mineralo- essed let- er, Cyrus, ist of the ascertain ; lied. But ;ly trifling \\ tourma- are said to CHAPTER II. ROUGHER AND WILDER GREW THE WAY. il^ W ■ !* F wc had been as expert riders as some of whom we have recently read, who crossed a broad, raging river on the "" stringers " of a dismantled bridge, or had we possessed bicycles specially fitted to run on railroads, we might have got forward from this point much more comfortably on the rails of the Grand Trunk Railway. The wasfon-road was so bad that it is a lastinsr monu- ment of what a bicycle can do, that we covered the distance, nine miles, from South to West Paris. But a charming bit of scenery repaid us for our etfort: Snow's Falls, on the Little Androscoggin River. A farmer living hard by, (at whose place wc pulled up for a draught of water,) told us the fol- lowing story as to the origin of the name. Over a hundred years ago, when the whites first began to come into this region, two hunters, named Snow and Jackson, went to the Falls one afternoon, either to fish or to set traps. They came up the left bank of the river, and had been peering about the ledges round the cataract for some minutes, when they espied three Indians on the other side, sitting on the rocks, with their guns and tomahawks. Both the whites instantly cocked their pieces and took aim at the redskins, but one of the Indians, discovering them at the same moment, started up, and in broken English shouted, ^^ ^uarferf Me 7uant quarter! " "Quarter, you red skunk!" cried Snow, contemptuously. "I'll halve ye, and the devil may quarter ye ! " With that he fired, and I'' I ROUGHER AND WILDER GREW THE WAV. M )m we T river ad we Iroads, h more ailway. monu- -ed the Snow's rd by, he fol- le into le Falls the left md the on the Both :dskins, started « I'll -ed, and shot the Indian. But one of the other savages, firing at the same instant, mortally wounded Snow himself, who died within a few hours. Jackson escaped. The scenery, both from Mount Mica and hence- forward all along our route, w,.s wonderfully good, sometimes really grand, with a certain peculiar and picturesque wildncss,which one might travel far to find excelled. I The farmer told us still C another story of one of the early settlers here, a rather exciting tale, but one he assured us was true in e\cry particular; and he pointed out the farm where this settler had made his first clearing. I had heard the story previously, or one much like it, and I think that many writers have made it the foundation for a thrilling back- woods tale. The following is the true version, as told in the locality where the adventure occurred. CHASED BY A CATAMOUNT. One spring morning the settler, whose name was Jackson, set off on a twenty-mile tramp to his nearest neighbor's cabin, in what is now the town ^ of Rumfbrd, to procure potatoes with which to plant a burnt patch which he '■ had recently cleared. His route lay through the woods and was marked by a line of "spotted" trees. Having procured the potatoes, he started for SNOW'S FALLS ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. .^8 THE KXOCK-ABOUT CLUB. i fi' home. It was altcrnoon already ; but he had planned to travel only a part of the distance that day, and, spending the night in the woods, to reach home early in the following forenoon. About half-way between iiis neighbor's cabin and his own, at a point where is now situated one of the villages of the town of Woodstock, famil- iarly known as " Pinhook Village," was a rude camp, erected by trappers whose mink, sable, and otter lines were set all the way from New Gloucester to the Androscoggin River in Rumford. Here Jackson decided to pass the night. It was late when he reached the camp. Throwing from his back the bag that contained the potatoes, he A MAINE LAKE. gathered wood for his fire, got his supper, and was about making prepara- tions to lie down to sleep, when he was startled by a loud, savage scream from back in the forest toward the river. In an instant he knew his peril, and his hair almost stood on end. The rude camp in which he had pur- posed passing the night was a mere bark shelter from the rain, and no pro- tection against the assaults of any strong animal. He was unarmed ; he had not taken with him even the axe, which is so often carried by backwoods- men. The beast had smelled his fried pork. What was he to do? That scream he knew too well, so merciless in its ROUGHER AM) WILDER CREW THE WAV. 39 IS in its shrillness and strength. No wonder that the Indians called the beast that uttered it the " devil," and that the settlers adopted the name. It was the well-known panther of our northern woods. The frightened man felt that his only hope was in flight. Grasping his bag of potatoes, and a smaller bag which contained his food, he set otV toward his solitary home and ran for several miles, hearing nothing of the animal, and beginning to hope that it had been content to drive him from the camp. But by and by that dreadful scream again reached his ears ; and he knew then that the animal had given chase. With increased speed he rushed forward. In a few moments the piercing shriek of the pursuing catamount rent the air again. The animal seemed to be in the trees just behind; and fearing lest it should spring upon him next moment, and feeling the dire necessity of making more haste, the poor fellow dropped his precious bag of potatoes. Relieved of this burden, he went on as rapidly as the trail and darkness would allow. For a considerable time he heard no more of the panther. The bag of potatoes had at least awakened the creature's curiosity sufficiently to cause it to stop to examine it. A gleam of hope now came to the settler. He had little that the panther would eat; but if the beast could be detained by that whicli was not food, he might, by dropping such articles as he wore, gain time for escape. Forward he sped. But ten miles is a long stretch. Could he accom- plish it before the panther would spring upon him? His heart beat wildly as minute after minute passed. Tlien again the sharp scream pierced the still night-air of the ibrest. So near did it seem, that he almost expected the pantiier would leap upon him iVom the trees. . His little bag of provi- sions was next dropped ; and tor a time it was evident that the fierce beast had relinquished the chase. But it was only for a time. Again the start- ling cry was heard in the distance, then nearer. In an agony of fear, Jack- son dropped his hat, and when the panther again drew near, his coat, and finally his vest. This was the last article of clothing which he could remove while con- tinuing his flight. As this was thrown away, the agonized man felt that his last hope was gone. On, on he rushed. The panther, uttering at intervals its fierce screams, followed after. Why the creature delayed its attack seems unaccountable. Perhaps it found no good position from which to m 40 TJ/L- KAOCK'AUOUT CLUB. Hii 1 ■ 1 i ) 1 1^! ll'''! make its leap. Perhaps it was playinjEj witii its prey. Possibly it was tor> cowardly to spring upon the man unless sure of an advantage. With des- perate energy the settler fled on. His strength was giving out. The clearing about his cabin at last came into view. Behind him he heard the quick leaps of the panther. Must he perish just within sight of his home? With a last effort of despair he nerved himself for a final struggle. In a few moments the woods ahead of him became brighter. lie iiaJ reached the clearing. But between him and his home lay the river. This must be forded. He leaped the bank and plunged into the stream. As he urged his way through the water, the panther came to the clearing, and bounding across it, leaped into the stream scarcely txventy yards behind him. But here the settler had the advantage. His progress through the water was faster than that of the panther ; he gained a little on his pursuer. A little back from the opposite bank of the river stood his cabin. What if, .even at its door, the maddened animal should overtake him ! As he reached the bank, he shouted to his wife at the top of his voice. She heard him cry out. Alarm.ed, and assured that danger must be at hand, siie flew to the door and opened it. Up tlie bank at a headlong run came tlie setfler, and gasping for breath, sprang into the house — staggered, then fell prostrate upon the floor. Qiiick as thought, his wife shut the door and dropped the bar into its socket. Next moment, with a shock that made the cabin tremble, the cata- mount bounded against the door. It was some time before the measures employed by his wife brought Jackson back to consciousness. Such terrible exertion as he had made would have cost a less hardy man his life. Next morning Jackson's hair, which had been dark brown, or black, was found to have turned white — either from the fright or his over-exer- tion. His little boy, six years old, said that he saw the colt look in at the window-pane two or three times after his " pa ' ran home that night. No doubt the panther was lurking about the calnn. By the next day, however, Jackson was able to be astir, and wishing to get, if possible, the clothing he had thrown away, he went over the trail which had been the scene of his terrible flight. This time, with proper arms, he felt that he would not be unwilling to meet his pursuer. On reach- ing the place where he had dropped one after another of his garments, he KOUGIIER AND WILDER GREW THE WAY. 41 [■ought made ling to le trail proper 1 reach- its, he found them torn into shreds by the panther's chiws. The provision-bag had been rent open and the food devoured, while the potatoes were scattered around the spot where they iiad been dropped. Rougher and hillier grew the road — hiils such as metropolitan bicyclers never dreamed of. The day was hot. Climbing so many long hills made us very thirsty. We had frequently to call at the farm-houses for water; there was none elsewhere. Our worthy captain in particular seemed to be a great sufferer for water; he called at about every other house. Rut we began to observe that in this matter he was intlucnccd much by the faces he saw at the open windows and doors. If a fair 3'oung pink-and-white face chanced to be seen at a window, the captain was always very thirsty. He would call — for water — alone if the rest of us did not care to. Indeed, he seemed to prefer calling alone; and now and then he would not catch us up for a mile or two. Chaff failed to bring him to order. The Club grew scandalized. Naturally the others did not like the idea of his running a monopoly wdiich their modesty forbade to them; and this feeling culminated toward night in the biggest joke of the tour, a double-dyed, practical joke. Dearborn was behind — for the fourth or fifth time — when the rest of us came to where the road forked, and a rather tall guide- board, with outstretched finger, said, ^'Bryaufs Pond 3 MilesP We had planned to stop at this village overnight. The glance of Closes O. was observed to dwell, in a contemplative sort of way, on that guide-board after reading the inscribed information. "I have it!" he exclaimed with a laz}' laugh. "Just hold my machine, Karzy. I've a trick worth all of his!'''' (^His referred to Captain Harold.) "O Moses! what is it?" we asked. "Look sharp! " said Moses O. He " shinned up " that guide-post, and wrenching otf the board i i I 42 THE KNOCK-ABUUT CLUB. with one tug of those Iloosicr arms, tacked it by the protruding nails to the other side of the post. The index-finger now pointed along the other road. "That will fetch him, I reckon," Moses remarked. "See?" Wc saw, inwardly consented, r and proceeded onward without dela}'. We reached the tavern at the village by the Pond, washed, and sat down out on the piazza, to rest and wait for supper. The MOSES O. TURNING THE GUlDE-l'USl. captain had not come. By and by we ate supper. Still he did not arri' e. We began to fear that he might have missed his ivay. It was not till twilight had begun to fall that our belated one put in his appe- ranee. ■■-?* i^ ■-■■# ROUGHER AND WILDER GREW THE WAY. 43 "Well, wherever have you been?" the others all shouted in a chorus of reproach. "We've been very uneasy about you — very!" Dearborn carried it off pretty well. Whether he took it all in or not, we could not tell. He had met some very agreeable people bach along, he said, attd hoped tue ivould all excuse him. He seemed tired, and lay down on a settee, as not much disposed to talk. After a time, Moses O. slyly beckoned the rest of us into the hall. He had taken the cyclometer off the captain's bicycle. It indicated for that day a little over twenty-seven miles. Those on the others, belonging to the rest of the Club, marked but fifteen and a half. No further allusion was ever made to the circumstance. But our comrade was seldom thirsty after that. his i PWW" ilS' !? H \ 11 < ' \ CHAPTER III. GOOD-BYE, BICYCLES. OFF TO THE LAKES. ETTING off earl}' next morning from Bryant's Pond, Avc pushed on to "' Pinhook." where are located some of the richest of the Maine silver mines, the name of one of which, the '' Sigotch," keeps itself in memory from its oddity. By nine o'clock we had reached the ferry over the Androscoggin, at " Rumford Point,"' in the town of ^ Rumford. Stein asked several people whom we met here, whether the town had taken its name from Count Rumford (Benjamin Thompson), the most justly famous of American discov- erers in physics, and who lirst demonstrated the grand doctrine of the Correlation of the Natural Forces. No one with whom we spoke could satisfy us on this point. Any town might be proud to bear Rumford's name, for his is a fame that grows brighter year by year. The road from the Androscoggin, northward through Andover Village, is fairly good. The sand dragged us somewhat, but there are few bad hills. The road follows the valley of the beautiful Ellis River, a tributary of the Androscoggin, the latter a broad, noble river two hundred yards wide at the ferry. It is the outlet of the lake system, toward which we were mnking our way, and, lower down its course, turns the great cotton-mills of Lewiston. Ten miles below the ferry are Rumford Falls, (one hundred and fifty feet,) which we wished much to visit, as they are said to be grandly picturesque. But the river road was sandy; and of scifidwQ GOOD-B J E, niC J CLES. 45 lover are liver, two btem, lurse. and be \f we had come to have a well-crrounded horror. Hills a bicvcler can endure, but a five-mile stretch of sand fills his soul with a nameless terror, and his mouth with gall and bitterness. Our bicycles were of English make — all save Karzy's: his was a forty-eight inch '' Colum- bia." We had supposed, as many do, that the im- ported "machines " were the best; and perhaps they are for England. But at the end of this trip it was the opinion of our whole party, that Karzy had done his work easier than any otner man in the Club. Six miles north of the ferry we passed White Cap Mountain on the right, and the Lead Mine Mountain on the left of the river valley, both fine, bold peaks, and, pushing on, reached :,he hotel at the village :i tew minutes be- fore no ?>•, ifter a ride of thirty nii.'js pt.T cyclom- eter. Andover Villao-c is the ^^'^^^ ''^^'■^' ^-^lAXAcr brook. head of bicycle navigation. Indeed, it took pluck to reach this point even. Unless the reader wishes to do something borderinir on the heroic, v.'e would not advise him to try to go from Boston to An- dovt; Maine, on a bicycle. But it can be done. mm^iimmaaa 46 7-//£" KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. \^ fi K We found ourselves pretty tired, and rested till after dinner, then drove to Cataract Brook, Hve miles out of the village. The brook, a stream large enough to turn a mill, falls down over cliffs and among rocks, after a most fantastic and picturesque fashion. Karzy found work for his pencil here. There are many drives and attractions of this kind about Andover. City people, who wish an easy, quiet summer in the country, can nowhere find a much more desirable resort. For ourselves, we bVLVAN CASCADE, CATARACl" IJROUK. already had a more extended programme in prospect. We wished to penetrate some wilderness, where we might tind game that would furnish exciting sport. The sea-shore and summer watering-place business had been " done " to satiety by our party. We wanted something with adventure and a spice of peril in it; soniething to draw one out and call for a vigorous, manly effort. Fishing for perch, and make-believe hunting, had quite lost its charm for us. This time our heads were up for a genuine article in the way of sport. For- tunately we were not pinched for cash, and having two months at our GOOD-nVK, niCVCI.ES. OFF TO THE LAKES. 47 led to rould [place lantcd hg to jerch, time For- it our disposal, were determined to see what there was in this north-cast country. Bright and early next morning we were en route, by spring-board''' and span, for Welokennebacook, or Richardson Lake, distant Ibur- teen miles, by a new road through the woods from Andover Village. At this latter place we said good-bye to our iaithful '' wheels," which had brought us so far, and so well. They were packed up and held to await our order. Here, too, we had found our trunks, containing THU DEVIL'S DEN. our outfit for the woods, awaiting us: our double-barrelled breech- loaders, ammunition, fishing-rods, etc. Parties going on a tour U) the Lakes, from Andover, commonly hire a guide. Many woodsmen, hereabouts, make "uuidinii" their business. We were fortunate enough to secure one of the best (whom we will call "Fred"), who furnished a tent, and an entire camping- out kit. Three dollars per tkiy were his terms; and without care and bother to us, he bought such supplies as we would need; though of course we paid for these. • oiitr A ])rimitive carriage, consisting of a long spring board between lour whetls, liaving a seat in the e. bee illustration, page 52. s I K, ■ ■".n ii .l' X 'IfMkiililt ifi; IS; m it 48 T//E KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. The forest road from the village up to the South Arm of the Lake gives a very enjoyable ride, and there is some odd seenery on the way. After five miles the spring-board halts to let passengers go to see '' The DeviTs Den," a strange, water-worn chasm in the ledges, near by where Black Brook roars and gurgles down. Hard by the Den are '^fi Ife^^ _^_ I several picturesque falls, where the water has fur- rowed deep grooves and basins in the solid granite. It is said that " formerly a mill, owned by a man named Smith, stood over it. At that time the wa- ters of Black Brook emp- tied into the Den over the wall of solid rock which formed the back, and made their escape through an opening in the rock at the lower end." The shape of the Den, inside, is like the letter U, turned sideways, with tlie bottom of the letter towards the brook. The wheel w'as hung in the Den, under the mill, SILVER RIPPLE CASCADE, BLACK r.RooK. ^y^(\ ^q ucar thc prccipicc over which the water fell, as to be driven by the force of its fall. But the mill has long since fallen to decay, and the waters of Black Brook have been turned from the Den, and have worn a new channel throuir h the rocks a few }ards beyond. The bottom of the Den is ^ OFF TO THE LAKES. 49 ^ake the ro to Igcs, I arc lalls, ; lur- ; and ■anitc. erly a man I over le ^va- : e nip- s' er the which \ made oVi an at the lape ot ike the Icways, of the brook, lung in milk Irecipice its ialk .f Bkick I channel Den is now partially covered with rubbish and broken timbers, that have fallen in as the building has succumbed to the ravages of time and the elements. Across the top of the Den, where the mill stood, there yet remains one large timber that spans the awful chasm. Upon this one may walk out, and get a better view of the gorge through which the waters escaped. If you are troubled with dizzi- ness, however, you had better keep oft' it, as a fall would be very likely to spoil your trout-fishing at the lakes. The followinir leijrend is connected with the Den. THE Li:(JEND. Many years ago, a man by the name of Brown, who was more of a hunter and trapper than anything else, came down to Andover from Canada. After stopping in the village a few weeks, he came out here in the wilder- ness, and, with the assistance of the village people, built him a log-house. At that time Indians were thick about the lakes, and hunting and trapping was anything but safe business. Here Brown lived, miles from other houses, without any companion but a dog and a horse. Occasionally he would make a visit to the town, trade his furs at the stox'es for necessaries in the way of groceries and ammunition, and then return to his log cabin, not to be seen for another long spell. One winter and spring, two }ears after he had built his cabin, the Indians were particularly troublesome and daring, and Brown had not made his appearance at Andover for a long time. At the principal store, one day, a number of the villagers had accidentally met, and were wondering what had become of the eccentric hunter, when Brown's dog walked into the store, so thin and lank they scarcely knew him. He was almost famished, and Mudge, the storekeeper, gave him something to eat. After the dog had eaten, he acted very strangely — would go to the door and look out, then come back, and, looking the men wisttully in the face, would give utterance to a mournful howl. Those present thought something had happened to Brown, for the dog was never known to come to the village before, alone. After talking the matter over, they raised a com- pany of twenty men, and the next morning, well armed, they started for Brown's cabin, the dog taking the lead, just as if he understood all that was going on. When they arrived here they found the cabin burned to the ground, and the bones of Brown, which h::d been picked clean by the E 5° THE kWOCK-ABOUT CLUB. wolves, were all that was left of the unfortunate hunter. Near b}', beneath rudely constructed grave, they found the remains of four Indians, showing that Brown must have sold his life dearly. They dug a grave, and buried the bones, and then returned home, Mudge keeping the dog, who lived for some years after his master's death. The horse, and everything else of any value, the redskins had taken away with them. Farther on, the road threads a tremendous ravine, betwixt steep, cra^ijv mountains. This is the celebrated "Andover Notch.*' At SCREW-AUGER FALLS, 13EAR RIVER. one point the way is but a ticklish trail, along the brink of a precipice. There is some grand scenery here, scarcely surpassed in the White Mountains. High up the face of a bold mountain, the driver pointed out a black hole, w^hich he called "The Devil's Oven." Moses O. remarked that " the Old Fellow seemed to own a good deal of real estate hereabouts." OFF TO THE LAKES. 5^ beneath ihowing I buried ived for e of any t steep, h." At )recipice. [he White Ited out a Ivn 11 ^^y his nose, formed for compre- [ 11 ,1 „ 54 /y/A AWOCK-A/JOLT CLLB. hcndinrr frarrrances, and by the lines of refined taste converging from his wliole face towards iiis mouth, that he was one to detect and snilf gastronomic possibihties in the humblest materials. Joseph Bourgogne looked the cook. His phiz gave us faith in him : eyes small and discriminating ; nose upturned, nostrils expanded and receptive; moutli saucy, in the literal sense. I lis voice, moreover, Nvas a cook's, — thick in articulation, dulcet in tone. He spoke as if he deemed that a throat was created for belter uses than labori- ously manufacturing words, — as if the object of the mouth were to receive tribute, not to give commands, — as if that pink stalactite, his palate, w n LAKE WELOKENXEIIACOOK. more used by delicacies entering, than by rough words or sorry sighs going out of the inner caverns. When we find the right man in the right place, our minds are at ease. The future becomes satisfactory as the past. Anticipation is glad certainty, not anxious doubt. .... The average world must be revenged upon genius. Greatness must be punished by itself or another. Joseph Bourgogne was no exception to the laws of misery of genius. He had a distressing trait, whose exhibition tickled the dura ilia of the reapers of the forest. Joseph, poet-cook, was sensitive to new ideas. This sensitiveness to the peremptory thought made him the slave of the wags of Damville. Whenever he had anything in his OFF TO rm: lakes. :>:) )m his jnomic ; cook. urncd. . His c. He labori- ' y reccive 3, w ^ 4->' IS going I at ease, prtainty, ;* hands, at a stern, quick commanil, he would drop it nervously. Did he approach the table with a .^econd dish of pork and beans, a yellow dish of beans, browned delicately as a Sevres vase, then would some full-fed rogue, waiting until Joseph was bending over some devoted head, say sharply, LAMP liKLLEVUK, LAKK .MOLKCllUNkAMlNK " Drop that, Joseph ! "' — whereupon down went tlie dish and contents, empor- ridging the poll and person of the luckless wight beneath. Always, were his burden, pitcher of water, armful of wooci, axe dangerous to toes, mirror. or pudding, — still followed the same result. And when the poet-cook had done the mischief, he would stand shuddering at his work of ruin, and sigh, and curse his too sensitive nature. f: Ireatness cception thibition )k, was it made in his 1 li! CHAPTER IV. CAMPING OUT. E wanted to try campini]^ out, Karzy in particular. So the next clay (we spent our first night at Upper Dam Farm) Fred took us in n sail-boat, with our outfit, to jNIctaluk, or Metallic, Point, down at the "Narrows." Here there is a fine sandy beach, on the east shore just below Metaluk Brook. Back a little fi-om the beach there are scattered pines, stubs, and low bushes; but the sand extends for a long way amongst the pines. Altogether it is a pleasant spot. There is a splendid chance to go in bathing. We '^sted it directly, but found the water somewhat chilly. Two herons were started up here while we were landing. They flew off at a slow, loping flight, to the tops of some tall pines, a mile below, where they had their nests. The site selected for our tent was back a few rods from the shore, where the pines broke ofi'the rather too tresh wind. It was an A tent, ten by eleven feet. Two forked stakes, a pole, and some tent-pins, were all the preparations needed to pitch it. These were soon cut and driven, when our little white canvas house sprang up as if by magic under Fred's experienced hands. Hard by was a big pine stump, weathered, gray, and dry. Against this a fire was kindled. Rike and Harold cut fuel with the two axes Fred had taken along. Water was brought in a tin bucket; and in the course of twenty minutes our guide ofiered us each a tin pint dipperful of very good coflec, which with soda biscuits, cheese, canned beef, and mustard, made a fairly relish- able lunch. CAMPING OUT. 57 We They ;tump, guide For our dinner that evening, we were promised something better, lor which Fred was already improvising a table from a stray hemlock board and some stakes set in the ground. From the outset our guide seemed to recognize the fact that people up in this lake country develop enormous appetites as if by enchant- ment, and governed his movements ac- cordingly. He put beans in soak, to cook during the ni- it in an old iron tea-kettle, buried in ashes and live coals, and bejxan to wash at least a peck of Irish potatoes. Convinced that he was on the rii^ht track, and fully un- derstood his busi- ness, we set oft' to ftsh and hunt. Stein and Harold crossed the " Narrows," to shoot partridges in the woods on the opposite side. The rest of us went to catch trout up Metaluk Brook. Both the Brook and the " Point" are named after "Old Metaluk, an Indian chief who is said to have lived here with his squaw "Molly Molasses." CAMPING OUT. »» - wsm i'l' i J 58 Th'£ KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. We went round into the mouth of the brook in our boat, then landed and began to fish along the banks. It is a good-sized brook. For a mile or two it flows through a bushy, and in places rather sandy meadow, but farther back changes to a very picturesque mountain tor- rent. There are several fine, deep ^'trout-holes" here along; and at one of them Karzy caught a trout — actually did! The rest of us dtdiiH; but we did a great deal of earnest fishing. For bait we used angle-worms from the Upper Dam Farm dooryard, LAKE M(JLfc.CHU.