UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES


 
 'OUT LEAPED ROGUE.
 
 THE 
 
 YOUNG MOOSE HUNTERS. 
 
 A BACKWOODS-BOY'S STORY. 
 
 I1Y 
 
 C. A. STEPHENS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "KNOCKABOUT CLUB IN THE WOODS," "KNOCKABOUT 
 CLUB ALONG SHORE," " CAMPING-OUT STORIES," ETC. 
 
 FULLY ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 ' BOSTON: 
 ESTES AND LAURIAT, 
 
 299-305 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 1882.
 
 Copyright, 18S2, 
 BY C. A. STEVENS.
 
 rzv 
 
 r 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. i. THREE TEN CENT "SCRIPT," &c 7 
 
 " 2. OFF FOR THE LAKES, &c 14 
 
 " 3. OUR NIGHT IN THE "NOTCH," &c 24 
 
 " 4. STARTING UP THE UMBAGOG, &c. . . . 32 
 
 " 5. AN EARLY BREAKFAST, &c 41 
 
 " 6. A CROOKED RIVER, &c. ...*.. 48 
 
 " 7. A DESOLATE DWELLING, &c 60 
 
 " 8. FARR LABORS AT KEEL-HAULING, &c. ... 68 
 
 " 9. No DINNER. THE FIR FOREST, &c. ... 79 
 
 " 10. IN JOLLY SPIRITS, &c. 87 
 
 " n. "ON TO PARMACHENEE," &c. 99 
 
 " 12. A TOUGH DAY'S WORK, &c 109 
 
 " 13. WE FINISH SACKING SUPPLIES, &c 116 
 
 " 14. TRAPPING IN EARNEST, &c 127 
 
 " 15. WH HIDE OUR FUR, &c 138 
 
 " 16. FARR SMELLS SMOKE, &c 149 
 
 " 17. WATCHING FOR DEER, &c 155 
 
 " 18. WE TAKE UP OUR BEAVER TRAPS, &c. . . .163 
 
 " 19. A NIGHT LONG TO BE REMEMBERED, &c. . . 168 
 
 " 20. A GLOOMY PROSPECT, &c 178 
 
 " 21. A POOR CAMP FIRE, &c .185
 
 4 CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 CHAP. 22. A TRIP TO BOSE-BUCK COVE, &c 188 
 
 " 23. THE LITTLE RIFLE GONE, &c 199 
 
 " 24. OUR NIGHT WATCHES, &c. 206 
 
 " 25. MOOSE STEAKS, &c 220 
 
 " 26. A Muss. THOSE TEA GROUNDS, &c. . . . 229 
 
 " 27. AN INDIAN SUMMER, &c 236 
 
 " 28. FRED LAID UP, &c 250 
 
 " 29. THE HUNGRY MAN AGAIN, &c 264 
 
 " 30. A HEAVY SNOW-STORM, &c 273 
 
 " 31. FEARS FOR THE FISH-BOX, &c. . . . .281
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 OUT LEAPED ROGUE Frontispiece 
 
 "THE YOUNG MOOSE HUNTERS" , n 
 
 SCREW-AUGUR FALLS 19 
 
 THE SLEEPING SENTINEL 24 
 
 LAKE UMBAGOG 32 
 
 " Now FOR IT ! OVER WITH YOU ! " 35 
 
 IT MADE A TREMENDOUS REPORT 46 
 
 IT WAS THE CHIMNEY 64 
 
 THE CARRY 74 
 
 "Hi! Hi! Hi!" 90 
 
 WE WALKED STEADILY UP IOI 
 
 CARRYING THE BATTEAU no 
 
 PARMACHENEE LAKE 119 
 
 THE MARTIN IN THE TRAP 136 
 
 HAULING THE MOOSE DOWN THE BROOK 148 
 
 FARR'S "CHANCE SHOT" 158 
 
 " LOOK OUT ! HE MAY MAKE A DIVE AT us ! " . . . 165 
 
 "AFYARSTAR!" . 169 
 
 SCOTT'S BIRCH-BARK JACKET 181
 
 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " HALT, THERE !" 195 
 
 FRED AIMED AT THE BACK OF THE MOOSE'S HEAD . 216 
 
 IN TIME TO SEE FARR DIVE IN AT THE " SHEEP-HOLE " 226 
 
 " UNDER THE TREE HERE " 232 
 
 " FELLOWS, I 'VE BEEN MORE THAN Two HUNDRED 
 
 MILES!" 243 
 
 PUNCHED OUT 252 
 
 " MOON TYKES" 268 
 
 A SPOTTED TROUT 274 
 
 , IT CAME OUT QUIVERING AND STRUGGLING .... 277 
 
 EN ROUTE FOR HOME 283
 
 MOOSE-HUNTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Three Ten-cent Scrips. The Lexicon. Latin and Poverty. Seb"- 
 made Men. "Something Must be Done!" Sixty Lines ti 
 Virgil. The Logging Swamp. Fred BartietL Parmacheaee 
 Lake. A Trapping Scheme. Moose, Deer, and Trout. Prep- 
 aration. The Little Rifle. 
 
 MY chum took out three greasy, tattered ten-cent 
 "scrips." 
 
 "My whole pile!" said he, smoothing them out on the 
 bare table-leaf. "All I've got in the world, and this I owe 
 you, old fellow." And the writer of this narrative, dejectedly 
 watching him from the other side of the table, was not in a 
 condition to deny the debt. 
 
 " No matter about it this morning, Scott," I said, with a 
 sense of magnanimity. " I've got twenty-five cents left, yet. 
 Besides, the Lexicon is mine, you know." 
 
 "Yes," said Scott, brightening a little; "that's good for 
 two dollars, any day." 
 
 Then we mused.
 
 8 THREE TEN-CENT SCRIPS. 
 
 A glance at us there, in our forlorn little room, would 
 have told the reader what we were ; a couple of impover- 
 ished youngsters students for the time being at the 
 village academy working every way to wrest an educa- 
 tion from Poverty's grim hands. 
 
 Ah ! those impecunious, starveling school-days of ours ! 
 Thanks to Providence, and the steady revolution of the 
 earth, they are gone, forever, I hope. For one, I have 
 no desire to get them back. 
 
 America, meaning the United States, is a great 
 country for self-made men, so called. Our people rather 
 dote on that sort of man. It is a nice topic to fire the 
 juvenile mind with, this being a self-made man. When 
 the average poor boy comes to try for it, he is apt to find 
 it a stern task. 
 
 To fight his way against every thing, even hunger itself, 
 is doubtless an indication of pluck, yet is it any thing save 
 a pleasant pastime for the luckless youth who gives the 
 indication. 
 
 That little upstairs room, with its one window, bare 
 floor and rusty stove ; its two crippled chairs and starved 
 little cupboard, that rarely could show more than half a 
 dry loaf of wheat bread and a pint jug of molasses ; its 
 unpainted, uncovered table, on which lay half a dozen 
 second-hand text-books of Virgil, Caesar, Xenophon, 
 all intimately associated with a certain void within the 
 waistband : well, it is not quite an enjoyable recollection, 
 though a very vivid one. Those were times that tired
 
 LATIN AND POVERTY. 9 
 
 not only our souls, but our stomachs as well. And with 
 youngsters of fifteen or thereabouts the stomach pleads 
 strongly. 
 
 To offset all these mortifications of the flesh, we had 
 before us the grand design of fitting for college, beyond 
 which lay the great glowing future, shining with profes- 
 sional honors, and the bright aureole of fame. 
 
 How many young Americans does ambition thus spur 
 to a long and sometimes fruitless struggle for higher and 
 better things ! Every college in the land is strongly rep- 
 resented by those who could have well understood our 
 case that morning; though I honestly hope there are few 
 who were ever quite so badly off. 
 
 Presently the academy bell rang, and we hurried off to 
 recite our sixty lines of Virgil. 
 
 But the grave and pressing questions of finance that 
 had obtruded themselves so imperatively upon our atten- 
 tion, soon recurred ; they were not to be put off. Rather 
 they had been put off till the last moment already. 
 
 " Something must be done," said Scott. " Right off, 
 too. Here we are only fifty-five cents and that Lexi- 
 con." 
 
 The Latin Lexicon (Andrews and Stoddards') I had 
 bought at the opening of the term ; five precious hard- 
 earned dollars had gone for it: five of the twenty-seven in 
 my pocket on the last day of August, earned at sweaty toil 
 1 haying ' by the day. 
 
 " I suppose I can get a school to teach, up in Newry,
 
 10 THE LOGGING SWAMP. 
 
 this winter," Scott observed, at length. " I have partly 
 had the promise of it. But the pay is only seventeen dol- 
 lars a month, and it is but for seven weeks. That would 
 not be worth waiting for." 
 
 For my own part, I had not even this resource in view. 
 The most of School Committees would have deemed us too 
 young for pedagogues; and so we were. 
 
 Nor was it of any use to go home a few miles out of 
 the village. Our folks were not able to assist us. In- 
 deed, if any assisting were done, it must come from us to 
 them. 
 
 " We shall have to shoulder our axes and go into the 
 logging-swamp," I exclaimed, at last. " No other way. 
 Twenty-five dollars a month and board. It's hard and it's 
 low ; but there's nothing else for us." 
 
 "And live in an old lousy shanty all winter long, with 
 a crew of profane, drunken, tobacco-chewing fellows ! " 
 groaned Scott. " Such company degrades one. We 
 should come out next spring rough as files, ourselves. I 
 don't like it ! " 
 
 No more did I ; yet we must do something. Scott ad- 
 mitted that there was no other way in which we could 
 earn so much ; but he shrank from the companionship of 
 loggers. Before the war, when his father was alive, Scott's 
 family had been in better circumstances. I call him Scott 
 from long habit; his name was Henry Scott Whitman. 
 
 All that day we were in perplexity, and studied but idly 
 The question of the morning pre-occupied us.
 
 THE YOUNG MOOSE HUNTERS.
 
 PARMACHENEE LAKE. II 
 
 "Let's go over and talk with Fred," Scott proposed 
 that evening. 
 
 Fred Bartlett was a classmate and kindred spirit, in like 
 circumstances : that is to say, he had nothing save what 
 his own hands got for him. Fred was seventeen. His 
 home was in Andover, Me. (one of the northern towns of 
 Oxford County). This was his second term at our acad- 
 emy. He had worked at river-driving, in the logging- 
 swamps, and during the previous summer had been a 
 guide to parties from the city camping-out about the 
 Umbagog Lakes. A downright good fellow was Fred, 
 wiry and tough as a rat, and full of a rough worldly wis- 
 dom, born of hard knocks. 
 
 We knew him to be nearly out of funds, and on the verge 
 of some expedient for raising more. 
 
 So we went over to talk with Fred. 
 
 "What are you going into this fall?" Scott asked, after 
 some preliminary conversation. 
 
 "Well," said Fred, "I have about concluded to start up 
 the Magalloway for Parmachenee Lake." 
 
 "What doing?" we asked. 
 
 " Trapping ; and I shall hunt some." 
 
 " Ever up there ? " Scott inquired. 
 
 " No ; but I've heard all about it. Good place. I calcu- 
 late I'm sure of a hundred dollars there." 
 
 "You do ! " we exclaimed. 
 
 " I do," said Fred, confidently. 
 
 "And then," he added, after a pause, "if I don't find
 
 12 MOOSE, DEER, AND TROUT. 
 
 mink and otter, why, I'll dig a big pack of spruce gum : that 
 sells well, now." 
 
 " Going alone ? " I asked. 
 
 " Well, I've nobody engaged for certain." 
 
 " But what will you live on up there ? " Scott demanded. 
 "What will you do for grub to eat? " 
 
 "Oh, I'll find enough to eat. I shall take along some 
 flour and meat. Then there are plenty of deer and moose 
 and trout up there. I'll live like a king, I tell you." 
 
 Then we talked of other matters. 
 
 At last, as we were going out, Scott said, " I suppose you 
 wouldn't care to take us along with you, Fred ? " 
 
 Fred reflected a moment ; then he said that he should like 
 to have us go well enough, if we would like to go. 
 
 Yet we presumed he did not care much for our company ; 
 in fact, Scott had asked him more in jest than in earnest. 
 
 The next morning, however, Fred asked us if we thought 
 of going, and gave us a more cordial invitation. 
 
 Then we began to consider the matter more seriously, 
 and, indeed, talked of little else between ourselves for the 
 next two days. It seemed a wild project, yet in want of 
 any thing else to do we were much disposed to try it ; and 
 at length we told Fred definitely that we should go. 
 
 On that, he set the day for us to meet him at Upton, at 
 the foot of Lake Umbagog, and at once started for home to 
 get ready. 
 
 Being now fairly in for the expedition, we began to make 
 our own arrangements.
 
 PREPARATION. 13 
 
 We settled the rent of our bare room for the week 
 forty cents. 
 
 We sold the Lexicon for two dollars and a half; also a 
 Common. School Arithmetic (Greenleafs) , a Smythe's Alge- 
 bra and a Cooper's Virgil for three dollars more. (It was 
 no uncommon thing with us in those days to dispose of our 
 books at ruinous discounts toward the end of a term.) 
 
 I swapped my best (tweed) coat at the store for two old 
 army blankets. 
 
 Scott made a similar exchange for two rubber blankets. 
 
 It got out that we were going moose hunting ! Everybody 
 poohed at us; and our friends croaked dismally, but in 
 vain. 
 
 We bought ammunition, sparingly. Scott had an old 
 double-barrelled gun that had been his father's ; and a young 
 sporting man in the village whose name I will not need- 
 lessly drag into this Iliad of our fortunes loaned us, by 
 his own offer, a little breach-loading rifle, the skeleton stock 
 of which could be taken off when desired. It was of the 
 pattern popularly known as "The Hunter's Pet." And with 
 it he let us take two boxes of metallic cartridges. This was 
 a windfall, indeed. 
 
 Another friend in need gave Scott a pair of rubber boots. 
 Vainly I wished for a similar friend. 
 
 By Saturday night of that week we had completed our 
 slender outfit. We were to meet Fred at Upton Monday 
 night or Tuesday morning of the following week.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Off for the Lakes. A Ten-mile Walk. A Short Ride by RaiL 
 Bethel. $2.50 to Upton. "Frogging it" The Androscoggin. 
 Heavy Packs. Bear River Tavern. Wild Scenery. Screw 
 Auger Falls. " The Jail." Grafcon Notch. Our Night Camp. 
 
 WE started at six o'clock Monday morning, October 
 3rd, and walked ten miles to " Locke's," a station 
 on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Our packs were heavy : but 
 we were fresh then, and full of vim, to quote from our late 
 Latin exercises. Bethel was the next point to make, dis- 
 tant five miles ; and as it is on the railroad, we concluded to 
 indulge ourselves in the luxury of a twenty-five-cent ride, by 
 way of saving up our strength. 
 
 The Canada express train whistled in, ten minutes after, 
 and was signalled to stop for our benefit, Locke's not 
 being one of its advertised stations. We took passage for 
 Bethel with our packs and guns, where we arrived fifteen 
 minutes later. From the depot we caught sight of the high 
 wooded mountains of the northern lake region, looming up 
 grandly across the Androscoggin valley. Adown their long 
 slopes rested the soft autumn haze ; and the rich tints of the 
 foliage gave to the whole country a warm, dreamy look,
 
 OFF FOR THE LAKES. . 15 
 
 which I recall with a sense of enjoyment, though our minds 
 were intent on more practical matters. 
 
 Our next point was Upton, on Lake Umbagog, distant 
 twenty-six miles, where we were to meet Fred with his boat. 
 From Bethel to Upton there is a stage twice a week. This 
 much we had learned and had come on the right day for it. 
 We had thought the fare would not be more than fifty cents 
 apiece, and were prepared to give that. Judge, then, of our 
 dismay when we were told that the charge was two dollars 
 and ffty cents per head ! This announcement struck us 
 speechless. We drew back into the depot to take counsel of 
 each other. Meanwhile the stage drove off. 
 
 "Well, let it go!" exclaimed Scott, gazing evilly after 
 the departing vehicle. "We never could have afforded it. 
 Two dollars and a half ! Only think of it ! " 
 
 "But what shall we do?" said I, with a despairing 
 glance at our heavy packs. 
 
 " Do ! why, we've got old Shank's mare left us ! " ex- 
 claimed my stout-hearted comrade. "If a fellow hasn't 
 money, he must frog it, that's all." 
 
 But to frog it twenty-six miles and carry a pack of thirty- 
 five pounds and a gun, is a severe experience for most 
 boys of sixteen. There was now no help for it, however. 
 We summoned up our resolution, but first sat down on 
 the wooden settle in the depot and ate a substantial 
 lunch of the crackers and cheese we had taken along 
 with us from home that morning; thereby lightening our 
 packs a little and stowing the weight where it could be 
 more comfortably carried.
 
 1 6 A TEN-MILE WALK. 
 
 This done we slung the packs across our backs, and 
 taking our guns in our hands, set off. It was rather 
 warm. By the time we had crossed the long covered 
 bridge over the Androscoggin, we were in a lively per- 
 spiration, and drew up to take a " rest " in the shade of 
 the farther end of it. There had been a heavy rain a 
 few days previously. The river was high and had only 
 the day before flooded the road at both ends of the 
 bridge, which is elevated high above the stream to with- 
 stand the tremendous spring freshets. The Androscoggin 
 is the outlet of all those northern lakes toward which we 
 had now set our faces. At this place it is near two hun- 
 dred yards in width, with a swift, black, arrowy current 
 surging against the strong granite piers. In seasons of 
 drouth, however, the Androscoggin can sometimes be 
 forded. 
 
 It is a pieasant road beyond the bridge. Many well- 
 to-do farmers live along the intervals. Their residences 
 evince good taste and considerable wealth. The hills 
 and slopes, on the west and north of these farms, abound 
 wkh sugar maples. And all these were now in their 
 autumn glories of red and gold. The folks were getting 
 in their corn, load after load of dry shocks ; and as we 
 trudged on, we caught many a glimpse of cosy husking- 
 parties merry boys and rosy girls through the open 
 barn doors. 
 
 Steeling our hearts against these alluring pictures, we 
 huiried forward, crossed the bridge over Sunday River, a
 
 THE ANDROSCOGGIN. 17 
 
 tributary of the Androscoggin, and a little later the Bear 
 River bridge, and entered the town of Newry a region 
 chiefly noted for its snow squalls, which are said to begin 
 early in September. 
 
 The scenery had grown wilder. The mountains seem 
 nearer, higher and more rugged. The road leads up the 
 narrow valley of Bear River. 
 
 But I must not omit a little incident which associated 
 Bear River bridge with that day's tramp. Just across the 
 stream, and at the very entrance to the covered bridge, 
 there is a little weather-beaten tavern that has evidently 
 seen all of its best days and the most of its worst ones. 
 Every thing about it bespoke neglect, decay and shiftless- 
 ness. Our packs oppressed us ; and we sat down on the 
 steps of the tavern to take breath. Presently the land- 
 lord came out. He was a rather fat jug-shaped man of 
 sixty, or rising; he smelled of liquor and was evidently 
 well-soaked with it. Yet in the corner of his light gray 
 eye there dwelt a gleam of good-humor, a lingering gleam, 
 that even the blight of alcohol could not quite kill out. 
 He addressed us cheerily, and it took not many explana- 
 tions on our part to make him fully understand our case 
 and the hardships before us. And he did not discourage 
 us as everybody else had done. He chuckled and told 
 us to "keep a stiff upper lip." 
 
 " Oh, you'll sup sorrow and rue the day you started, a 
 good many times, I'll warrant ye," he chirped. "But if 
 you stick and hang you'll bring back a clever pack o* 
 furs, like 's not."
 
 1 8 BEAR RIVER TAVERN. 
 
 Then he limped back into the tavern and soon came 
 out with a pewter pitcher. 
 
 "Take a swig o' this," said he. "It'll wash the dust 
 out o' yer throats. Oh, it's nothing but cider ! " he ex- 
 claimed, seeing us draw back a little. " Nothing but 
 elderberry cider. I don't keep any thing stronger. Law 
 won't let me. 'Twon't hurt ye." 
 
 We first tasted it, then took a few swallows. It was a 
 very pleasant drink: sweet elderberry juice sweetened and 
 lightly fermented ; not so thick and strong as elderberry 
 wine, nor yet so smart as apple cider. I suppose the old 
 fellow thought it was the best thing he could offer us ; 
 and I am not sure whether it injured our morale as Good 
 Templars or not. We thanked him and shouldered our 
 packs. 
 
 " Call when you come back along if you come this way, 
 and let me know how you've made it," was his parting 
 salutation to us. 
 
 " Well, all old drunkards are not monsters ; and I sup- 
 pose that most everybody has some good in them, some- 
 where," Scott remarked as we walked on. 
 
 Consider it as I will, I never can feel any thing but a 
 kindly sympathy for the old soaker who keeps the Bear 
 River tavern : so powerful is a kind word when a boy is 
 tired and half discouraged. 
 
 We went on up the valley. Off to the west towered the 
 " Sunday River Whitecap ; " to the east rose the " Great 
 Ledge," a bare, rough peak, cone-shaped and of great
 
 SCREW AUGUR FALLS.
 
 WILD SCENERY. 19 
 
 height. The river is here a mere torrent, broken by fre- 
 quent falls, and rushing along a bed full of boulders and 
 ledges. The road in many places was half washed away 
 by the recent flood ; and high up amid the alder branches 
 were lodged grass and leaves, showing to what a height 
 the stream had risen. Often after heavy rains the stage 
 cannot get up for the water ; there is no stream in New 
 England more subject to great and marvellously rapid 
 rise. 
 
 Still wilder and narrower grew the valley. The dark 
 green twin peaks of Mt. Saddleback were directly ahead 
 of us ; while the loftier side of Speckled Mountain shut us 
 in on the west. A single narrow gorge opened before us. 
 
 "This must be 'Grafton Notch,'" said Scott; and so it 
 proved. 
 
 There are few localities in New England that for wild 
 scenery can compare with this famous " Notch," through 
 which Bear River foams and roars to its own confused 
 and hollow echoes. 
 
 About a mile farther up the gorge we came to a very 
 singular cataract, or rather canon, called " Screw Auger 
 Falls." It was but a few yards from the road ; and we 
 laid down our packs to examine it. An extensive granite 
 ledge fills the whole bottom of the gorge ; and through 
 this the stream has worn a mighty auger-shaped channel, 
 which is of itself a curiosity well worth a visit. This 
 miniature canon is about a hundred feet in length, and 
 so narrow that at some points one can leap across it ;
 
 20 SCREW-AUGER FALLS. 
 
 while its depth toward the lower end cannot be less than 
 sixty or seventy feet : a chasm grooved out by the rush- 
 ing waters, and smooth as if polished with sand-paper. 
 Its vast spirals probably suggested the name of Screw- 
 Auger. 
 
 Its sides disclose some remarkable veins of white quartz, 
 with which there seems to be intermingled other minerals, 
 which we had not the time to examine ; but which we con- 
 fidentially recommend to mineralogists as well worth their 
 notice. 
 
 As an example of the wearing power of running \\fater. 
 these falls are indeed remarkable. 
 
 " There's a good ten thousand years' work ! " exclaimed 
 Scott, peeping cautiously down the chasm. " The water 
 didn't wear this hole in one century, nor five ! " 
 
 It was now four o'clock, and the sun had already gone 
 behind the great mountain on the other side of the stream. 
 There is a little shed on the side of the road opposite the 
 falls, where teams have been hitched up to rest. 
 
 " We might put up here for the night," Scott suggested. 
 
 But we concluded to go on. 
 
 A little way beyond the falls another curiosity drew our 
 attention. On the very verge of the road, though half 
 hidden by the shrubbery, there is a semi-circular abyss 
 known locally as " The Jail," from the fact that there is 
 but one way into it, which, if secured, might make it possi- 
 ble to use it as a place of confinement. The sides are 
 smooth and of great height. It would be quite impossible to
 
 "THE JAIL." 21 
 
 climb out. Formerly the river ran through it for many ages, 
 till it wore this great cavity. But an earthquake, or perhaps 
 its own wearing waters, have now given it a new channel 
 some rods to the westward. 
 
 After a peep at the Jail, we went on again for a mile or 
 more, till coming to where some belated wanderers, like our- 
 selves, perhaps, had made a little bark shed near the road, 
 we decided to camp for the night. The shed had not been 
 used of late ; but the old shake-down of hemlock boughs lay 
 just as its former occupants had left it. It felt dry, and to 
 our tired bodies, looked inviting. Near by stood the flayed 
 hemlocks, from whose trunks the bark had been stripped to 
 furnish the roof of the shed. While I unpacked the blankets, 
 and counted out five crackers apiece for our supper, Scott 
 gathered sticks and pulled bark from a neighboring white 
 birch. Three smutty stones and several old brands marked 
 the place wheYe our predecessors had built their fire. We 
 followed their example, and soon had a crackling blaze. Ah ! 
 what so cheery, when twilight and the wilderness are about 
 one, as the red gleam and cheerful snapping of a camp fire ! 
 Blessings on the man who struck the first spark of fire, be 
 he Prometheus or ugly old Vulcan 1 
 
 In the light of our fire, which gleamed brighter as dusk fell, 
 we ate our crackers and cheese, then gathered, ere darkness 
 closed in, several armfuls of wood, to last through the night. 
 The stars came out. The night was clear, with the sugges- 
 tion of a frost. A very small new moon showed itself for a 
 few minutes on the wooded crest of the mountain, then went
 
 22 GRAFTON NOTCH. 
 
 behind it, leaving it not perceptibly darker. We sat beneath 
 the shed and watched the sparks darting up, and the slower 
 wreath of black smoke rising toward the stars, momentarily 
 clouding their silver sparkle. 
 
 Just then the cry of some animal was heard from the 
 mountain side above us. It was not loud nor startling, but a 
 lonely cry of discontent or hunger. Such sounds impress 
 one strangely in the forest at night. We listened to hear it 
 again, and soon it resounded anew ; rather more distinctly 
 this time, or else it was because we were hearkening with 
 intent ears. 
 
 "Do you know what that is?" Scott asked. 
 
 I could not even guess. It is often very difficult to iden- 
 tify animal cries heard in the woods at night time. The 
 forest echoes change the character of the note. This 
 sounded somewhat like a man shouting rather disconso- 
 lately at a distance. We continued to hear it, at intervals 
 of ten or fifteen minutes. But it did not alarm us much. 
 We gradually grew sleepy. 
 
 " Had we best both go to sleep ? " queried Scott. 
 
 It did not seem just right to do so. 
 