\KA.MUNK. also flies and pork. Yet despite all our allurements, the trout man- ifested a surprising amount of indifference to us. It may have been our fault, or our innocent inexperience. Trout are "pecooliar." One expert says of the trout of these waters: — "This speckled trout is not to be trifled v/ith. He must be approached cautiously and deceived with deliberation. Although possessed of a shark-like appetite, he is a stickler for form, and objects to unseasonable food with the perti- CAMPING OUT. 59 1^ f 1 1^^ 1 ^^••^ i ** '1 man- been '-s3 One is not reived , he is perti- nacity of a relisjious devotee. When he wants flics, the plumpest ol' angle-worms maybe dragged before his very nose without quickening the play of his pectoral hns or the easy sway of his tail, and when it is no longer fly-time with him, the very king of gray hackles might flutter and flap, untouched, within a Anger's length of the lily-pad which serves as his shelter. But there is one dainty he never rejects. Be it chub, or shiner, or even the small fry of his own species, this handsome cannibal, like the cormorant that he is, makes haste to take it in whenever opportunity oftcrs. It is rare, indeed, when a big trout's stomach fr ils to yield his captor evidence of :i tish-dinner. This weakness of the trout is ol'ten turned to good account by parties who bait strong hooks with live flsh, and leave them 'set' in the Avater over night. Such flshmg is condemned, however, as unsportsmanlike, and no respectable flsherman likes to be known as practising it. For that matter, too, trolling is looked upon as not exactly the square thing, the rule of fish-craft being tiiat the fly ranks flrst in honor, then rod-flshing with a single hook." This opinion of trout nature is indorsed by one of the native iiuides of this region, in the native tongue: — "Dreflul notional crit- ters, traout be, olluz bitin' at whodger haiint got. Orful contrary crit- ters — jess like flmmels. Yer can cotch a fimmel with a feather, if she's to be cotched; if she haiint to be cotched, yer may scoop ther hul world dry an yer haiint got her. Jess so traout.'' It was late when we got back to camp. The sight of the blithe fire among the pines, with its strong odors of pitch, was ver\- cheery. Pleasant, too, was the odor of Fred's cooking. lie was frying steak. Rike and Harold sat by. They had returned in ad\ance of us and tiad already formed an opinion of the game. One red squirrel was their whole bag. "And for this I bought a hundred and seventy-tive dollar gun! " quoth Rike, exhibiting the game. Karzy laid his trout — the size of a clothes-pin — alongside the squirrel. The guide smiled as one not wholly unaccustomed c>o THE KA'OCK-ABOUT CLUB. to such instances. *'^ Shall I cook all this for your breakfast ?" he inquired. But dinner was a success. It always is up here, I fancy — if there is anything to eat. As we ate, we heard the loons (the Great Northern Diver) calling to each other out on the lake; and a colony of frogs, in a little pond-hole hard by, set up a terrific conclamation. Once we heard a distant yell, which the guide said was made by a bear. GENTLEMEN-TOURISTS' CAMP. It had grown cloudy and lowering. But our cheerful camp-fire made all bright. It seemed rather odd, however, to be sitting on logs in a forest, with night and a storm coming on. " What would my mother say to me?'' Moses O. remarked thought- fully. ''She never allowed me to sit out of doors at this time o' day, for fear I would catch the ' shakes.' Ever have the ^ shakes ' so far east as this, guide ? " ^" Not that kind," said Fred. CAMPIXG OUT. Cm For an hour or so, our guide entertained us with accounts of hunt- ing and camping out, proving himself a capital hand at a story. So numerous, indeed, were his tales, that I should despair of giving a tenth of them in the brief space allowed me for recording our week at these lakes. On looking into the tent, we found that Fred had filled it, while we were gone fishing, to the depth of two or three feet with pine boughs. On this natural mattress our blankets were spread; and here. tp-fire ig on ught- JO far INTERIOR OF A SPORTSMAN'S CAMP. not much later, we bestowed ourselves for the night. A bit' of candle was set up in a candlestick contrived of a split stick stuck in the ground and a strip of white birch bark; and the tent-flap was drawn and buttoned. Talking went on for a while, then died out. The fi-ogs peeped and growled. We all thought that we should soon fall asleep. But we did not for some reason, — the oddity of the thing, very likely. I could ft 62 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. i j i ■ill* i hear my fellow-travellers turning over and over. Then Stein got up to make some improvement in his part of the bed. "Good many ribs in this mattress of yours, Fred," he observed. Rike, too, got up to improve, — and drew out a thick pine-branch from beneath his back. Upon that we all fell to talking again, and I think it was one o'clock before sleep fairly reigned supreme in that tent. But we slept late enough the next morning to make it up. When I waked it was light, and evi- dently late; but it was raining softly on the tent outside. All hands were snor- ing away as for dear life. A wonderful drowsiness brooded over that interior; next moment I had surrendered to it again, and we came near sleeping over that day. Fred waked us at last. He was getting those beans out of the hole where the kettle had stewed all niHit. The odor roused us out at once. That is the way to cook beans. It had nearly ceased raining, and after breakfast we set sail fov Upper Dam to tish for trout again. The fol- lowing paragraph from Mr. Farrar's book had stimulated Dearborn so profoundly that he wished to try his luck at luring the " speckled beauties '' at the earliest possible moment. " At the Upper Dam you throw your fly cii top ol the white water, a"d have it seized by a ten-pounder, instead of a baby trout six inches long ; you strike hard, and the fish darts away, while fathom after fathom of your line unreels, and you begin to tremble for fear he will never stop; he turns, and you begin to reel in, carefully and watchfully, keeping his head well up to the surface, and alter many moments of exciting anxiety you get him near THLODORE AVIXTHROP. \ i CAMriXC, OUT. ^3 one enourrh to successfully use your net. It is no small job to take an eight- or ten-pound trout out of swift water, with a light rod, and not break your rod or lose your line. It requires skill, patience, and practice to do it ; but isn't it sport? How your eyes sparkle, your cheeks flush, and how you quiver with the excitement of the moment, while battUng with one of these gigantic specimens ! "' One comrade more than hinted that we had not fished ^letaluk -, a"d ; you |r line [, and [Up to near LAKK MOOSELUCKMEGU.NTIC. Brook correctly; and he proceeded to read us a section of instructions from a Fishcfinans Manual^ which he had brought: — " C^iestions in relation to fishing nf or down a stream should be decided by the condition of the stream and its borders. Wiiile casting from the short- it makes ver\' little difference which way tlie stream is tished : but in wadinij it is best to lish up stream, because it does not roil the w ater. and there is not so great liability to alarm the fish. In making a cast it is always best to draw the fly across the current, for then the drop-flies will play clear of the casting-line. This is the opinion of most good fly-tishers. First, cast up i/ if i ! U1 4 : i i I 64 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. S|i I in I i' ii pi: ^ - :! Stream along the shore, and, if the stream be not too wide, cast to the farther shore, drawing your flies across the stream, but not too fast, lest the trout be- come suspicious. In striking you cannot be too quick, when fishing up a stream. Cast first near the shore ; then a yard or two farther off; next across the stream. If you get not u rise, take a step or two up the stream and re- peat. Continue doing so until a doubt arises as to whether the trout admire your cast ; then replace one fly by another of different color from any on your cast. If that does not take, after presenting it several times, take it off and try another extreme in color. Keep changing until you hit the fancy of the trout." The wind was fresh from the south, and we had a fine sail of four or five miles to the Dam. That portion of the lake above the "Narrows" is called the Upper Richardson, or Mollychunkamunk, Lake. Theodore Winthrop wrote it Mollychunkamug, and conjec- [;, turing, after his humorous fashion, as to the derivation of the name, he remarks : — "When it cleared, — when it pur- veyed us a broadening zone of blue sky and a heavenful of brilliant cloud- creatures, — we were sailinsf over Lake ^Mollychunkamug. Fair Mollychunkamug had not smiled for us until now ; now a sunny grin spread over her smooth cheeks. She was all smiling, and presently, as the breeze dimpled her, all a-snicker up into the roots of her hair, up among her forest tresses. Mollychunkamug ! Who could be aught but gay, gay even to the farcical, when on such a name? Is it Indian? Be- wildered Indian, we deem it, — transmogrified somewhat from aboriginal sound by the fond imagination of some lumberman, finding in it a sweet memorial of his Mary far away in the kitchens of the Kennebec, his Mary so rotund of blooming cheek, his Molly of the chunky mtigJ'^ SPIRIT OF MOOSELUCKMEGUNTIC. CAAfPixG orr. 65 t pur- r blue ;loud- Lake now ; , and if her laught Be- liginal 1 sweet Mary In like manner of Mooseluckmeguntic^ the name of the lake next above Mollyehunkamunk, Mr. Farrar gives us the following odd tra- dition: — " A hunter, who was out after moose, met with such poor success, that he almost famished. He said, — ' I had been four days without game, and naturally without anything to eat, except pine-cones and green chestnuts. There was no game in the forest. The trout would not bite, for I had no tackle or hook. I was starving. I sat down and rested my trusty but futile ritle against a fallen tree. Suddenly I heard a tread, turned my head, saw a moose — took my tyiin — tick ! he was dead. I was saved. I feasted, and in CAMP IIENRV, RANGKLEY OUII.KT. gratitude named the lake Moosctookmyguntick .' The name has undergone some modifications since its origin, but it cannot be misunderstood." Upper Dam is called very good fishing-ground. The waters in great volume plunge through the sluice-ways of the dam with a thun- derous rush, making those yeasty maelstroms which the trout love so well. ^1; » 06 THE KNOCK-AHOUT CLUB. \\ We fished there with both assiduity and a long-lived patience for two or three hours — and Fred caught one! It was a pretty fish, and would have weighed a pound, I think. The ten-pounders did not show that day. Next day Stein, Rike, and Karzy fished Mosquito Brook, two miles below, and Karzy caught three trouts as large as small cigars. At the end of this day's sport Moses O. summed up as follows: — "Fellows, this is a very pretty region of country, — these lakes and mountains. But it is getting rather thickly settled with city sports- men and their camps. The game is mostly on paper. If we want to see any real sport this vacation, we had better move on.'* FRED'S MOOSE-STORY. I .1! AS RECORDED IJY RIKE. We had heard a ci'eat dejJ about moose-huntinrj down in Maine, and were anxious for our (juide to take us to hunt the noble animal. In a gentle wav he gave us to understand that moose were not quite as plenty as they used to be, also that there wis a law against killing them : and furthermore, when pressed hard by us, he as good as told us that it w'ould be ot' no use to go hunting moose then, for the best of reasons : there were no moose at present. But moosp do sometimes come about these lakes : and a few years ago, in May, 1877, our guide had had a most exciting ride after a bull moose on Lake Cupsuptic, the third lake above Welokennebacook. He was at that time "guiding"' for two gentlemen named Sargent and Chase ; and that morning thev were out in a boat trolling for trout. Not far off were two other boats with two gentlemen named Lewis (father and son), and two guides named Haley and Haines. It was a fine cool morning. The lake lay black and still. They were having fair sport, wiien Mr. Sargent's attention was at- tracted to what looked like the blanched roots of a pine stump, floating along at no great distance. "What is that?" he asked. " A moose ! A bi9 boats struck ofT smartly, towing the boat after liim. The men tried to .slop liim by backin<; water : but his strength overmatched theirs. One of the other boats now came up and made fast to the same rope, but the moose took tliem both along at the same rate. " Well, let him go, if he's determined to ! " cried Chase. " Let him swim, and we'll ride." In fact, they were all about tired enough to rest ; and since they could not stop the animal, they lay back and enjoyed the ride. On went the moose, up the lake, plunging through the water with heavy kicks of its broad hoofs. ''Why, this is eijual to steam-pinver I " exclaimed Sargent. ■ * " *'. Si,;-*:/ ;il il water. m. A ;, Fred istanth I the Ireature THE FIRST STEAMER ON THE LAKES. Indeed, the puffing and blowing of the moose forcibly reminded them of a donkey-engine. The lookers-on from the shore did not at once comprehend the situation, moose power being such a novelty. The moose swam with both boats as fast as a person could easily paddle a canoe. By hauling on the line, either upon his right or left side, the course of the animal could be changed. For three miles the moose forged ahead, the hunters riding serenely in liis wake. The animal did not attempt to turn on them, as they had half expected he would, but seemed intent only upon getting away. Having ^i ■o THE KA'OCK-ADOUT CLUB. ! i p.'ii ii! thoroughly enjoyed the " ride," a sentiment of sympathy began to creep into the hearts of the sportsmen. "I say, gentlemen, it's too bad to ride a free horse to death," quoth one. "That's so ! " exclaimed every voice. " There's some danger, too, of his getting winded and giving up sud- denly," said Fred. '' If lie should drown out here we should lose him." " Head him for the shore, then I " cried Chase. " Go for Camp Frye ! " " Camp Frye," it may be explained, is the designation given to a tourists' camp on the lake shore, after the Hon. Wm. P. Frye, Senator from Maine. It so happened that the camp was at that time occupied by Mr. Frye him- self, with his Aimily. For Camp Frye the moose was accordingly headed, and by adroit man- agement of the line he was *" grounded " near the boat-landing. So com- pletely tired out had the animal become that it offered almost no resistance when pulled out of the water upon the shore. It seemed stupefied, and gave no other sign of native ferocity than an occasional stamp of its forehoof, and by grinding its teeth. Tiie guides say that they iiad never seen a larger moose. Its weight was estimated at twelve hundred pounds. The sight of a live moose fresh from its haunts was a novelty. Of course nobody dreamed of such a thing as taking the animal's life. The law of Maine, at present, forbids the killing of all wild ruminants. To have *' made auay " with tlie animal in the presence of a veteran lawgiver like Mr. Frye would have been too foul a deed to have escaped merited justice. We are well assured, therefore, that after three hours' durance the moose was turned loose to " multicrease and replenish " the forests. Having re- gained his "■ wind " somewhat, the old fellow departed with an exultant bound when the line was cut ; but his report to his antlered brethren con- taining his views of the morning's sport has not yet been transmitted. CHAPTER V. MOOSEHKAD AND THE WEST BRANCH. EXT morning there was thick fog: lakes, primeval forest, and roaring dams, all buried — lost — in one unutterable white sea of pearly mist. Till eight o'clock and past, we could scarcely discern objects fifteen yards distant, even. Men walking about, until nigh enough to shake hands with, looked like dim ghosts in gauze-like winding-sheets. Then from out this bewildering and uprisen sea, yelled, on a sudden, the shrill whistle of the little steamer J\[oUychunkainuuk\ from Rangeley outlet. We paid olV Fred, and bidding him good-bve — not without real re- gret, for he had tried hard to give us a good time — went on board. The JMoUychunkaniunk k, a smart little steam-launch; and we should have vastly enjoyed our voyage up Mooselucmaguntic, Cupsuptic, and Rangeley lakes, that morning, if the fog had not covered us so closely. As it was, we got but indistinct, Heeting glimpses of the scenery, yet did not deem it worth the while MOOSEHEAU. f-TT it II I I ,,:i 72 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. to tarry longer. Our captain, Harold, and Moses O. had already declared for Moosehead Lake, Mount Kineo, and Katahdin, a hun- dred miles to the northeastward, and, as we then supposed, in a far more sequestered and wilderness region. From Rangeley — named after an eccentric English gentleman who nad a grant of land and settled in this section fifty years ago — we went out to the town of Phil- lips, by stage, over a very pretty road through the woods, and past several picturesque ponds. At Phillips we found the nar- rowest of narrow-gauge railways which any of us had thus far seen. The rails were but tivo feet apart! with cars and lo- comotive on a like Lili- putian scale! In fact, it was the most petite, and, as Karzy remarked, "the tamest"' little railroad imaginable. It did not seem as if it would hurt you if you jumped off and got on again while going at speed. We had no end of fun riding on it down to Fannington. It was like a boy's railroad. At Farmington, this little railway connects with a fuU-groivn one; and from here, after a very pleasant night spent at the old home of the late Jacob Abbott, author of the Ratio Books, and so many MA1> OF MOOSEHEAD LAKE. MOOSEHEAD AND THE WEST liKAXCH. n and .■■■L-''.i-''^*V'' i others, dear to our childhood, we went to Blanchard. This was then the terminus of the railroad up to Moosehead; and from there we had stage again for twelve or fifteen miles, north, to Greenville, situated on the southern arm of the great lake. There is little call to stop long at Greenville, though a pretty ham- let; and as the steamer lay off, waiting, we went on board for Mount Kineo, the grand objective point with tourists, twenty miles up the lake. Moosehead is a large, roomy sheet of water, though it does not look it from Green- ville. North and south it extends nearly forty miles, we were told, and is twelve, and even fifteen and eighteen miles wide in places. Five or six miles up f r o m Greenville the scenery becomes very fine. Stand- ing far out into the lake, in front, looms the brown, hornstone precipice of Mount Kineo, eight hundred feet high, named from a taciturn old Indian, a chief it is said, who lived for nearly half a century on the top of this bold crag. Off to the east are two tall, volcanic-looking cones, called the "Spencer Peaks.'' Still farther eastward, towers the granite block of Katahdin; while down in the south-west rises the high, dreary peak known as " Old Squaw," the mother of Kineo, who dwelt there while her son lived on Mount Kineo. Clearings frequently met the eye along the shores: a circumstance n^i'^'^'Si rfmfmm^ lUM^. :_^.^>iv FIRST GLIMPSE OK MOOSLHtAD. W ) I 74 THE KNOCK- A BOUT CLUB. which by no means enhanced the scene in our eyes; for already, from the numbers on the steamer, and many other indications, we were bes^inning to fear that we should find Moosehead as " thickly settled " with tourists as was Welokcnnebacook and Mollychunkamunk. The Mount Kineo House, situated on a plat of land at the foot of the towering cliff, is a large, well-kept hotel, placed in a most charm- ing locality. It was full of people. We could scarcely obtain beds for our party — two in a bed. It'' If .,1 ■I ■■! h! i , MOUNT KINEO. Next morning we hired a guide, locally known as ^' Uncle Amos,"' who took us in a row-boat along the foot of the crags, for a mile, to where the ascent of Mount Kineo is usually made. We spent the forenoon climbing the mountain, and enjoying the really grand view from its sunimil. In fact, I may as well condense and say we spent the next three days — four, including Sunday — touring about in the ordinary tame and lazy way, to sec the supposed objects of interest: MOOSEHEAP AXn THE WEST BRA AC//. 75 to the lew ;nt the 1st: over to the mouth of Moose River and Brassua Lake, to Pebble Beach and to the Socatean Stream. Karzy, meantime, made a private trip of {ifteen or twenty miles, with a guide and team, from Greenville to what is termed T/ie Guff, at the Katahdin Iron Works, where there was said to be some very fine scenery. He returned enthusiastic, saying that this ''Ciulf' is the ^' Yosemite of New Enixland.'' MOOSEHKAT) I-ROM MOUNT KINEO. But everywhere were tourists, tiiiek as blaeberries! — parties out for the day from the hotel; parties camping out for a few days; b(j}s hunting, with brand-new guns, and no end of cartridge-belts and equipments; boys fishing, with fine, new rods, reels and tly-hooks, — in short, no end of nice-looking people, all enjoying themselves to their heart's content. But the game, alas! for which our hearts pined, was as scarce here as at Upper Dam. \n ;f > '• I , <■ 'f^ V ■■ I I •: ! i I i J ■J i : 76 7y/£" KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. "This ncvcr'll do,"" said Moses O., sighing. " O, for a lodge, etc." We talked with several guides and others, and were advised to make a trip to the head of Chcsuncook, and to Chamberlain Farm, and thence down the A 1 1 e g u a s h and St. John rivers, to Wood- stock, New Bruns- wick: three hundred miles, more or less, through the wilder- ness. That seemed to promise something. For it we hired two other guides, known at the hotel as ''Uncle Johnny" and ''Marsh," and three large birch canoes, with a tent and camping-out kit, like that procured at Andover, with Fred, only on a grander scale, and with a lar- ger stock of provi- sions. Setting off at five o'clock, Monday morn- ing, on the little steamer Day-Dream^ we went up to the head of the lake, where the " north-east carry " leads across to the West Branch of Penobscot River. Here, being diligent readers of Theodore Winthrop's Life in the Open Air, and Thoreau's Maine Woods, we DILLINGS' FALLS IN "THE GULF." MOOSE HE AD AXD THE WEST r>RA\C/f. 17 looked, but looked in vain, for the wooden railroad and "^'bullgine" which they have rendered historic. A forest tire had long ago burned up the railroad, we were told. Our canoes and luggage were drawn across the carry — two miles — by a span of stout Canadian horses. Even this remote "carry " has now its summer hotel. Close by the river there is another tavern, and blacksmith shop, where they were shoeing a prodig- ious gray draught- horse, with shaggy legs. We stopped to wonder at the animal. They said it came from Prince Edward's Island. The shoes were as large as TyndalTs magnets! The blacksmith was an odd chunk of a man, with a beagle head and surly eye. But we saw a really pretty face peeping out of a window of the house. The West Branch, at this point, is about ninety metres broad. It takes a strong arm to throw a stone across it, as we found out while the guides were launching the canoes and getting ready to embark. Close by there was a heap of barrels, window-sashes, boxes, etc., all marked " Murphy, Head of Chesuncook." Murphy is a great man in these parts, — lumberman, farmer, tavern and store keeper. It SOCATKAN STREAM I ALLS. n : » n I i J't f 5f '1 I 78 Zy/i^ k'XOCK-AIiOUT CLUB. is twenty miles from tliis place to Ciiesuncook, northward, and down the river. We had three birch canoes, each a little larger than the ordinary size, for we were three to a canoe. Two were new, but all three were stanch and dry. The guides had brought along low seats with backs, made of pine boards, for us to sit on amidships; but we did not like these, and chose rather the great rolls of wool blankets strapped up in the rubber blankets. A Jinoe dc boalean^ or, in Maine phrase, a 'Uoirch," is not nearly OLD WOODEN RAILROAD AND •' r.UI.LGINK." so cranky a craft as many believe. The Maine lakes canoes generally lip and roll less easily tlian small board boats. Once a little used to them, they are the most delightful of skiffs, for they sit on the water like a duck, and a little care will prevent their listing. Some tourists object to them because a sail cannot be used; but as a matter of fact, we sailed them on every fair wind; and I am convinced that the objec- tion s imaginary. True, it would not do to run plump on a rock; but that is a lubberly accident at best. MOOSEHEAD AA'D THE WEST BRAAlH. 79 The Branch was low. For a mile there was dead w.iter between banks lined with black firs; then the stream shoaled, and thencelbrvvard we Ibund " rips '' and '• bars " in plenty, all the way down to the " carry " at Pine Stream Falls. From the foot of the falls to the lake there is dead water, throuifh a sort of alluvial bottom covered with a dense growth of tirs. There were numerous frog lilies, but we saw no white ones. The bed of the stream is here very muddy; and as we drew near Lake Chesun- cook, the water itself was muddy, for a breeze had arisen and the waves were run- ning back. We now es- pied a great smoke rising over tlic tree- tops. The set- tlers were clear- ing and burning oil' the forest, getting ready for next year's crop. A little farther on, the lake opened to view, and we saw rude shanties along the east shore. We were in sight of "Mur- phy's, or, as some said, Ilatheway's, little kingdom, and on emerging Irom the river, on the lake proper, saw the palace itself of this backw^oods potentate, upon the west shore on rising ground, distant about a mile. It was a large story-and-a-half house, with a piazza across the front side. Near by were numerous barns and storehouses. BRASS A U KAi'lDS. ■J W *: ' ^ 80 TH/-: KiWOCK-^ABOUT CLUB. m Ilk I Turning the bar off the moutli of the river on the west side, we crossed a bay in the teeth of a rather heavy sea. The whole lake, twenty miles lon*,^ lay before us, and, to the south-east, the hi«rh, rugi^ed peaks of Katahdin. For three or four miles down the lake, on both shores, the land is cleared and studded with shanties belonirincr to Murphy's subjects. Everything had a new, rude aspect. Wc landed \\\ a smart surf, and withal a very muddy one. The canoes were drawn up, and we all climbed the steep and \ery stony path leading to the house. Several rough-looking fellows, French- Canadians, were lounging about the piazza, a part of Murphy's stand- ing army, probably. - "Is jNIr. I lathe way, or Mr. Murphy, at home?" Harold demanded. He had come near saying Prince Hatheway. Alas! Czar Murphy was absent. What a fate was ours! • • "Could we have dinner?" Stein inquired. ' • ' At this juncture Murphy's generalissimo made his appearance, and, on the question being repeated, admitted that the thing was pos- sible, and naturally to be expected. We were invited to enter — and entered. We should have been invited into the parlor, no doubt, but Mur- phy is a man of advanced ideas, and hires an annual schoolma'am to teach both his own progeny and those of his subjects; and just now the parlor was the schoolroom. Of this we were presently made aware by the escape of an unruly pupil, a wild-looking urchin, who burst forth with a howl and came tearing into the bar-room, closely pursued by the teacher, a hale young lady of eighteen or thereabouts. Little "Jake" came near involving us all in the melee, for he darted and doubled betwixt us, half frantic with terror. To put an end to the matter, Moses O. caught him and gave him over to legal authority; but he still kicked and reviled in a lively manner. Without waste of time, he was dragged away to condign punishment, as his yells soon attested. MOOSEHE^ID AM) THE WEST URAXCH. 8i A bell was runix to announce dinner, while we were thus cn- ffaced. We passed through the bar-room into the dininir-hall, a larfje, long room, with a loni^ table, now steaminijf with the whole bill of fare. A stout dautrhter of Ireland was in attendance. Evidently thev thoujxht we were hunL,^ry, and kindly meant to satisfy us. Every- tiiing; by way of food was on such an enormous scale, and there were such unheard-of quantities of it, as to quite dismay Karzy, who gazed A PARiy WE SAW. about in ludicrous helplessness. I quite believe there was a half- bushel of boiled potatoes, not one of which was smaller than an aver- age apple-dumpling! with platters of tried beef and gravy, which might have sutficed for Polyphemus. The slices of wheat bread were three inches in thickness, without exaggeration; and ginger-snaps were brought on in a kind of hod. In Murphy's kitchen they were used to feeding lumbermen and river-drivers, with appetites like a locomotive. Following snaps came a vast pic; a pie with a bottom crust like a m o ^B 8a THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. plank, and nearly as thick; a pie, the upper crust of which resembled, in its vast undulations, a stormy ocean. Stein thought it would be a tine thing to study geology by. "Only look at the grand upheavals. said he. , . , • m „ The char-c was fifty cents per plate, which, consiJenng the quan- tity provided, was certainly " wondrous cheap, and lor the money quite a heap." \ CHAPTER VI. UMIUZOOKSOUS MEADOWS. TWO SIDES TO \ STORY. IRECTLY after dinner wc took our departure, and paddled out across the moutli of the West Branch, and, keepin^j on to the north-east corner of the lake, entered the m(Hith of Caucomgomoc Stream, with a smart Ljale at our backs. For a mile the channel is broad, with little or no current; there is a thick i^jrowth of white birches on both banks. The Caucomi^omoc then bends suddenly to the left and westward, and at this place the Umbazooksous joins it from the north-east and ri^ht. Our route to Chamberlain Lake lay up the Umbazooksous. These are Indian names, which "Marsh" thus explained the meaninj^s of. Caucom- gomoc, or Caucomgomoctook, meant Big-Gull-Lake-Stream, since it is the outlet of Lake Caucomgomoc to the north-west; Umbazooksous signilied Great Bog Stream. We soon perceived the appropriateness of the latter name, for our course was now along a small muddy brook through miles of open bog. There was barely water enough to float us, and scarcely any current. Wc met here a canoe containing a gentleman tourist and guide, of whom, after mutual salutations, we inquired of the stream above. Everybody feels acquainted when meeting in these wilds. Their ac- count was bad enough. Along the stream, in a score of places, there were broad plats of wild roses, of which there were still a few in bloom. The mud banks were soft and bare, and on these there squatted and hopped an intinite t^p .'-:'l \M \\ I O 9 I I 1 1 ; I 1 1 84 77/A AWOCA'-A/iOOT CLUB. army of frocfs, and a few "peeps" which kept flying up a little in ad- vance of us. At one place we saw the feathers and bill of a hapless heron. About it were the tracks of a fisher, or a wild-cat. Flocks of partridges were frequently seen in the grass along the banks. Rike, who was in the bow of the leading canoe, shot a number with Uncle Johnny's shot-gun; also several of the '' peeps/' though they would make but a mouthful apiece. The stream grew still narrower and more shoal as we went on. The keels, or rather bottoms, of the canoes stirred the mud, and raised a not very pleasant odor, and at length, at about six o'clock, we came to a place where further navigation seemed quite impossible. On the right bank, too, there was a beaten path leading otf into the fir woods; for here the open meadows ended, and higher ground, heavily wooded, began. The guides said we should have to " carry" around the place. But otf in the west a heavy bank of black clouds was drifting up over the mountains. It had the appearance of being a shower. We judged it best to camp. Swarms of mosquitoes and '' midges '' came upon us from the low land. The prospect of a shower seemed wonderfully to add to their ferocity. We had hoped, at this season, to be free from these pests of tourists; but at times, and in certain localities, we still found them in full force. Uncle John said there were ahvays mosquitoes on the Umbazooksous. A fire was built on the bank, where former tourists had had one, and we set up our tent a little to the right of it, so that the west wind would take the smoke out clear of us. The evening darkened rapidly, and the multitudes of frogs began their conclamation, some shrill-voiced and agreeable, but others in terribly bass gutturals. Ere long the thunder began to pe.d out and rumble in long reverberations, and the lightning to show in bright, vivid lines. L '.]//,'. izuoAsoc s mi: A nows. 85 ad- less jke, nclc ould t on. , and ^, we sible. to the ound, :arry" nil ^M"> We ic low their pests them t)n the id one. jt wind bei^an hers in )Ut and bright, But this shower passed to the southward, roll(nvin«x tlie West Branch; other thunders, however, were mutterinu: I'lr up in the north- west, over Caucomgomoc. A little later, a few drops were scattered down on a sudden, and these had, or seemed to have, a sinijular effect. With them the mosquitoes drew otf lor the time being; there was a lull of the continu- ous hum. We seized the opportunity to take our supper; but before we had hnished, the torments auain assailed us, fiercer than before. We were fain to llee to our tent. These intermittent attacks of the mos([uitoes must be due tu electric changes in the air. not perceptible to us. As the e\ening ad- vanced, some animal camr about the camp. We heard it several times, breaking the brush is it stcjiped. Nobody c.red to hunt it, how. 'vcr; l\.ar/\ and Rike, indeed, were already asleep. Next morning, while Tncle Johnny and "Marsh" were boiling potatoes, baking biscuits, and getting up breakfast, we espied a smc'e a few hundred metres back from the stream, across the meado" . , on a knoll etnered with gum-spruces. On going out to it, we found three fellows encamped there — not tourists, but young men oi" seventeen or eighteen, from WAHING lOk HtK COFFLE. ' I! Si t 1 86 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. ; 11 tlic settlement below, stoppin<^ there to cut and stack hay on these natural meadows. They were bright, smart-lookini,^ boys, tough and inured to pioneer life; and they had ideas and aspirations, too, in advance of the kind of life they were leading. We found them getting their break- fast and rcaifitifr Cccsar in the Latin; and we afterwards ascer- tained that they were trying, while thus working their way, to fit for college. To find boys reading Latin and Greek in such a wilderness was a novelty which both astonished and Interested us. Finding them here was the occasion of our spending a number of days at this place, hunting, digging spruce-gum, etc., for we really took a great liking to them, and the rough but sturdy and self-reliant life the}' led. A misunderstanding arose, however; (it was nothing more than a misunderstanding.) They took it into their heads that we were mak- ing game of their efforts to master Latin and lit for college. They seemed very sensitive on that jioint. The fact was simply that we were a little surprised at it, but really had conceived a great admira- tion for their pluck. We failed, however, to make them understand us. They grew suspicious, and kept on their guard; and linally (as we arc free to own) they got one of the worst practical jokes on us tiiat ever was sprung- in those parts. Not content with the joke, too, one o( i\\c\w o-(ji'c it aivay in a letter to a Boston paper. As afterwards appeared, they had some time before come by chance upon a very old stag moose, too decrepit and blind to run much, olf a lew miles in the woods. This venerable old grand-dad ot" moose they had caught and hitched up to a tree near a neighboring pond shore — lor sport. But we are perfectl\' willing the reader should ha\ e the joke as told in their press-letter. Wc merely claim the right to cor- rect a few minor statements of theirs wherein they were misinformed in regard to us personally. UMBAZOOKSOUS MEA DO M-X »7 "Trvo of them [llieir letter referring to us states] were young medica! students from Philadelphia, and another a young clergyman — or going to Ijj. — though you would never have known it from his actions, for the * par- son ' was the wildest of the party. " Before long these new arrivals happened to see our cop\- of C.tsar. The ' parson ' and one o^ the young doctors were graduates of a university, and they wondered where that ' C;esar ' came from. No statement of ours would make them believe we knew enough to read in it ; so they quizzed us unmercifully, and laughed heartily at then- own jokes at our expense. ''We really hoped, after we found they had studied Latin, that we might learn something from them, and when they asked us to read, of course did the best we could. "Our monunciation of the Latin amused them amazini:!. , narticularlv the * parson.' We didn't care for his laughing, if we could only learn some- thing from him : but I'm inclined to think that he did not know too much of Ca;sar himself." (There was nothing especially odd about their pronunciation of Tiatin, according to the English method. They read Latin fluently and well — remarkr.bly well ♦"' r boys without school-training. It is quite true that we could not teaci them much, if anything, in Ca'sar, and we had no intention of quizzin.]^ them. They were misinformed as to there being two medical stud;, its and a young "parson " in our party.) ''All of them were eager to hunt. Ti 'v wanted to shoot r.omething; a bear, or deer, or something of that kind: \ it they knew nothing of hunting, and could never even get sight ol game of i. ly size. They luul expected to tlnd the woods here full of uame : conseiiuen Iv thev would come hack everv night disgusted, and the more ready to torme t us about our Latin. 'Then tlu'v asked us to go hunting with hem, but we, ot course, were too busy with our having to comply with > leir request. At length \v«' became indignant, almost angry, at their chart", uid determined to take some of the conceit out of them. We had not told tlu n of our old biinci moosi- : but the following night, when wc got home, Kd s. id to thcni that vve lad seen moose signs as we came along. "' Is that so?' they exclaimed. \ r tmmm warn 88 T/f/£ KNOCK-AIWUT CLUB. "'Yes,' says Ed; 'and I am sure I could beat up t'uat moose before lo- ! morrow noon That caused them to urge us again to go out with tliem. " ' We have our hay to take care of,' said Vet, ' and cannot atTord to spend time in tliat way.' " Tiiey spoke in whispers a few moments, and then utfered us ten dollars if we woidd take them within sight and good lair range of a moose. "'No,' said Ed. "They said no more that night, but the next morning they doubled the fc' offer. Tiiey would give us twenty dollar^ if we would take them where they could see and have a irood fair shot at a lut^ose. All riL-ht,' said \L^ . ou will promise lo pay us that if we will brinu you within rille distance of a niouj**?.' '' ' Yes, yes, certainly ; we're serious.' And then they strapped on tiieir hunting-knives and revolvers, and loaded their L.Mins. All had elegant, double-barrelled, English spori.ug-guns, Purdy's make, worth a hundred and fifty ck)llars ajnece. I MliAZOOKSOL'S MEADOIVS. 89 11 "We took ihcm aloiij^ the ' carry path ' lialf a mile or more, then round and about through the woods five or six mUes, pointing out moose signs by the way. About ten o'clock we brought them round near where we had old 'grandsir' hitched on the pond shore. Ed crept along, and imitating ])is careful movements, they were presently all creeping on their hands and knees after him. By this time they were wrought up to fever-heat, and Ed m they hring their Igant. Il and A UAPPV lAMILV.— ONK WI. IHUN'r MKIT. led them, still creeping, through mud and rusl.es, \Mitil near the moose, and then we parted the reeds and gave them the lir>t glimpse uf uld 'grand-dail' grubbing the bushes. "'There, now take good aim, and don't butcher the critter,' Ed whispered. "Their hands trembled with excitement as they tired, bul >om< of their ohols hit the pour old brute, causing him to utter a distressful grunt. At that i f I r !■: li I ya THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. they retreated for dear life, but rallied after a few mo.nents' listeninnr, and closed round the animal again. They did not dare go very near him, but lired through the bushes. Ed and Vet and I were in the rushes, shaking with laughter. They iired six or eight shots. So long as the poor brute showed the least sign of life they hred at him, for they had been told stories of moose turning on iiunters. Then they ventured up, and discovered that he zcas hitched to a tree, and had been hitched all the time. Then there was a sih'tice for some moments, then some talk. ; but the chalhng was on oui side now. Of course they saw the joke, but wouldn't take it. Tlu'V con- sidered themselves insulted, and were very angry. The ' parson ' wanted to know whether we had any particu- lar motive in hitching up the moose. " ' So he needn't hurt ye,' said Ed. " They were so disturbed that we went oil" and left them. Towards sujiper time tliey came to camp, bringing 'grandsir's ' head and ant- lers. That evening Dearborn asked us if we expected to get the twenty dollars. " ' Of course,' said YA. Let us know when you get it then,' saiil Dearborn, coolly. " 'Didn't we keep our part of the agreement to the letter?" Ed asked. "'What if you did?' "'Well, as we did, we expect you to keep your part;' and he steppetl up quickly and took up one of their guns. 'I'll keep this for security till the twenty dollars are paid.' "There was dead silence for a while; in fact, there wasn't mucii more said that night. But the next morning they gave us the twenty dollars, packed up their thinsj^s, and k-t't, without even bidding us good-by. We said rothing. We had endured so much chatT from them o'. our Latin that we felt we had a right to retaliate in some inotVensive way, and we certainly thought they ought to have taken tlu- j^ke in good |)art." KAIAUM.N 1 ROM IHK l.AKl. TIVO SIDES TO A STORY. 91 It is evident that this account was written up to make the joke sound as big as possible, and to put us in a damaging light. That it was a round joke we never denied. From some cause there is an inaccu- racy in tlie state- ment that "Ed" seized one of our ^ ^ f^^ t^/ i/x f/. 1.0 I.I ,. iiiM 140 2.2 2.0 .8 1.25 1.4 1.6 * 6" — ► / o V s>' C^i ^> ^^ /a O^"- Photographic Sciences Corporation s. 4^ 4sN ^ ^> w^ ^'U Q»\ 23 WEST MAIN STRE'T WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 %^ s^ / o i/.x V. i 96 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. '» i iif i; wc had so accidentally fallen, were wholly unknown to us. The pleasant lady who had this jolly expedition in charge, is a writer whose works we have all come to admire; while the younger ladies were still "colleije jjirls." They had come up to Moosehead and Kineo three weeks before, on a sketching and camping-out tour. To-night, with their guides, they were en route for Chamberlain Farm ; and very picturesque they looked in their camping-out suits, seated round their fire. Right hos- pitably, too, they entertained us that evening — a benefit not soon for- gotten by us in our belated and hungry condition. An hour later we bade them good-night — not without a secret resolve to spend next day in that vicinit3\ But going back to our landing-place by a shorter cut-off to the right, past a growth of high choke-cherry bushes, we stumbled on still another camp, near another haystack, where were four young fellows — strangers to us — students from the Harvard Scientitic School, with their three guides. At first their greeting and reception of us was a little stiff. We mistrusted at once that they were hovering at a respectful distance in the wake of those young ladies, and did not blame them a bit for not relishing our appearance on the scene. Naturally they wouldn't. But they warmed toward us after talking awhile, and at length gave us so cordial an invitation to fetch up our tent and camp by their lire, that we did so, and passed a most enjoyable evening. They were tine, manly fellows. An exceedingly funny thing happened that night. These ladies, as you must know, were away off at the other side of the clearing, alone in their tent. Their two guides, " Louis '' and "Bill}'," had come over to our side, and were spending the night with 0'.;r guides. Sometime along in the night, (it must have been as late as two in the morning,) one of our new Harvard friends (whom the others A NOCTURNAL SCARE. 97 We cancc t for Idn't. :ngth their were wo 111 )thers called " Robin Goodfellow ") woke up with toothache, and arose to walk about and chew cloves. In the kindness of his heart he reflected how lonely and unprotected those ladies were, with '' Louis " and " Billy " sound asleep and snoring there with our guides, and he walked cautiously out toward their tent —just to sec that they were all right. A few wakeful mosquitoes met him and presented bills for immediate adjustment. While negotiations of this sort were going on, he stood a moment, and at length began to be aware of a singu- larly regular sound from the direction of the ladies' tent. In fact, it sounded uncommonly like some one munching something, only very slowly and regularly. A very absurd idea seized the young gen- tleman. Ha! they are having an extra supper in there! he thought, and was on the point of calling out, "Give me some! '" when the cur- tain of their tent was opened a little, very stealthily, and an alarmed whisper called, " Louis! Louis! '' As the aborigine was far away, Robin at once went forward. "Oh dear!" cried the distressed whisperer; "there is certainly somcthinj; behind this tent! We can hear it chewinj:: something, and oh! it steps so heavy! Do look! But do be careful. Oh, dear me! What shall we do?" Without in the least sharing this terror, Robin started round the tent, smiling, but on turning the corner on the back side, uttered a yell and bolted! — for there stood an animal close up to the tent, as large as a rhinoceros! black as ink — a monster! At this note of masculine alarm, a chorus of shrieks arose from the tent. It burst open, and there streamed out a headlong, horritied group in long wrappers, with flying hair. The stampede came straight out where we were encamped; and we were waked by the screams and by Robin shouting, " Get your guns! Get your guns! " The ladies fled past our tent and stood barefoot in the dewy grass, holding fast to each other, with eyes dilating. 11 i.-r ^m : i ! H if IP f In ; I! 1: ■ 9S THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. Rousing up, we seized each what he could first get hold of, for weapons, and sallied out in our stockings. "Out behind their tent!" Robin exclaimed. "The Lord only knows what! " We made for their tent and edged round it. There it stood! "By the Lord Harry!" muttered Moses O. under his breath. Several guns were cocked. We were all staring hard. But the beast seemed to be gazing calmly at us. Louis gave an impressive "humph!" "Hold on!" exclaimed Uncle Johnny. "Don't fire! Why! Avhy, you dear boys! That air's an ox! " '" Whatr' "Go-'long! Hurrup! Gee, Bright! Huh, Broad, away from there! " shouted Uncle Johnny, charging on the calm old bovine, and giving him some sound thumps with an axe-handle. "Hoh!" sneered Wert (another of our new friends). "This is nice! But how the dickens did that old ox get here?" That was the puzzle. We were looking for anything sooner than an ox, there. Robin was badly sold. Meantime " Billy " had taken after the ox with a long pole, and goaded him off into the woods. "Nothing but an ox," Wert had called to the ladies. But they would not stir from the spot where they stood, for a long time; they seemed rooted there. "Oh! we heard him, and heard him champing so horribly i^ quavered one. "Gnawing and gnawing at something! " " Chewing his cud," explained Moses O. " But he kept smelling and snuffing and grabbing all along the head of the tent!" she persisted. " Palling out the hay," said Wert, laughing. They stood a moment A NOCTURNAL SCARE. 99 ; for only rcath. it the A Why Ly from ine, and 1« This is ner than poU and But they me; they ; '/) lorribly : along the | I a moment more, then all four went straight to their tent and shut themselves up in it. "They must have some cold toes standing here in the wet grass," "DON'T FIRE! THAT AIR'S AN OX!" observed Moses O., gazing reflectively after them. ^^ Louis, you had better build a fire, as near the front end of the tent as it will answer, so they can dry and warm their feet." The Indian hastened to do so. i \ i f. M II 1 ICO THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. The old ox came back. In the mornmg we esp.ed h,m. ml ng at a little distance, chewing his cud, and gazing on "^-"P --"y' Is tf he enjoyed the sight of us with all his heart By dayhght he turned out to be a dark-brown ox, instead ol a black one. ■Billy" thought that the Chamberlain folks had used the ox here about thL hayrng,or to draw supplies across ^^e "carry' ancl- turned him out to get his own living in the clearing. Ihe old brute eer^ed lonely, and no doubt pined for the privileges of a cvihzed barlytrd. His curly old face and great inoffensive eyes seemed o sav " Let me, at least, look on; for the sight of you does me good. m iMi CHAPTER VIII. r.UMBLE-r.EES' NESTS. STEIN'S ADVENTURES. ~IIE ladies did not seem much the worse for their mis- adventure, but appeared not to relish any allusion to it. The subject was accordingly tabooed. It took our guides till late in the afternoon to tote the canoes and luggage across the long " carr\ '' to iNIud Pond. We spent the day with our newly-met friends, and had a superb time. It was a most cosy place for camping out, there in that old clearing, among the bush clumps and ha}stacks. There were numerous bumble-bees' nests in the grass and about the old stumps. We " took up '' not less than ten that forenoon. The ladies helped. We would each get a great "brush*" of bushes and go at the bees, by guess. Nearly all got stung before the "craze" was over: and there were some of the most ludicrous scenes imaginable when all hands were Hghting bees at once! We got out some fine bits of comb, with honey as clear as dew. for the ladies. In the afternoon — after a grand union dinner from the combined supplies of all three parties, and four ducks our friends had shot — we went across the lake in their canoes upon a gumming excursion on the farther shore. It was a great, sombre, old spruce forest, ex- tending back over the hills. In many places there were trees with long cracks and seams up their trunks, studded with fine great knobs of clear gum. We dug off not less than eight pounds that afternoon, — a peck basket-full, in fact. It was a novel ex- perience. I i.- f ;' >* ; i: li Next morning wc tore our- selves away — most reluctantly. Gladly would we have stayed — a month. But to stay seemed hardly the fair and honorable thing from us towards our new friends, the Harvard boys. The two parties there were just nice- ly matched off as it was, and were having a quiet, enjoyable vacation. ! regret to say that one or two of our party were suffi- ciently self-confident to think that the ladies would not in the least object to our remaining; TAKING UP UU.MULE-BEEb' NESTS. F^< ste/jV's adventures with two bears. lO but the rest of us overruled them, holding that it would be p, breach of that delicate honor which ought always to subsist between young srcntlemen in such cases. We bade them all good-bye, and wished them a happy \:i- cation, hoping we. might meet again next year; and so parted the very best of friends, which we might not have remained had we stayed. Crossing Mud Pond, we had a second '"carry" of half a mile to Chamberlain Lake: a broad, sea-like expanse twenty miles long by four in width. The day Avas calm, and launching our '' birches"' fearlessly on the lake, we crossed to the " farm "' on the north-east shore, seventy miles from an}- other house. Here we remained three days, mainly to gratify our c(jmrade Stein, who became much interested in the mineralogy of the locality. He made numerous excursions to the ledges and hills about the farm, and off to adjoining clearings connected with it by cart-roads. They let him have an old farm-horse there, named "Jed," to ride. Mean- time, the rest of us fished and hunted, but saw very little game. Odd- ly enough, Stein, who was not after game at all, had two adventures with bears. As he was hero of these, and alone at the time, I recortl them in his own language. " Ben," the foreman at the farm, had de- scribed some wonderful "black diamonds" to him, and Stein had set off on old Jed, with hammer and saddle-bags, to get specimens. STFTN'S ADVENTURES WITH TWO BEARS. There was a new road for three or four miles [as he relates]. My route then led me along a disused lumber-road, which followed up the valley of a large brook. It was a very desolate, wild tract, but I readily found the ledges and the black crystals wiiich Ben had described. These proved to be very fine, large crystals of tourmaline, some of them fully six inches long by two and three in diameter. I set off to return a little before sundown. As nearly as I now remember, I had gone a mile and a half, perhaps more, '(T 1! ;(u Hi • f ■ V6: I ■ '■' 1 \ f ' I pi 1^ Ml li ro4 TT/^" KXOCK-ABOUT CLUB. lor the sun had now set to me in the vallev of the lumber-road, when mv horse, which had thus far plodded on soberly enough, stopped short and began to snort and stamp. After a moment or two I tried to urge the horse along. He set his forefeet and snorted, and while I was trying to spur him up, a large black, animal — a bear, I knew at a glance — trotted out into the road from behind a clump of basswoods. Seeing us, the bear stopped, and stretched out an inquiring nose towards the horse. The animal was perhaps a hundred feet ahead of us. I felt the horse begin to tremble under me. His ears were bent forward, every nerve tightening. I kept speaking to him, and shout- ed at tile bear, which stood looking sullenly at us. I didn't know what to do ; but old Jed settled that question for me. All his fear seemed suddenly to turn into rage, and he bounded at the bear like a fury. I came near i^oinij off his back at the first leaf but clutched his mane and hung on. The next thing I recollect seeing was the bear almost under the horse's forefeet, running and growling, the horse bit- ing wildly at him. It seemed as if we must come down plump on to the bear at every spring. He was right under the horse's fore-hoofs at each plunge. I should think we went a hundred rods down the road in just that way, the horse almost trampling on the bear at every jump. At length he tacked suddenly out of the lumber-road into the woods, and the horse, rushing frantically after him, dashed under some hemlocks, the low boughs of which scraped me off his back and sent me rolling into a little hollow. I got up and 'I Mlir TUK OLD BEAR." STE/.vs Ai)rF.XTr/y/:s with two iu-lars. lo; listened awhile, till the horse and hear had jrone fairly out of hearinij, then limped baek to the farm in anythiiiij but a comlbrtable condition. Next morning we found the horse near tiie barn. One of the stirrups was torn off, and he had lost the hammer and a part of my specimens out of the saddle-bags. How he had come otV with the bear we could only guess. link we almost enly out illy after scraped up and But I was destined to have still another bear adventure in that region. The second day after I went up to "Ben's"' ''diamond ledge" again, on foot this time, and was returniug through partly cleared pasture-lands, when I came suddenly upon a little wee chub of a creature, with a yellow face, sharp cars, and brownish back and sides. 'Twas a bear-cub — a little suckling. It ran a few steps, and hid itself beside a stump. I played with it a while, and found that it wouldn't bite, and then thought I would carrv him to the larm. So I cauoht him nn, took h.im under my arm, and started. The little chap whimpered some, and soon began to squeal. I was afraid the mother-bear might be about, and so started to run. There was a sheep-path there which wound in and out amoni; the bush clumps. I hurried along this path, and had gone twenty or thirty rods, when round one of the hazel clumps I met the old bear coming up the path — liked to have run plump against her! My first impulse was to drop the cub ; but as suddenly recollecting that I had heard it said that a bear would not touch a person so long as he held her cub in his arms, I clasped the little fellow close and stood still, though not a little frightened, I must needs confess. Never shall I forget the expression on that old creature's face, as she stood there not six feet from me, with her eyes fixed on mine, studying my every movement. I backed oil' a few steps ; she followed each step. I then advanced a step, and she tell back, always with her eye on mine. Had I put down the cub I have little doubt she would have sprung upon me. I walked round then for some minutes, holding the cub. Now that his mother was there, the little fellow did not seem to be so scared. The old bear kept right round with me, always lacing me. I thought of climbing a tree, and then dropping the cub ; but there were no trees thereabouts which I could climb and hold the cub too. While I was looking about I happened to spy the roof of a shanty, built of logs, in a hollow by a brook down to the west of me. For this I started, making my way along by zigzags. On getting nearer, I saw that it was an old deserted hovel ; but I went on to the door, which had a large wooden I r - u 1" 1 i ■ i .'■ • i i 1 06 T//E KA'OCK-AnoUT CLUB. button. As \vc came closer, the bear seemed to divine some stratagem on my part, for she placed herself directly in front of the door, and would not budge an inch. By going round the shanty, however, I drew her after me, and making a quick run from the back side, I opened the door and whipped "THE HORSE niTlNG WILDLY AT HIM." STE/JV'S ADVENTURES WITH TWO HEARS. 107 in, hoping to shut out the bear. But so closely did the brute conie at my heels, that she shoved her way in despite all my celerity. We were now all inside together, with no better prospect of getting apart than before, that I could see. But there were two old barrels in the shanty. I began to walk round these and tip them towards the door, and at length, getting them about where I wanted them, I kicked them both over in front of the old bear as she trotted round after me, and suddenly dropping tlie cub, jumped out at the door and buttoned it. I then took mys'lf olf as last as I could run. On reaching the farm I told my adventure. My comrades took their guns and went back to the shanty with me ; but the old bear had burst oil" the button and gone with her cub. ■ -I i ! i U ! v^ !■ ir CHAPTER IX. f' CAMPING AT THE GREAT DAM. UNCLE JOHN'S STORY. ROM the ^* farm " wc went down the lake to the ." locks," or dam, and thence, during the day, paddled our way northward through Eagle and Churchill lakes, — both fine, broad forest-and-mountain-girt ex- panses, - - camping late that evening near the ruins of the " great dam " of lumbering lame and story, at the foot of the latter lake. This was the dam which turned the chain of lakes, down which we had come, back into the Penobscot, through the famous ^' cut " at the south end of Chamberlain Lake. It was a vast structure of stone and huge timbers, about four hun- dred feet in length, and designed to hold back a •■ head " of twenty feet of water; and in spring and early summer it flowed an area of about a hundred and sixty square miles. In its day it was a terrible bone of contention between the Maine and the Province lumbermen. Uncle Johnny remembered all about it; he had worked at lumbering in his younger days, and round our camp-fire that evening he told us a thrilling story of the fierce fight which had occurred there, at the very spot on which we were now so peacefully encamping — of which he was an eye-witness, and indeed one of the combatants. I UNCLE JOHN'S STORY. At that time Uncle John worked with a gang of " choppers " in the em- ploy of Messrs. Cary & Glaisher, who were then lumbering on the Alleguash, and doinj; a hu-ge business ; for in those days lumbering operations were UNCLE JOHN'S STORY. 109 o the dcUed irchill irt ex- ins of at the lakes, gh the ir hun- wenty irea of errible ermen. bering old us at the which conducted on a larger scale, and through longer periods of time, than at present. They had four hundred men employed for two years upon a single job — one that was well-nigh shipwrecked by the building of the great dam. As was then frequently the case, the men were hired with the under- standing that they would be paid when the logs were in the St. John booms, not before. In fact, their employers had not capital to pay until the lumber was sold. For two successive winters the Gary & Glaisher gangs had been hard at work. All along the banks of the Alleguash were " landings " piled up with logs, acres and acres of them, ready to roll into the stream. Spring was com- injj with its freshets. The swollen waters would float the lum- ber down ; and the men, long shut up in the wilderness, would see the " w o r 1 d " aijain. The floods from the Chamber- lain, Eagle, and Churchill lakes would then make this wild river-bed boil like a pot. It was the 19th of March. Word had already been passed to "break in "the landings, when like a thunderbolt the news came that the " Penobscot men " had dammed the river. Two moose-hunters brought the story. All knew what that meant, it meant ruin ; it meant no pay ; it meant the utter loss of two years' hard labor. The men were a lot of rough fellows, — backwoodsmen, Irish, Scotch, Canadian-French, and Indians, — the pos- sessors of nothing in the world save their axes, "peevies," and the few dirty rags on their backs. On first hearing the news they seemed stupefied, .and sat inertly around their camp-fires for several days. But dark thoughts OLD TIMES ON THE ALLEGUASH. ■ ^1: .fP^ no THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. V> m\ began to be uttered in murmurs, like the growls of wild beasts. Their employers feared for their lives, but durst not attempt to leave them. Thus for three weeks the matter stood. No work was done. The gang was sulky and grew desperate ; would not hear a word of advice or remonstrance. Meanwhile a small party had been off to reconnoitre. It was thirty miles to the dam. They came back and reported that " a dam with a lift of twenty feet had been buil^ and every gate shut, hard and fast." This announcement was received with a savage " aye ! " Then a hoarse cry arose : " Who's up there ? " "Turtlotte and six men." Not a man but knew Turtlotte, the French giant, — knew him, hated him, dreaded him. One of those terrible fellows who literally bruise their way through the world. Six feet and a half tall, so it was stated ; all brawn and ugly muscle. Head and neck like a bull ; features like a gorilla. Fist like a sledge ; with it he had time and again been known to knock an ox down ; a fist half the gang had felt the wicked weight of. Quarrelsome by nature, revengeful as an Indian, cruel as a brute. Thus, at least, have his con- temporaries drawn him. His record ran back over a long series of fights and bloody assaults, in which he was invariably the aggressor and victor. He was even said to have killed two men ; while the number he had maimed and scarred for life was quite too large to be told of at one sitting. Those were lawless times and wild regions, it should be remembered. It was not without good reasons that the Bangor men had secured the services of this ferocious ruffian, and set him to watch over a piece of prop- erty certainly very liable to be violently dealt with. Turtlotte and his confreres^ armed with double-barrelled guns, were guarding the new dam. The men raged and cursed. Gary and Glaisher went round among the shanties. They took off their hats to the gang. '"Men," said Glaisher, "every dollar we've got in the world lays there flat in the river. So long as it lays there we can't pay ye a cent. God knows that's the truth ; and that's all there is to it." It is admitted that neither Glaisher nor Gary said a word about the dam, or hinted that it should be destroyed. But the thing spoke for itself. The movements of such bodies of ignorant men, when wrought upon by great excitements, show a strange intuitive freakishness very difficult to ex- plain. Gary and Glaisher stayed by them, though quite uncertain what UNCLE JOHN'S STORY. Ill to ex- whui direction the fury of the gang might take. To add to the trouble, the stock of provisions was nearly exhausted. But a few nights afterwards, about fifty men left the camp, unbeknown to the others. Their employers surmised where they had gone ; but nothing was said by any one. The day passed. About midnight there came a rush of water. The river rose fifteen feet in an hour ! Every log floated and went whirling down the channel. The gang followed them. Water had come from some source. But where were the fifty? Uncle John relates: "Somebody waked me up about one o'clock that night. It was very dark. He said, ' Take your axe and come along, and no foolin'.' " I got up and followed this person out into the woods. I didn't know how many there were in the party, nor who they were. Nobody said where we were going. I asked no questions. We started up the river. We had our axes. But there wasn't a mouthful of victuals for anybody. I felt queer — as if I was on a life or death business. "We went fast, part of the time at a dog-trot. I never was up that wav before, and had no idea how far it was to the dam. It was liiick, black growth all the wav. "A little after daybreak one of the men said, 'We're 'most there;' and then I heard the plunge of the water over the dam at a distance. " We halted a few minutes to rest. We had come thirty miles and over, but nobody complained. I think that some of the men now went ahead to see how the dam was placed. Orders were passed to string out in a half- circle and then close up at a run. In a few minutes we came out into a clearing, where we saw the dam, with two shanties close by it, and the lake water back of the dam standing at a high level. It was barely light. We liad come up to within ten rods of the two shanties, when a dog barked, and I saw the big fellow they called Turtlotte come out with a gun in his hand. He had the deepest, heaviest voice I ever heard. The moment he set eyes on us he called out to know what was wanted there. We told him, ' Water, to float our " drive " down the Alleffuash.' The fellow gave us a furious curse. ''' Be off! ' said he, * or I'll give you hell-fire instead of water !' " His voice was like a trumpet, and the words seemed to come from deep down in his body. The men watching the dam with him came out. They looked like boys beside the Frenchman. ' " <• f •'A ■^■: »rJ"»IHIW««S;"B M nc # ' 1 i f p , i »* Ir ■ ill! , ■ij^ \ 1 1 '9 1 Is 12 77//r KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. " One of our men then spoke right to the point. 'We have not come to break the dam,' said he. 'All we want is water enough to start out our " drive,'' and that water we're bound to have. We'll die, every man of us, but what we'll have it. We're going to hoist these gates, and if you try to hinder us, you're "dead men."' " The men with Turtlotte did not want to fight. They called out to us that they did not. But Turtlotte defied us with the most awful oaths, and threatened the men with him, if they did not stand to it. " Then somebody sang out, ' Go for him ! ' and about half the men made a rush at the %f>M"'~:-"' - - ' >^*.*5si Frenchman. ■ He let both barrels of his gun drive among us as we ran on him. One man jxot three buck- shot. But nobody stopped. The mo- ment we w^ere with- in arm's length, Turtlotte clubbed his gun and struck at a young fellow called Jack Cardi- gan. Jack was quick as light ; he caught the stroke on his axe. That saved his head. It sprawled Jack out, though. Before Turtlotte could strike again, we were on him. The men dropped their axes and ' matted ' right on to him. I never saw anything like it. We were none of us babies, but Turtlotte was a tremendous man, a perfect giant for strength. He kept throwing us off, heels over head. But our fellows were as desperate as he was. They leaped at him just like wolves ; and wherever they caught they hung to him. His fists went round there ! I got one lick from his old paw that just knocked me clear off the ground. At last we brought him down; but then we couldn't hold him. He twisted and squirmed and IN THE DEAD WATER. (J.VCLE JOHN'S SrORV, "I expect we used him pretty hard. He got punched md Urt, i -.u out mercy. There was a long hawser there s^tch n! , K ''" warping-hne. We took that and tied h m tHl ^ . tountuTr 7 ■ " more than titty times, so tl,at he could not stir -hand Af^ , 7 '""' pie Turdotte never uttered a sound, save ^rUt.