 "Tell you what we will do," said Scott, at length. "You 
 roll up and go to sleep. I'll take the little rifle, and sit 
 leaned back against the side of the shed. I won't go to 
 sleep ; but I can sit and doze till one or two o'clock. Then 
 I will wake you, and you can take your turn at it. It will 
 rest a fellow almost as much to sit so as it would to lie 
 down."
 
 OUR NIGHT CAMP. 33 
 
 I had nothing to urge against this arrangement, and was, 
 in truth, very glad to get the first nap. We had walked, 
 carrying our packs, not less than twenty-four miles that day. 
 So utterly weary had I become, that I wrapped my two 
 blankets about me, and despite the novelty of the situation, 
 was soundly asleep in less than fifteen minutes.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Our Night in the "Notch." A Drowsy Sentinel. Rather Chilly. 
 On Again. " Moose Caves." Still Wilder Scenery. In Sight 
 of the Umbagog. We meet Fred. His Catamount Story. 
 Farrour New Partner. "Spot" Godwin of the Lake House. 
 Our Outfit A Siren of the Lakes. " Canada Plums." 
 
 ~T IT T H ATEVER went on about our camps, and what 
 V V savage eyes may have stared at us lying there 
 as the stars moved westward and set behind the mountain 
 wall, is no part of my story. When I woke it was broad 
 daylight. Indeed, the sun-rays had begun to glint the tree- 
 tops. So profoundly had I been aslaep that it was several 
 seconds before I knew "who I was or where I came 
 from." Scott was half sitting half reclining against one 
 of the stakes that supported the shed,, his head rolled on 
 one shoulder and his mouth open, sound asleep. The 
 little rifle had slid from his grasp, and lay with the dew- 
 drops clinging to the muzzle. The fire had long gone out. 
 It did not even smoke. Outside, the ground and the 
 grass in the road were frosty. I got upon my feet, feeling 
 pretty stiff and not a little chilly. Then I gave my recu- 
 sant comrade a poke, several of them. He started with 
 a great groan of discomfort. It was with difficulty that
 
 THE SLEEPING SENTINEL.
 
 A DROWSY SENTINEL. 25 
 
 he got his neck out of the unnatural position it had held 
 for so many hours. 
 
 " You're a nice fellow to keep guard," I exclaimed. 
 
 Scott winked painfully. 
 
 " I suppose I must have got to sleep ," said he, staring 
 at his legs and at the dewy rifle. 
 
 It looked like it. 
 
 " But why didn't you wake me ? " said he. 
 
 "Why didn't I wake you!" I indignantly repeated. 
 " That's a pretty question for a sentinel to ask ! " 
 
 " Well, as long as we're all right this morning, there's no 
 great harm done," was my comrade's philosophic reflection. 
 
 I was not for letting him off so easily, but contented 
 myself by remarking that this sort of thing must not hap 
 pen again. 
 
 We did not think it worth while to rekindle the fire : it had 
 got so late how late we were uncertain, for Scott had 
 forgotten to wind his watch the night before; it had run 
 down. We had eight crackers left, and the rinds of the 
 cheese. Hastily devouring these refreshments, we took a 
 hearty draught from a little rill which ran across a ledge a 
 few rods away, then rolled up our packs and went on. 
 
 In a few minutes we were in the narrowest part of the 
 Notch; and though we were not at all poetically disposed 
 this morning, yet the grandeur of the scenery compelled 
 us to pause frequently to gaze up at the overhanging cliffs 
 and crags. Bear River, now dwindled to a noisy brook, 
 brawls and murmurs hoarsely along the ravine. The road
 
 26 "MOOSE CAVES." 
 
 crosses the stream as many as six times; the bridges are 
 of logs, covered with hemlock boughs and earth. At one 
 point the road is made along the side of the gorge, which 
 sinks to a great depth below. The only railing beside the 
 wagon track is a log. 
 
 " Shouldn't care to drive a skittish horse here," was 
 Scott's practical observation, as we looked into the abyss 
 beneath. To which I recollect replying that I only wished 
 we had a horse to drive : for the packs were growing fear- 
 fully heavy again. 
 
 Near this place there is another wonderful exhibition of 
 the wear of the water through a ledge. It is known as 
 " Moose Caves," from the circumstance of a wounded 
 moose once taking refuge in the cavern which the stream 
 has worn. Those with whom I have spoken concerning 
 it, say that it is more wonderful than Screw-Auger Falls 
 even. It is at some little distance from the road ; we 
 did not go out to it. 
 
 A mile farther on the road emerges, from the Notch, 
 disclosing a less mountainous country to the northward, 
 heavily wooded with evergreens chiefly. The ground 
 here begins to descend toward the Umbagog. Near by 
 are the headwaters of a stream which, oddly enough, some 
 settler has named Cambridge River. There are clearings 
 along the road. On one of the barn doors we saw a fresh 
 bear skin stretched and nailed to dry. Scott wanted to 
 shoot at it, but was deterred by the suggestion that there 
 mighf be somebody husking in the barn.
 
 WE MEET FRED. 2"J 
 
 We were now in the town of Grafton. 
 
 We followed the " Cambridge " down as we had followed 
 Bear River up, and about one o'clock came in sight of the 
 blue Umbagog, stretching away to the north-west Before 
 us a long hill led down to the white " Lake House," which 
 we espied on the very shore. The sight of it gave us new 
 life. We re-shouldered our packs and hurried down the 
 hill. A hundred rods from the tavern we saw two young 
 fellows and a dog coming to meet us. 
 
 " That's Fred, one of them ! " Scott exclaimed. 
 
 There was no doubt of it, for a moment later that worthy 
 young backwoodsman gave us his ordinary salutation. 
 " Money ! " he shouted, presenting an imaginary revolver. 
 " Hands up ! Drop that rifle ! " 
 
 "You're badly sold this time!" replied Scott. "If 
 money's what you 're after, you've stopped the wrong party." 
 
 That was but a grim joke too true to be pleasant. 
 
 "We will have some money, though, if there is any fur 
 round these lakes ! " cried Fred. " But why in the world 
 didn't you come last night? Looked for you till eight 
 o'clock in the evening. Thought that catamount down in 
 the Notch had got you, sure ! " 
 
 "That what? "said I. 
 
 " Why, that catamount down there ! Haven't you heard 
 about him ? " 
 
 Certainly we had not ! Scott looked rather uneasily at 
 me. Then I told them how we had camped there in the 
 Notch and both slept like logs.
 
 28 FARR OUR NEW COMPANION. 
 
 " Well, well ! " exclaimed Fred, and laughed heartily. 
 " It's a wonder he had not gobbled you up ! Folks don't 
 dare go through there nights, lately." 
 
 " Is that true ? " exclaimed Scott. 
 
 " Honest true. But no matter, as long as he didn't get 
 ye. This long-legged chap here (with a nod toward the 
 stranger youth) is going into partnership with us. His 
 name is Farr, Charles Henry Farr ; and this quadruped 
 is his dog. Come here, Spot ! He isn't worth any thing 
 for small game, but he is good for chewing up panthers, 
 lions, bears, and bug-bears." 
 
 Farr was a rather tall, frank-faced fellow of seventeen 
 or thereabouts. We liked him at sight ; and if the reader 
 does not, it will be our fault, not his. As for Spot, he 
 was an average sized dog, black and white. He appeared 
 remarkably inoffensive, and did not look like a dog ad- 
 dicted to " chewing up " any thing livelier than a crust of 
 bread. 
 
 "We shall not be able to get started up the lake to- 
 day," said Fred. " But let's go to the house. You must 
 be hungry and tired." 
 
 He and Farr seized upon our packs. It was a relief 
 to walk without their weight. 
 
 Landlord Godwin, of the Lake House, is as good a 
 host, at bottom, as lives in that whole region. It takes a 
 day to get fairly acquainted with him. He has a way of 
 hesitating when he speaks that makes a stranger feel a 
 little uncertain for a moment. But when you once come
 
 GODWIN OF THE LAKE HOUSE. 29 
 
 to know him, you know a good fellow, in our humble 
 opinion. His table is a very enjoyable one. (A person is 
 always hungry up there.) That day we dined off the 
 breasts of six partridges: there were other eatables, of 
 course, but the partridges were the attraction for us. 
 Perhaps I am hasty though in saying that the birds were 
 the attraction for all of us. For a certain black-eyed, 
 raven-tressed table-girl took Scott's eyes captive. During 
 our stay there he managed to get up a speaking acquain- 
 tance with her. Afterwards he seemed to be somewhat 
 distressed to learn that this siren of the lakes had a 
 "young man" whom she kept happy company of a 
 Saturday eve : one Llewellyn Moody, a youthful Atlas 
 of the region, with whom it would be advisable to remain 
 on the most civil terms. 
 
 Fred and Farr had brought with them and bought of 
 Godwin all the raw provisions that they deemed neces- 
 sary, together with a complete kit of camping-out 
 utensils. 
 
 (A complete kit of camping-out comfortably embraces 
 more than would at first thought be deemed necessary. 
 We had, I remember, a kettle for making pudding and bak- 
 ing beans ; a kettle for heating water ; a deep frying-pan 
 or spider with a very long handle, three feet, such as 
 can be used over an open fire without burning the hands ; 
 and a large iron baker-sheet for cooking partridge breasts 
 and biscuits. Then there was a coffee-pot and a tea-pot, 
 half a dozen tin plates, as many pint dippers, four tin
 
 30 OUR OUTFIT. 
 
 spoons, with the same number of knives and forks, a 
 hatchet and an axe. There were also two butcher knives 
 for cutting meat, one a sort of bowie knife with a dog's 
 head handle, loaned us by Godwin. Add to these an old 
 japanned tin powder-case for the sugar, a bucket for 
 butter, a tin box for coffee and another for the tea. 
 
 In addition to all this " kitchen ware " were the two 
 rubber blankets and the two wool blankets, and an old 
 "puff," that Farr had brought; also an A tent, seven by 
 seven, i.e., seven feet square on the ground. 
 
 Some of these articles might, perhaps, have been dis- 
 pensed with ; yet the most of them were really necessary. 
 And on account of this amount of necessary luggage it is 
 better for a party whether going for pleasure or other- 
 wise to go as much by water as possible, in a good, 
 roomy boat.) 
 
 An account was kept of every thing bought, so that in 
 the end each could pay his proportionate part of the 
 expenses ; this was what we had agreed upon at the out- 
 set. Fred's boat, in which they had already stowed al) 
 the luggage, lay in the river a few rods from the house. 
 It was a sort of bateau, about twenty-four feet long by 
 four feet in width amidships. Once it had been painted 
 white with a red lapstreak, but hard service and stormy 
 waters had much defaced it. 
 
 Fred had brought with him two dozen of traps, and 
 Farr had a dozen. Of guns we had a great supply, more 
 guns than ammunition, as it turned out. Fred had a
 
 "CANADA PLUMS." 31 
 
 long single-barrelled shot-gun, and Farr had a double- 
 barrelled shot-gun and a Sharpe's army (cavalry) car- 
 bine, one of those clumsy breech-loaders in which the 
 barrel is connected and held to the chamber by an 
 iron strap in front of the trigger guard. In loading, 
 this strap acts as a lever to slide the barrel forward 
 from the chamber, into which it fits rather loosely. The 
 chamber is then filled with powder, and the bullet is 
 thrust into the base of the barrel. The strap is then 
 snapped into position, bringing the barrel with the ball 
 down against the chamber and the powder. A percussion 
 cap is then placed upon a nipple and tube entering the 
 chamber, and the piece is ready for firing. All these 
 weapons besides our own ! 
 
 For provisions Fred had got a sack of flour, some pork, 
 a half bushel of corn meal, a bushel of potatoes, three 
 pounds of coffee, a pound of tea, four pounds of sugar, a 
 quantity of butter, and two papers of Horsford's " Bread 
 Preparation," this last for making warm biscuits. 
 
 In the little garden attached to the Lake House 
 there was a thicket of plum trees ; of the kind called 
 " Canada Plums," similar to pomegranates. To these we 
 helped ourselves liberally ; for they grew in liberal quan- 
 tities. The ground beneath the shrubs was literally red 
 with the plums. Everybody ate all they wanted, and 
 no questions.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Starting up the Umbagog. Somebody's Handkerchief. A Gale on 
 the Lake. Moments of Peril. A Drenching. Birch Island. 
 Fred's Match-box. Tea, Pork and Crackers. Metallic's Is- 
 land. " Old Metallic." Our Camp at " Moll's Rock." Buried 
 Ducks. A Cosy Night. 
 
 AS soon as it was fairly light next morning, we were 
 astir. Breakfast was eaten. Godwin's bill against 
 us was a very light one. He charged us not half the usual 
 hotel rates. It was well he did, or we should have been 
 utterly bankrupted then and there. 
 
 Some minutes before sunrise we went aboard our boat and 
 took our places for the long pull up the lakes. There were 
 two sets of row-locks, with oars to match. Fred took one 
 pair and Farr the other. Spot laid down on Fair's coat be- 
 hind his master. I took the stern seat and steering oar. 
 3cott had the bow seat and a paddle. 
 
 "All ready!" cried Fred, cheerily. "Give way! one- 
 r, r o-three and away we go ! " 
 
 Following the crooked channel of the Cambridge, it is
 
 STARTING UP tME UMBAGOG. 33 
 
 nearly a mile out to the lake proper ; yet when the gates are 
 down at Errol the Umbagog flows bacfc to the very yard 
 fence at Godwin's. The flats were now in part overflowed. 
 The morning had been clear and calm ; but directly after 
 sunrise the wind began to blow from the south-west. By the 
 time we were fairly out of the Cambridge on the lake, there 
 was quite a " sea." 
 