^ ! h^-.eed, b ^1^,^ '"'■"'; at the mouth like a wild boar " ' '^ ^o^^^^ andTath^rtr re;icriiL":LTti:" '''^ "="";•. ^^^^ ^-^ "«• mieedays. 1 hen we hoisted all the L^ates W*^ l^ff -r .1 *. • f ^"' ^Pruce; and I heard afterwards that helS'to ra;dte;'et"^ ^° '''' Such was Uncle Johnny's talc of '-^ r olden time." % ■% I r .1 ll ! ■: ' if ' V. P: JfT''-' ■ - ' ■ !ly ^li ?! CHAPTER X. DOWxN THE ALLEGUASH. UNCLE AMOS' STORY. IIESE lakes arc the headwaters of Alleguash River, which makes out to the north here at the old dam, joining the St. John, of which it is the east fork, sev- enty or eighty miles below. We set oft' the following day down the river, finding very rough canoeing- for six or seven miles, then emerging on two fine, long lakes, or bnlg-es of the river, where we were able to use our lubber blankets as sails for our three canoes. The forest scenery is good here along; and our guides had numerous odd, often weird, stories to tell of old- time adventures in the " lumbering days."' One of these, told by "Uncle Amos,"' so impressed Karzy, from its singularity, that he has written it out — to be a warning (he wishes it stated) against playing practical jokes. Since the aftair with the old moose, down on the Umbazooksous, " Karzy " has been dead against that kind of joke. UNCLE AMOS' STORY, If this very strange but true story — as told us by Uncle Amos — has the effect of showing the foolishness and danger of playing mischievous tricks, it will well repay the trouble of telling it. The incident occurred many years ago, on the Alleguash River ; and the subject of it was a most tricksy, mon- key-like youngster, named Peter Lougee. That, at least, was the name he gave on presenting himself to hire into the logging gang that winter. But it was not ascertained where he was from, or whether his parents, or, indeed, UXCLE AMOS' STORY. 115 tliver, dam, :, sev- indino- ;, then of the hmkets along; of old- rom its ishcs it oksous, -has the tricks, it ny years y, mon- name he But it , indeed, any of his relatives, were living. He was eighteen years old — so he told the lumber company's agent — but he did not look over sixteen. The agent at first refused to hire him as a "chopper;" but Peter, laying hold of an axe, showed so ready a hand and so clean a scarf with it, that he took him without further question. The agent declared afterwards that " Peter had a droll eye in his head." A SCENE ON THE ALLEGUASH. He was told off into gang No. 13, numbering twenty-four men, and sent up the Alleguash, early in December, under a "boss" named Sweetser. The company went into the woods for the winter, taking their supplies with them. The men were a miscellaneous gathering of Madawaskians (French), "Blue Noses," Yankees, and a few Indians from Tobique. During the winter they were to cut the lumber on a certain tract along the river ; and in the spring they were to " drive " it down the St. John, to Fredericton. ^ n 4f H I 2 ii6 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. 1:4 For the first few days the men were occupied in building and thatching their camp ; then began the winter's work of felling and draw- ing the logs to "landings" on the bank, ready to roll into the stream wlu n the ice should break up. It was a good-natured gang ; that is to say, the men worked well together, and got along without " rows, ' or serious disputes of any kind. That is more than can ijffi^Mof^'^ A LOGGING CAMP. UXCLE AMOS' STORY. II nlwins be said where a lot of rough fellows, of all nationalities, are brought together in one camp. But during the second week an odd piece of mischief was done. On going out to grind the axes one morning, it was found that grease had been turned on the grindstone, which hung in a frame close by the camp-door. In the "fire-bed" there was set an old pan of grease, with a swab with which the men greased their moccasins. This pan of hot grease, as it seemed, had been poured on the stone, completely encrusting it. It took half the forenoon to scour the grease from the grindstone, thus causiniX loss of time and annoyance. Sweetser could not find out who liad caused all this trouble, even after strict inquiry ; still less could he discern any motive for so absurd a trick. The men all declared that they knew nothing about it, and they appeared innocent. Sweetser told them that whoever did it, if found out, would have his time "cut" to offset the loss. The second morning after, the stone was found greased again. Then there followed great excitement among the men. "It's Old Nick himself," the "Blue Noses" said. "The thinu^'s bewitched." The Madawaskians "sacred:" and the Indians i^runted. The boss observed the gang closel3s but was as much puzzled as before. Me was, however, satisfied that tiie trick had been done during the night. He said nothing, but resolved to watch, without letting any one know it. That night he lay down as usual, but kept awake. There was no sign of mischief, and the stone was not touched. The next night it was also undisturbed. By the third night Sweetser had grown very sleepy by reason of his vigils. A little after midnight, however, he was roused by one of the men getting up from off the bunk. Creeping out quietly, Sweetser collared him in the very act of greasing the stone — the warm pan in his hand ! It was Peter Lougee, and little enough had he to say for himself. The boss gave him a sound cuffing and shaking, and sent him back to the bunk, with the promise of as good a whipping as birch withes could give him, if caught at another such a trick. At breakfast in the morning, "the man what greased the grindstone" was greeted with a roar of mockery. But Peter protested that he knew nothing of the trick, and that if he did do it, he did it in his sleep. He even denied that he recollected anything of the shaking Sweetser had given him, saying that he was in the habit of walking in his sleep and doing tricks of some : in I ; I J'' I ) ■, 'f\ n t ii8 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. sort. Neither the boss, nur any of the gang, believed a word of this story ; but they hardly knew just what to make of the boy. The men all smoked, and used to lay their pipes on a shelf that was placed on one side of the shanty for that purpose. About a week after the grindstone trick, all the pipes were found to have lamp-oil turned into their bowls. Whale-oil was used in the shanty, and a jug of it was among the other supplies. Every pipe, Peter's with the rest, was well saturated with the offensive oil. It is quite needless to say that this prank made a serious commotion amongst a lot of old smokers. As it was a personal matter, Sweetser let them settle it among themselves. The way they settled it was by taking Peter, without asking him any questions, down on to the river, cutting a hole through the ice, and " dousing him " till he could neither stand nor speak. Sweetser began to think that he had a " hard customer " on his hands : but for the next fortnight Peter played no more tricks, and then came the most serious disturbance of all that occurred. Somebody — Peter of course — put molasses on the " deacon's seat," as they call the long bench at the foot of the bunk, on which the men sit when at table. It was poured — a most generous puddle — along the whole length of the seat. As the men rose and ate their breakfast before liglit (six o'clock), more than half of them sat down in the sticky stuff before it was known that it was there. Any one can imagine what an uproar would naturally arise among a lot of rough fellows like these. " Break his neck ! *' was the almost unanimous sentiment. The boss was obliged to interfere, or Peter would have fared worse than he did at the ducking. On being seriously questioned by Sweetser, why he persisted in such fool- ish pranks, thus bringing on himself the enmity of the whole gang, he grinned, and said he did not know when he did it. The boss did not believe this statement. There was, besides, an odd manner about the boy, and his way of talking was not calculated to inspire confidence in what he said. At first Sweetser was disposed to flog him soundl}-, though he felt that even this punishment was likely to do but little good. Then he determined to give him a reduced bill of his time, and send him off down the river, feel- ing assured that the angry men would execute their threat and really '' break his neck," if any new trick was played upon them. He was, however, sent L'ACLE AMOS' STOK)' IIO ory ; was r the their g the 1 with notion ser let takini; cutting ind nor hands : ime the seat," as sit when e whole ight(six re it was ong a lot aninious ave fared such fool- gang, he odd js, an to inspire B,e felt that determined river, feel- ally " break w^ever, sent out to chop that day, and a lively time of it Peter had in dodging the chips and knots which flew most unaccountably about his liead. Meanwhile, Sweetser was considering the matter. There really was not a better chopper in the gang than Peter, and the boss did not like to lose him. While he thought it over — he was a live Yankee — a bright idea popped into his head. They had brought tlie axes, " peevies,"' warping-lines, etc., up the river in a great chest, such as lumbermen call a "wangin." It was six or seven feet long by four wide, and perhaps three feet in height. When new, the chest had been furnished with a lock, but this had come off, leaving a ragged hole in the side as large as a man's tist. The lid was now fastened in place by a hasp on the outside. That niglit, at about" turning-in " time, Sweetser had the wangin brought into the shanty, and the peevies and warps taken out. He then threw in a coverlet, and turning to Peter, bade him get into it, adding that in future lie might consider it as his bunk, one from which he would not be able to get out in his sleep and trouble other people. But this device for keeping him quiet, though it greatly amused the men, in no way suited Peter. He refused to sleep in the chest, and, resisting stub- hornly. was caught hold of by several of the men, and put in despite his struggling and kicking. The lid was shut down and hasped. He howled at them through the hole, and they threw cold w-ater in his face througli it, till he was glad to lie down and remain quiet. In the morning he was let out. Though rather close, it was by no means an uncomfortable place in which to sleep. After this, as regularly as night came, Peter slept in his box, but almost alwa3's had to be put into it by main force, or at least sharply ordered to get in. It was, " Here, you prowling dog, be getting into that wangin I "' and not unfrequently he would have to be " wet down '" before he would quietly go to sleep. On the 29th of March, the "landings" of logs w-ere broken in, and the business of driving the lumber down the river began. The wangin, being needed to carry the tools in, was loaded into one of the bateaux, and taken down the stream each day as far as the gang moved. The men camped each night on the shore. Peter proved an excellent " driver." He was active, quick of eye, and ready. If a " glut " was to be broken, or an eddy cleared, no man in the gang could be sent out on the stream to better purpose. ■if If :! hi V:). ■ i 3S I20 THE KNOCK-AnOUT CIM/i. f I 5 I For three nights he was allowed to camp with the rest of the crew. On the third night, however, a most disagreeable trick was played, the precise nature of which it is not necessary to tell. There was a great hubbub about it, and to prevent further trouble, Sweetser had the wangin emptied of the tools each night, and Peter put in it r.s before. The heavy chest remained in the bateau, which was moored close to the night camp. Matters went on in this way till the "drive" was below Round Pond, about seven miles above Alleguash P'alls, when one morning, wangin, bateau, and Peter were missing. The bateau had been drawn up the previous night. Maxime Thibbedeau, who had taken it down the river the afternoon before, asserted that he had made it fast to a sapling with the painter line. If he told the truth, there was reason to suppose that Peter had got loose during the night and taken French leave of them. But Sweetser had his doubts ; he was afraid that the bateau had been drawn up without hitching, and that the rise of the river had floated it off in the night. Without stopping a moment, he took three men with him and set off down the bank of the stream as fast as possible, looking sharply for the bateau, but not seeing it. They reached the Falls about nine o'clock. It is a cataract about forty or fifty feet high. In the pool below there was a great "glut" of logs, foam, and driftwood, and in this eddy they found the wangin. It was half full of water ; the old coverlet was still in it, but the lid had been burst off at the hinges, though still hanging by the hasp. The hinge screws looked as if they had been dug out from the inside with a jack-knife. That was all the clue there was. Whether Peter had dug them out, and then casting loose the boat, had made off down the rivers bank, letting the bateau go over the Falls to mystify the gang, or whether the bateau floated away of itself, and Peter, awaking, had dug frantically and in vain to escape, were questions nobody could answer. Thibbedeau persisted in his assertions that he had hitched the bateau to a sapling ; but in such a case his word was probably of no great value. On the following day they came upon the wreck of the bateau, in a "logan" some three miles below the cataract. Despite these dubious omens, there was a general impression that this was but another of the strange voungster's tricks. UNCLE AMOS- SIORY. MX On getting clown to the settlements, diligent inquiries were made : but no one had seen him. lie never presented liiniself to be paid iiis winter's wages. No inquir}' was ever made concerning him by friends or relatives, if he had any. Sweetser made a statement to tiie agent, who was as much puzzled as were the men of the gang. Peter was never seen again in that locality, and what became of him, lie whose eye sees all things alone knows. I may supplement Uncle Amos' story, as tokl by Karz}', by adding, that to the rest of our party it looks c.\trcmcl\- likely that Peter Lougee went over Alleguasb Falls, and that the poor fellow received an}thing but fair usage from tirst to last. .^:l w ■ \ I ; M y a CHAPTER XI. KIKE AND iMOSES O. GO MOOSE-HUNTING. THE RESULT. ^1 . ■i •!■ HAT night we camped some six miles below the lowermost of the two lon. But coming back, three weeks later, we saw it in all its grandeur. Until then, I reserve an account of it. On rousing out in the morning, we found the steamer in Grande TADOUSAC. Baie^ more commonly Ha Ha Bay, a long, deep arm of the Saguenay. When the early French navigators, Jacques Cartier p,nd others, first ascended the Saguenay, they mistook this arm for the main river, and humorously named it Ha Ha Bay, from the great laugh they indulged in on so suddenly coming to the end of it. There is a quaint little hamlet here where we first saw the queer spectacle of ovens built up of clay on little platforms out of doors. Here, too, the French people ,! THE SAG r E.V.I v. »:ls guenay. rs, first ver, and ndulged nt little built up people offered us blueberries in odd, long coffin-shaped boxes, liolding each hail a busiiel or more — at twenty-Hve cents per box. Blueberries grow in endless profusion over the sterile, bare, or at best bushy mountains vviiich make up this whole vast region, (leologists tell us tiiat this was the first area of the North American continent which showed itself above the sea: so Stein read to us that morning; and F.NTRANCK TO THE SAGUKNAY. Moses O., after another long look around, made the remark that he thought it had showed up too soon. The Saguenay is the outlet of the great Lac St. Jean (toward which we were now heading our course), and numerous other large lakes, draining a vast area of country in that unknown hyperborean region lying far up under the " Great Dipper." The rugged grandeur ' I n li 1 Ml il ' is I 1 :ll :■! ' U 136 77/A' KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. of its unsettled mountain shores, the profound depth of its waters, and the absence of human, even animal life, for leagues on leagues, make the Sagucnay unique among rivers. It is on these natural features tiiat its fame depends' UP THE SAGUENAY. Bayard Taylor well says of it: — "The Saguenay is not, properly, a river. It is a tremendous chasm, like that of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, cleft for sixty miles through the heart of a mountain wilderness No magical illusions of atmos- phere enwrap the scenery of this northern river. Everything is hard, nakea, stern, silent. Dark, gray cliffs of gneiss rise from the pitch-black water ; firs of gloomy green are rooted in their crevices and fringe their sum- THE SAGUEXAV. 137 mits ; loftier ranges of a dull indigo hue show themselves in the background. and ill bends il( )ld, •tht ;l<^ The kt hich bi over out every object with a crystalline distinctness, even contracts the dimen- sions of the scenery, diminishes the height of the cliffs, and ajtparently belittles the majesty of the river, so that the tirst feeling is one of disappoint- ment. Still it exercises a fascination which vou cannot resist. You look, and look, fettered by the fresh, novel, savage stamp which nature exhibits, and at last, as in St, Peter's, or at Niagara, learn from the character of the separate features to appreciate the grandeur of the whole. Shores that seemed roughly piled together out of the fragments of chaos, overhung us, — great masses of rock, gleaming duskily through their scanty drapery of ever- 1 '.^ SCENE IN HA HA BAV, greens, here lifting long, irregular walls against the sky, there split into huge, fantastic forms by deep lateral gorges, up which we saw the dark-blue crests of loftier mountains in thi rear. The water beneath us was black as night, with a pitchy glaze on its surface ; and the only life in all the savage solitude was, now and then, the jack of a white porpoise, in some of the deeper coves. The river is a reproduction of the tiords of the Norwegian coast The dark mountains, the tremendous precipices, tho fir forests, even the settle its at Ha Ha Bay and L'Ancet\rEau (except that the houses are white instead of red), are as coi.ipletely Norwegian as they u ; I- -■ 11 1 i3« THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. can be. The Scandinavian skippers who come to Canada, all notice this resemblance, and many of them, I learn, settle here." Another writer thus characterizes it: — " Sunlight and clear sky are out of place over its black waters. Anything which recalls the life and smile of nature is not in unison with the huge naked cliffs, raw, cold, and silent as the tombs. An Italian spring could effect no change in the deadly, rugged aspect ; nor does winter add one iota to its mournful desolation. It is with a sense of relief that the tourist emerges from its sullen gloom, and looks back upon it as a kind of vault, — Nature's sarcophagus, where life or sound seems never to have entered. Compared to it the Dead Sea is blooming, and the wildest ravines look cosy and smiling. It is wild without the least variety, and grand apparently in spite of itself; while so utter is the solitude, so dreary and monotonous the frown of its great black walls of rocks, that the tourist is sure to get impatient with its sullen dead reverse, till he feels almcbt an antipathy to its very name. The Saguenay seems to want painting, blowing up, or draining, — anything, in short, to alter its morose, quiet, eternal awe. Talk of Lethe or the Styx, — they must have been purling brooks compared with this savage river ; and a picnic "on the banks of either would be preferable to one on the banks of the Saguenay." This is really painting it a little more sombrely than we saw it. But then all persons cannot be expected to see it alike. The name Saguenay, we were told, comes from the Indian word Saggishehass (a rather forced derivation, certainly), which means precipices for banks. The river has depths where no sounding-line has been able to touch bottom. Near Cape Eternity it is said to be eighteen hundred feet deep. M ice this nything lie huge g could one iota J tourist vault, — entered. )ok cosy rently in nous the impatient ry name, mything, the Styx, ver; and banks of I saw it. tan word 1 means iing-line said to ■ .:^-^'^l. CHAPTER Xlll. LAC ST. JEAN. MOSES O. MAKES A BAD SHOT. IIORTLY after noon we reached Chicoutimi (///r place of deep 7vaters), as the Indians named it. This is the head of steamboat navio-ation on the Saij^ucnav, ; the head of all navigation, in fact; for the village lies at the foot of the tremendous rapids of Terres Roiifpfies. ' The Chicoutimi Falls are in plain sight to the north, a band of white, wrathful water showing through the green forests. Chicoutimi is the metropolis of the Saguenay country. There are eight or ten hundred inhabitants — English, French, and Indians, — a new Catholic college, and one very old church, up into the belfry of which we climbed, at the imminent jeopardy of our necks, to see a very ancient bell of which we had heard, but failed to tind it there. There are several passably good hotels. Senator Price is the great man here, politically and by virtue of ownership. The house of Price Brothers & Co. owns about every- thing hero and n tic outlying country. Perhaps there is not another man or. the American continent who comes so near being a Gniud Seignior of the olden time ts this same Canadian senator. We had noticed a well-looking man on the steamer, at Avhom all the officials and indigines cast looks of awe. " Who' that gentleman .'' " Moses O. asked the second officer. ^^Thct i v'hy^ that is Senator Price," replied the man in a low tone. I ii M 'i^y^y-j* '■^•i"'T^': UUS«aM!t,ttiLJHMl!UiKiu«.M.:» [ ■■,] I I i I i!fii 140 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. But iVom all accounts the Prices regnant are wise and judicious potentates. The Senator is locally known as The King' of the Saguenay. While on the steamer we had made inquiries ot" the captain (a rather gruti' official, but whom our comrade Dearborn's easy assur- ance drew into conversation), concerning guides and game up about the St. John Lake. He advised us to apply to a man named Nugent at Chicoutimi, who had taken out parties of tourists. We did so that afternoon. It proved excellent advice. The moment we .^aw this Nugent we knew by the " eye of him," as Theo. Winthrop Vvould have said, that he was our man. It to )■ '^'t an hour to arrange all the details ><: a three weeks' tour camping out; he to furnish canoes, outfit, another guide — everything, in fact, even including provisions. And he simplified matters vastly by having a sufficiently good financial head on his shoulders to put all this into one bill, and say at the outset what he could do it for. That is a rare kind of man, particularly in the Pro- vinces. '^My dear sir," Wayne said to him, '^ that's the way we like to hear a man talk. That's just the way we do in New York. Why, if your folks here were only all like you, wc would annex you tomorrow.'' Ilis round charge for everything was a hundred and sixty dollars. I think he was ready to take off twenty or thirty dollars. But Wayne, in his delight at finding a man who mentally resembled a real New Yorker, cried out, "Cheap enough! When can we start .^" NUGENT. LAC ST. JEAN. 141 "Start to-morrow mornings, if you like," replied the .idmirable NugCi t. So the matter was settled on the spot. We had nothing to do that afternoon but see Chicoutimi. Later, we crossed over to the quaint French hamlet of St. Anne de Saguenay., on the other side of the river; and still later, we fished for ivininish., a kind of salmon trout peculiar to these waters; so, at least, the inhabitants claim. Up in the I.AC ST. JEAN. ijreat pool at the foot of Chicoutimi Falls. Stein caught five, either one of which would have weighed four pounds. Nugent furnished us with lods, bait, etc. The others of our party caught two and three, each. Here, for the first time, we began to see something like sport. Next morning we had our ivininish broiled for our breakfast at the inn. They were delicious, better than trout even. The rapids of Terres Rouipues are grand fishing-ground, and also very grand as scenery. Altogether they extend over nearly fifteen miles. ii II I I i ; 1 V ' 1 i 1 i ! ' ! t*r i, ! I m 3 I; j:| 1 " H la i ' ) i ■ K= ro If 6 142 r//E KNOCK- A BOUT CLUB. Next day wc set off by wagon road, through a rough section of country, for Lac St. Jean. Nugent had provided us with spring-boards to ride on. In ad- vance was a rude vehicle loaded with canoes, bear traps, supplies, in short, the whole paraphernalia for a "big hunt." Behind it walked the Indian guide, a Mic-mac by tribe, whom Nugent had hired for an assistant, — a quiet, swarthy man of twenty- seven or eight, Otelne by name; Otelne being his Indian name and l-AKArUKKXAi.lA Jean the name bestowed by the priest who had christened him. But for his Indian eyes, Otelne might easily have been taken for a French- Canadian, being not a whit darker of complexion than many of the latter. ^Ve were all day — a rather wearying one, though the scenes passed through were ever fresh and interesting — reaching St. Jerome, a little , hamlet of lumbermen on the lake. We had left the Saguenay on our right. In all there is a fall of three hundred feet along the Terres Rompues rapids. Karzy ! ■ But 'rench- of the ; passed , a little a fall Karzy LAC ST. JEAX. 143 wanted to spend a day here sketching; but the others would not hear to it. At St. Jerome we had rather close quarters for the night at the log- house of a lumberman, a friend of Nugent; and next morning put out, with all our kit, on the lake in a large sailboat, bound for the mouth of the Perilonca. For it was up this unexplored northern river that our guide proposed taking us — to the shores of another lake, which Otelne, with a fine, guttural enunciation, called Tshistagama. CHlCOUll.MI. The Perilonca is one of six or eight large rivers which pour their waters into Lac St. Jean — one of these, the Misstassini, flowing down two hundred and fifty miles from the great Lake Misstassini, seventy-five miles long by thirty in breadth; Lac St. Jean seemed to us fully as large, broader perhaps. But for a lake of such size its waters are very shallow. We could often discern the bottom when miles from the shore. The scenery would, by the most, be called '\ .\ lit » ■ t 11 ii i , :. Ri^. I il 1 "i ; - i '' , 1 IN < . II! 144 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. dreary. Off to the north and west extends a vast level tract, clad with black spruce forests, bounded faintly, seventy miles away, b}^ a line of low, volcanic-looking peaks. The soil along the shores is said to be very fertile; but then, the winters! We crossed the lake to the north-east on a fair wind, or rather a fresh westerly wind, and about one o'clock entered a broad, deep arm, between sombre, low, alluvial shores densely wooded with firs. POLING UP A RAPID ■\"^:\' the wind favoring, we kept on lor two or three hours longer, up to the head of the "dead water," where "quick water" begins. Here the little sloop was left at anchor to await our return from Tshistagama. Upon this side of the great lake, and along the Peri- lonca, there is not a clearing nor a sign of human habitation. All is wilderness, the gnarled, stunted wilderness of the far north. Even in the mild summer it has a bleak aspect, and still shadows forth the ter- rors of winter here. At this point our canoes came into requisition, and the ascent of the river proper — the quick water — commenced. Many "rips," some of them considerable falls, were encountered. All of us had then to LAC sj: jean. 145 bear a hand to lilt the canoes over the rocks, and our long, llcxiblc- legged gum boots came into use. Night fell before many miles of this sort of thing were made; and never was a party more willing to camp and have a "hot tea." Sailing so far in the fresh wind, on the lake, followed by our exertions getting the canoes over the "rips," had rendered us all stupidly tired; even Nugent's strong tea failed to rouse us much. The tent was pitched, and we turned in, under a lowering sky, on a bed of boughs; and I must needs own that our first night on the Perilonca was far from a cheery one. Otelne alone went fishing, and caught — as he avouched next morning — a fine large ivininis/i. Here we first made the acquaint- ance of that ugly, thievish beast, the Canadian wildcat, or lotip cei'vier. One of these creatures came about our tent in the night, and probably got Otelne's fish. Moses O. heard a noise among pots and tin dishes outside, and jumping up, sans culottes, seized his gun and peeped out. Catching a glimpse of some animal scudding away, he let fi}' after it. The report of course brought us all to our feet; but the marauder had made good its escape. MOSES O. GETS AFTER A LOUP CERVIER, ft! ■ * ■^ |iU '. \ V, ;'■<« Ml' 1 i 1 i i! i la I! 5Hi li M' '. I. .:l„ F CHAPTER XIV. CAMPED ON THE TSHISTAGAMA. STEIN LOST. I HE Perilonca is a large river, as large as the Merri- mac, or the Mohawk, we judged. For forty or fifty miles back from Lac Sf. Jean its course is sluggish, along a deep, broad channel. Then follow "rips," or small falls, over rough, syenitic ledges, through a barren region of country up to Lac Tshistagama^ twenty-five or thirty miles farther. We used up all next day, and only reached the lake the following even- ing at six o'clock. " Carry " followed " carry," round falls and dan- gerous rapids. There was no such thing as shirking hard lifts that day. At one point we had to tug the canoes, etc., up a tremendously steep bank; and here Moses O. particularly distinguished himself by walking, or crawling, up with a canoe on his shoulders, a la tortoise. Truly a set of brawny shoulders are a handy thing to have about one. On both banks and everywhere extended away the spruce and fir ivilderness. There was little else for timber, and the dark-tinted lunereal landscape was varied only by the whitish sides of crags and bare-peaked mountains. Into the Perilonca the lake opens on the right by a broad, sluggish " neck " of water. We paddled in, and then coasted along the north- ern shore for four or five miles, to a camp where Nugent and Otelne had hunted the year before. It was eight o'clock and already quite dark when we arrived — fully as tired as on the preceding evening. A rougher or wilder locality it would have been hard to find, even in Merri- er fifty ilu":gish, '&c? r or rips, rough a ;d up all ing even- and dan- lifts that licndously imself by tortoise. oout one. :e and fir irk-tinted :rags and T sluggish lihe north- id Otelne iady quite evening, even in CAMPED ON THE TSHISTAGAMA. H7 the lake stretched away a tract iota as savage and broken. indeed, to have come to the earth — the odds and ends. was some deep and heavy done there that night. It was all called our at- or that odd yell Ibrest, saying, that wild region. All along the shore and round about were great fire-scorched and calcined rocks, with dead trees stripped of their bark; while a few hundred yards in the rear loomed a long beetling crag, showing a hundred feet of sheer precipice over the dark-green tops of the fir woods. Across looking every We seemed, ends of the But there slumbering in vain that tention to this off in the '^'That'erc's a bear; that's a 'screamer;' that's a po- humpk^ We were done up for that day. There was no hunt left in us; and so stiff and lame did we all feel on waking next morn- ing that no one except Stein stirred out that day. The sight of that tall, whitish-looking crag had so strongly stimulated the mineralogist in him, that shortly after mid-day he got up, ate some- what of the breakfast which Nugent had kept hot for us since eight o'clock, and then went oiF alone on a quiet excursion, after " specimens." MOSES O. A LA TORTOISE. I I ( i II L 2 !ii T48 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. Nugent and Otclnc liad gone fishing. They came back toward sunset, having caught a fine string of tuladi, as they called them, a species of gray trout; and it was the savory odor of these broiling, half an hour later, which at last roused us out. Now that we had had our "big sleep " out, we all felt pretty well and ravenously hungry. It was not till we sat down to cat those broiled tuladi^ that Stein was missed. Where he had gone nobody had the slightest idea. We shouted and fired two guns — then fell to on ihe fish, and were thus employed for three-quarters of an hour. Still Stein did not come. It was getting dusk; and now for the 1 1' * i I \^ CAMP ON THE TSHISTAGAMA. II t. '^i; ly OUR DINING-ROOM. Ten or fifteen minutes later we heard them hallooing from the top of the great crag back of the camp. The opposite shores resounded to their shouts. But we could hear no response. What to do we scarcely knew, and were in a fever of suspense. Rike and Moses O. started oft' after the guides; and the others went along the lake shore for a mile or more to the eastward, shouting and firing guns at intervals. Presently we saw a great bonfire on the crag in the rear of the camp. The guides had set a large, thick fir standing there on fire; and the whole tree blazed like one enormous torch. If Stein were lost anywhere within ten miles it was incredible but that Distant howls and cries attested to e fact that many a savage eye was gazing wonderingly at it. To search further in the darknes3 now ap- peared to little purpose; yet this but added tenfold to our fears. Indeed, it would be quite impossible to describe what we endured from apprehension that night. No one thought of sleeping; and the minutes and hours dragged by in a manner too painful to speak of. Day broke at last over this, nov/ to us sombre- looking country. Harold and Rike were for starting at once upon the search ; but Nugent wisely insisted that we must all take a substantial breakfast first. It seemed hours ere potatoes and meat could be cooked ; and we were eating in haste, a prey to most dismal foreboding, and revolving he would see it, we reasoned. THE KITCHEN. ! I ! i ' i ■'r I I50 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. plans for a thorough scouring of the whole country — when, who should come along the lake shore but Stein himself, looking a little jaded, but smiling. Such a shout as rose ! In our delight at seeing his face again v/e quite forgot our sleepless night for a moment: only for a moment, however. All, with good reason too, deemed that an explanation was needed — a full and copious one. "Well, where the Bii^ Dickens have you been?" was the ques- tion he heard in full chorus. Wc record the " lost one's " confession in his own language. WHERE STEIN HAD BEEN. It came into my mind (he said) that I would " prospect" that crag a little ; and as I knew none of vou would care about sjoinir, I did not like to wake anybody. When I started, I thought I should not be gone over an hour. I ciirr'V^.'d up to the top of the ledges, back here, and while looking off, saw something sparkle as bright as a star on another big ledge a mile or two back in the woods. It glistened so like a gem that I thought I would cross over and see whatever it could be. It took an hour or two to make my way across the ravines : and when I got over, I found that what had sparkled was only a tiny bit of vitreous quartz which lay on the rocks, in the sun. There were many fragments of quartz lying scattered about, and one was a bit of true ameth3'st. This gave me a trail which I traced back to some other ledges, a mile or two farther ; and here I discovered the vein whence the fragments of crystals had come. It was up ten or fifteen feet in the face of the crag ; a nearly perpendicular crack in the quartzose rocks large enough to thrust in one's arm, and set on both sides, as far as I could reach, were the glossy, six-sided "points" of the crystals. The sunlight streaming in, showed many of them to be amethysts of purest water. Set in the quartz rocks, were also many crystals of tourmaline ; and at the foot of the crag lay a massive eight-sided prism of feldspar, as large as a quart-measure. Here was a bonanza, indeed. I I WHERE STEIN HAD BEE A Having no drill and hammer to work with, I got a stout bit of spruce limb, and with this, and a stone for a hammer, I fell to despoiling this store- house of Nature's treasures, by breaking out the crystals and tilling my pockets. (Here Stein admiringly displayed several line crys- tals, — clear, white quartz and amethysts). "Yes, we see,'' quoth jNIoses O., not much paci- fied as yet. " Go on with your little story. Were you tinkering there all night, pray ? " It was nearly sunset (con- tinued our mineralogical comrade, looking somewhat abashed at our still unsym- patiietic faces) before I thought how late I was re- maininj;. Somewhat lias- tily, then, I gatlaered my tropliies and set ofl'. Rather than climb back in and out of the ravines, I injudicious- ly resolved to go round to the south of the ledges, where there was a long, narrow pond, and so follow round to the lake shore. It seemed likely to be a less tiresome route. But I made a great mis- take. No sooner had I reached the bed of the valley near tiie pond, than I found myself in an almost impenetrable swamp of cedar and alder, and sank into mud and water at every step. It was almost dusk, too, in the valley. Keeping the pond in sight through the bushes, I pushed ahead, resolved to stick to this route, now that I Iiad taken it. THE IJLAZING KIR. ] .*! 'h i; •il- \ 4 1 I 15- THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. I pushed on for half or three quarters of a mile, and had come to an upturned root, covered with vines and briers, where, years before, a large spruce had been blown down. Leaping upon this, I was poising myself to spring off on the other side, when the top suddenly crumbled beneath my feet, and I was precipitated into the hole at the ibot of the root, through brush and dead vines. Instantly there was a snarl, a spit, and a growl, and several creatures leaped out from almost under my feet as I slid down. A good deal startled, though not frightened exactly, I scrambled out, having had an indistinct glimpse of two or three furry forms. Jumping upon a log, I looked around. At first, I could neither see nor hear anything of the animals. I shouted to frighten them, then whistled several times. At this I saw a head rise up from behind an old log, — a round, cat-like head with erect ears, — and it kept stretching up three feet, at least. Then it as cautiously drew down again. Scarcely was the first one out of sight, when another, a little to the right, rose up and took a look at me. And this second one was hardly down when a third head, from out a dry spruce top, was stretched up, peeked at me a moment, and drew down again. I knew they were some species of woods cat. They looked both large and ferocious. I though*: I \vouId frighten them if possible, and shouted and screeched ; and while I was screeching, the brutes kept down. But when I stopped, the heads began to stretch up, one after another, again I I didn't knoN . what was the best course to follow ; and while I stood hesitating, the one behind the log came a few steps towards me, and sat down like a dog, with his big silvery eyes regarding me attentively. Then both the others did the same thing, coming a few steps nearer, and sitting down, quite at their ease, just as if they wanted to be social, and were making an evening call. Determined to make a demonstration, I threw my stone-hammer at the nearest, and seemingly the boldest of the three. It just missed him. He crouched for a minute, then rose to his sitting posture again. I threw two or three of my specimens at him. The brute seemed to dodge them, crouching suddenly, then as quickly rising again. Meanwhile, one of the others approached and sat down a few steps nearer. Getting desperate, I seized a big quartz crystal and hurled it, with all my strength, at the creature. It hit him in the breast. He gave a shrill yelp; and at this, both the others uttered a similar note, and skulked up towards him. WHERE STEIN HAD BEEN. 153 Taking advantage of this momentary confusion into which I had thrown my stealthy assailants, I cut and ran, having now only the bit of spruce stick in my hand. It was a terrible place for running. I tripped several times, and fell into brush, mud, and water, but jumped up, plunged ahead again for a hundred rods or more, when coming out into a little open place, I pulled up, completely out of breath. I could not have run another minute to save mv life. Scarcely had I stopped when I heard a snapping of the sticks back in the bushes, and out bounded those cats, and came lazily leaping up within a few yards of me, where they again sat composedly down, their silvery eyes bent on me in grim significance. What to do now I didn't know. If there had been but one, I would have tried the temper of his head with my stick. But I knew the three would be more than a match for me. As soon as it got dark, I supposed they would fall upon me tooth and nail. I had kept near the pond, and as I glanced hopelessly around, I saw, through the fast gathering shadows, a great stooping fir which leaned out over the water. I backed towards this, and reaching the foot of it, turned and ran up the inclined trunk to where I could catch the lowermost dry limbs, and so swung myself up twenty feet or more. Glancing hurriedly down, I saw the cats walking leisurely up near the foot of the fir. There they sat down as demurely as before. I had kept hold of my club, and I felt tolerably certain of being able to beat them back if they attempted to climb up the trunk of the fir. But the oddly-behaved brutes did not attempt to climb up to me. At intervals, one of them would come and stretch up on the trunk of the fir, sharpen his nails, then fall back and sit down again. It was soon dark, and, to cut my story short, I have been roosting up in that old Jir all night. It was anything but warm and comfortable before morning ; but I did not dare to get down ; for it was not till after daylight that my gray-furred watchers betook themselves back to their swamp. I knew of course you would be worried about me ; / came as soon as I could. Once or twice I thought I heard guns and saw something that looked like a distant fire, shining upon the sky over the top of the ridge, back of the pond. Did you fire guns for me ? ( 154 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. "Well, I should rather say we did!"' Rike observed. " I suppose we shall have to forgive you, Freeland," Moses O. remarked, doubtfully, "and congratulate 3'ou on your escape. But the next time you go after ' specimens,' do pray let us know, or if we are asleep, leave a line or something; and I should think it might perhaps be as well to take your gun along." Nugent said that Stein's " woods cats " were no doubt loup cerviers. ' !■ ir %■ ,1 4 i « 'Vi' JN IHt OLD FIK." H Ill CHAPTER XV. A CARIBOU AT BAY. HUNTING BY TORCHLIGHT. IHERE are no moose on the Perilonca; but hundreds of caribou range over this northern country. The cari- bou {^Rangifer CariboiC) is a large, gray deer, quite distinct from the common red deer of the United States, and allied, naturalists hold, to the reindeer of Lapland. They are sometimes killed as large as a cow, weighing five and six hundred pounds, commonly from three to four hundred. This deer is found in Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; but the great wilderness regions to the north of the St. Lawrence are their stronghold. To the westward their habitat is said to extend as far as the Great Lakes, and northward to Hudson Bay. To hunt caribou was one of the " great expectations" which had led us to penetrate this remote country. Nugent and Otelne were both professional caribou hunters, and on the day following Stein's adventure, we set off on a caribou hunt. Caribou at this season are rarely found in the woods about the Lakes. Nugent took us to what he called a " barren," ten or twelve miles to the northwest of Lake Tskistagama, where, after a long tramp through the spruce woods, and over several mountains, we came out upon a kind of elevated table-land, thousands of acres in extent, bare of trees, and covered with furze, moss, and blueberry bushes. Dry, gray, larch stubs rendered the aspect of this dreary tract still more desolate. Almost immediately upon emerging on the "barren/' we descried i t', I \ 11 1': ' 1 i 1 : j 1 ! il ' 1 1 1 ■ I * 1 ^ 1 1 '■ I T It I 158 ZiVi? KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. a herd of eight or ten animals, a mile or more away, which Otelne had no sooner set his eyes on than he exclaimed, " Chit-i-nu-zeetf'' — the Indian name for this species of deer. But they had our " v;Ind," and were already moving oft'. For though the vision of caribou deer is rather defective, their sense of smell is so delicately acute that, the breeze favoring, they will detect the approach of a hunter at a great distance. The particulars of our chase after this herd — skirting the forests about the "barren" — crawling on our hands and knees through the moss and low bushes — trying by every device known to Nugent and the Mic-mac to get within shooting distance, but always failing of A CARIUOU UARREN. it — would prove more tiresome than interesting, I fear. It may best be abbreviated to the simple phrase, no deer that day. The only event of the day was the starting up of a bear by Karzy, as he was creeping through some blueberry bushes about waist high. T; uin was either asleep in the bushes, or else lazily blueberrying; and Karzy crept — like Rade in the ballad — into his near presence before either of them was aware. The bear rose on his hind legs — and "V HUNTING BY TORCHLIGHT. 159 of Karzy, ist high. ng; and e before rs — and grinned. At the same instant, Karzy jumped up and stared. So rapt in astonishment was our young comrade at seeing a bear when he was merely looking for deer, that he quite forgot to use his gun— forgot he even had a gun. After mutual inspection, the bear " bowed " (Karzy says) and took his leave. It occurred to our comrade — just as the animal was turning a corner of some ledges, a hundred yards off, or so — that it was his business to shoot bears when he saw them. He then let both barrels go, the echoes of which boomed far and wide. We had brought along a supply of biscuits, pressed meat in cans, and a coffee-pot, also each a blanket. Towards night Nugent took us off the " barren " to a little pond in the woods to camp, and selected a most cosy spot in lee of a high, overhanging rock. There were a few mosquitoes; but we made very comfortable quarters, and slept soundly on a heap of fir boughs. It was just cool enough that night to rest comfortably under the blankets. Otelne rose very early and went off caribou-hunting, leaving Nu- gent to get breakfast. After a while Harold also got up and started off on his own hook, along the pond shore. Half an hour passed, and the rest of us had just arisen, yawned, and were washing our faces, in a row, on the sandy pond shore, when we heard a gun not very far off, in the direction Harold had gone. At that we stopped short, in the midst of our ablutions, to listen. Bang went a second gun, and scarcely a minute later we heard a "halloo!" "He's foul of something! " shouted Moses O., and we all seized our guns and ran, Nugent dropping the coffee-pot, regardless of con- tents. Away we sped through brush and bushes. Another halloo di- rected us. Moses O. and Nugent ran ahead of the others. We heard them fire, bang., bang., and, catching up with them a minute later, saw Harold standing close against a large spruce trunk, while a few 1 I : fl I i I ■; 'i t ■»• ! ? 1 60 77//i KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. rods off lay a large buck caribou which Nugent had just brought down. , " Did he attack you?" we all asked Harold in some astonishment. " Well, not exactly — not till I attacked him," said Dearborn. He then told us that going quietly along he had come plump upon the caribou, among some alders in the water's edge, drinking, and shot it. The animal ran a few rods, then turned, gritting its teeth and shaking its antlers. On his shooting it again, the creature dashed at him. With that our comrade jumped behind a tree and hallooed. The buck came up with- in twelve or fifteen feet, and stood grit- ting its teeth. It was bleeding free- ly, nor did it move from that position till Nugent fired at it with large shot, killing it. This was good luck indeed. Two hours later we had some of the venison — rudely cooked, it is true, but very palatable — for our breakfast. Otelne and Nugent skinned and butchered the deer, and in the afternoon we returned to our camp on the lake with the head and antlers for mounting as a trophy, and a pack of one hundred and fifty pounds, or more, of the meat tied up in the hide, and siung midway of a pole for convenience in carrying. Pretty tired with the tramp back to the lake, we hung the skinful BARREN-GROUND CARIBOU. HLWTIXG DV TORCHLIGHT. l6l DUght ment. I upon T, and th and hedat nat our umped ;e and , The pwith- fifteen od grit- th. It g free- t move osition fired at le shot, ILS good )ked, it in the tad and |nd fifty lidway skinful of meat up to a dry limb of one of the spruces close to our camp; but the head Harold stuck upon the front pole of the shed. By ten o'clock I presume we were all soundly asleep; and it seemed to me that I had but just fairly fallen into a drowse, when a d Nu- it one ne a c ad. lub. ad, short Id fuel to nsx in tht ■ouching. lids. Up Ind stand Irk. Wo ;emed to at tht •' I iiui.--i'iNc; iii;k c;emly ovkk tl lii ll ! CHAPTER XVI. f\ ' i h : I H I • I m SETTING BEAR TRAPS. A STRONG FISH. ODD GAME. TOWARD evening the sky darkened. It was not from clouds, but smoke. The sun was entirely obscured three hours before sunset ; and one of the cfosest, dark- est nights which I ever remember passing, succeeded ; it was " dark as Egypt.'' Nu<]:ent said the smoke came from ejreat forest-hres in the north. '^ Much moss burn," Otehie remarked. Both he and Nuaent told us that far in the north, in Labrador, were vast plains covered to the depth of three feet witli a thick mat of moss. At this season of the year (August) these moss- Helds are sometimes burned over. Ordinarily the moss-beds are too damp to burn. It was a very strange-seeming night. In the morning the sky looked black ; nor did the sun show its dull, copper disk tiirough the smoke pall, till near ten o'clock. There was no wind, yet tine white ashes were contiiuiaily sifted down. Nugent said there was sure to be plenty of game within a day or two — driven southward by the tires. That day the bear traps were all set at diticrent points. While taking a swim early in the morning, Moses O. had seen a bear walking along on the opposite shore of the lake. Stein and he, with Nugent, had crossed over at once. The bear had moved on, but left some prodigious tracks behind him in the sand. Some of these were measured, and our two comrades returned pro- foundly impressed with the magnitude of Tshistagama bears — their SETTIXG BEAK TRAPS. 167 feet, at least. " Why," said Moses, " that old chap would need a No. 13 boot. He's a regular Voorhces." They set one of the traps in a ^' path " which they had discovered. Nugent did not chain his traps, but fastened a log of wood to them, a '■ clog" he called it. The lake at this place is about a mile in width. We judged it to be thirteen miles long. Here, too, there were zuininish. Otelne caught one early in the morning which would have weighed six CD pounds. In vhe afternoon, Moses and Rike went out in one of the canoes, to try their hand at -iVininisJi — and had a rather perilous adventure. The first intimation of their trouble which the rest of us (who were taking ;i siesta at the time) received, was a shout from Otelne. Be- fore we got out, Nugent and he inc. lUACKS. had launched another canoe and were paddling vigorously off from the shore. Out a third ol a mile, or more, there was a nondescript-looking object floating in the water with what looked like a man's head on it. Our two fishermen had capsized, and were having about all they could do to keep afloat. Nugent picked them up and brought them ashore — dripping. He then paddled back for their hats which he recovered, and also towed in a ivininish., which would have weighed at least ten pounds! — iivelvc Nugent set it. It was the big fish which had overturned them. While dryings Rike gave us the following points of their experience with the iviniaish: — i ' 1 i h 4; Ji li T m J . . I lu ;65 7/JE Ki\OCK-ABOUT CLUB. CAPSIZED BY A WININISH. \Vc had been angling patiently for some time. By getting my face down close to the water, I at length discerned the faint outlines of a large fish, a zvinmisk, balancing himself a foot or two up from the sandy bottom, slowly, fannincr and winnowing the water with its clear Hns. Again and again, we dropped the meat bait in front of him, where it would almost rub his nose. He wouldn't touch it ; wouldn't even so much as smell of it. At last I let mine fall plump on his back, when, as if provoked at my persistence, he swung round, and opening wide his big mouth, swal- lowed it, hook and all, at one gulp. I jerked, and then there was a lively scrimmage. For, feeling the prick, the great fish darted awav, mak- ing a great swirl deep down in the water, and sawing the line into my fingers. The ca- noe turned with him. I held on. Moving slowly at first, our little birch began to glide olT, faster and faster, as the big fish darted away toward the middle of the lake. I think at one time we were drawn through the water as fast as a horse could trot. But he could not continue tiiat speed, and gradually decreased it. Then he stopped altogether. The water was black and deep here. We couldn't see the winmsh. He was down the whole length of the line, and would not come to the top, but held back, like a hog. Mose took the line, and I seized the other pole to punch him. All at once he made a great rush through the water, under the canoe, giving a heavy tug at the line, which nearly jerked Mose overboard. I jumped up to catch hold of it with him. Just then the fish plunged offsidewise, quick as a flash, CAPSIZED. h CAPSIZED BY A WhXIMSH. 169 making the line almost "sing" as it rushed through the water, and, — I can* t tell exactly how it happened, — but the little birch box of a canoe spun round under us, rolled, and over we went, sprawling'into the water. We could both of us swim, hut this was such a sudden duck under that I sucked in more water than was quite pleasant, and came up blowing and stranghng. The first object I saw, when I came up, was Moses' head and arms a few yards of}'. He was seemingly trying to swim towards me, using every efTort to get to my side ; but, strange to say, he was going backwards, out into the lake I Seeing my head bob up, he yelled, at the top of his voice, — " Help ! Help'! " " What's the matter?" spluttered I. " Help I lie's got me by the '"What has: Help or HIS HEAD. ''The fish — the line! he'll draw me imder ! " Tlie line had become wound about his leg somehow ; and, as the zvininish was fast on the hook, thev were at a deadlock. Not exactly at a deadlock, eitlier : for, tliough swimming with all liis might for the shore, Mose was uettinir farther out into the lake at every stroke. The lish was stronger in the water than he. I swam to him as quick as I could, and, reaching down, tried to get the line from his leg. But it was wound and snarled so securely, that, with the fish pulling it tight, I could not start it. " Help ! hold him, then ! " panted Mose, '* or he'll have me under ! " So, keeping hold of the line witii one hand, I struck out with the other. Together we were a little more than a match for the fish. It must luive been a ludicrous sort of swimming-match, but was no joke for us though ! Every few seconds the fish would dart aside, jerking us under for a mo- ment ; but we hung to the line, (Mose couldn't very well help it,) and i'oot by foot worked our way back to the canoe, where we clung till Nugent got out ■*i*i|i 1 ,i i' , t. ■! %\ h !ll U) us. i i ^1 170 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. It Avas a magnificent fish. We feasted on it lor two clays, changing altcrnatel}' from iviniiiis/i to caribou. While \vc were dining that night we repeatedly heard a whizzing, rushing noise in the air. It proved to be ducks, both sheldrake and black ducks, coming into the lake from the north. The fire may have III SHOOTING DUCKS I!Y TORCHLIGHT. liastened their fliij^ht southward. Flock after flock came down in quick succession. '"' I'll show ye sport! " Nugent kept saying. He rigged a torch in the bow of one of the canoes, and set up be- hind it one of our tin pans, in such a manner as to reflect the lighi. ibrvvard, and leave the canoe and its occupants in the darkness. With this rig, he, with Rike and H.arold, and Otelne to row, put out as soon -''SIISSiBef^tfK'y^ up be- lighi. With LS soon ODD GAME. 171 as it was fairly dark. The reports of their guns immediatel}' showed that they were having sport — much to the envy of us who were left behind. They did not get back till between eleven and twelve, but were in high glee; they had shot and picked up forty-three ducks. And they assured us that these were far from being all that they had killed; in fact, numbers of dead ducks were seen afloat next day. Some of these drifted ashore. Nugent and Harold had crossed over to look to the trap set for the big bear on the opposite shore the previous afternoon. It la\' un- sprung and unmolested. Next day Stein and Karzy went over to visit it. In the course of two hours they came hurriedly paddling back. "It's sprung! It's gone!" Karzy exclaimed. "But there's some- thing more than just a bear in that trap! " " Don't get excited, Karzy," said Moses O. " Calm your feelings and tell us all about it. " I'm not excited," protested our 3'oung comrade indignantly. " I'm only out of breath rowing. But I guess any one might be par- doned for getting somewhat wrought up. We went where the trap was set — and found it gone. Then we followed on after it, by the marks the clog had made, away out through a thick swamp, half a mile. Suddenly, right ahead of us, not twenty yards off, there rose a cry of agonV; wild, fearfully shrill and piercing. So unearthly loud had it sounded that we hardly knew where or how near it was, and stood breathless. It startled us both, very much. Then we heard other noises. There was a terrific thrashing, and clanking, and pounding of the ground! We could hear wood — seemingly great poles — breaking and cracking as if some mighty struggle was going on. " This cracking and pounding continued for several seconds, then came another terrible cry, then another, and still another; the most ajxonizinir and blood-curdlinir sounds that can well be imairined. 1 r ' \\ I ii iii! * i */• ai !l' n '*■ ri THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. well — wc thought we would come over and get the rest of 172 And you fellowsT "jNIake a clean breast of it, Karzy," laughed Harold. "Confess that you both 'lit' out of that swamp at just your handsomest paces." ^' 'Tis false," exclaimed Karzy. "Did we run, Freel?" "No," said Stein, "we only walked — quite rapidly." All hands paddled across to see what we had caught. Landing, we followed Karzy's lead into the swamp, and presently — as we cautious!;' drew up to the spot where, the boys had heard the cries — a deep and labored breathing began to be heard. We instantly- stopped to listen. The sound continued with an occasional loud grunt. "It's the critter in the trap," said Nugent. We expected nothing less. Meanwhile, a heavy trampling and cracking of brush was heard. Very cautiously, and somewhat fear- fully, we peered through the alders, every gun cocked. "There he is," whispered Nugent, "in the trap! A great gray — why, why, why! Thunder! that's a caribou!'''' "A what?" "A caribou!" It Avas indeed a large caribou buck, hung up against a root by the clog! To dispatch him was now but the work of a moment. The animal was even larger than our first one. To set a trap for bear and catch caribou was indeed an odd chance. Otelne laughed all the evening; and always afterwards whenever it was mentioned. " Caribou, he tink new kind wolf grab him by leg — little small kind o' wolf, but very strong!" he would say. it ;st of Dnfcss aces." as we ries — stantl}' il loud n*durinLr freshets, wash- ing out the roots of the trees on that side. This particular tree leaned <)ut a little on that hide; several of them did; and by the time the hunter of porcupines had got up nearly to where the hedgehog was, the poplar began to sa^ over towards the stream, and the bank to crumble and slide down, — and it kept sagguig over and crumbling, slowly at lirst, but awfully sure; and it was sixty feet down to the water, if an inch. He felt it going. How deep the water was down at the foot of the bank he could only guess. It was a still, dark-look- ing pool of deep, stagnant water. He seemed an age going down, — sailing those sixty feet through the air! Clutching the branches, he m u THE '^ SCRIBE'S'' ADVENTURE. 179 Struck the water back first, head and shoulders down, with such a tre- mendous spat as nearly to knock the breath out of his body. But, luckily for his bones, he did not strike the bottom, as he had expected. It was a deep hole, and being a tolerable ^iwimmer he got clear of the brush, came to the surface and reached the shore. Hut his cars were siui^ius[ smartly, and altogether he did no». feel like giving much attention to the hedgehog, which had disappeared in the melee. Landing, he first Avrung his clothes, then sat down on the bank to dry awhile, and had nothing in the way of baked hedgehog in view to solace him for his duckin-. In llict he omiL^ed this episode entirely from his account of his walk, to his ccjmraci'.s, and was content to let them admire those tiiladi without making any reference to hedge- hogs. •A rather singular phenomenon resulted from this fall. For more than a week after that the scribe had not a little ditliculty in sleeping nights. No sooner would he get in a drowse than he would dream of falling: would seem t(j be going — going — going down int(j bottom- less pools of ink-black water. The sensation was so \ ivid that hi' would sometimes jumi') half out ol" his bunk in his unreas(jning fright. I f 1 i I M* t 1/ I I ill CHAPTER XVIII. T5EAR VKRSUS HEDGEHOG. KAKZV (JOES BEAVER-HUNTING. 4l BEAR VERSUS HE/HIRHOG. says, and he very appropriately remarked that if ono were goin*:^ to shoot sueh a bear as that, lie needed bullets. So Karzy contented himself with playin*:^ the role of naturalist instead of hunter. . First the bear would peep down under the stump beside one of the bleached roots, growl a little, then thrust in a paw and reach for something. Soon he began to tear and wrench at the stump, which was old and decayed. It cracked and split imdcr the beast's great strength. Off came one side of the stump with a part of the root. It was full of ants. These came swarming out. fhey got on the bear, and it was amusing to see his conduct. He threw liimsclf amongst the dry leaves, and rolled and snapped at the ants, throwing a cloud of leaves into the chuck, but soon percei\ed it to be a hedgehog coiled into a ball, with i>s quills bristling. The bear snitfed it and rolled it gingerly over, but di \ not attempt to bite it. In this particular wild animals show themselvi ; mure sensible than dogs, which tVe{iuently get in sorry plight from wo rying hedgehogs. Roll- ing it caretiilly o\ er, the bear would work oi. ' paw under it, and then send it spinning thirty or tbrty feet. This man(euvre was repeated some half i dozen times, when, cither from accident or design, the hedgehoi; was hurled \iolently against another stunij^. When it tell it went out jf Karzy 's sight; but he thought that the shock either killed or stunne ' it, so as to cause it to partiall}' uncoil, lor the bear immediateh began caring and eating it. Our comrade remained (piiet (still in the rule c naturalist), and "n 'rT ! t V tit .' V 182 T//E hWOCK-ABOUT CLUB. the course of ten or rtttccn minutes the bear finished liis dinner, and then stalked ofV. After waitinij^ a little longer Karzy rose from his hidin<^-plaee and went Ibrward to the scene of the hears operations. He found the skin of a hedgeho^^- only. It had been torn open along the under side ot" the body, and the carcass nicel}' peeled out. We would have gi\ en a trifle to know whether the bear actually did kill and eat the hedgehog without getting any of the quills into his paws or mouth. It was- Karzy\s impression that he avoided them altogether. While on the subject of our younger comrade's hunting exploits, we may as well recount his ad\enture lying in wait for beavers. Nugent had discovered beaver signs, and two or three of their mud houses, in a large brook, — the same on which the scribe had had his accident climbing for hedgehogs. Se\ eral traps were set there, but nothing was caught; and one afternoon Kar/y, having had a little lallinu' out with Rike, went otV to the brook alone, to watch for beavers. As these animals come abroad from their cox erts chietlv after nightfall, it was Karzy's avowed jnupose to conceal himself near the bank of the brook and lie in wait lor thorn till after dark. Hence we did not expect him bacK lill exening. Mxening came; we ate supper, and began to think it was about time for him to return, when we heard a gun a long way oti", in the direction ol the brook. "Karzy's among the beavers," said Moses O. Prettx' soon we heard another, and then another, and shorth' after motl ler "He's makinu" a tremendous slaughter," obserx ed Kikv A few minutes after we heard still anotiier gun, " It can't be beaver he's tiring at," Nui;enl remarked. t? T lev' re too shy a creature to get more than one shot at in the same place. ?f f What can he be shooting at, then*:'"' said Stein. You don't suppose those are signal-guns, do you.