 Fred kept glancing uneasily at the sky. 
 
 "No danger, is there?" said Scott. 
 
 "No danger here," replied Fred. "But if this wind 
 keeps rising, we shall have it rough up toward the Nai- 
 rows ! " 
 
 This prediction rather dampened the jolly spirits in which 
 we had embarked. We grew less talkative, but rowed the 
 harder. A few minutes later we rounded B. Point and 
 saw the whole southern half of the lake before us. Rather 
 rough and windy it looked, too. 
 
 " No white caps, yet ! " said Farr, turning on his seat for 
 a look ahead. " Guess we can go through, Fred." 
 
 " Can't tell that yet," said Fred. " It's a thing you can't 
 count on, this lake. Gets up quicker than Jack-in-a-box 
 if a puff of wind blows. My opinion is, if we want to get 
 through those Narrows this forenoon we have no time to 
 lose." 
 
 On this hint we all began pulling with a will. To avoid 
 the trough of the waves, we kept the boat headed north-west 
 till we were within three-fourths of a mile of the west shore, 
 then turned her squarely to the north-east, with the wind
 
 34 A GALE ON THE LAKE, 
 
 at our backs, and heading straight into the Narrows, four 
 miles distant 
 
 For the first ten minutes we rode as lightly as a duck, and 
 shot ahead rapidly. The boat was not heavily loaded for 
 its size. But soon white caps began to show, and the 
 swells grew larger. The boat began to bounce on them 
 and the spatters to fly. We kept steadily at our work, 
 however, and under our united strength the bateau went 
 about as fast as the waves, though a few big swells combed 
 into the stern, making my seat far from comfortable. 
 
 Ten minutes more and we were within a mile of the 
 Narrows. All about, the waves were running white. The 
 boat was plunging heavily. The spray flew in upon us. 
 The roar of the dashing was so great that we could scarcely 
 hear each others' voices. Spot howled dismally. I confess 
 to being considerably scared. For the wind blew smartly ; 
 and all down through the Narrows the lake was as rough 
 as a cataract. Just then Scott's hat flew off and was dashed 
 out of sight several rods ahead ! 
 
 " Never mind that ! " he shouted. " Let it go ! I've got 
 an old cap in my pack." 
 
 " Steady ! " shouted Fred. " Hold her steady, Farr ! " 
 
 Then he turned for a look. We were bouncing prodig- 
 iously. 
 
 " I fear for her backbone ! " groaned Scott. 
 
 " Take a look, Farr, and tell me what you think of it ! " 
 said Fred, resuming his oars. 
 
 Farr looked.
 
 MOMENTS OF PERIL. 
 
 35 
 
 " Never saw it worse," said he. " I don't know, but I'm 
 afraid it will be too much for her. I should say, go foi 
 Birch Island." 
 
 " Birch Island it is, then ! " exclaimed Fred. " Head 
 her for that island off to the right of us ! " he added to me, 
 pointing to where a clump of white birches and a few 
 
 " NOW FOR IT I OVER WITH YOU ! " 
 
 evergreens seemed to rise out of the waves about a hun- 
 dred rods away. 
 
 I had all I could do to hold the boat steady with the 
 steering oar. The swells threw us about amazingly. 
 There is a strength and friskiness in these fresh water 
 surges that is never felt on the more staid salt water. 
 Those were wild moments. Fred, Farr and Scott were
 
 36 A DRENCHING. 
 
 pulling with might and main. The spray flew over us ; the 
 spatters drenched us. I expected every moment that we 
 should be swamped. And as we drew near the island, our 
 case seemed not much improved. The waves broke against 
 it fiercely. 
 
 " It won't do to let her run on there ! " exclaimed Farr. 
 " It will stave her ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Fred. " But it is not deep water. Sit still 
 and pull till I give the word, then jump out everybody, 
 and ease her ashore." 
 
 " Now for it ! Over with you ! " he shouted, a moment 
 afterwards. 
 
 We leaped out, and carried the boat by main strength 
 high upon the sand. 
 
 It had been a sharp tussle. Never was I so glad to 
 set my foot on firm earth. We were drenched to our 
 skins. The rubber coats and blankets had protected the 
 flour and meal and sugar; but ever}' thing else was 
 soaked and the boat was a third full of water. The wind, 
 piercing our wet clothes, made us shiver despite the exer- 
 tion. As soon as we could secure the boat we ran to the 
 lea of the birch and cedar thicket that occupied the 
 middle of the islet. 
 
 "Let's have a fire and dry ourselves 1" exclaimed 
 Scott "We shall have to stay here till the wind 
 lulls." 
 
 Farr got the axe from the boat and fell to splitting up 
 dry cedar; a rather large cedar (for the island) had blown
 
 TEA, PORK AND CRACKERS. 37 
 
 down some years before and now lay dry and broken 
 among large stones. He soon had a great pile of it 
 split. 
 
 " Who's got a match ? " he cried. 
 
 Scott took out his little tin match-box and opened it, 
 but stopped short with a loud exclamation : 
 
 " Wet ! every one wet as sop ! " and he poured water 
 out of the box! 
 
 Fred laughed. "Let me see if my match-box is as 
 bad off as yours." 
 
 He pulled out a flat bottle tightly corked. 
 
 " This is my match-box," said he. " Takes more than 
 one soaking to wet that inside." 
 
 And his were the only matches that had escaped. 
 
 We soon had a fire going, a rousing one, about which 
 we stood and steamed in the shelter of the thicket. The 
 roar of the agitated lake came to our ears from the wind- 
 ward side of the islet ; but on the lee-side the water was 
 not very rough. Up at the Narrows it looked white and 
 tumultuous ; and against the rocky side of Metallic Island, 
 half a mile above, we could see the surf leap up eight and 
 ten feet, white as milk. I vowed inwardly not to put 
 out on the lake again till the wind went down, if I had 
 to stay there alone two weeks. Farr kept asking us how 
 we should like to be " out there now," pointing toward 
 the weltering Narrows. 
 
 We began to feel like having dinner. Fred brought 
 round the frying-pan and a piece of pork. This was cut
 
 38 METALLIC'S ISLAND. 
 
 into slices, and " sizzled " in the pan. The fat looked 
 very clear and good. At home, neither Scott nor I ate 
 salted pork, or the fat. But when Fred brought round a 
 dozen crackers and Farr had made a pot of strong tea, 
 we felt a good appetite to sit down round the " spider," 
 each with a fork to break and dip pieces of cracker in 
 the fat and sip dippers of sweet tea without milk. We 
 seemed to need the fat after our drenching. 
 
 " I begin to understand how the Esquimaux can drink 
 train oil," remarked Scott. " It's the cold and the rough 
 life they lead that makes it relish." 
 
 The wind continued to blow all through the middle of 
 the day. It always does here, when once it gets started. 
 We began to think we should have to spend the night on 
 the island ; but toward four o'clock, afternoon, it subsided 
 considerably and the swells fell with it. 
 
 " Let's start," said Fred. " We can get as far as Moll's 
 Rock, and have time to camp before dark." 
 
 We bailed out the boat, then got in and pushed off. 
 
 " What's ' Moll's Rock ' ? " inquired Scott. 
 
 "It is a ledge on the west shore about a mile below 
 the outlet," (Androscoggin) Farr explained. ''They call 
 it Moll's Rock from old Mollocket, an Indian squaw, who 
 used to live there. She had a wigwam on the ledge, a 
 little up from the water, for a good many years. It's a 
 pretty place. Old Metallic was her husband, it is said. 
 He was a chief. That is where they get the name of 
 Metallic's Island from him."
 
 OUR CAMP AT MOLL'S ROCK. 39 
 
 From Birch Island to Moll's Rock it is not far from 
 three miles, as I judged. The upper portion of Lake 
 Umbagog the part above the Narrows is by far the 
 most picturesque. All about the northern and western 
 sides there are fine bold peaks, with dense unbroken 
 forests, clothing their slopes to the very shores. The red 
 and gold of the birches and maples was contrasted finely 
 with the black green of the spruce thickets. A pleasanter 
 scene can hardly be imagined than when the bright glow 
 of the setting sun rested warmly on all this autumnal 
 splendor, and on the broad lake, now quiet as a mirror. 
 It seems incredible how soon this tumultuous white- 
 capped expanse sinks to repose when the wind falls! 
 Its calms succeed as rapidly as its bursts of wave-lashed 
 wrath. 
 
 Just as the last rays of sunset were burnishing the 
 waters, we pulled into the little cove to the south of 
 Moll's Rock. This is a favorite camping place for sports- 
 men on these waters. The place was strewn with the 
 debris of broken boxes, tin cans, and, I regret to say, 
 broken bottles. One bit of board nailed to a tree said 
 that " Warren Noyes and party camped here eleven days, 
 from September 2$th, 18 , till October yth;" another, 
 driven into the ground like a headstone, informed the 
 passer that thereunder rested the bodies of one hundred 
 and fifty-six ducks, being the surplus above table use 
 shot by the above party. 
 
 We kindled a fire in a stone fireplace built by formei
 
 40 BURIED DUCKS. 
 
 occupants, and pitched our tent Fred got out the " Hors- 
 ford " and proceeded to knead up a batch of biscuits, 
 using a piece of butter for "shortening." Scott under- 
 took to make tea ; and it was my duty to prepare coals 
 and roast for the party two potatoes apiece and one for 
 Spot. 
 
 While we were thus engaged, a flock of black ducks 
 went whirring over, flying very low. Farr, who was stand- 
 ing by, seized his shot-gun and let both barrels go among 
 them ; and he had the good fortune to wing one of them. 
 It fell into the lake at a hundred yards or less from the 
 shore. Farr immediately pushed off to pick it up. But 
 it swam and dived so expertly that he was obliged to 
 shoot it again with Fred's long-barrelled gun. It was a 
 fine large bird, and would have weighed eight pounds, we 
 thought. Farr dressed it and put it on to parboil for 
 breakfast. Fred cut armful after armful of boughs and 
 made a very comfortable bed inside the tent. On this 
 we spread our rubber blankets and then rolled ourselves 
 up in our wool blankets. The flap of the tent, on the 
 end next the fire, was pinned back to let in the cheerful 
 glow. We lay and talked a long time, planning what 
 we should do when we reached Parmachenee and got 
 into the wild region to the north of it. 
 
 Ah, we little knew what was before us, or how many 
 hardships and perils must be braved before we should see 
 Moll's Rock again. Loons with their plaintive wild 
 voices sang us to sleep.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 An Early Breakfast. A Duck. On the Androscoggin. A Dead 
 Forest We Enter the Magalloway. Flocks Sheldrakes. 
 "Bottle Brook Pond." A Duck Hunt An Exciting Moment. 
 Hundreds of Them ! The Carbine Bursts. A Bursted Fin- 
 ger. Three Ducks. 
 
 ^"^ COTT woke the rest of us sometime before sunrise by 
 k_} firing at a loon sailing near, with the little rifle. It star- 
 tled us rather suddenly ; but it was high time we were up. 
 The fire was rekindled. Fred made fritters (' flippers ' he 
 called them) out of flour, using some of the bread preparation 
 and stirring them thinner than for biscuit. Farr finished 
 cooking his duck. I boiled potatoes ; and Fred made coffee 
 the first we had. 
 
 We hurried things, and had breakfast ready a few minutes 
 after sun-peep. And we ate as speedily as possible, for the 
 wind began to blow a little, rising with the sun. We had a 
 mile and a half to go before getting into the outlet ; and we 
 did not relish the thought of being cooped up there all day 
 again. Twenty-four hours had passed since we left God- 
 win's; and we were still only eight miles above the Lake 
 House. From Upton to the head of Lake Parmachenee it
 
 42 ON THE ANDROSCOGGIN. 
 
 is eighty miles. It would take us ten days to get up there, at 
 our first day's rate. We all chafed under this estimate. 
 
 " But we will do better to-day," said Fred. " The wind 
 can't swamp us on the river." 
 
 "We shall have the current to row against after we get 
 into the Magalloway," suggested Farr ; " and a pretty strong 
 old current, too, after all these rains." 
 
 Persons do not usually perceive the full magnitude of an 
 enterprise until after they have entered upon it ; that was our 
 case, at least. 
 
 Spot had what was left of the duck. We struck our tent 
 and packed up without loss of time. In less than an hour, 
 we were embarking again : and an hour is quick time to get 
 breakfast, eat it, and break camp. They who have tried it 
 will say so. 
 
 Though the wind had risen considerably, we had no trou- 
 ble in crossing to the outlet. Off Reed Point the swells made 
 the boat bounce a little; but immediately on making the 
 Point we were in smooth water and at once pulled into the 
 river. 
 
 The Androscoggin, where it first leaves the lake, is very 
 crooked, winding about through a shrubby, alluvial meadow 
 of its own making. It is not more than fifty or sixty yards 
 wide here on an average, with a sluggish and hardly percep- 
 tible current. 
 
 We passed, hereabouts, what Fred called the headvvorks 
 of a raft of logs, itself a raft, upon which was planted a 
 capstan for pulling the greater raft to which it may be
 
 WE ENTER THE MAGALLOWAY. 43 
 
 attached. It lay high and dry on the bank. About it 
 were scattered heavy levers, capstan-bars and " thorough 
 shots," just as the last gang of drivers had abandoned it. 
 
 Going on, we entered among a heavy growth of maple 
 and elm, dead and half-fallen. 
 
 " The big dam at Errol did it," Fred explained. " Wa- 
 ter rose over the roots and killed the trees." 
 
 From the place where the Androscoggin leaves the lake, 
 to the mouth of the Magalloway it is about two miles 
 The latter comes in at nearly right angles from the north. 
 We reached the forks at half past eight precisely, and at 
 once turned our prow up the stream toward Parma- 
 chenee. Hitherto we had gone with the current. Now 
 we had to breast it. For several miles, however, this 
 current is hardly noticeable. At the confluence, the Magal- 
 loway looks to be as large as the Androscoggin, and is 
 very deep. Ducks rose in flocks ahead of us and went 
 smartly off up stream. 
 
 "This is about as far as I have ever been," Fred 
 remarked. " I have been out here to the mouth of the 
 Magalloway twice, but never any farther. It will be new 
 territory now for the whole of us." 
 
 "Well, all we shall have to do will be to follow the river," 
 said Farr. "The stream leads up to the lake; and we 
 cannot very well lose the stream." 
 
 Flock after flock of sheldrakes rose one after the other. 
 It was agreed that Scott should ship his paddle and sit. in 
 the bow with the guns cocked and ready for them.
 
 14 "BOTTLE BROOK POND." 
 
 The shores were wooded almost exclusively with firs; 
 the stieam was eight and nine rods wide, very dark and 
 seemingly very deep. About half an hour after entering 
 it, we passed a great swamp on the west bank, which the 
 overflowing waters had now changed to a pond. Here 
 at some distance we saw fully fifty black ducks sailing and 
 splashing about. They were too far off to hit with shot. 
 We did not care to turn the boat into the swamp among the 
 many snags and roots. Scott sent a slug from the rifle 
 skipping amongst them, at which twenty-five or thirty rose 
 with a great spattering and whirring of wings. 
 
 Captain Perkins, of the little lake steamer " Diamond," 
 at Upton, had told Fred to be sure to try " Bottle Brook 
 Pond," for ducks, going up ; and he described the place 
 where we should need to land to go to it so well that we 
 had no trouble in recognizing it. It was about three miles 
 above the mouth of the Magalloway. 
 
 The guns were reloaded and plentifully shotted. The 
 secret of shooting well with a shot gun is to put in a good 
 lot of shot. If you put in a whole handful, they will be pretty 
 sure to knock over something. Bottle Brook Pond lies 
 abreast of the river, from which it is separated by a bank not 
 more than ten feet above high water and twelve or fifteen 
 rods in width. But this bank is so densely wooded with firs 
 that no glimpse of the pond is obtained from the stream. 
 The pond itself is of no great extent : eight or ten acres, 
 perhaps. 
 
 Carefully securing our boat to a root in the bank, we
 
 A DUCK HUNT. 45 
 
 landed, guns in hand, and cautiously made our way through 
 the firs. Farr, in order to have all the available shooting 
 power ready, had made an experiment one he will not 
 care to try again, I fancy : he loaded his Sharpe's carbine 
 with shot; pretty heavily, too, it would seem : at any rate, he 
 admitted afterwards that he had put in a "good dose" of 
 shot, and powder enough to a little more than fill the chamber I 
 
 Perkins had predicted rightly. Our first glimpse of the 
 pond through the firs showed it to be alive with both black 
 ducks and sheldrakes. There they were, paddling about, 
 diving, flapping, and spattering the water, with an occasional 
 low quack ! The sight of them so near, made Scott fairly 
 wild with excitement. 
 
 " More than five hundred of them ! " he muttered. " We 
 will have them, sure ! " 
 
 Not daring to disclose ourselves, we crouched under cover 
 of a fallen fir-top, ten or fifteen yards back from the water, 
 amid the shrubbery. We could see them plainly enough ; 
 but they had not espied us. It was fun to watch them at 
 play. They were not more than twenty yards from the shore 
 not a hundred feet from where we lay in ambush. 
 
 They were darting first one way, then another, on the water, 
 but mainly in little groups of three, four and five together. 
 
 " We'll just everlastingly pepper 'em ! " whispered Farr. 
 " Five guns seven barrels. Get good aim now, and when 
 I count three, blaze away 1 Ready, now one two 
 three." 
 
 Whang bang whang! went six barrels.
 
 40 AN EXCITING MOMENT. 
 
 There was a great smoke ! loud quackings of alarm and 
 terror from the pond ! involuntary shouts from the whole of 
 us ! Spot barking loudly ! 
 
 Farr leaped up with the carbine for another shot. Through 
 the smoke we could see the air black with ducks going up 
 
 IT MADE A TREMENDOUS REPORT. 
 
 off the water with a mighty flutter and rumble of wings. Farr 
 aimed into the flock and fired the carbine. It made a tre- 
 mendous report, and I saw him reel backward against a tree. 
 The piece itself jumped out of his hands, as if thrown. Fan 
 recovered his legs, but began to shake his hand.
 
 THREE DUCKS. 47 
 
 " Hurt ye ? " we cried out to him. " Did it burst ? " 
 
 "Oh-h-h ah-h-h ! " moaned the carbiner, dancing about. 
 
 " It it just burst my forefinger ! ! " 
 
 Fred ran to pick up the exploded weapon. The iron strap 
 had burst, throwing the barrel and chamber apart at full 
 stretch ! It was this broken strap that struck his finger, 
 bruising it badly. The tube, too, had spit the powder and 
 spattered his other hand, burning it slightly. 
 
 Leaving him to shake the agonies out of his aching finger, 
 the rest of us turned our attention to the pond. One duck 
 was splashing about close in to the shore ; another lay still on 
 the water a little farther out ; and far over on the other side 
 of the pond we could see still another fluttering near the 
 shore. 
 
 "Three down ! " cried Fred. " Not so very bad, though 
 we might have done better." 
 
 The one near the shore was immediately secured. But we 
 could not reach the other, and tried in vain to make Spot go 
 in after it. No use. All he would do was to put his tail 
 betwixt his legs and slink off : he wasn't a water dog. Finally, 
 by going back to the boat for the hatchet and cutting a very 
 long pole, we contrived to pull in the second one. 
 
 Meanwhile Scott and Fred had gone round the pond after 
 the third duck, which they knocked over with a pole and- 
 secured without much difficulty. Thus closed our first duck- 
 shooting exploit. We were greatly elated except Farr. 
 We had three ducks and a shattered gun and a shattered 
 fiagts.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A Crooked River. The Magalloway Lower Settlement A School 
 Mistress. Two Coy Maidens. The Diamond Forks. Partridge 
 Bluffs. A Hasty Meal. More Ducks. The Game Escapes 
 Swifter Water. " Alder-Grab Rapids." A Sharp Fight with 
 the Current. " Sneaking up." Tired out. A Deserted House. 
 
 r I THE most crooked stream in the world is the Magal- 
 JL loway. There are crooks about which one may pull a 
 boat two miles without getting ahead twenty rods. At one 
 place, which we reached an hour later, the river is " three 
 double" ; so that really we had to row past a given point three 
 times to get by it for good. 
 
 We presently emerged from the fir forest into clearings. 
 Here and there a low, weathered house or barn disclosed 
 itself. This is what is known as the Lower Settlement of 
 Magalloway. It is in the edge of New Hampshire. The 
 district is called, on the map, Wentworth's Location. It is 
 not a town, nor yet a plantation. How the people stand re- 
 lated to the great body politic, generally, I am sure I don't 
 know. But however their political situation may determine, 
 it must be a blessed nice one, for they have no taxes to pay 
 not even poll tax or school tax ; and yet they have a 
 school thanks to the State Treasury ; for we presently passed 
 48
 
 THE MAGALLOWAY LOWER SETTLEMENT. 49 
 
 a house a little up from the bank, where during the noon re- 
 cess fifteen or twenty children were disporting. 
 
 "Too many for one family," commented Fred. "This 
 must be the place where they have their school." 
 
 It looked like that. And there was the schoolmistress (it 
 could be none else) standing in the door. Having a great 
 respect for education, Scott raised his hat to her. She 
 frowned, and being of a dark complexion, the effect was so 
 depressing that we redoubled our efforts and made off without 
 loss of time. 
 
 The clearings and cots are on both sides of the river. 
 There are no bridges. In winter (which means eight 
 months of the year here), the folks cross on the ice. In 
 summer they wade it. In spring and fall and after heavy 
 showers they swim it. 
 
 A little farther up we passed a two-story house with very 
 comfortable out-buildings. There were also two large bateaux 
 moored to the bank. This is "Spencer's," the headquarters of 
 the Berlin Mills (N .H.) Lumbering Company. Here one 
 may spend the night, or a week if desirable, and have good 
 board at two dollars per day. Tourists now and then get up 
 as far as this place. There is fine trout fishing at Escohos 
 falls, five or six miles above this point. 
 
 Shortly after passing Spencer's, we espied two maidens at a 
 place where a cart track led down the bank to the water 
 in wading time. They were waiting and casting wistful looks 
 toward the opposite bank. Evidently they wished to get 
 across. There was no boat. They were very pretty girls
 
 50 THE DIAMOND FORKS. 
 
 from where we were. Fred hailed them politely and asked 
 if they would like to have us set them across in our boat. 
 They regarded us thoughtfully a moment, then precipitately 
 retired into a sweet elder-bush. Modest. But it hurts one's 
 feelings to have well-meant offers received in that way. Again 
 we plied our oars. 
 
 Off to the west Mount Dustin, with dark slopes of spruce, 
 walled in the river valley. Due north the great round white 
 peak of Escohos one of the highest mountains in Maine 
 rises almost to the snow-line. To the north-west the " Dia- 
 mond Peaks " display their brown rectangular crags, disclosing 
 a wild, narrow valley, down which comes the Swift Diamond 
 Stream. The valley resounds to the roar of its cascades. It 
 joins the Magalloway at this place. 
 
 A little above the forks, the Magalloway bends from the 
 base of a high hill covered with poplars and white birches- 
 Here we found a strong current. Fred stopped rowing. 
 
 "Isn't it getting about time for grub?" he demanded. 
 
 " One o'clock," said Scott, looking at his time-keeper. 
 
 " I move we land and get up a dinner," said Farr. 
 
 We all felt that way. The boat was laid alongside the bank 
 and made fast to a birch. We jumped ashore, glad to 
 stretch our legs. They felt badly kinked after sitting so 
 long. 
 
 We had not taken half a dozen steps before a fine birch- 
 partridge flew up to the limb of a poplar. 
 
 "Pass the gun, Farr," said Scott, "the double-birrelled 
 one."
 
 PARTRIDGE BLUFFS. 51 
 
 It was handed to him. He fired. Down dropped the 
 bird. But at the report there flew up another from the 
 ground near by and alighted on one of the lowest limbs of a 
 neighboring fir. There it stood motionless, close up to the 
 trunk. 
 
 Scott discharged the other barrel and secured her. 
 
 The first one was as large a cock partridge as I had ever 
 seen. 
 
 " Looks as if we no need to starve," said Fred. " These 
 ducks and two partridges the first half day on the river." 
 
 Near by were the ruins of an old logging camp : a rude 
 structure, consisting of a frame of stakes and poles covered 
 with broad "shingles " of hemlock bark. It was nearly forty 
 feet long by twenty in breadth. Heavy snows, accumulating 
 on the roof, had broken it in. This furnished us fuel. The 
 dry bark burned readily. Nothing save coal makes a 
 hotter fire than dry hemlock bark. 
 
 Fred set up a " spunhungen " (a pole with one end stuck 
 in the ground and extending out over the fire : an Indian 
 device, hence called by the Indian name), and soon had 
 potatoes boiling and meat sizzling. 
 
 Farr meantime had fallen upon the partridges and was 
 making the feathers fly like a goshawk. Very soon two plump 
 breasts were in the fry-pan, which was filled partially with 
 water. His way of cooking birds was to first parboil them a 
 few minutes, or a few hours, as time permitted, then brown 
 them in the same pan and make a gravy of flour. 
 
 The breast of a partridge is the only part worth eating,
 
 52 MORE DUCKS. 
 
 in my opinion. We came to eat nothing but those white 
 breasts. The remaining parts we threw to Spot, raw. Un- 
 less we were unusually hungry, a breast apiece would be 
 about what we wanted ; and unless we had four birds, it was 
 hardly worth while to have a partridge dinner. 
 
 In twenty-five minutes after Farr began to pick them, he 
 announced them " done ; " and indeed they tasted very well, 
 though Scott pronounced them "a bit too rare." 
 
 We stopped an hour here. Considering the fact that we 
 shot, dressed, and cooked our dinner, it was not a long halt. 
 From the circumstances, we named the place Partridge Bluff. 
 
 Just as we were embarking, a large flock of ducks came 
 humming down the stream. There was a scramble for the 
 guns. Fred fired among them; but they had got a little 
 past. None of them stopped with us. 
 
 The current was more rapid, on turning the bend, beyond 
 the bluff. We had to work steadily to make fair progress 
 against it, two miles an hour. 
 
 A second flock of ducks went up from the water a few 
 rods above the bend. Scott let two barrels go among them. 
 One tumbled back. 
 
 " Good shot ! " we shouted. 
 
 But the wounded duck dived next moment ; and though 
 ive waited and watched five or ten minutes, we saw nothing 
 more of it. Possibly it got entangled in the brush beneath 
 the bank, under water, and being severely wounded, drowned 
 there and never rose. Or it may have swam to some dis- 
 tance, and just raising its head above water under cover of
 
 THE GAME ESCAPES. 53 
 
 some bush or bunch of grass, thus eluded our notice. Old 
 sportsmen tell many stories of the cunning displayed by 
 ducts when too severely wounded to fly off. 
 