^" said Harold. li ' SSm \l f l;tAVERi3 Al WokK. 1 I I i\ !h( M t I: h tl ssasu Mn k'AR/^y GOES nLAl'EK-HL'ATIAG. I«S We hardly knew what to think. Anon there came another gun. ^'This neverMl do, fellows," said Moses O., uprcarinc: his long length from off the ground. "We've got to hunt that child up. He's in trouble again." Forthwith all hands set off for the brook, led by Nugent and Otelne; and three more reports, booming away at intervals, dux'cted us to the scene of the difficulty. The bank was high here, and just as wo came out on the stream there was a Hash and another stunning report from down at the foot of the bank. "Well, what's the matter?" Harold shouted. "Oh, I got after a beaver,'' was the rather disconsolate response from down in the darkness. "'But 3'ou'll have to make a raft, if you can." " ]Make a raft," cried Nugent. "Yes, ilyoii can. "\'ou knc^w I can't swim," answered Karzv. On closer inspection \\ c were able to discern Kai/.\' pirched on something which we took at llist for an old stump, or rock, out twenty or thirty I'eet from the bank; but it pro\ cd t<> be a bea\ tr-liouse. We had quite a job of it, lor it was no small matter to make a raft there in the night. I'irst we built a tire. By good luck Oleliie hail brought along his hatchet. We searched along the bank and founil a number of dry drift-logs, which, with withes and poles, we m.ule into a r')ugh rait. Nugent and Moses O. then got on i: and pu>hed cautiousU out to \\here K.^r/.y sat. "G^'t ai»ard hvre," exclaimed Moses ()., rather imp.i he tho^ttght Kar/.y might have got ashore hini-;elf, if hi hat! Karzy clambered down upon the raft. " Now hoLi u;. the beaver," said he. "Oh, you'\e got a bea\er!'' cried Nugent. " Oh, yes," said Kar/y, (juietly ; " that's what I was out hcj A«- .set ' i' I m It I i 1 t 1 I- 1 86 ////•; KXOCK-ADOUT CLUH. But how (lid 3"ou i^ct out here if you couldn't ^j^ct back?" asked M OSes (). "Well, you sec," explained Karzy, somewhat chop-fallen, "I was lyini^ in wait in the bushes, up the bank here. For an hour or two I didn't see anythinu-. Then, awhile after sunset, I heard the water splasli, and saw a bea\er rise to the surl'ace close to this house, and swim olf up to a i^reen birch tree, whicii had been «^nawed down and lay in the water, a few rods up stream. '' I kept still, and watched him bite off a lot of branches and cut them uji into sticks about a foot loni,^ I)\' and by he took live or six of these in his mouth, and started to swim back down to his house. 1 waited until he was within about ten leet of it, and then lired. I knew I hit him by the wav he jumped and let go of tiie sticks. But he di\'ed antl licU into iiis house. " TJK' house itself doesn't stand in very deep water, but between it and the shore the stream here is ten or tiiteen feet deep. I saw an old pine stump, with roots on it, a tremendous bi_<; one, a little way up stream, lyini;- partly in the water. I went and hauled that clear, and as it lloatetl I i^ot on it, and, with a pole, pushed it out to the beaver-house: for I was determined to have the beaver. ''Then I tore a hole through the sods, sticks, and dried f^rass, on top of the house. The beavei' was down inside, not cpiite dead; but while 1 was reaching in to haul him uji, the old stump got away from me and lloaled out ot' reach, and there I was.'' Luckilw Kar/\- had hi s ^jn^"^ slum:' across his shoulder, and was able to Hre those signals of distress which we had heard. The bea\ er which he had secured was a fme lat one, with a tail as broad as a mason's trowel. The animal weighed nearly forty pounds. iVt any rate, it ga\ e us a pretty good tug to carry it down ^.o camp. Tiie beaver's tail, as is well known, was considered a very delicate morsel among the Indians; and we had Otelne j)reparc this one next Tr ;. A'UGE.XT'S UROTllEK MARC. 1S7 asked I was two I water e, and Ml and nd cut or six liouse. •ed. I . But Accn it saw an le way clear, to the on top d; but iVoni nd was 1 a tail y forty t down lelicatc le next lorenoon, in the light ot all his aboriginal traditions. liut it had an cxeessiveiv oily flavor, with a stronir sugLiestion of lishinc-ss. It is one of" those things which \\ "Come, look alive there ! " shouted Mullet. " Do we pay men to moon at a glut?" At that, three of the left-bank fellows, named Glam Bouchet, Cecph "Rennet, and a Tobiijue Indian, whom the men called "Molasses Pete," made a run for it. Tiiere had all along been a sort of rivalry between these three men. Eacii had the name of being a fearless and expert driver. Out they ran over the heaving logs, jumping from one to another, (pre- vented from slipping by the sharp corks in their boots), and began jM'ying with their "peevies" (hooked levers) to start the logs otl' the rocks. NCGi:\T'S nROTlIER MARC. 1S9 At almo.st the same moment a heavy "clot" of loijs and ice came driving in against the glut. The sliore end of the ghit l)egan to slide clear. A shout of danger arose. " IJack, coiin-la ! Run in ! " The Indiaii sprang over the rolling logs, and, slipping, went under them. But being an expert swimmer, he kept beneath the lumber, and was pulled out about a hundred feet below. But IJouchet and Ceeph IJennet were not (|uick enough. A great gap openetl between them and the shore, and the jiiled-up mass of logs on which they stood swung ofVthe rocks, and went whirling down stream. A great cry arose. "/A' sunt /loiiiiiics pcnlit!" (ihey are lost men). "They'll go through the falls I'' The crazy raft on which they stood spun romul and was swept down the rapid. Once it was dashetl up near the right bank ; then, caught by a coun- ter current, it surged ofV into mid-channel. A few rods above the brink of the cataract it struck one of the rocks, the top of which just fretted the current. A part of the logs, breaking out from the raft, went o\er, while the rest hung wavering against the rock. Bouchet was thrown oil' headlong by the violence of the shock, but he caught by a projecting stick and drew himself back. Beimel had cast him- self Hat, and held last. There the\- clung. InMU'ath them the falls roared and llung up wild gusts of mist. ""I'lie abyss yawnetl at their feel. As we looked, a cake of ice struck the swaying logs and dislodged sev- eral of them. Not more than eiifht or ten lojjs still huuLj on the rock. Precarious footing for the poor fellows I A great pine stick turning end over L-nd in llie rajiid, barely missed them as it fell over. Tliey seemed to stand in the jaws of death. Old man Mullet, though a hard boss, was not one to stand still and see his men lost. " Fetch the warps I " he shouted. " Man the bateaux ! " One of the warping hawsers, six hundreil feet long, was brought. Twenty men stood by to handle it. An end was bent to the stern of one of our two bateaux, which followed the ''drive" down the river, to bring on our supplies and the " wangins " of tools. The empty bateau was then dropped down the rapids, towards where the men stood on the logs. The current dashed and beat it about, but we hoped it might reach them. The gang holding the cable paid it out slowly. The boat had come Hf ■5:- 1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ia|M |2.5 .'• 1^ 2,2 1.8 1.4 1.6 I.I 1.25 ., 6" ► jiS*.. ■7] m •c^l ^% .^1 W '^' s> "% '/ ^. w W Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 W«l MAIN STREET \ft6BSTPB,N.Y. 1.580 (716) 872-4503 iV "% V 1^ ^ :\ \ /> 6^ » % '-L^ '-(rmcycsl places which we found on our tour. Taladl by the hundred weight could be caught there in the deep pools. These fish run up into the stream from the lake, probably, since they .tre held to be a kind of lake trout. The morning after Karzy's beaver hunt all hands set off on an exploring trip to sec what the outlook for beaver was, farther up the stream. Otelne, who had returned from a trip by canoe down to Pointe Bleue Mission, on Lake St. John, the previous afternoon, went with us. This trip out to the settlement was avowedly to fetch up sugar and get a new spring put in one of the guns, but really to procure a few plugs of tobacco. Nugent and he had run short; their pipes were empty, and their peace of mind was gone. What slaves tobacco makes of men! A great deal of tobacco is raised in Canada. We saw the wecr/ growing rankly in a little garden patch at Chicoutimi! It used to be the opinion that tobacco would not grow farther north than Connecticut; but 1 should not now be surprised to hear that it was grown and cured at Upernavik in Greenland. This which Otelr.e procured was raised in Canada, near Qiiebec. Overburdened, probably, with the cash we had paid him, Otelne had made another purchase, a caniiie one. When he first hove in sight, paddling up the lake, we thought he had a companion, some other Indian, perhaps, with him; for the dog sat up erect in the stern of the canoe. It was a wiry, shtiggy, yellow and black cur, with a I m i '«' i ,!jP' ^^^mmmmt ■nMipafln«aRMiiBii«i m t^ i IMI .! *-^ f ■ 192 TV/A' KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. curling bush tail, and a rcmarkabl}' peaked nose. Otelne introduced him to us as JMonsicur Kroob^ nn ires ban chlen. Kroob set off with us, hunting, next morning; but his career was n brief one, as will be related further on. When we reached the place where we had rescued Karz\' the night before, all of the party except Rike and Nugent stopped to examine the beaver-house there; they went on up the brook and we did not overtake them for an hour. When at length we did come up UP THE DROOK. with them, it was at a great rick of drift-stuff which blocked up the entire channel, and through which the waters made their way with a deep, murmurous, gurgling noise, which we heard at some distance below. It was at a point between high, ledgy banks; and a perfectly enormous quantity of logs, tree-tops and stumps had lodged one upon another to the height of twenty or thirty feet, and extending back up stream for several hundred yards. As we came up the .(i tT .-/ ROUGH AXD TUMBLE OTTER HUNT. 193 i .1 up the Avith a distance perfectly channel we espied Rikc standing high up on the drift-pile with a long pole in his hand; but instead of fishing, he appeared to be prodding at something down amongst the logs. "What's there!" Moses O. hailed. "Game!" was the stimulating response, above the roar of the brook. '• Don't know what it is. Can hear its teeth <;rit! " We clambered out on the rick. Rikc was punching away indus- triously at something. Nugent was ashore in the bushes cutting a longer pole with his hatchet. " I know there's something down there," Rike explained, "for I saw the tiiladi jumping in the pool off here. So I cut a pole and began to fish, and in a minute caught one. I hauled it out, but it tumbled off my hook and fell down amongst the old logs here. While I was looking for it I heard teeth grit. Some creature had got it and was eating it." We climbed and peeped about the rick for some minutes. Nugent came with his pole. Otelne and his new chien joined in the quest. From the general appearance of the place and from the odor, we concluded that we had stumbled on a burrow of otters, in a strong place, too. "But they've got to come out of there! "" exclaimed Rike, whom the near presence of game always worked un to fever. Then followed a great deal of peeping- through crevices and gaps between the logs. At last Nugent got at them with his long pole. The animals snapped and bit at the end of it. But they ran still farther back under the rick. There were great dark gaps and water- holes beneath it. At length, prodding deep down, they cornered the web-footed aquatics up against the rocks on the left bank. But here the poles failed to touch them; and we worked an hour, I should think, cutting off logs and hauling out stuff to make an opening down to them. Harold and Moses O. improvised a huge " pry," or lever, nearly twenty feet long, with which they did great execution, heaving ■ I o 194 THE KNOCK-ABOUT CLUP,. %' aside the logs and old wet stumps. A great, blaek, sopping, mouldy hole was opened away down to the shelving rocks. ■'Where's KroobV cried Rike. "Now lor your new cirieny Otelne! Here's a chance to prove his grit. Send him in there. Here, Krooh, Kroob^ Kroob ! " Kroob came up, with the curl out of his tail, but he looked ready for business. Otelne showed him the hole. He snutied a moment, then began to bark. "Take hold of them! Fetch them out!" Rike exhorted him. ^' S^Hit mi crishV Otelne cried. With that in went Kroob, straight down under the rock ibr the otters, and in a moment there was a pow-wow down there which beat all description. They clinched and snarled, yelled and bumped. We could hear their heads striking the logs and rocks like hammers! " They'll kill him," exclaimed Karzy. He had scarcely spoken the words, when out tumbled Kroob with two otters hanging to him. One let go, on coming out to the light, and darted back, but the other hung on. Otter and dog rolled over the logs. Rike struck with his pole and missed; Moses O. flung the hatchet and hit the dog. Dog and web-foot rolled over each other out betwixt the logs and fell into the pool below. It was a deep hole. Down they went to the bottom, I imagine. We cocked our guns and stood waiting for them to rise; and after a long while the otter did rise. As soon as we made sure it was the otter. Stein, Harold, Rike and Nugent, all four, fired and shot the animal dead. Then we stood waiting for the dog to rise, but spw nothing of him for some time. At last Karzy espied him floating out at the foot of the pool below. Otelne ran down and around to pull him out. But the dog was drowned. No amount of rolling and shaking on Otelne's part could make any- thing but a drowned dog of him; he was un chien perdu. Nugent T?J louldy Here, ready oment, im. lor the I which umped. mmers ^ob with le Hght, ed over latchet ;he logs ;y went waiting A-S soon Nugent, ting I'or At last Otelne rowned. ke any- Nugent OTTERS FISHING. m Ml iM i^ ««i!:, K/KE AND THE TURTLE 197 conjectured that the otter had held him down on the bottom till the poor brute was strangled. For my own part, I think poor Kroob had anything but fair play; as I said at the outset, his career with us was a short one. After expressing proper condolence to Otelne we again turned our attention to the otters; but they were difficult to get at. At least two hours more W'.re spent cutting and hacking, and we pried out four more big lo"S. Nugent, Rike, and Otelne were then able to get down to the bed of the stream, beside the shelving rocks, beneath which the burrow ran. The rest of the part}' got partly down and stood ready with poles and guns. It was a dark, nasty hole. The mud and slime were knee deep, and mixed up Avith chunks of logs and roots. We could now just see the otters retreating as far back as they could under the slippery green rocks. It was a pokerish place. Nugent's plan was now to shoot the otters, and then haul them out with a pole. Rike, already muddied from head to heels, crawled round to one side to get a better view of them, and was poking along in the mire when he suddenly screeched and began floundering and hopping frantically. "Help! help I a big snake's got me!" he yelled, and came tum- bling out over the logs. Nugent and Otelne pulled him up to the light, when an object as large as a big milk-pan was seen hanging to Rike's foot. It was a big mud-turtle. The old chap had a grip on Rike's boot toe and there he hung. Rike kicked and slung him about, but could not shake him ofl'. Otelne paid on to the reptile's shell with a large club, Rike twisting and yelling, for the turtle's snake-like head gripped his toes all the harder for the beating. '^ Pass the hatchet," shouted Nugent. " Let me cut his black head off!" It took several strokes to do it, and even then, the head wouldn't !!■ il I • 1+ ti p V' » i.' J l! W u w II \i 198 77/E KNOCK- A BOUT CLUB. let iijo. Meantime tlie rest of the turtle waddled oil'. Down plumped Rike on a log and hauled off his boot and stocking. The turtle's teeth had not cut through the leather, but the ball of his great toe had fairly burst open, so tightly had the turtle gripped it. That turtle must have weighed from thirty to forty pounds. It was an old settler, no doubt from seventy-tive to a hundred years old. Thinking it would be better to keep out of that mud if it contained such inhabitants, we now went farther up on the drift-rick and cleared away a new opening down to the bed of the stream. By so doing we hoped to head them oti'from running farther back into the rick. This new hole let more light down under the rocks. Stein, Harold, and Karzy were stationed with their guns down in the lower hole. We'd no sooner begun to punch with our poles in the upper hole, than two of the otters made a break to get down p:.st the boys into the pool. They all three tired, one after the other, bang, bang! One otter was shot, but the other dived into the pool and escaped to the opposite side under the high bank. We all climbed out to see what was shot. It was a fine, great otter. They'd put three bullets through him. By mistake they had all fired at the same one. This otter had a tail as large round as a man's arm, solid meat too. " Go back, go back to your places," Nugent shouted. " There's more of 'em. Load up again." He ard Otelne began punching again; but for a while nothing stirred. Harold thought there were no more " otters there. But in a few minutes three others ran out all together, heading down for the pool. A tremendous fusillade in the lower hole was our first notice that we had started them out. Only one of the three was shot, however; and they did prett}' well to hit that one even, for the otters darted out quick as light. This last one was larger even than the second. It was a beautiful, great, sleek, wine-brown animal. ik EXCIThVG SPORT. 199 One of the other two swam across the stream and <;ot under tlie bank a little below where the other had taken refuij^e. The other, swimming the pool, ran under another great heap of drift as large as a small house, which lay piled on a rocky bar ten or twelve rods below. We went back to our places, but failed to punch out any more. Those six were probabl}' all. there were. ''Now for the one in the lower drift-pile," exclaimed Rike; and we all ran down there. The otter had run to a strong place. It would have been wellnigh impossible to break up the pile, composed, as it was, of large logs and stumps. But it was tolerably dry, and we set it on fire. Harold and Rike posted themselves on the lower side of the bon- fire. The rest of us guarded the upper side. The pile burned some minutes and no otter stirred. But when the live coals began to drop upon him, he made a dive for the water. Rike missed him with his first barrel, and the otter got into the stream. Then he and Harold fired together, and one or the other of them hit the animal, killing him almost instantly. This latter was just a fair-sized otter. Crossing the brook, we punched for the two that had gone under the bank, but could not start them out, nor discover where they were hidden. So we got only those four, but two of them, Nugent said, were the largest otters he had ever seen. It took us all the balance of the afternoon to cleanse ourselves and wash and dry our clothes; for, though exciting sport, it had been one of the dirtiest jobs imaginable; we were covered with mud and slime from head to heels. I I' IE > 3 ! I. ' ■ If' ,'IM CHAPTER XX. THK WOODS-DEMON. ETURNING after our hunt tliat afternoon, wc passed J-^ a deserted lumberman's eamp, half hidden in the blaek, rank firs whieh had sprung up in the clearing about it. "That ere's the old haunted camp," Nugent re- marked. " O, haunted is it ? " said Rike. '' What's it haunted with, bear-ghosts ?" Nugent affirmed that the place was commonly reported by woods- men to be haunted by the spirit of a strange unhuman creature which had 3'ears before been killed there by a logger crew in which Nugent himself had worked. That evening he told the story. I give it in substance, as setting forth a strange, yet possible, physiological fact. THE HAUNTED LOGGING-CAMP. NUGENT'S STORY. There were seventeen " choppers " and four . .msters, besides the fore- man and cook, in our crew that winter at the camp over here — twenty-three men in all, partly French, and more than half of them Catholics. In February, towards the last of the month, after they had been in the woods thirteen weeks, there came on at night one of those fearful northeast snow-storms such as are known only in British America and Siberia. Overhead the wind roared and shook the tree tops, and the snow, fine as meal, was sifted blindingly down through the frozen boughs. THE HAl/NTED LOGGING-CAMP. io\ So full was the air of snow that the voices of the men seemed mutlled as tliey came in from their work. In an hoiw and a ludf a foot of snow had fallen, and the old " loggers " predicted a fall of four feet by mornino-. But, gathered before the fire in their warm log camp, saluted by the savor of a bountiful supper, the hardy fellows cared little for the terrors of the storm outside. A LOGGER'S CAMP. Supper was nearly ready, and Lotte, the cook, had taken up the three- gallon teapot to fill, when he discovered that the supply of tea was out. If there was any tea drank that night, it would be necessary for some one to go down to the wangin, on the river bank, half a mile below. The wangin, or storehouse, was a strong structure of heavy logs, wherein ^• i !i t ;i i' 208 TJ/E KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. All the men were expecting it, and seemed to be but half asleep. In a moment everybody was astir. Lamson went to the door. " We've fetched him ! " he explained ; and, on going out, we could plainly hear cries, as of one in pain and rage. The French boys refused to stir out of the shanty ; but the most of the Province men set off with Lamson, who had lighted a lantern. The cries burst out at intervals as we hurried down the wangin path. It was with strange feelings that we approached the place. By the light of the lantern we saw the brown, hairy body of a man, half covered with a bear hide, lying just outside the door. There had been a desperate death- struggle. The live slugs with which Lamson had charged the gun had pierced him through and through. But he died only after many struggles and outcries. I had never imagined anything like the ferocious expression of the face. The skin of the body was very brown, and much covered with hair. The legs, especially, were almost shaggy. The feet were tied up each in the hide of a lynx, and the bear hide hung from his shoulders, fastened with a thick thong around the neck. There was no other clothing. Both arms and legs were rough, dirty, almost horny. The face was repulsive, and the hair matted. Though lean, the body must have weighed fully two hundred pounds. There was every indication of great physical strength, — instances of which we had certainly seen. Near by lay a large., greasy bludgeon, be- tween three and four feet long, which must have weighed ten or twelve pounds. The idea which we settled on was that it was a backwoodsman, half- breed Indian, perhaps (it was hard telling), who had years before gone crazy. By chance he had been lost in the woods, and had gone on leading a wandering life, eating raw flesh for food, till the man had well nigh changed to a fierce animal. Instances are known to lumbermen where persons getting lost in the woods became deranged. That night the men whom the foreman had sent down to the settlement came back, and a priest came up with them. The corpse of the madman we had killed was put into a roughly con- structed coffin and buried in the snow. Lamson asked the priest, whose name was Villate, whether he wished to conduct a funeral service over the body. He declined to do so. -^f reed and tjone nigh con- THE HAUXTEI) LOC,C,L\C,-CAM l\ 209 Lamson then asked him wiuit he thought of what we had done, and whether he deemed it a murder. And to this question he made no reply. The next morning, after hearing confession from tlie French boys, he went back, taking two men as guides, and these men did not return. STATUE I'OlNr. But the general opinion of the men was, that it was not a murder, and that such a being as this man had better be put out of the way than suffered to go at large in the woods." Such was Nugent's story. I' * \ \ \ % % V ^ i 2IO THE KNOCK- A BOUT CLUB. Next forenoon a most Iau 212 77/A" KXOCK-AliOUT CLUIi. For several "noons" Miss W. had us try to drive out the cluick. But the sills of the house were so low tiuit no one, however small, could crawl under. At length she appealed to the school-agent, Mr. Murch ; and Mr. Murch came, and, with a long pole, tried to puncii out the animal. He worked at it for an hour or two, and even took up one or two boards of the floor ; but he could not seem to dislodge the disturber. "It's diflikilt reachin' 'im, ma'am," said Mr. Murch. "An", arter all, it's ony a woodchuck. Let 'im whistle ! "' But, next noon, Ned Garland and I thought we would try again, and see if we could not beat Mr. Murch, and astonisli Miss Woodward .with our smartness. We procured an old hoe, and, going at our task with a will, dug under the sill on the back side. Scraping a hole large enough to admit our bodies, we both crawled under; and, once under the sill, we could creep about, though it was a very mouldy, dirty place. Seeing us inside its retreat, the woodchuck ran from side to side, then escaped b\' another hole it had. But now a new wonder took our attention. Up in one corner, under a wisp of dry catnip, we perceived something wrig- gling ; and, on poking into it, lo ! there ran out six little woodchucks I Wee, tiny things they were, not bigger than little kittens, yet rather more active, and perfect little woodchucks in form and looks. They scud about under the house. But we caught lour of them in our caps. The other two got away into some hole, or dark crann}', where we could not llnd them. We were two begrimed and dirty lads when, at length, we crawled out. None of the children had ever seen baby woodchucks before. We put them down on the school-house floo' and wondered over them and played with them. For they were about as cunning little objects as can well be imagined. Even these tiny little bits would try to whistle, just like the old one, and make an oddly feeble, squeaking little noise, in their throats. They were chubby and fat and had the drollest stub noses ; they would run for the cor- ners of the room ; and when we touched them, to draw them out, they would try to zvhick-ur-ur-r-r '. " Oh, we must show them to the mistress ! " one little girl said. It was almost school time. And then the roguish thought came into my head, to put them into the teacher's drawer, for there was a drawer in the "desk," where she kept her books and ink. We knew it was mischief, but we did not think Miss W. would mind it so much — seeing we had driven out the old woodchuck. We wanted her to see the little chucks and thought it would be fun to surprise her. So we took out her books and piled them on Mosj-:s o:s sruA')' 2I-? the desk and then put the four bits in the drawer and shut it. We hurried, for Miss W. was ah'eady coming, a few rods away, then ran to our seats. When the teacher came in, siie did not notice the books being out, for she often left them on the desk. She hung up her hat, rang the bell and then called the class in the Fourth Reader. We felt pretty queer and a little guilty, as we went out to read. But everything went on as usual, till Julia Sylvester came to read. Julia could not pronounce the word fornii'dablc correctly. After telling her how several times. Miss Woodward opened the drawer suddenly to get a piece of chalk to write tiie word, in syllables, on the blackboard. When she pulled out the drawer, out leaped the little wood- chucks — one of them into her very lap ! Of course it startled her. She screamed, jumped up from the desk, ran half across the lloor and stood all in a flutter. "They're nothing but little woodchucks ! " Ned and I ventured to say. "They won't hurt anybody ! " and we got up and caught them in our hands. By this time Miss Woodward had regained her dignity a little. " Put those creatures out of doors," said she in a tone that made us feel rather serious. We made haste to drop them outside. "Who put those animals in the drawer?"' was her first question, when we came back. Ned and I did not attempt to deny it ; though now we were conscious that it would be a grave offence. For the teacher regarded it as a gross attempt to impose on her school government. She was very pale now and trembled like a leaf, as she took her " ruler "' and called Ned and me up to her desk ; but her eye had a gleam of baleful resolution in it before which we quailed, for we saw no mercy there. 1 suppose our soiled and dirty appeai*- ance was against us. She bade me hold out my hand and took the tips of my fingers in hers like a vice. And, then Oh, how she put on the ruler I — and not only the right hand, but the left, — both hands ; I don't know how many blows ; I was too much occupied twisting and squirming to count straight. One would never have supposed that such a slight little thing could have given us such a hammering, and laid on the blows so hard ! Ned got an equally severe chastisement on both his hands. She did pay on outrageously hard ! In a minute my hands were puffed up in white blisters, fingers and palms. Thev ached as if thev had been chilled, all the rest of the afternoon ; and the ^1 i I h ^ I. ■■[ i 3i '.'