 There were occasional clearings and old camps along the 
 banks, where lumbering operations had been previously car- 
 ried on, but no cultivated clearings for a space of six or seven 
 miles above the Lower Settlement. The current for this 
 whole distance is disagreeably strong to a party going up. 
 It was not till toward sunset that we sighted an open field and 
 a barn on the left bank, at the foot of a very dark, steep moun- 
 tain. But long before getting up abreast the building, we 
 struck a current so swift and strong that our former experi- 
 ences of it were at once belittled. The river curved sharply 
 to the right, disclosing a visible incline, down which the water 
 poured with a steady sweep, swift, black and arrowy. Several 
 rocks rose above the surface. About these the divided 
 current foamed and threw up white jets. There was a very 
 perceptible roar. Both banks are rather steep, and densely 
 packed with black alders, rendering it well-nigh impossible to 
 land a line to tow with. At the end of our long day it looked 
 disheartening enough. And yet we did not like the idea of 
 camping below it, and having it before us for next day. 
 
 For as much as ten minutes we hung in the eddy at the 
 foot of the rapid and studied it, how to get up best. Fred 
 thought we had better take the mid-channel, where there wa& 
 ample room between the rocks. We all drew breath, spat o 
 our hands, set our teeth, and at the word from Fred, went at 
 it with a will and under a full head of muscle. The bateau
 
 54 SWIFTER WATER. 
 
 shot out of the eddy, cut into the strong water, and went up, 
 yard after yard, through it, but kept going slower and slowei 
 as we drew toward the top. 
 
 " We're gaining ! " Fred shouted. " We shall do it ! " 
 
 We struck quick and with all our strength. So strong 
 was the impulse and so great the resistance of the current, 
 that the boat settled into it almost at the gun-whales. 
 Still we gained, inch by inch, and were within ten yards of 
 the top ; there we came to a standstill. 
 
 " Harder ! We're not gaining ! " Fred yelled, panting 
 and buckling to his oars. " Harder ! Harder ! " 
 
 " Harder ! Faster ! or we shall go on the rocks ! " 
 
 Every nerve now! But we could not gain. The 
 mighty strength of the current held us stark and stiff. 
 We sprang and struck and surged with might and main. 
 The water rose round us and roared at us or seemed to. 
 It overmatched us. 
 
 " We're losing ! " Fred cried out. 
 
 Inch by inch we lost a yard, then by a strong spurt re- 
 tained it, but could not get a foot higher. Our strength 
 was out of us quite. Farr and Scott both stopped pulling. 
 Instantly we were swept back. An eddy caught the 
 stern. Despite the steering oar, the stern was carried to 
 right. Round came the bow broadside to the stream. In 
 a moment we were end for end, and shot past a great, 
 black slippery stone, within six inches of it. It would 
 have staved our boat like an egg ! A moment more and 
 we were back in the eddy, whence we started, completely 
 winded and spent.
 
 "ALDER-GRAB RAPIDS. 55 
 
 "Oh-h-h! Such a current!" panted Scott. "But 
 wasn't that a close shave ! that rock ! " 
 
 " Touch and a go ! " muttered Fred. " Made my hair 
 stand ! We should have gone out of her in a hurry if we 
 had struck it ! There in that awful current, too ! Seven 
 or eight feet deep there ! " 
 
 We got breath and eased our aching muscles. 
 
 " No use to try it up the middle there again," said Farr. 
 " But we may possibly get up between the rock and the 
 alders, on the left side. One thing I'm going to try a 
 setting-pole instead of the oars this time." 
 
 " A good idea," said Fred. 
 
 We landed a little below and cut a strong ash sapling, 
 which Farr cut off at twelve feet or thereabouts. With 
 this he took my place in the stern, and I took his oars. 
 
 " Now be ready to do your prettiest this time," said 
 Fred. " Keep her going if you can. Don't let her stop 
 and hang in the current. Let's see if we can't go up at 
 the first spurt, and have it done quick. Ready now. 
 Every time I yell "Hi/" every man dip his oar, sharp. 
 Now for it once more ! Hit Hi! Hi!" 
 
 We went at the rapid again with fresh courage. 
 
 "Hi! Hi! Hi!" 
 
 Up we went. Again the boat settled into the water. 
 Farr sent us on with long shoves with his pole. 
 
 " Hi I Hi I Hi! Quicker ! " 
 
 Up, up, yard after yard. We were almost to the crest of 
 the rapid when the bow swerved a foot to left : this side
 
 56 A SHARP FIGHT WITH THE CURRENT. 
 
 was full of cross currents. Scott in the bow put out his 
 whole strength to force it back. So did Fred and myself. 
 Too late ! It turned side to the stream in a twinkling, 
 and went round, nearly pitching Farr out with his pole. 
 Before we could dip our oars or Farr could regain his 
 t balance sufficiently to set the pole, the current swept us 
 among the alders which projected out over the water, a 
 perfect hedge-row of them. They were clogged and laden 
 with dirt, grass, and dry leaves, lodged among them by 
 the recent freshet. Many of the stalks and twigs were 
 dead and dry. We went smash amongst these, brushing 
 off our hats, scratching our hands and faces, and filling 
 our eyes with dirt, and the boat with grass and leaves ! 
 The water was deep six or eight feet clean under the 
 bank. We went round and round, first one end, then the 
 other, smashing through the alders, and brought up with 
 a thump against a fir-trunk that had fallen out into the 
 stream. The current still pushing us sharply, the boat 
 tipped to one side. The water slopped in. We were 
 stranded. Somebody let fly a few rather bad words, as 
 we went through the alders, of which I, for one, felt 
 ashamed afterwards. This swearing over a mishap is a 
 wicked waste of breath, and a very vulgar, foolish 
 waste, to boot. But it was aggravating, as well as peril- 
 ous. 
 
 " Worsted us again ! " muttered Fred, winking the dirt 
 out of his eyes. " Only look at the grass we've shipped. 
 Hay enough for a shake-down."
 
 "SNEAKING UP." 57 
 
 " And alderbrush enough for a camp-fire," add< d Scott. 
 
 Farr was bailing out the water. 
 
 " Well, what are we going to do now ? " he demanded. 
 "Here we are beached." 
 
 " We never can get up this rapid in the world ! " exclaimed 
 Scott, as if fully convinced of it. * 
 
 " I think we might do it next time," said Fred. 
 
 " Oh, we never could ! " cried Scott. " It's too strong for 
 us." 
 
 " It would be about all we could do, any way," Farr ob- 
 served. " But I believe we can sneak up beside these alders." 
 
 "How's that?" I said. 
 
 " Let two of us grab hold of the bushes and pull the boat 
 along, foot by foot, while the others fend off," exclaimed Farr. 
 " I think we can work along up in that way. If we can't do 
 it so, we can't at all." 
 
 "We can but try that," said Fred. "We can't be much 
 worse off." 
 
 Scott and I took each an oar, in order to hold the boat off 
 from the brush as much as possible. Fred and Farr lay hold 
 of the green alder twigs that hung out over the water. First 
 one would pull, then the other ; each being sure not to let 
 go his hold till the other had got a new one. It was slow 
 work, but tolerably sure. We gained foot after foot, and 
 did not lose. It was not a very stylish way, but like many 
 another not particularly stylish method, it succeeded. We 
 got up after a while past the brink of the rapid, into 
 smooth water.
 
 58 TIRED OUT. 
 
 In commemoration of our exploit, we called the place Al- 
 der-Grab Rapids. 
 
 Fifty rods farther on, we came out to cleared fields on both 
 sides of the river ; but a few minutes later, and on rounding 
 a bend, we found ourselves at the foot of another rapid, so 
 much longer and rougher than the one we had but barely 
 conquered, that we immediately gave up the idea of going up 
 it. There was heard, too, the roar of a heavy cataract not 
 far above. 
 
 "That must be Escohos Falls," said Fred, stopping to lis- 
 ten. "We might as well land here. We can't go much 
 farther, anyhow. We shall have to carry round it." 
 
 Accordingly we landed at a place where there was a cart- 
 track leading down to a ford, at low water, and drew up the 
 boat. It was time, too. The sun had set. Only its last rays 
 shone on the bald cap of Mount Escohos, that towered to the 
 east of us. We were tired out. Our hands were badly blis- 
 tered, particularly Scott's. We felt cross. 
 
 We meant to camp on the spot. While Fair and Fred 
 were setting up the tent, however, Scott and myself went to 
 attack an old pine stump for fuel on the hill above, and from 
 that point espied a house about three-fourths of a mile away. 
 It was immediately determined to go to the house and see 
 what could be done there. We had no romantic nonsense 
 about camping out. We much preferred a house when there 
 was one to be reached, and set off at once, following the old 
 cart-road. Fred took his gun. 
 
 There was a barn as well as a house, both enclosed by a
 
 A DESERTED HOUSE. 59 
 
 fence of rails and. logs; altogether a very dilapidated estab- 
 lishment. The house was a sprawling, one-story affair, only 
 partially shingled. There were no curtains to the six-pane 
 windows ; and we found, as we had suspected while yet at 
 some distance, that it was deserted, empty, but neither 
 " swept " nor " garnished." The yard was full of tall thistles, 
 with down blowing about in the wind. The door, hah un- 
 hinged, stood partly agape, and among the thistles not a yard 
 from the log door-step, a partridge began to " quit " at our 
 approach. Fred shot it promptly.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A Desolate Dwelling. We Camp in the Old House. Hay Shake- 
 downs. A Bloody Axe. The House Afire! A Spoiled Sup- 
 per. A fresh " Spread " Another Fire Alarm. The Chimney 
 Afire. Fireworks on a Grand Scale! Some Mysterious Explo- 
 sions! Pour on Water. The Chimney Subsides. We go to 
 Bed on a Hay-mow. 
 
 r I THE house inside was a picture of desolation. Dirt, 
 JL soot, and old bricks lay about in quantities. There 
 were two rooms on the ground floor. One of these had been 
 plastered, but the plaster was half off it and covered the floor. 
 There was a queer odor about the place, the odor of that 
 irregular combination of ingredients known as " gurry." Some 
 ruffian had smashed the chamber stairs with an axe ; (we knew 
 it was with an axe, for there lay the axe, a particularly rusty 
 and ugly one, with blood stains on it) . So we did not at 
 once go up chamber. 
 
 The out-look was not inviting ; no more was the /-look. 
 Nevertheless, we at once decided to camp in the house. 
 
 " But somebody has got to go back to the boat after stuff," 
 Fred remarked. 
 
 Nobody wanted that commission. Tired as we were, it 
 seemed a dreadful job. Each one, even Spot, looked glum.
 
 THE OLD HOUSE. 6l 
 
 " Must be done," Fred argued. 
 
 Everybody looked glummer. [Glummer may or may 
 not be good English.] 
 
 " Draw lots for it, then," urged Fred. 
 
 " That's fair," Scott admitted : generally his luck is won- 
 derful. 
 
 Fred broke four bits off a straw of herdsgrass. 
 
 We drew. 
 
 Greatly to his disgust Scott got the short one. He mut- 
 tered evil things. At that, Fred magnanimously offered to 
 go with him. They set off on a tired trot, charging us to 
 kindle a fire ; for it was already dusk. 
 
 There was a fireplace, but no andirons. Farr remedied 
 this deficit, however, by setting up loose bricks. Fred had 
 left us two matches. We broke up three or four rails from 
 the straggling fence with the bloody axe (I hope it was the 
 blood of nothing nearer man than a yearling), and soon had 
 the deserted hearth aglow. I then started for the barn, to 
 get hay for a bed before it should grow quite dark. 
 
 The old barn-yard was also filled with thistles, only 
 these were bull thistles instead of Canada thistles ; and 
 here I started up two more partridges. I might have shot 
 them as well as not, for they ran a rod or more before 
 flying. 
 
 That's always the way. If you want to see game, leave 
 your gun at home. 
 
 Hearing the gun when Fred shot the first, these two had 
 probably hidden here.
 
 62 THE HOUSE AFIRE. 
 
 Somebody had cut and stored several tons of hay in the 
 barn the previous summer. I helped myself, bringing 
 along as much as I could get in my arms at two loads. 
 It filled the whole back side of the room, and considered 
 as a bed, looked tempting. 
 
 Fred and Scott came back, toiling under the weight of 
 kettle, frying-pan, meat, meal, flour, and potatoes. Fred 
 had also taken along our four woollen blankets. 
 
 Water was then brought from a spring and rill, where 
 an old barrel had been set in days past. While Fred and 
 Scott rested on the hay, Farr and myself got on meat to 
 fry and potatoes to boil, and we were meditating a hasty 
 pudding, when Scott cried, " Hark ! what's that rumbling 
 and roaring ! " 
 
 The old house had got afire up chamber, about the 
 ill-constructed chimney ! Then there was a lively to-do ! 
 
 " Fire ! fire ! " Farr began to roar. 
 
 We had to take the potato-kettle, with all in it, to throw 
 water. It was blazing like mad up through the roof on 
 the outside. Fred got a rail and climbed up by it upon 
 the roof (the eaves were low), and we passed up to him 
 kettleful after kettleful of water. 
 
 He put it out without much difficulty. But that was 
 not the worst of it. On going inside again, we found that 
 the water had run down, well nigh extinguishing the fire 
 in the fireplace, and filling the spider of meat with wet 
 cinders and soot. There was a dismal puddle on the 
 floor, and it had run under the hay, thereby spoiling our 
 bed utterly.
 
 A SPOILED SUPPER. 63 
 
 However, we had faced worse disasters than this. 
 Fred fell to work to reproduce supper. Farr and I 
 mopped up, using the hay, which we threw out and then 
 got a fresh supply from the barn. Scott watched the 
 house. 
 
 These mishaps delayed us so much that it was towards 
 eight o'clock before supper was cooked, including the 
 hasty pudding, which we ate with sugar only ; for Scott 
 was forever preaching against eating so much grease. He 
 thought it highly injurious ; and perhaps it was. It had 
 been long since our noon lunch, and we had labored so 
 smartly, that we were ravenous, and stuffed ourselves so 
 industriously, that together with our fatigue we nearly 
 dropped asleep over the last potato. Scott, however, had 
 been in jeopardy lest the damp floor should give us our 
 death. He roused up and strenuously insisted on a good 
 rousing fire to dry up the moisture. None the rest of us 
 would stir an inch to break up more rails. So he went at 
 it himself, and built what he called a "good rousing-" 
 one, I suppose, for I was already in a drowse. And an- 
 other nice fracas that cost us ! Old Scratch himself was 
 in our luck that night. We were not ten minutes asleep, 
 when another " rumbling and roaring " began. First 
 Fred, then all of us, jumped up, suddenly disturbed by it. 
 
 " House's afire again ! " Fred shouted. 
 
 But it wasn't the house this time ; it was the chimney. 
 The old thing was foul as a blackguard, no doubt. Very 
 likely it had never been burned out and was chock full of 
 soot. Scott's rousing fire had touched it off.
 
 6 4 
 
 THE CHIMNEY AFIRE. 
 
 How it roared ! We sat aghast at it. A big freight 
 train rumbling over a long bridge was all I could 
 think of. Perceiving a mighty illumination outside, we 
 ran out. There was a sight for a dark night ! The place 
 
 'IT WAS THE CHIMNEY. 
 
 was light as day ! A column of fire was going out the top 
 of that old chimney, twenty feet high, if it was an inch ! 
 I never saw any thing like that before. And the air fairly 
 sung in through the old door, it drew so hard. It was
 
 FIREWORKS ON A GRAND SCALE. 65 
 
 clazzlingly bright, and gained strength every minute. The 
 column eveli grew in height. Great red clots of soot flew 
 up like rockets ; and a shower of sparks and cinders was 
 falling. Before we knew it, the old roof was blazing in 
 three or four places. Farr ran for the potato-kettle, and 
 we threw water fast and hard. We soon put out the 
 fire in the shingles. Fred meanwhile had climbed up 
 into the chamber by the ruins of the old stairs, and 
 was calling to bring water at the top of his voice. It had 
 caught all around the chamber floor, and about the roof 
 beneath. Then we worked again. Water in the kettle, 
 in the frying-pan, and in both of Scott's rubber boots, as 
 fast as we could all three run with it ! and Fred up cham- 
 ber dousing it on the fire ! The chamber floor leaked like 
 a thunder shower, and there was a stench of soot so pun- 
 gently powerful that it was like facing a pepper mill to 
 enter the door. 
 
 Fred put out the fire. 
 
 "But this chimney's red hot !" he shouted down' to us. 
 " Hisses like a demon, when the water touches it ! Pass 
 up another ke'ttleful ; I'll stand ready to throw." 
 
 Farr had run to put out another blaze on the outside of 
 the roof ; and Scott and I were hoisting up the kettle to 
 Fred, when there came a report as loud as a gun from 
 near the fireplace ! It was from inside the old brick and 
 stone oven ; and it blew the oven door off its leather 
 hinges clear across the room ! 
 
 Whether there was powder, or any thing of that sort, in 
 5
 
 66 SOME MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSIONS. 
 
 the oven left there, or whether it was gas from the soot 
 that exploded, we could not find out. Fred came down 
 the staircase at a jump. 
 
 " If this old shebang is going to blow up ! " said he, 
 "I'll be getting down. I believe it's haunted, or be- 
 witched I " 
 
 The oven was aglow with soot-coal that had tumbled 
 down the flue ; but we could detect nothing else ; and yet 
 we had hardly turned away before there came a second 
 explosion, that blew the glowing coal out the mouth and 
 all over the room. We did not know what to make of 
 that, never have known. Scientific students, perhaps, 
 can account for it. 
 
 This thing disturbed us worse than all the rest. We 
 kept well out of the range of the oven-mouth after that. 
 
 It went off once or twice afterwards, but not so loud. 
 
 Gradually the pillar of fire from the chimney went 
 down ; though it burned an hour or over in all. If any- 
 body saw it at a distance, it must have been an astonishing 
 spectacle. Once or twice while we were carrying water, I 
 heard the surprised cries of wild animals from the side of 
 Escohos. Poor Spot had retreated out to the water-barrel, 
 where he greeted us each time we came out with imploring 
 wags of his tail ; and once when the thistles in the yard 
 had caught fire, he howled dolorously. 
 
 The flames subsided, but for a long while the inside of 
 the chimney remained in a bright red coal. It shone up 
 into the air ; and the great draught continued to set up
 
 THE CHIMNEY SUBSIDES. 67 
 
 the flue. It had got so hot that we did not dare to leave 
 it, and so sat up and watched it. 
 
 Finally Fred climbed up from the outside and threw a 
 fry-pan of water into it, at the top. This raised a prodig- 
 ious hissing ; and a vast volume of steam flew up. But 
 a few fry-panfuls sensibly cooled it, or at least, blackened 
 it ; for the fierce glow died out. Darkness gathered in. 
 
 The fire place was drenched with water, the hay soaked 
 ten times worse than before ; and the chamber floor 
 dripped like a subterranean cavern. The house was 
 quite unhabitable. 
 
 " Let's go to the barn," said Farr ; " and try that." 
 
 " It's long past midnight," Scott declared. 
 
 We brushed through the bull-thistles, shoved the lean-to 
 door open, and felt our way to the mow. Into ttis we 
 crept, and burying ourselves in the hay, soon dropped 
 asleep. 
 
 Altogether that was an exhausting day.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Farr Labors at Keel-hauling. A Venerable Darn-needle. Mount 
 Escohos. Wilson's Mills. A Big Dog! Mrs. "Spoff." 
 The Escohos "Carry." French Pete. " fferret Jinny!" 
 Three Dollars to Pay. The Half-moon. A Rough and Mud- 
 dy Trail. Slows. Pete's Ruse. " Watch ! " Escohos Falls. 
 A Wild looking Place. Jack Abram's Spruce. Pete Shakes 
 Hands. 
 
 WHEN I unglued my eyes next morning, it was 
 broad day-light out of doors. Farr was sitting 
 dn on end, very busily engaged. I had to look twice be- 
 fore Ifully comprehended the extent and design of his 
 labors, and so would you, reader. 
 
 He was keel-hauling his pants. He had ravelled out 
 about four inches of the leg of one of his knit stockings, and 
 was darning the seat of his pants with the yarn. There 
 was ingenuity and resource ! 
 
 Seeing me awake and attentive, he grinned sardoni- 
 cally. 
 
 " What's the use of legs to stockings ? " said he, with a fine 
 scorn in his tone, " unless you use them for repairs. They 
 do no good. Always getting wet, and then staying wet 
 around your shanks."
 
 FARR LABORS AT KEEL-HAULING. 69 
 
 " But they're handy things to have about one," he added, 
 after a pause filled with long stitches. 
 
 "Wherever did you get that darn-needle ? " I inquired. 
 
 " Oh, that's the one I've always had," replied the repairer. 
 " That's another handy thing to have, a darn-needle \ 
 good for splinters, good for mending, good for picking out 
 the tube of your gun, good for a hundred things. I 
 wouldn't travel without one. Why, a darn-needle's a thing 
 you can fall back on most any time." 
 
 Ah, it was grim business to stir and get up that morning. 
 We were sore, lame, stiff, and felt old all over: we had 
 over-exerted ourselves. Too much exercise is not quite 
 so bad as none at all, however ; it leaves one tougher for 
 next time. 
 
 Scott got up cross and grumbled at every thing, till Farr 
 sung out to him, " Look o' here, you man that fired the 
 chimney, shut up ! " 
 
 Fred, too, was rather quiet that morning, but busied him- 
 self getting breakfast. We built a fire out in the yard ; we 
 had had enough of the house. Our wet blankets we hung 
 on the fence to dry in the brisk morning breeze. 
 
 Fred made another batch of " flippers ; " and those, 
 with coffee, brightened us up a good deal. 
 
 Leaving our kitchen property at the house, we all four 
 set off in the direction of the falls to " prospect " for a 
 team to draw our boat across the carry. There was what 
 the Magallowayans call a road ; though it might have 
 found difficulty in passing as such almost anywhere else.
 
 70 WILSON'S MILLS. 
 
 We followed it confidently. Wilson's Mills were some- 
 'where ahead. 
 
 The path crooked about among spruce and fir thickets. 
 Quite suddenly, we met a dog a monster so big 
 that we all involuntarily shied from him. He was brin- 
 dled and had a mighty pink muzzle and fine surly eyes, 
 out of which he merely threw us a passing glance. Spot 
 cut out into the bushes and made a great circle around 
 him. 
 
 "Heavens! what a dog! " Scott exclaimed, glancing civ- 
 illy back after him. " The biggest dog I ever saw in all 
 my life!" 
 
 " Brought up on bear's meat," Farr suggested. 
 
 Another turn brought us out in sight of two red houses, 
 three barns and a school-house, the latter so small that at 
 first we took it for a corn-crib. We made for the first red 
 house, and a very comfortable sort of house it was, for the 
 region. A bright-looking little fellow stood in the door- 
 way ; but before we had got quite near enough to accost 
 him, three more dogs rushed out, each larger than the 
 other ; though none of them quite equalled the one we had 
 met. Catching sight of Spot, they made for him, barking 
 and growling like furies. Spot wedged himself betwixt 
 Farr's legs, and having no farther retreat, growled defiance. 
 Fred clubbed his long shot-gun, and whirling it around in 
 a lively manner, knocked the smallest one over, and put 
 the others to flight. 
 
 The little boy looked on dispassionately. I was glad to
 
 "MRS. SPOFF." 71 
 
 see that he appeared to regard it as a proper thing 
 to do. 
 
 Said Scott, "What's your name, my boy? " 
 
 " I'm not your boy," said the child. " I'm papa's boy." 
 
 "Right. What is your papa's name?" 
 
 " His name is Spoff." 
 
 "Yes, and is Mr. Spoff at home ?" 
 
 Something about this prefix of Mr. seemed to strike the 
 boy as not being just right, but he got over it and told us 
 that " Spoff " was gone up the Diamond. 
 
 At this juncture a young woman came to the door. A 
 glance indicated that it was the boy's mother. Scott 
 raised his cap. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mrs. Spoff," said he. " The little boy 
 tells me that Mr. Spoff is not at home." 
 
 A little to our surprise, the lady first smiled, then laughed 
 merrily. 
 
 "Did Frankie tell them papa's name was Spoff?" look- 
 ing with arch reproof into the little fellow's upturned face, 
 while she playfully rumpled his hair. 
 
 Then she explained to us, " My husband's name is 
 Flint, Spofford Flint. But persons sometimes call him 
 Spoff, for short. That's what Frankie has got hold of." 
 
 Scott begged pardon. 
 
 " Why, it was Frankie's mistake," she said. 
 
 A very pretty woman was Mrs. Flint. Finer eyes I 
 have rarely seen. Her air and manners were those of a 
 lady She was frank and agreeable. We supposed, at
 
 72 THE ESCOHOS "CARRY." 
 
 the time, that she had not always resided on tho Magallo 
 way ; but I have since learned that we were wrong in out 
 surmise. Well, Nature can make a lady as wel/ as good 
 society, and now and then does. 
 
 Scott explained that we were wishing to pass the falls, 
 and had hoped to be able to make a bargain with Mr. 
 Flint to draw our boat over the carry. 
 
 " I can have it done for you," said she, promptly " Do 
 you wish to go over immediately ? " 
 
 We did. 
 
 " Very well ; walk in, please, and wait a few moments, 
 till I can send our man." 
 
 But we thought it better to return at once to the boat, 
 to get it out of the river and pack up our luggage. This 
 we did, and had hardly done so, when the man, " Pete," 
 (whom we had heard Mrs. Flint call) made his appearance, 
 leading a strong black mare harnessed to a long cart. 
 Pete was a French Canadian, of the prevailing pattern ; 
 and the black mare was a veritable Tartar, bearing the 
 pretty name of Jenny. 
 
 'Twas a round load for her : that heavy boat with all 
 our traps and bags. All the time we were loading and 
 lashing the boat fast with many turns of the rope, Jenny 
 kept turning the white of a vicious eye round to us. She 
 highly disapproved of the whole proceedings. On getting 
 the word to go, the gentle brute instantly let fly her heels 
 high over the load, and went the wrong way, to wit, back- 
 wards, and came near depositing the cart in the rapids, at 
 the outset.
 
 FRENCH PETE. 73 
 
 But Pete was not wholly unprepared. He clubbed the 
 white oak whip-stock, and laid the heavy end across the 
 recalcitrant Jenny. " Her ret, Jenn&y ! Herret!" he 
 screamed. 
 