■( ■• ''I \ p I M' i [■). I i-iii 2T4 /•///•; A'.vocA- .Uiorr cf.rn. next (lay were clreadfully sore, fairly blue and purple in spots. Neither of us could i")lay ball or pitch (juoits for four or five days. • Perhaps it was no more; than we deserved. I do not remember that we laid up any irrudj^ro against our teacher. Yet I think it would have been better if Miss W. had tried to more fully understand her boys. For if she had understood us a little better she would have seen how easily we werr ruled and led by a sympathetic word or look from her. Still another woodchuck, at the same school-house, came near iiettino- mr into trouble. It was one that some of the large boys had put into the stove. This was durinj^ the " winter school," which began tliat year about the first of November. At this time, woodchucks are denned up tor their winter sleep. IJut there had been a very heavy rain which had washed out the roads badly. A party of men were at work repairing the damage done on a hill near the school-house, and either ploughed or dug this woodchuck out of his burrow, where he was nicely coiled up and fast asleep. So dormant was it, that it rolled down into the ditch and lav there, without scemin' trumpet. Far more gifted pens than ours have portrayed these master-pieces of Nature's rough Titan-work. Mr. liowells thus describes them: — " Suddenly the boat rounded the corner of the three steps, each five hundred feet high, in which Cape Trinity climbs from the river, and crept in under the naked side of the awful clitf. It is sheer rock, springing from the black water, and stretching upward with a weary, etTort-like aspect, in long impulses of stone marked by deep seams from space to space, till, one tiaou- sand five hundred tlet in air, its vast brow beetles forward, and frowns with a scattering fringe of pines. . . . The rock fully justifies its attributive height to the eye, whicli follows the upward rush of the mighty acclivity, steep after steep, till it wins the cloud-capt summit, when the measureless mass seems to swing and sway overhead, and the nerves tremble with the same tenor that besets him who looks downward from the verge of a lofty precipice. It is wholly grim and stern ; no touch of beauty relieves the austere majesty of that presence. At the foot of Cape Trinity the water is MMK IMPOSING SCENE R v. 219 of unknown depth, and it spreads, a black expanse, in the rounding hollow of shores of unimaginable wildness and desolation, and issues again in its river's course around the base of Cape Eternity. This is yet loftier than the sister cliff, but it slopes gently back from the stream, and from foot to crest it is heavily clothed with a forest of pines. The woods tliat hitherto have shagged the hills with a stunted and meagre growth, showing long stretches scarred by fire, now assume a stately size, and assemble themselves com- pactly upon the side of the mountain, setting their serried stems one rank above another, till the summit is crowned with the mass of their dark-green plumes, dense and soft and beautiful ; so that the spirit, perturbed by the spectacle of the other cliff, is calmed and assuaged by the serene grandeur of this." With this graceful description compare a briefer paragraph from B;i3'arcl Taylor's graphic pen : — "These awful cliffs, planted in water nearly a thousand feet deep, and soaring into the very sky, form the gateway to a rugged valley, stretching inland, and covered with the dark primeval forest of the North. I doubt whether a sublimer picture of the wilderness is to be found on this conti- nent. . . . The wall of dun-colored syenitic granite, ribbed with vertical streaks of black, hung for a moment directl}- over our heads, as high as three Trinity spires atop of one another. Westward, the wall ran inland, project- ing bastion after bastion of inaccessible rock over the dark forests in the bed of the valley. "When the Fh'insc Fish ascended the river with the Prince of Wales and his suite, one of her heavy sixty-eight-pounders was tired off near Cape Trinity. For the space of half a minute or so after tlie discharge, there was a dead silence, and then, as if the report and concussion were hurled back upon the decks, the echoes came down crash upon crasli. It secMUcd as if the rocks and crags had all sprung into life under the tremendous din, and as if each was firing sixty-eight-pounders full upon us, in sharp crushing volleys, till at last they grew hoarser in their anger, and retreated, bellowing slowly, carrvinji the tale of invaded solitude from hill to hill, till all the distant mountains seemed to roar and groan at the intrusion." Grand but less lofty headlands and capes succeed all the way down to Tadousac. I' I ; 1: 2 20 THE kWUCk'-ABOOT CLUB. Thence \ve crossed to the pier at Rivirre die Loup again where for some reason best known to the steamer's officers, we hiy all night and did not reach Qiicbec till two the following afternoon. This trip by day gave us a good view of the breadth and grandeur of the St. Lawrence. Along its north shore the scenery is not a little, at inter- vals, like that of the Saguenay, particularly the dark, beetling prom- ontory of Cape Tonrmenle and the loft}* crags of Cape Rouge and Cape Gribaune. Then succeeds the pleasant suburban aspect of Isle of Orleans (noted chiefly in our memor}' for the " Orleans plum," a fine damson in its season), and then the picturesque old city of Qiiebec, with its towering citadel and (at that time) two grim red-;;nd-black iron-clads lying in the river beneath. Qiiebec with its old walls, Irowning fortress, cannon and frequent sentinels, is held by tourists to much resemble certain old European towns; and it is upon this resemblance that its fame and its attraction for visitors, particularly those from the " States,"' depend. For our " Yankee " tourist and his lady, though grand despisers of the " eflete monarchies of the old world,'' are yet curious admirers of ruins, old churches, etc. Qiiebec is the next best thing to a tour in Europe. The sacristan told us that those old vestments, woven of gold thread, in the cathedral, said to have been presented by Louis XIV. (Le Grand Monarquc) to the Bishop of Qiiebec, were his irresistible card with the '' States people." He gets his most liberal " tips " for showing these. Some days he tells visitors that the vestments cost one million dollars, others one million pounds; sometimes he cuts it dow^n to two hundred thousand dollars, according to the looks of the visiting party. He was exact with us; there were wrought into those vest- ments se>en hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of line gold thread — he stated. We gave him, each, a quarter-dollar for this valuable information. Immediately on landing from the steamer, we took passage in ¥ 1 I Wing 11 ion n to iting vest- iiolcl this (A < Q s r» b, O CO < CO S O 1* -J a, a 35 ! : ) ^ (2UEUEC. 2 23 three calashes (caleclies), odd, two-wheeled, one-horse vehicles, with French "Jehus" who laid on the iash, shouting ^' JMarc/icz donc!^' for Hotel St. Louis. A rattling ride up the steep streets, where we were compelled to hold to the sides of the rocking calashes with both hands, brought us to the hotel. But this hotel, the best in Qiiebec, was, thanks to our fellow countrymen, //^//, all too full to receive us. We proceeded ac- cordingly to the Al- bion^ a less palatial hostelry, where we were fairly well ac- commodated. Dinner over, we walked up, in the cool of the after- noon, to see the cit- adel, and enjoy the magnificent view from its old walls; a view unsurpassed in all Canada. Off to the north- east rolls the grand St. Lawrence, its shores studded with towns and villages. This view alone is worth a visit here. No wonder old Jacques Cartier's adventurous eyes dilated with pride and joy as he gazed out from this lofty headland over the new country and mighty river he had discovered. But not much does the Quebec of to-day resemble that of Jacques Cartier's early time, when the starving savages came beg- ging food to the rude stockade and block-houses at the foot of JACQUES CARTIER. 224 TtlE KiXQCK-ABOUT CLUB. the cliff now surmounted by massive walls and gaping Whitworth ii;i ■'X. guns. Little, indeed, does any portion of this fair Dominion resemble the Canada of two hundred years ago when Champlain, Cartier's brother explorer, clad in armor, fought in the ranks of his new Indian allies and astonished the Iroquois with the, to them, terrible thunder and smoke of his old arquebus, a weapon that now no school-boy would go squirrel-shooting with. A bird's-eye view from the citadel shows Qiiebcc to be a triangle in situation, bounded In- the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers on two sides and the Plains of Abraham on the third. But this triangle holds two distinct towns, the Upper and the Loiver. The Low- er To-lVV is the business part; the Upper Town., or Old .'Quebec, is that situat- ed on the blutl' at the foot of the citadel. Formerl}- this portion was surround- ed hv a strong wall de- signed to resist assault; and there were massive gates like those we read of in the Middle Ages. But the walls and most of the gates have been taken down. This part of Qiiebec stands some three hundred feet above the Lower Town, where are the wharves and warehouses. It is the mediaeval aspect of this Upper Town which constitutes it such an attraction to travellers from the " States." We have nothing like it at home. Certainly a great deal has been said of its old walls and churches; but if we may trust Thoreau's taste, "too much can THE CITADEL. QUEBEC. 225 never be said. The citadel is omnipresent. You travel ten, twenty, thirty miles up or down the river, you ramble fifteen miles amonjj: the hills on either side; and then, when you have fairly forgotten it, at a turn of the path, or of your body, there it stands in its towering geom- etry against the sky. No wonder Jaques Cartier's pilot exclaimed in Norman French, J^uc bee (What a beak) ! when he saw this cape, as some suppose. Every traveller involuntarily uses a similar ex- pression. '^The view from Cape Diamond has been compared by European travellers with the most remarkable views of a similar kind in Europe, such as from Edinburgh Castle, Gibraltar, Cintra and others, and pre- ferred by many. A main peculiarity in this, compared with other views which I have beheld, is that it is from the ramparts of a fortified citj', and not from a solitary and majestic river cape alone, that this view is obtained. ; ■ - "I still remember the harbor far beneath me, sparkling like silver in the sun, the answering headlands of Point Levi on the south-east, the frowning Cape Tourmente abruptly bounding the seaward view far in the north-east, the villages of Lorettc and Charlesbourg on the north, ■. tt i ' lit * ■ fill ? \ll4 1 1 1 r i 1 ■ :^'i' yi|; *.. 226 / y/y-; a'.\ c c a'-. ihul 1 c/j /;. " Sillimaii states tliat the cold is so intense in the winter nights, partieuhirly on Cape Diamond, that tlie sentinels cannot stand it more than an hour, and are reheved at the expiration of that time; and even as it is said, at much sliorter intervals, in the ease ol' the most se\ere cold. 1 shall ne\ er again wake up in a colder night than usual, but I shall think how rapidh' the sentinels are relieving one another on the walls ol' (^lebec, their quieksiher being all iVozen, as if appre- hensive that some hostile Wolfe may even then be scaling the Heights oi" Abraham, or some persevering Arnold about to issue from the wil- derness; some Malay or Japanese, perchance, coming round by the north-west coast, have chosen that moment to assault the Citadel. Why, I should as soon expect to see the sentinels still relieving one another on the walls of Nineveh, which have so long been buried to the world. What a troublesome thing a wall is! I thought it was to defend me, and not I it. Of course, if they had no walls they would not need to have any sentinels." While promenading on the breez}' Esplanade an hour later, whom should we come plump on but "Robin Goodfellow," of the Harvard party we had met at Mud Pond Carry. *" How are ye, old boy! " shouted Moses O., who was the tirst to espy him. "Where arc the ladies.''"'' "All here! " responded R. G. ''Then you stuck by them?" "Of course ?7 "And got them through all right?" " To be sure." "Good tor you. Where arc they?'' ''They've taken rooms for a week on St. (lenevieve Street. We tellows are stopping at the hotel." "Is all serene?" Rike asked. " Serene as an Italian sunset," said Robin. "We're going to do Qiiebec in company; Montmorenci Falls to-morrow forenoon." w to do 11: Ik (I ^1 \^ \ It FAMIbHED INDIANS SEKKINCi FOOD AT OUEUEC IN i6o3. Q = Nl THE WOOD-SriilTES ACAIX. 22C) *'I say, 'Robin,'"' (juoth Harold, in his most insinuatinij^ tones, "lue arc doing (^lobcc too. Can't \vc 'jine' in? /(V// be i^ood.^'' Robin very kindly undertook to plead our case with the others, and he did it so successfully, that some two hours later we received a most cordial call trom "Wert" and " Mellen," and the thin_ . -a ji'.'ii|BiH|{y»8WBwyiw^Hpi^wwipwpiawwTwip| 1*1 7//>^ PLAIXS OF ABRAHAM. ^31 trite, perhaps; for is it not all down in a score of guide-books? and did not even our primary geographies tell us that it is two hundred and seventy feet high, ajid one of the most beautiful in the world? In winter, when the ice-cone forms, the view is said to be even more striking. Then, too, there is merry coasting down the cone on toboixji^ins. The French inhabitants here call INIontmorenci La Vache (the cow), on account of the resemblance of its white foaming waters to milk, seen against the black walls of the precipice. Others say that the name comes from the noise of the Falls, which, when the wind is favorable, can sometimes be heard in Quebec, like the distant lowing of a cow. Next day we rode, still in jolly partnership, out to the Plains of Abraham, where, as ever}- school-bo}^ knows, was fought the last decisive action between the English and French for the possession of this fair city and Canada. A simple white marble shaft, erected by his brother officers of the British army, marks the spot where Wolfe fell. Here died Wolfe victorious Sept. 17th 1759- Nothing could be more appropriate for a gallant soldier's grave. No lulsome compliments are inscribed. British Canada is his monu- ment. In the afternoon we 'ode through the Lower Town, round by the narrow street, beneath the precipice on which the citadel stands, to the spot where our own equally gallant Montgomerv fell, in the forlorn attack this towering Gibraltar. History has hardly given this I old expedition full credit. IIc'vV 'A If ' t| ■ i'r 1 r' : i 1 ' 1 \ j. "; i:- » Mi? m '■ -\3- TT/^- KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. very near jNIontgomery and Arnold came to capturing Qiiebec that ble:ik winter morning, the following facts will testify: — "In the midst of a heavy snow-storm Arnold advanced through the Lower Town from his quarters near the St. Charles River, and led his eight hundred New En<;landers and Virginians over two or three barricades. 1 lie Montreal Bank and several other massive stone houses were filled with British regulars, who guarded the approaches with such deadly lire that Arnold's men were forced to take refu£>e in the adjoining houses, while Arnold himself was badly wounded and carried to the rear. Meanwhile, Montgomeiy was leading his New Yorkers and Continentals north, along Champlain Street by the river side. The intention was for the two attacking columns, after driving the eneni}' from the Lower Town, to unite before the Prescott Gate and carry it by storm. A strong barricade was stretched across Champlain Street from the clilTto the river; but when its guards saw the <>reat masses of the attackino- column advancing through the twilight, they tied. In all probability, Montgomery would have crossed the barricade, deli\'ered Arnold's men b}' attacking the enemy in the rear, and then, with tifteen hundred men flushed with victory, would have escaladcd the Prescott Gate and won Qjicbec and Canada, but that one of the fleeing Canadians, impelled by a strange caprice, turned quickly back, and flrcd the cannon v/liich stood loaded on the barricade. Montgomery and many of his oflicers and men v/ere stricken down by the shot, and the column broke up in panic, and fled. The British forces were now concentrated on Arnold's men, who were hemmed in by a sortie from the Palace Gate, and four hundred and twenty-six oflicers and men were made prisoners. A painted board has been hung high up on the cliff over the place in Champlain Street where Montgomery fell. I\Iontgcmery was an officer in Wolfe's army when Quebec was taken from the French fifteen years before, and knew the ground. I lis mistake was in heading the forlorn hope. (Quebec was the capital of Canada from 1760 to 1791, and after that Jr^ m^mmmm mmm THE CHAUDIERE. 233 it served .is a semi-capital, until the founding of Ottawa City. In 1845, two thousand nine hundred houses were burnt, and the place was nearly destroyed, but soon revived with the aid of the great lumber trade, which is still its specialty." On the day following we crossed over to Point Levis, by ferry, and rode nine miles by carriage, to the Chaudiere Falls, three or four miles above the mouth of the river of this name, which here enters the vSt. Lawrence. The Chaudiere is a river as large, to look at, as the Connecticut at Springtield, ]\Iass.; and it here falls over a sheer precipice, a hun- dred and twenty feet in height. From the right bank and from sev- eral points below (to which we descended not without difficulty and some risk) there are exceptionally fine views; and v.e can but regret that our artist-comrade, Karz\-, was so busy making himself agreeable '. the " v/ood-sprites," to one of them at least, that he utterly forgot "art,-' and brought Jiway, as he- confesses, but very confused memories of this really grand cataract. Of course we do not mean to intimate that it is not a voung gentle- man's business to make himself agreeable to ^oung ladies. B}' no means: we hold it to be his ver}- proper business, always, everywhere and under all circumstances, almost all. But it was unfortunate; for a cut of this fall would have been a fine accompaniment to our narra- tive. L's absence from our pages is ail on account of the "wood- sprites."* The •.■ irriagc-road leads down to within a half or three-fourths of a \\i\K iji the cataract. Thence the walk in the c^lowinc;' autumn weatliCr '« . delightful one. I say autumn weather; for already the maples had begun to show red and golden tints. There had been frost, the drivers tola us; the pasture furze displayed patches of crim- son .along the roadsides. Great loads of grain were e\'ery\vhere moving to the barns. Vt one farm we saw a novel piece of machinery, nothing less than ii li m m m 'I I !1^ -I • 234 THE KNOCK- ABOUT CLUB. a threshing-machine for grain, of which the motive power was fur- nished by a windmill. The machine was made entirely oi wood, even to the teeth of the beater. Moses O. was much interested in it. "They have nothing in my section of country (Indiana) like that," he remarked. "Wouldn't a Western farmer smile to see himself threshing wheat with a ivooden cylinder!" There is no hotel at the Chaudiere Falls. Climbinir about the precipice developed a most avid sense of hunger. We felt famished, and had no doubt the ladies were equally sufferers. A rather pretty farmhouse stands hard by where the horses were left. Harold knocked at the door. It was opened by a stout, but pleasant-faced Canadlenne. To her our comrade nddrcssed himself most politely and persuasively. But she no coiiip?-end Anpiais. Determined not to be foiled, our captain had recourse after some hard knitting of his brows, to his colleo'e French : — ^^ Avez vous h painf'' he pronounced. " Oiiu'' replied the woman after a puzzled and rather amused con- templation of our friend. " Ei hi laitf *' Harold went on. " Oni., oiti\ Monsieur,''' said she quickly, beginning to at least guess what was wanted. '' Ef le Ifciirrc?^- continued our comrade. Ouu oui, oiul " Trt's hicu!^^ responded Harold. But there he hung. I low to say that we wanted some, puzzled him somewhat. At length, he made a grand comprehensive gesture, embracing the whole party, which stood deliglitedly looking on at a little distance, and cried: ^^ Noiis avons /aim!'' ' That did the business; the woman kindly invited us to enter her house, and ushered us into a little sitting-room, where the breeze, through two opposite open windows, was blowing out the white cloth iWPW i wwyi zy/i^ PAVES rs hog. -d:> curtains. There were willow-woven chairs and a table; and she brought in another table and spread them both with white cloths. Three pans of milk, with bowls and cups, were set on. Then came le pain., two warm loaves and two cold loaves; then the bcurr(\ plenty of it. Hunger is a famous sauce. The ladies expressed themselves delighted with the fare; and they certainly did ample justice to it. So did we all. As remuneration, we left each an American half dollar; and the woman seemed quite astonished at the heap of silver it made. With true native French politeness, she gave us a pretty little " Bon Join; Messieurs; ban jour., Alesdemoiselles^'' as we rode off. On the whole it Avas a repast to be gratefully remembered. That night our lately met friends favored us with some amusing incidents and experiences of their trips down the Alleguash and St. John rivers through French Acadian Madawaska. They had taken the same route Avhich we had traversed in advance of them; but they had travelled more leisurely than we, and had lots of sport. Trout they had caught by the gross, and had seen two bears. But the most dangerous game which they had fallen in with was a Madawaska Jiog-. Wert told the story, amidst much laughter, as follows: THE PRIEST'S HOG. We came out of the Alleguash into the main St. John a little before noon, and passed the junction with the St. Frances, a considerable river which makes in from the north, shortly after four o'clock in the allernoon. Two miles below we camped for the night on one of those beautiful little islands in the river which form so fine a feature of the scenery on tlie ui^pcr course of the St. John. There is here a little French hamlet on the north bank, and a number of houses along the south or Maine shore. As we landed from our canoes at the upper end of the island, we heard several shouts from the French side, which sounded like ^' Gardcz voiis dc foorc'. Prcncz garde a Ic cooshongt " 'I- t I |i^- ^3 TI/E KNOCK-ABOUT CLUB. But the cries were indistinct, and in such odd French, that we did not understand their purport, but supposed it to be badinage with which the vilhige " bambins " not unfrequently saluted us en route. The island w^as, perhaps, three acres in extent, and partly covered by willows, above which rose a few graceful, drooping plumes of the river elms. It was a lovely September evening. The sun, setting far up the shining stream, burnished the wooded hills, which, at a distance of two or three miles, walled in the river valley on each side. Tiie woods were clothed in all their gorgeous autumn beauty ; the golden yellow of bass and elm, the vivid reds of maples, and the dusky purple of ash ; for frost had been here already. Even the hazel and willow banks were '' falFn into the sere, the yellow leaf." The tents were landed and pitched. From the plentiful ricks of dry drift- wood, brought down by the spring floods, we built grand camp-fires, about which oiu- guides were soon busy getting supper. The ladies of the party walked to and fro along the sandy shore, glad of the exercise after their con- finement of many hours in a canoe. Our position here was wonderfull} picturesque. The mellow autumn light, the chatter of French talk over at the hamlet, the "peerogs" (pirogues), which now and then shot across the liver, jjaddled by brown-faced women and girls, in red and green skirts, wearing straw hats, all combining to form an aspect of peasant life such as, had we not seen it, we could not have believed to exist in America. It was like rural France ; though never in France, and only in northern New England and Canada do early frosts, followed by days of hot sun, give to foliage those glorious hues, which make „ tour during September like a visit to some gorgeous gallery of Titian's masterpieces. We n\ -le at supper. The ruddy light on the forests was fading out, and dusk was bringing out the glow of the camp-fires, when Musidora suddenly said, — " Listen I Is not that a pig? " Surely from within the bushes, and not far off, could be heard a gruff' reh-treh-reh ! rah-rah-rah ! in true porcine accent, very deep and hoarse, too , " Pig ! " exclaimed Mellen, '' I should call that an old hog! " "I declare," muttered uncle Jethro, "who'd a thought o' thar bein' hargs here!"' And the old man charged into the bushes, shouting " Wheh thar! wheh! wheh!" k\ •^^r^wmmnm mm^fmmmmmtmmm'ifimii THE PRIEST'S HOG. 237 Instantly we heard a deep angry bark, and then uncle Jethro vocifer- ating, — " Show fight, will ye ? Take that ! I'll larn ye ! " But the next moment he came leaping out of the brush, with a great, gaunt, black and white hog foaming at his heels, and barking like a wild boar I The ladies screamed " Mercy on us ! " We all jumped up from the table, and scattered right and left, in our stampede to escape that terrible pig. " Shoot 'im ! shoot 'im ! " shouted uncle Jethro. But we were too intent on getting out of the way to shoot; besides, the guns were in our tents, and the cartridges withdrawn from them. Louis attacked the beast with one of the setting-poles, but it made at him so savagely, that even our faithful Penobscot had to fall back. The reader may, perhaps, smile, yet this was a really fearful brute, long and gaunt and tall. It looked more like a wolf than a hog, and it had terri- ble great white tusks, which it struck together when it barked, with a clash that could be distinctly heard. When it charged at Louis the long bristles rose on its fore-shoulders and along its back in a most menacing fashion. Indeed, I quite believe the creature would have hurt some of us — it looked capable of doing mischief — had not its attention been drawn to our supper, the appetizing odor of which was diffused about. Very likely this was what had attracted the animal. It stopped in full career after Louis, and shuffling about amid our outspread crockery and provisions, began to put in practice the historic motto that "to the victor belong the spoils." Graham pudding, buttered toast, and our recently purchased pail of new milk, seemed to suit its taste. Meantime we, the defeated party, rallied. We could hear from the French shore, a great outcry and unlimited laughter, with shouts of ''Trappc! Trafpc! Guerre! Guerre! Battez votes ferme, Americains! Defends poorc / " Miss Louise and " Mab " were in one of the canoes ready to push otT. Miss S. was hiding in a willow clump, and Musidora was trembling behind the ladies' tent. Our fellow-voyager, Mellen, had crept up in the rear of our tent, secured one of the breech-loading fowling-pieces, and was preparino- to shoot. i! I flti Is H 5 ■, I S 4 tiT ^3-^ 7y//i KXOCK-ABOUT CLUB. m "]3ut you must not shoot it ! " Louis called out to him. ''It's somebody's "Somebody's wildcat!" muttered our friend, and let a charge of light duck lly at the beast. Such a squeal. The creature dived at its tormentor round our tent, but tripped itself uj-* on the guy ropes, and in the scuffle brought the tent flat, squealing all the time as if freshly "stuck." Then it whirled round fifty times, more or less, and struck ofV at right anirles towards where Miss S. was hidinjj in the willows. A scream of terror came from the lady. But here Robin appeared with his revolver, liring two or three shots, one of wliich must liave hit the animal. With a fresh squeal it tacked and ran otV into the bushes, where we could hear it uttering the most ear-piercing cries, and making both shores resound to its notes of pain. " Let's get out of this I " exclaimed Mellen, disgusted. '' What a beastly contretemps." "This is Ilog Island, indeed," Louis observed. The creature had made sad work with our commissariat. Our tablecloth was irremediably defiled. We gathered up what victuals remained intact, then struck our tents, and, re-embarking, paddled down to the second islet below. Here, after a careful reconnoissance, we landed and set up our injured Lares and Penates for the night. But we could still hear " that beastly hog " bewailing those shot holes. In fact, his subdued squeals were about the last sounds I recollect hearing that night. Next morning Uncle Jethro and Mellen went across to the French ham- let to inquire what sort of hogs they kept thereabouts, and also to ascertain the public sentiment relative to the affair. They learned that it was one of the priest's hogs. The animal liad been tlie terror of the village, till the people turned out en masse, and with dogs and missiles drove the brute across the arm of the river to the island where we encountered him. They had shouted to warn us. As we wished to leave a favorable impression, Mellen went in search of the priest, so as to settle up the matter ; for we supposed we had killed the animal. The good man was found walking near the church in his black gown. ]\Iellen and his "riverence " had some dithculty in understanding each other; but Mellen thought that he quite disclaimed damages, and even apolo- gized prol'usely and kindh' for the fright the ladies had suffered. HOME AGAIN. 239 As they came back to us, however, they espied the porker on liis ishmd, " lively as ever," Uncle Jethro said. So we were able to go on, relie\ed of the burden of having slaughtered the priest's hog. Next day bcino- Sunday, wc attended church, but exhibited our tolerant and cosmopolitan traits by going to the Anglican ser\ice in the morning, the Catholic in the afternoon, and the Presbyterian in the evening. In the matter of churches a right American must have no prejudices, all are good enough, if they live peaceably together. We cannot have any '' unpleasantness," nor any division, long or short, of the public school money. The three following days — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — were occupied in excursions to the Indian village of Jeune Lovett, to Lac St. Charles, and to Cape Rouge. Need I say that those were delightful days? Ah, fair qiicbcc! — but hold, this is not our romance, but that of our IIar\ard friends. Kindly taken into their charming partnership for a few brief hours, it would be ungrateful, indeed, in us to give it azvay. Ask " Robin." Ask " Wert." Ask"Mellen." They know. Home by rail Thursday. i ; k\ 'w^m^'^mi^wmi mmi^ ma^iRmilfli mmm mm Dean's Ever Welcome Toy Books, ll^i//t designs h la Bric-h-Ihac, These iri the cheapest SIIir.LING BOOKS yet Issued. They are the sams sii'! Quarto Doolc as " Aunt Louisa's ; " but contain elKhtern full pa^-es ol pictures executed in tluee tints of chroino-Utho|{raphy fiuiii very eifcctive and clever dcsi|;iu by Anukb and Dewanb. CURRANT BUNS FOR OUR LITTLE ONES. Our old Nursery Tales illustrated in the correct and appropriate cnsturnc of dilfereiit periods of dress in our history, by ANDKU. The stories beiu^ the buns, and the illu^lratioiis the plums. Each pa;;e a Gem. One Sltillin^. OLDEN RHYMES OF ANCIENT TIMES. With Bric-hnrac designs, re-acclim.itized and dressed in various national coblumus by ANUKB ; which t,'ives to these old Rhymes a piquancy nut often seen in Toy Books. OEMS OF CHILDHOOD. Each tale is assigned to a difTerent period of history, and illustrated with correct and appropriate costumes. One Shillinf;. ONE, TWO, THREE, AND ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE. By D. Dewanb. One Shilling. " In this book the designs are dressed in the costumes of various nations far and near. A delightful, useful, and tintertaiuiog book." — Daily News. Price 33. 6d. Sunny Hours AND Pretty Flowers. A FINE-ART (Size Imperial 8vo, Half-bound, picture boards, pictures printed in Chromo), AND RHYMES For the LITTLE ONES W GEORGE LAMBERT. ery Book being printed in eight to ten different colours. No book in all the different series contains anytUins; approaching vulgarity— th* Publishers' aim being to furnish amustment, coupled with refinement, /or our dear littit ones, CHILDREN'S CLOTH BOUND GIFT TOY PICTURE BOOKS. THE CHILDREN'S KETTLEDRUM. Pnce 5j. small ^ia, halt-bound piclurt boards. Sixty pages o/ illustrations tu rhymes to each, by M. A. C. Pictures and Rhymes for the Littlo. Ones. Each page illustrated with the Artist's Quaint Conceits atui tucompanying vtrttt, txtcuttd in th* highest style oj chroma- lithography by L. Van Leer. We safely prophesy that this book will amuse, and in its own quaint way instruct, not only children of a smaller but those of a larger growth. The Rhymes ar« clever and in the true vein for their intended readers. The illustrations are pleasant and of sufficient variety to suit all tastes. A quiet vein of humour in the delineation of domestic scenes of childish life has been the Artist's object. The Printing has been done with the greatest care. Binding strong, with pretty original cover. "Few better books of illustrations, so quaint and yet so natural, have ever ^ been published; it can hardly Jail to be popular," — Standard. KETTLEDRUM. Forty of the pictures from the above reduced Each picture in chromo colours, half-bound picture boards, as. 6d. Small 4te, half-bound picture 3s. Gd. THE CHILDREN'S in size to small 4to, and different colouring. DOTTIE'S PETS : a pretty book of picture and verse, boards. Forty pictures by E. O. A. and M. A. C., with verses to each< SUNNY HOURS AND PRETTY FLOWERS. Size, 4to Crown. This charming picture book consists of thirty-two pages of beautifully-printed facsimiles in chromo colours of sketches made by the Artist, Georub Lambbrt, during a sununer's sojourn in a quaint Oxfordshire village, Half-boun^' picture boards. 3s. 6d. THE TINY LAWN TENNIS CLUB. Thirty pages of very effective pictures, w: verses attached, of the doings of Uie little members of the T.L,T. Club. The charming pictures are the same size and style, and by the popular designer of the "Children's Kettlednun," Price 3s. 6d. This Fin* Art Gift Book will, we Jul sure, b* welcomed in every home of taste. VARIOUS KINDS OF BABES IN THE WOOD AT HOME AND ABROAD. Illustrated in verse and picture by T. H. Collins. Small 4to. post, beautifully printed in chromo colours by Van Leer. Bound picture boards, varnished sides. In this book will be found animals of every description, intermingled with juvenile life and character in natural and charming groupings, 3s. A Dainty Book, dedicated by ptrmission /« Albert Edward, son of SIR JVLIUS BENEDICT. BUCKET AND SPADES. Words and Mtisic by MRS. Edmund Campbell. Illustra- tions on tath page in chromo colours. This is a very charming fine art gift book, containing, in addition to pictures and verses, fifteen tuneful melodies for the nursery. All who have seen the son^s are delighted with them, the words being a ^eat improvement on the juvenile lays usually published. It is altogether a dainty book, the illustrations being bv the designer of " The Children's Kettledrum." Size 4to. post, half-bound cloth, picture boards, varnished sides. 3s. fid. SO HAPPY. A delightful fine art gift book, executed in chromo colours, in designer's best style, by L, Van Lkbr. The designs ar« quaint and charming. The verses good, by the author of " Tabitha's Garden Party." The bind- ing; is tasty, viz., half bound picture boards, varnished sides. Sue, post 4to. 3s. 6d. AT THE MOTHER'S KNEE. A charm- ing fine art gift book, executed in chromo colours from designs by Mrs. Tinslev, designer of " Ups and Downs." Contains thirty-two large quarto pages of domestic scenes, in full chromo colours, with pretty verses to match. Half-bound cloth, oicturt boards, varnished sides. 3s. 6d. 10/6 CHILDHOOD'S GOLDEN DAYS. A ser'iesof hcamiMly cngr:ived />Aa/o ai/ua tint pic/itrfs. Size, inside measurement, I0by7\, which, with margin, cives each picture 13J by 10. Printed on sto'it i)aper in philo-photo best style by ROmmer & Jonas, of Dresden. Plioto artistic groupings fioni real life. PaRcs i-a, ji-s, 7-8, init, i t 14, 16-17, 30-3I, 3; a6, 28-29, 3'-3»> 34-35 ^J^e descriptive ornamental texts betweeii each plate, printed iu gold and r«d( with electric markings. Price, los 6d. The Book is quite a gem, as well as beneficial for those engaged in art stndies. LITTLE FOLKS' LIVING PICTURE NUR- SERY RHYMES. )!y J. M. Wklls. is. 6d. DARLING BRIGHT. EYE'S LIVING NUR- SERY RHYMES, r.yj. M. \Vi£U.s. IS. 6d. PUNCH AND JUDY, liv Nklson Lice. As played before the (jucen at Windsor, is. 6d. MOVABLE PICTURES OF OUR FOUR- FOOTED FRIENDS. By H. CLAVTOHt Strongly bound, picture cover, is, 6d. MOVABLE PICTURES IN FEATHERS AND FUR. l)y J. Dakkoot. Strongly bound, picture cover, is. 6/>les, Oranges, Wheat,&'c. These Four Books will be found most amusing and in- teresting to the young, and also the cheapest series of 1/- Toy Books yet issued, each book having ten pages of chromo pictures, and twelve pages of pictorial letterpre!.s. R 2 BEAU'S SIXPENNY TOY BOOKS IN CHROMOTINT. "CHARMING" SERIES. Sixteen pages of illustrations— /our/uU chroma colours and twelve chromotint. 1. JUST LOOK AT THIS— JUST LOOK AT THAT : " Say it is not amiss ! " 6d. 5. THE MONKEY'S CIRCUS. By EmriK. C, THE PERFORMING DOGS. By Emrik. 7. PRETTY PUSS A^ID LITTLE DOG. By M. Andrr. 6./. 8. THE INQUISITIVE CHICKEN. By M. Andre, td. 9. POOR POLL PARROT. By M. Andre. 10. THE STORY OF TWO DOGS. By M. Andre, dd. "GRAPHIC" SERIES. 1. LITTLE WALKS i'JH) COUNTRY TALKS. By Emrik. M. 2. RELIABLE JAM FOR OUR LITTLE ONES. By Emrik. 6d. 3. RHYMES WITH COLOURS SWEET FOR PATTERING LITTLE FEET. By Emrik. td. ROSE AND LILY SERIES. Bound Books. 7 EVERY DAY CHILDREN. ByJ.F. Illustra- tions by E. J. B. dd. 8. STORY OP JACK THE CAT. By E. Lrcky. Illustrations by E. Kemp. 6d. 0. STORY OF GOOD DOO ROVER. Illustrations by E. Kemp. (J. 10. BONNY, ADA, AND SPRAY. By R. Larner. td. 11. THE LITTLE TRAVELLER. By E. Lecky. Illustrations by E. Jacob. 6d. "ROSE AND LILY" SERIES. strongly bound. Twenty- two pages of pictures, and also on back and front cover. 1. FUN AND FROLIC. By C. Harrison. 2. PLEASANT TIME PICTURES. By C. Harrison, dd. 3. OLD TIME PICTURES AND RHYMES. By C. Harrison. (>d. 4. PICTURES AND RHYMES. By C. Harri- son. M. 5. A SUMMER IN THE COUITTRY. By Miss VaUGHAN. td. 6. IN TOWN AND COUNTRY. By E. O. A. " IHE CHARMING GRAPHIC " SERIES. Quarto size. £ac/i with twelve pages of bold picture in c/tronw colours. 1. A, APPLE PIE. By Mrs. Grey. 2. RAILWAY ALPHABET, By T. H. COL- 3. M.PHABET OF ANIMALS. By HARRISON Weir, &c. 6d. 4. A, WAS AN ARCHER. By M. A. Vaughan. 6d. 6. A B C OF NURSERY RHYMES. By T. II. Coi.i-iNS. (id. 6. A B C OF HORSES. DOGS, CATS, &;c. IjARFOOT. 6d. 7. PRETTY PICTURES WITH RHYMES FOR LITTLE ONES. By Dewane. M. 8. PICTURES IN THIS BOOK YOU'LL SEE, FOR EVF.RY LITTLE NURSERY. By De- wank. 6d. 9. PRETTY PICTURES FOR VKETTZ LITTLR PEOPLE. By Dewane. 6d. 10. INNOCENT PICTURES AND VERSES FOR. LITTLE INNOCENTS. By Dewahe. 6d. By 6d. DEAN'S NEW SERIES OF EIGHT-PAGE CHROHO PICTURE BOOKS. 1. VARIOUS KINDS OF BABES IN THE WOOD, at Home and Abroad, in Verse and Picture. Series I. By T. H. Collins. 2. DITTO. Series II. Ditto ditto. 3. DITTO. Series III. Ditto ditto. <. TAKING PICTURES & PLEASANT VEBSES TO BABES IN THB WOOD. By T.H. Collins. 5. A GIFT OF JOY TO 6IBL OR BOY. By Archibald Imlach. 6. THE FARM YARD. By Miss Gavforo. 7. GOOD DAY. By three diOerent designers. 8. BIRDS & ANIMALS IN PICTURES BRIGHT, a Book that will Little Folks Delight. By G. Pbndirsen. "PANTOMIME" CHANOINQ TOY BOOKS. 1. TOM THUBIB. 6d. 1 MOTHER GOOSE. 6d. 3. ALADDIN. 6d. 4. CINDERELLA. SJ. B. SLEEPma BEAUTY. 6ti. 6. RED Rirnra hood. &/. 7. BLUE BEARD 6t/. iSOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. DEAN'S NEW CHROMO TOY BOOKS. " Dean & Son's Neiv Series of Toy Books are very good ; indeed, some of the pictures look far too good to place in the hands of young children ; but the Publishers have thoughtfully issued an un- bearable as well as an ordinary edition." — Echo. " Dean & Son are this season entitled par excellence to the title of ' Publishers for the little ones ; ' and it would be impossible to desire any- thing more attractive for the nursery population of England than these Coloured Picture Books. Their 'Prize Gem Toy Books,' wi'h their pages of colour and tint, reflect the higliest credit on the "PvM&shtTS."— Churchman's Magazine. " Dean & Son are bringing out a series of new style Shilling Toy Books, printed in different chalk-coloured tints: which have nearly three times the number of pages of pictures than in ormer publications of the same kind and price. Andre's costume drawings are unusually good and have a novel effect." — Morning Post. " Under the geiei.a title of Toy Books, Dean & Son have issi.i-'d a number of Nursery Books. The pictures are well drawn and coloured, and are sure to be regarded witli satisfaction." — City Press. "Dean's New Sixpenny 'Favourite* and • Pinafore' Toy Books are all effectively illustrated in ■ .hromo-lithography ; they are really very cheap. and will undoubtedly please. Their new ' Gem ' and new style One Shilling Books are really first rate, full of cleverness, humour, and skill ; every nursery should be provided with ihtm."— Literary World. "We have before us a series of Children's Story Books, published by Messrs. Dean & Son, which are wonderful specimens of chromo print- ing, and it is a marvel that they can be sold at the price offered ; a few years ago such books could not have been sold for ten times their price. Dean & Son deserve great merit for thair enter- prize, as such works cannot fail to have their effect upon the young in promoting taste and love of fine art." — Economist. " Messrs. Dean & Son's New Chromo Books are among the best of the kind in juvenile liter- ature. The rhymes are good and simple, the illustrations are splendidly executed, and the general ' get up ' such as to provoke admira- tion." — British and Colonial. "We cannot speak too highly of these ad- mirable series of Dean's Chromo Toy Books. Hitherto the majority of cheap illustrated stories for our little ones have been conspicuous above everything for their coarse colouring, even if the letterpress happened to be good. To Messrs. Dean & Son must be awarded the rare praise of designing a child's toy book in an artistic spirit, and with as much taste as talent and artistic skill. No more need be said than that they are exquisite of the kind, and deserve to find a warm welcome in every nursery in the land." — Christian World. " Some of the best drawings we have seen for a long time are contained in Messrs. Dean & Son's Newt Toy Books. All the pictures are uniformlv good, and the binding as strong as cok be made. ' — Bookseller. "Dean & Son's New Sixpenny and One Shilling Chromo Toy Books are marvellous specimens of the perfection to which drawing and colouring have been brought in nursery literature." —Publishers' Circular. ' ' For elegance of design and beauty of colour- ing they are unsurpassed by any other books at the same price. " — Court journal, " Messrs. Dean & Son have long catered for childhood, and the series now to hand cannot fail to keep them in their long-maintained position," — Framlingham Weekly News. " Cleverly designed, bright, amusing, and un- questionably cheap, attractively coloured and prettily drawn, lending a fresh charm to the old favourite tales." — Queen. " Dean's New Toy Books are bright incoTotir. but not too much so , the tints are all so natur that children's taste for colour may be educatea from these books. They are sure to cause much delight among our little ones. "—iLaa'/«' Treasury. " The New Scries of Toy Books of Messrs. Dean & Son are got up in exquisite style, the brilliancy of the colouring being heightened to excess were it not governed by a fine artistic taste. Those by Andre, while constituting a present for children, will well repay the trouble of turning the leaves over to any one with an eye for colour and beauty of design. There is also a singular novelty in the style in which the stories are severally arranged." —VJcMy News. m DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS, i6oa, FLEET STREET, E. C. CORNER'S LITTLE PLAYS FOR LITTLE ACTORS, AND HOME PERFORMANCE. One Shilling each, hound, gilt, fancy illustrated covers ; or, in two handsomely-bound volumes, cloth gilt, 3 J. 6d. each. 1— BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, with 12 appropriate illustrations by Alfred Crow- quill. One Shilling. 9— WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT, with 13 appropriate Illustrations by Alfreu Crowquill. One Shilling. 3— CINDERELLA, AND THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER, with 12 Illustrations by Crowquill. One Shilling. 4— PUSS IN BOOTS ; 01, THE MILLERS FAVOURITE SON ; o Illustrations by Harrison Wkir. One Shilling. 5- MOTHER GOOSE AND THE GOLDEN EGGS, with to Illustrations by Harrison Weir. One Shilling. 6-CHILDREN IN THE WOOD ; 11 ap- propriate Illustrations by J. \. Barre" One Shilling. 7-THE MILLER'S MAID; a play fc, juvenile actors, by Miss Co",nkr. 13 Illus- ^ trations by ToDfi. One Shilling. ^ 8-LORD LOVEL THE BRAVE, AND NANCIBELLE THE FAIR; a Mu- sical Extrav.igan/a, One Shilling. by O. H. Clifton. 9-THE KING AND THE TROUBADOUR; or, KINO RICHARD AND BLONDEL. By Miss Corner. One Shilling. 10— SLEEPING BEAUTY. Dy Miss Corner. Sixpence. In this series of Little Plays for Little People, Miss Corner has re-written the old favourite tales of childhood, that they may afford lively recreation in pliice of Charades, giving at the same time hints as regards the manage- ment of Costumes, Scenery, &c. The Dialogue is simple and spirited ; the Scenery is diversified, and the Mjial excellent. «l ''W V :.■: i" ■ ( ; TO tHa. army of elocutionists and penny readers. A ROUND DOZEN: Being a Series or Twelve Readings of or .A. T^ ^^ O T E] I^ S K: EJ T O ]B3: E s By Robert Overton, Author of "Queer Fish" (Nine Tales), In My Own Personality. — A Jail Bird. — A Federal Soldier.— A Sailor.— A Costermonger. — An Idiot Lad.- A YUlage Poet. — An Advanced Radical.— A City Arab.— A Sister 0/ Mercy, &'c. Bound in Boards, Fancy Cover, One Shillino. " A mine of wealth to the reciter."— G/i?^^. Netu Edition, Price Three Shillings and Sixpence. DRAWING-ROOM PLAYS AND PARLOUR PANTOMIMES. By E. L. Blanchard, W. S. Gilbert, J. B. Simpson, Tom Hood, C. Smith Reece, J. C. Brougii, a. Sketchley, &o. Collected by Clement Scott, Esq. Theobvious difficulty of scenery ofttimes renders most stage-plays unfit for the drawing-room. These plays for amateurs are written to suit all tastes— The Comedietta — The Dialogue— The Domestic Drama — The Opera Boufle — liurlesque — Extravaganza — The Farce, and not least the ever welcome Charade. DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS. x6oA, FLEET STREET, E.C Tills Series of "DEEDS OF DABINO " will be found an Interesting addition to the Libraries of Regiments, Military Colleges, and to those of all Private Schools. They will prove to families a graphic account of the events in which honours or rewards have been granted to those members who have distinguished themselves at sea or on the field of battle. Price One Shilling ana Sixpence each, copiously illustrated and handsomely hound in cloth, For Gift Books or Prizes: or, infancy paper covers. One Shilling— BY Lientenant-Golonel KNOLLTS, F.R.G.S., Major W. J. ELLIOTT, LATE OF HER MAJESTY'S WAR DEPARTMENT, AWD OTHERS. Already issued in this Scries I— SHAW, THE LIFE GUARDS- MAN. By Lieut.-Col. Knollys. Four full- page illustrations and chromo frontispiece, is., or IS. 6<1. cloth boards. 2— ADVENTURES AND DARING EXPLOITS OF LORD COCHRANE. By Lieut.-Col. Knoi.lvs. Nine full-page illus- trations. IS., or IS. 6d. cloth boards. 3— VICTORIA CROSS IN THE CRIMEA. By Lieut.-Col. Knollys. Twenty full-page illustrations, is., or is. 6d. cloth. 4— VICTORIA CROSS IN INDIA. By Lieut.-Col. Knollys. is., or is. 6d. cloth. 5— VICTORIA CROSS IN THE COLONIES. By Lieut.-Col. Knollys. Twenty full-page illustrations, is., or is. 6d, cloth. 6— VICTORIA CROSS IN AFGHAN- ISTAN. By Major Elliott. Twenty full- page illustrations and maps. Double volume, 3s., or cloth, gilt edges, as. 6d. arc the folloroing— —VICTORIA CROSS IN ZULU- LAND. By Major Elliott. Thirty full-page illustration:;, and authentic maps by permission of the War Office. This is a complete history of the War in South Africa, and of Cetewayo's treatment by the British Government. Double volume, as., or cloth, gilt edges, as. 6d. 8— DARING DEEDS AFLOAT- ROYAL NAVY. By Major Elliott. Fif- teen full-page illustrations, is., or is. 6d. cloth, 10— GALLANT SEPOYS AND SO- WARS. By Major Elliott and Lieut.-Col. Knollys. Ten pages of illustrations, is., or IS. 6d. cloth. II— BRAVE DEEDS AND HEROIC ACTIONS. Series I. — MILITARY. By Capt. Clayton. Eleven full page illustrations, IS., or IS. fid. cloth. 12— BRAVE DEEDS AND HEROIC ACTIONS. — Series IL — NAVAL AND MILITARY. By Capt. Clayton. Eleven full-page illustrations, is., or is. fid. cloth. 13— PAUL JONES, THE NAVAL HERO OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. By Jambs Ward. Six full-page illustrations, is., or is. fid. cloth. In these small volumes the reader is made acquainted with many of the most exciting incidents that have taken place at different periods in which our soldiers and sailors have been fighting for the maintenance or interest of their great country. DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS, i6oA, FLEET STREET. E.G. f IM ll !iji^ \i% 1 *. tf 1 H (9«Wi/, The Koyal Agricultural Society's youriial, &c. Price One Shilling. DOGS; HOW TO BREED AND TREAT in Health and Disease. With Engravings of the several varieties of Field, Sporting, and Fancy Dogs. By Benjamin Clayton. Price Sixpence. Ur, with additions by J. Long, One Shilling. RABBITS, AND THEIR HABITS. How to Kear, Feed, Keep, and Tieat. Being a complete guide for Rabbit Keepers. By J. Rogers. With Engravings of the several varieties. 20th Edition. By Mr. W. Heath. Price Sixpence. PIGEONS; HOW TO REAR, BREED, AND KEEP. Directions for Breeding, Proper Treat- ment, and Management of Common and Fancy Pigeons. By J. Kogbrs. Price Sixpence, Illus- trated. CANARIES: THEIR VARIETIES AND POINTS. How to Breed, Rear, and Keep '.hem in Health, with Remedies for the various Diseases to which they are subject. Plain Frontispiece. By J. Sadin. Sixpence. Or, with Chapter on Mules, and Pictures of 19 varieties of Canaries coloured, One Shilling. POULTRY ; HOW BEST TO BREED for Profit, Pleasure, Exhibition, and Prize. With a description of the several Breeds, and the points of excellence as laid down by Prize Winners and Experienced Judges. Edited by R. FtJLTON, assisted by J. Robinson, J. Clark, J. Webb, W. J. Harvey, A. Crook, E. Pearson, Sliss Hailbs, and other Prize Takers and Exhibitors. Chapters on Diseases and Methods of Cure. Construction of Houses, and a Sheet of Illustrations, showing at a glance the many varieties. One Shilling. PROFITABLE FOWLS AND EGGS; AND HOW TO MAKE MONEY OF THEM. With Illustrations by Harrison Wbir. Price Sixpence. DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS. 160A, FLEET STREET. E.G. Just Ready, price 6s., handsomely bound, cloth gilt, gilt edges; or ^s. plain edges, THE CHESS OPENINGS; CONSIDERED CRITICALLY AND PRACTICALLY. By H. E. Bird, Cheu Cormpondent to th* " TiiHts.^ The Author having taken part in four International Chess Tournaments, viz., London, 1851, Vienna, 1873, Philadelphia, 1876, Paris, 1878, it is unnecessary for ji. K^if» K^n^a VMmi Vy^//7/ '^''" '° °'^'^'^ ^"^ apology for the publication of the 8 ^^^ ^^^ ^^Ml ^^P Work, especially as the opinions expressed are based is mlm^ Ymm. m^, ^/im upon observations deduced from actual practice up to the present time. The remarkable positions presented on diagrams, although familiar to some of the older chess votaries, will no doubt be new to many and interesting and acceptable to all. In the Appendix will be found illustrated diagrams of noteworthy positions, where remarkably fine com- binations occurred, as also illustrated problems. " This is the work of one of the most aistinguished of English players. Since the death of Mr. Staunton nobody can more fairly claim to represent the national school of players than Mr. H. E. Bird, who took part in the first international tournament of iBsr, and also played at Vienna in 1873, at Philadelphia, and recently at Paris. Perhaps his most brilliant performances have been in single matclies, in two of which he made an equal score with Falkbeer, while in 1867, when contending against Steinitz (fresh from his victory over Anderssen), he won six games against his opponent's .seven, while seven others were drawn. Six years later Mr. Bird once more proved his right to be considered second to none among English players, by defeating Mr. Wisker, the holder of the British Association Challenge Cup, after a protracted struggle. So far, therefore, as practical proficiency constitutes a claim to respect as a teacher of chess-theory, the author of ' The Chess Openings ' is in no need of an excuse for coming forward as an instructor. Mr. Bird by no means confines himself to mere reproduction. He has the merit of having identified his name with several original variations, and of having revived several older defences, such as the Cunningham Gambit, with no small degree of success. The book has been evidently the result of painstaking and accurate analysis, and it may be confidently recommended to the more advanced players who have graduated in the beaten tracks of the ' Handbuch,' and are willing to follow in the steps of an able and original guide. In addition to the usual Appendix of problems, Mr. Bird supplies a very useful and attractive feature in a series of end game positions from the most celebrated modern match-games. Owing to the clear type and large diagrams, the volume will prove an agreeable companion when a board is out of reach." — Athtnceum, Sept. 7th. -H Cloth, black lettered, y.; or, handsomely bound, gilt, and gilt ed^es, 55. CHESS MASTERPIECES: Comprising a Collection of 156 Choice Games of the past quarter of a century, with Notes, including the finest Games in the E^xliibition of 1851, and in the Vienna Tournament of 1873, with excellent specimens of the styles of Anderssen, Blackburne, Der Laza, Hanstein, Kolisch, Lowenthal, Morphy, Staunton, Steinitz, and the principal English Players. Supplemented by Games of Labourdonqais, MacBonnell, and Cochrane, contested prior to 1849. Compiled by H. E. Bird. The entire series will be found full of interest and points of excellence, and can scarcely fail to afford amusement and pleasure, as well as to impart instruction, to all who may avail themselves of thf opportunity i>i examining them ; they will be of especial service to amateurs who aspire to pre-eminenif in Chess. DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS, 160A, FLEET STREET, E.C. Dean's Cobktt's Blotting-Case Dictionary AND WRITERS' READY WORD REFERENCE. KEPT IN THBEE SIZES— 8T0, 4to, & Fcap. Containing over 15,000 words in daily use. The Past Participles, not found in other Dictioiiaiies. Modes of Epistolary Address. Perpetual Calendar. Abbreviations in daily use, &c., &c. This Dictionary, being an addition to the Ordinary Blotting- Case, without to any extent augmenting its bulk or cost — a word book interpolated, which comprehends the whole of the English Language in general use, in fact, a language under the hand — renders it of the greatest assistance to the Letter Writer. The word "practical" being the key-note of the compilation, it has been judged wiser to give the orthography itself in every possible shape. No better instance of this plan can be given than the Appendix devoted to the past and present tvtUiples aione, in itself a feature to be found in no other Dictionary. Frioea and Siiea of Oobbett's Blotting-Case or Desk Dictionary, and Writers' Beady Word Boferenoe. s. d. 3 6 J. d. o 9 ivo size — 7J by 5. 8vo. size, in cloth, lettered, with one pocket, blotting, &c 8vo. size, cloth, half-bound, French morocco, back and corners, blot- ting pad, &c I 6 8vo. size, Fh. morocco, two pockets, blotting 2 o 8vo. size, mock Russ., pad, blotting, Sic. 2 6 Svo. dull grain, limp, with gilt lines and pad, blotting paper, &c. ... 3 6 ^to. size — 10 by 8J. size, cloth, lettered, two pockets, blotting I o size, cloth, half-bound, French morocco, back and corners, pad, pockets, &c 2 6 4to. 4to. 4to. size, mock Russia, with pad, pockets, blotting paper, &c. 4tO. size, dull grain, limp, with gilt lines, pad, pockets, blotting paper, special envelopes and note paper 4to. size, dull grain, extra gilt, gilt lines and pad, &c 4to. size, Russia, blotting pad, pckts, &c , limp 5 7 15 Fcap. size— 12 by S\. Fcap. iolio, in paper covers, with 16 pages blottmg paper, &c. .. ... c Fcap. folio, in cloth, lettered, pockets, blotting, &c I Fcap. folio, black leather, blotting, &c. 3 o 6 o A FBW OPINIONS OF THB FnaSS ON ITS UNITXD TITZJ2. _ " By this the writer is saved from searching a Dic- tionary ; by merely turning a leaf the word wanted is found ; every correspondent will appreciate Cobbbtt's Blotting-Casb Dictionarv."— if/fn:a»/iV> Gaxett*. " No travelling desk or counting-house perfect with- 5ttt it."— PicttruU Timet. "Saves the writer all search for a Dictionary . . . Cobbbtt's Blotting-Casb Dictionarv is .'»n ever- prtitnt,famili>xr friend, counsellor, and guidi, that no one need despise, and that 'v:r;' one should always have at hand. Its cost '.i not so mucti as an ordinary blotting-case, from 6d. upwards, according to the }i\a^- iag."— Telegraph. DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS, 160A, FLZET STREET, E.C f 1 ii m The Debrett Handbooks of the Aristocracy are the Cheapest and most Reliable Works of the kind. PUBLISHED ANNUALLY. A Yer; valuable Book of Reference and a Handsome Table-Book. PATRONIZED BY PATRONIZED BY fir ffiajtstu Kjfi %xm, i^^^ i-glj. ^nntt of titles, The House of Lords, the House of Commons, and other Government Offices. DEBREH'S PEERAGE, BARONETAGE, KNIGHTAGE, COMPANIONAGE, AND TITLES OF COURTESY. 169th Year of Publication, again greilly amplified and enlarged by the addition of a new section containing liiographies of the Companions of Knighthood, with improved reference arrangements, and large additions to the Collateral Branches, which renders it the fullest Work published in this respect. Beautifully printed. 1500 pp., and 1500 Armorial Engravings, lleraldically emblazoned binding, cloth gilt, gilt edges, 30s. Persian calf, full gilt edges, 353. 6d ; or in two vols, cloth at 15s. 6d. each. £ari Cairtis, when Lord Chancellor, thus re/erred to " Debkett " in the House 0/ Lords oh April yd, 1876:— "A Depository of information which I never open without amazement and admiration." DEBRETT, the o'dcal, best patronized, most reliable, and most practical work of its kind, ov,cs its popularity to the fact that, in the aggregate, it furnishes ten times more information rejecting living members of the Nobility and their Collateral Branches than all other kindred books combined. The details it furnishes are collated from all parts of the world at an enormous co£.t, and no expense is otherwise spared to attain correctness. The new arrangement is unique, and entirely obviates the necessity for reference to various sections ; as under the heading of each title full particulars appear respecting all living persons who are nearly related to Peers and Baronets in the male line. DEBRETT'S HERALDIC and BIOGRAPHICAL HOUSE OP COMMONS and THE JUDICIAL BENCH. 1,000 Coats of Arms. Cloth gilt, 7s. ; half-bound calf, gilt edges, los. 6d. Contains — Biographies of Members of Parliament, with their Political Views — Arms fully emblazoned — Issue — Residences and Clubs — Church Patronage, &c. Biographies of Judges of England and Ireland — Scottish Lords of Session — Commissioners of Bankruptcy — Recorders — ^Judges of County Courts, &c. Counties, Cities, and Boroughs returning Members, with names of Representatives, Coats of Arms, &c., &c. DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS AND FACTORS, 160A, FLEET STREET, E.G. m 'p-g . .11 ■ \ i^r ? ^pl I I ■'■IJ 2/6 A NEW COOKERY BOOK By Mr. SAMUEL HOBpS, Formerly Chef de Cuisine to Messrs. Gunter & Co., and who, also from testimonials appended, will be seen to have given every satisfaction to Royalty, Nobilily. Clubs, large Taverns, and wherever engaged, — entitled : m HUNDRED AND SIXTY CULINARY DAINTIES : For the Epiaire^ the Invalid^ and the Dyspeptic. Extract from Preface. —In ofTerin^ this brochure on culinary art to the public, my object has been to produce a very useful work comprising a judicious selection of good dishes for the epicure, the invalid, and the dyspeptic. A large number of the dishes will doubtless be new to many who practice the culinary art, and they really are so ; and without presumption might truly be termed In crime tie la Cftint of modern culinary art. To thoie who love a good dinner, my great ana successful practice for over thirty years tempts me to recommend them as certain, if properly prep.nrcd, to give great satisfaction. Size, crown 8vo., cloth gilt, lettered, ar. M. TESTIMONIALS TO MR. S. W. HOBBS, PROFESSED COOK. " I have much pleasure in certifying that Mr. Samuel Hobbs has dressed two dinners at Frogmore House, when the Queen and Prince Albert and Court dined there ; and that on both occasions he gave perfect satisfaction." "(Signed) W. Sea brook. Steward of the Household to H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent." [In reference to these dinners, and after serving the first, and while partaking of some refreshment in the Steward's room with the leading upper servantspresent, I received a message through the Duchess of Kent's principal atteridant, stating that Her Majesty desired to say, " thai I had dressed the best dinner the Queen of England ever sat down to." I was afterwards offered the second position at the palace, regretting the first had been filled the day previous.] " I have the pleasure to state that Mr. Samuel Hobbs has dressed my dinners on particular occasions for more than seven years ; and so pleased have I been with the task and execution of his work, that I have recom- mended him to numerous of my friends, who have always expressed their great satisfaction.^ I never saw a cook superior to him, and seldom one his equal." " (Signed) Sir E. Tennent." From W. H. Herbert, Kensington. " This season I had some particular orders for dinners at Kensington Palace, where many of the Royal Family were to be guests. I engaged Mr. Samuel Hobbs to dress the same, and with pleasure I certify he pleased them much ; he subsequently did other work for me better than I had ever seen done by any other man cook." Note. — One of these dinners was given in honour of the Queen of the Netherlands, and was for thirty-six persons, and eleven Princes were among the number. " Lord Rbndlbsham has great pleasure in testifying to the excellent cooking of Mr. S. Hobbs, who has been at his house for the past month." " Mr. Hobbs— I shall have very great pleasure, and Si') I am sure will Sir Shafton Adair, and every member of the late General Meade's family, to speak and write most highly in your favour. During the time I resided in Lowndes Square, you dressed many a very good dinner for me, and always gave the highest satis/action. I shall ever be pleased to recommend you. A letter addressed here will always find me." " (Signed) Sir David T. Conyncham." 6d. u CHEAP AND CHOICE Ji Cookery for Small Families with Small Incomes. Little Reliihine Diihet ccmbining Excellence with Economy. By Mrs. H. P. Whitcombb. In small families of the middle and working classes, it is essential to have a book of reference showing various ways in which cold meat, &c., can be re-dished. Thislitt'e workwill answer the required purpose, for, by adopting the receipts in "Cheap and Choice" it will be clearly proved that really digestible and appetising dishes can b« served at a trifling cost. Prict 6d. to Po/ular Edition, Price Ont Shilling, Crown Zvo., about jm Pagtt. ~/utt Rtady. With a Show Through Southern Afirica And Personal Reminiscences of the 'I'ransvaal War, By Charles Du Val, late of the Carbineen, Attach^ ta the Staff of Garrison Commander, and Editor of the '' Ntws 0/ the CaM> during the luveiitment of Pretucia; With Numerous Illustrations. % ^M^ikm^-^.u.Y:ms^.:.i _. , Handtomely bound {with photo-portrait 0/ " SA VE, as a Baby," on Jront cover), and richly illustrated with 18 page-cuts of Champion Dog^, and ^8 smaller ones, price 6s. 6d., post free js.. By Dr. Gordon Stables, author of " Ladies' Dogs" and many works on Domestic Animals. Third Edition in less than 8 Months. contains, in one handsome volume, all that is known about every breed of Dog in the World, their show points and properties, their uses and peculiarities. It is thus a complete and systematic guide to the breeder ; and to all who wish success on the show benches, it must be found invaluable. It gives a complete digest of the various Diseases that Dogs are liable to suffer froi;;, and plain advice for their treatment. The information regarding kennelling comforts, grooming, feeding, and preparing for the show benches is the most perfect tver ^Hted, and the result of the author's wide and extended experience. An important chapter on the Rearing of the Puppy and the Treatment of the Dam. All information about Dog Clubs is giveHfivith the rules, and the Points of the Breeds as laid doii-n by them» For the guidance of those who keep Dogs for exhibition, for profit, or the honour of showing them, the most approved methods of bringing them to the show benches are explained ; also valuable hints about buying and sel ! .; . No Breeder or Exbititor, if be wishes for Buccess. should be without this useftai v me m to k i8 haw ler; iielr the nost )Ci w . «ir»> il^w>i t. *