 He knew only three or four English words ; but had 
 fully mastered our great national oath. This he bestowed 
 on ' Jennay " without stint. 
 
 " Isn't it strange that that is the first thing these fellows 
 learn of our talk ? " Fred said to me as we followed after 
 the cart. " Never saw one so green yet but that he knew 
 so much English." 
 
 Mrs. Flint was in the yard as we came along the road 
 past the house. We stopped to pay for the job of drawing 
 the boat 
 
 " Three dollars," she said, was what they had for taking 
 a boat over the carry. 
 
 With "Spoff '' himself we might have chaffered for less, 
 not with her. Fred and I paid it, with cheerful alacrity, 
 between us ; though it reduced our united capital to two 
 dollars, twenty-five cents. 
 
 A little beyond the Flints, the carry path diverges from 
 the road, and leads up through a pasture for a hundred 
 rods or more, then enters the woods. This pasture is the 
 extreme limits of the cleared land on the river. Beyond 
 it lay the great wilderness. At this place the Magalloway 
 falls over a long succession of ledges down 'the ravine be- 
 tween Escohos and " Parker Hill," so called. I do not know 
 th?t the entire height of the fall has ever been calculated.
 
 74 A ROUGH AND MUDDY TRAIL. 
 
 For a guess, I should place it at from two hundred to two 
 hundred and fifty feet. 
 
 It is a great place for trout-fishing. 
 
 The carry is two and a half miles in length. As you go 
 up through the pasture from Flint's, there is a good view 
 of the river valley below, and of a great semi-circular 
 black mountain to the west of it, called the " Half-moon." 
 From the top of Escohos, there is said to be one of the 
 best views to be had from any mountain in New England. 
 Some tourists think it superior to that from Mount Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 But we had no time to climb mountains for fine views. 
 Our business was of a much more practical character. It 
 was not, however, without some regrets and secret misgiv- 
 ings that we turned for a last look at the houses in the 
 valley below us, then entered the woods. From this point 
 to the head of Parmachenee it is forty-six miles. The 
 vast wilderness before us was not without its charm, nor 
 yet its aspect of peril and mystery. 
 
 Feelings of this sort were straightly banished by the 
 more exciting details of the way. On entering the forest, 
 the trail at once changed from a dry, though rough, cart- 
 road to an exceedingly wet and muddy one. Sloughs of 
 muck began to disclose themselves. Roaring brooks 
 which dashed across the path had dug it asunder in the 
 midst, leaving great stones plump in the way. About, 
 among, athwart and over these Jenndy leaped and 
 plunged like a wood-demon. Every thing not lashed in
 
 THE CARRY.
 
 PETE'S RUSE. 75 
 
 the strongest manner, was speedily shaken off. At inter- 
 vals of six or eight rods we would have to re-bestow the 
 load. That the cart held together was a growing 
 wonder ! 
 
 Pete drove when he could keep up. Farr and Scott 
 ran on the off side, to hold the load on. Fred and I 
 sought to do the same thing on the other side. Some- 
 times we did it, sometimes we did not. The mare went 
 by starts and jerks ; and there was no knowing when she 
 meant to start, or when she meant to stop, after starting. 
 She had, moreover, a most peculiar and effective way of 
 hurling the mud from her hoofs. It was impossible to 
 dodge it ; so we hung to the load and took what came to 
 us. But there was spitting! I recollect that one lump, 
 large as one's two fists and soft as pig's grease, took Scott 
 olump on the mouth. He' let go, sputtered, and fairly 
 
 At length we came to a slough so soft and long that 
 Pete stopped. 
 
 " No passeY' he said. " Hattie (Mrs. Flint) not know 
 dees ! " 
 
 Scott and Farr argued, urged, and raged at him. Pete 
 would not start the horse. It did no good to tell him we 
 had paid to be carried across. He did not, or else would 
 not, understand it. 
 
 "Let's take the reins away from him and drive through 
 ourselves," Farr said. 
 
 But that seemed a rather summary way of behaving.
 
 76 " WATCH." 
 
 Besides, if we should get Jenny irretrievably mired, the 
 responsibility would lie with us. Fred quietly drew Pete 
 aside and took out his wallet. First he showed him twen- 
 ty-five cents. Pete brightened a little, but shook his head. 
 Fred judiciously hesitated awhile, then took out a fifty 
 cent bill. Pete was shrewd. Having seen that Fred had 
 a fifty and a twenty-five cent scrip, he at once set his 
 price. 
 
 " Seventy-five cent ! " he said, and stuck for that. 
 
 Fair was for pitching him into the slough without 
 further ado. 
 
 Scott thought we had best go back to get authority from 
 Mrs. Flint. But the distance was nearly two miles ; and the 
 road was fearful. We shrank, too, from involving her in 
 the fuss, though it was clearly one in which she was inter- 
 ested. 
 
 On the whole, we concluded to give Pete his " seventy- 
 five cent " ; but Farr declared that he would thrash him 
 as soon as we came out to the river. Peter was more or 
 less of a swindler. On getting the money, however, he at 
 once started Jenny into the slough. And in the tussle 
 that followed, we nearly forgave the Frenchman : that was 
 a slough such as John Bunyan might have parabled. 
 If Jenny had not been a most remarkable animal, we 
 should have stuck there for good. 
 
 Once out of this slough, however, the way improved. 
 We had reached the height of land, and now turned down 
 the heavily-wooded slope toward the river. But we had
 
 A WILD-LOOKING PLACE. 77 
 
 lost a lynch-pin from the hind axle ; and while in full ca- 
 reer, the wheel rolled off ! It was put on again ; but the 
 wooden pins we substituted kept breaking. 
 
 " Watch ! " Pete admonished, pointing to it. " Watch ! " 
 
 Fred watched, with fresh pins ready. 
 
 The upper end of the falls, where we came out of the 
 carry road a few minutes later, is a very wild-looking 
 place. 
 
 The stream, black as ink and overhung with straggling 
 spruce, rolls tumultuously down over huge stones. The roar 
 is heavy and continuous. Some of the "pitches" show a 
 perpendicular fall of twenty feet or more. In one of 
 these a lumberman had been drowned the previous spring. 
 His name (Jack Abram) is cut in a spruce trunk at the 
 foot of the pitch. 
 
 Above this point there is smooth water up to "The 
 Narrows," ten miles. 
 
 The boat was taken off the cart and launched, and the 
 luggage stowed as before. Jenny's head was then turned 
 homeward. She was covered with mud, a complete crust 
 of it. Scant as was our stock of potatoes, Fred gave her 
 a couple. Used to nothing but abuse from Pete, the 
 mare was manifestly astonished. She looked at Fred in 
 a singular way, but took the potatoes. 
 
 Pete came to shake hands with us at parting. 
 
 " Good-by," I said to him. 
 
 " Goo'-by," said he. 
 
 But Farr would not shake hands with him.
 
 78 PETE SHAKES HANDS. 
 
 " He's a skunk, any way," quoth our comrade ; bu tie 
 did not put his threat of thrashing him in execution. 
 
 For my own part, I fancy that both Pete and Jenny 
 well earned all the money they got from us ; though Pete's 
 ruse to raise the price was a little irregular.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 No Dinner. The Fir Forest. Fairly Afloat in the Wilderness. 
 Herons. The Pretty "Round Woods." A Canada Jay. A 
 Clearing and a Loggers' Shanty. We Resolved to Camp in it 
 A Bear. Night in the Woods. A Nocturnal Disturbance. 
 Scott Shoots through the Roof. Spot's Fright The Prowler 
 Decamps. A Morning Nap. 
 
 T T was half past two, afternoon. We had eaten nothing 
 JL since breakfast. On the carry we had felt hungry; but 
 now that noon had past, we were less so, and decided to 
 go on for a couple of hours, then camp for the night. So 
 much for a well-established habit of taking our dinner at 
 noon. 
 
 Above the falls the river averages from six to ten rods 
 in width. It is deep and black, an aspect enhanced by 
 the fir forest on either bank, dark green, sombre, and pro- 
 foundly quiet. There were few birds here at this season, 
 or, as I am inclined to believe, at any season. The most 
 noticeable feature about the stream is its silence. ,The 
 current creeps on steadily. If you stop rowing, it drags
 
 8o FAIRLY AFLOAT IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 you slowly back ; and you would not know that you were 
 drifting unless your eye caught sight of a twig, or a bit of 
 bough, coming slowly to meet you. The crooks and bends 
 are numerous; but the forest is so dense here that one can- 
 not see just how much he is the sport of them ; and that is 
 one comfort. 
 
 As we paddled on, following all these meanderings, the 
 impression grew that we might get so involved that to 
 get out would be impossible. In an hour we had faced 
 every point of the compass. The general course of the 
 stream is from north to south. But a stranger could never 
 have guessed it, that first afternoon above the falls. The 
 peaks of moderately high mountains on both sides of the 
 river valley were from time to time to be seen over the fir 
 tops. Escohos was alternately behind and fronting us ; 
 then to left or right. A tall, dark hill, known as Emery's 
 Misery, played similar tricks. We conjectured at random 
 as to the origin of this odd name. Beaver Hill, a pine- 
 clad ridge to the east of the valley, was more easily ac- 
 counted for. 
 
 Above Escohos we saw but few ducks, and these at a 
 distance. Not a duck was shot till we arrived on the 
 lake. Occasionally a great blue heron (Ardea Herodias) 
 would start up, breaking the silence with its heavy flap- 
 pings. Several times we shot after them in the air, but 
 never brought down any thing. 
 
 At rather unfrequent intervals, a kingfisher would spring 
 his ratt?e, and go noisily up the stream in advance of us.
 
 A CANADA JAY. 8 1 
 
 But Fred assured us that they were not nearly so plenty 
 here as on the upper course of the Androscoggin. 
 
 Here and there a sluggish brook made in through the 
 bank, showing a slim channel fringed with melancholy 
 alders. Another shrub, however, began to attract our 
 attention, and from henceforth made one of the most 
 agreeable features of the river scenery. Clinging to the 
 bank and leaning out over the water, we now began to 
 note the vivid red clusters of mountain ash, or round-wood 
 berries. With every mile they grew more and more plen- 
 tiful, till sometimes both banks presented a bright scarlet 
 border, often reflected in the still dark water with wonder- 
 <ul fidelity. 
 
 Here for the first time we saw a Canada jay, sitting 
 observant of our progress on a fir stub. It is a bird not 
 common in southern Maine ; not so handsome as its con- 
 gener, the noisy blue jay, though of about the same size. 
 Its note is even less agreeable, which is saying little 
 enough for it as a musician. Its colors are brown and 
 white. The lumbermen call it the carrion bird, and have 
 also bestowed upon it two other names, even less ornate. 
 
 Scott shot at the first one we saw, with the rifle from 
 the boat. The slug struck into the stub directly under 
 where it had perched, and this, together with the report, 
 set it a-scolding at a great rate. It rose a yard perhaps 
 from where it had sat, but immediately resumed its place. 
 The bird is not nearly as shy as the blue jay. 
 
 It was already past four o'clock. We were bethinking
 
 ( 2 A LOGGERS SHANTY. 
 
 ourselves of stopping to camp, when Fred called our at- 
 tention to what seemed an opening a little back from the 
 river on the east bank. We drew in ashore ; and Farr 
 mounted the bank, which was higher than usual, to recon- 
 noitre. 
 
 " Yes ; there's a clearing," he called down to us. " It's 
 where they've been cutting out spruce. And there's a 
 shanty." 
 
 " What say, shall we go out to it? " Fred queried. 
 
 I was afraid that it might be lousy ; but the others did 
 not agree with me. We tied the boat to a fir trunk, and 
 took out our ducks and the partridge, which we supposed 
 had been kept about as long as they should be, together 
 with our guns, the inevitable and never-to-be-left-behind 
 potato kettle, fry-pan, etc. [These utensils are always un- 
 derstood to be present unless forgotten.] 
 
 The shanty was on rising ground about a hundred rods 
 from the stream. It was built of spruce logs with a shed 
 roof of pine "splits," the usual shanty of the backwoods, 
 with a split door, secured by a wooden pin. Farr was 
 ahead, and had the first peep. 
 
 " Here's luck !" he sang out to us. 
 
 There was a cooking-stove all set up, just as the last log- 
 ging gang had left it. Possibly they intended to use the 
 shanty during the coming winter ; for there was a barrel halt 
 full of salt pork, in the brine, and a barrel containing beans ; 
 also a small quantity of tea in an old salt-box. And what 
 we liked better still, they had nearly half a cord of wood
 
 NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 83 
 
 cut stove-length. It was tiered up at one end of the shanty, 
 and was dry as tinder. 
 
 To get supper with such accommodations, seemed nothing 
 but fun. 
 
 In another barrel, Fred speedily unearthed a whole set of 
 tin plates, cups, basins, and baker-sheets. 
 
 Half an hour later we had a duck and a partridge par- 
 boiling, potatoes cooking, and a batch of Horsford biscuit 
 baking. The old stove, with its front doors and top red hot, 
 had a most home-like aspect : we felt quite happy. 
 
 That was one of the most enjoyable suppers on the river. 
 I say on the river, since it could not, of course, compare 
 with some of those sumptuous barbecues after we got fairly 
 established at the head of the lake. No meals that I ever 
 ate could indeed compare with those. For then we had 
 grand living and grand appetites together. 
 
 It had never seemed like really camping in the wilderness, 
 till that night. Before, when we had camped at Moll's 
 Rock, we knew that there was a settlement not ten miles 
 above us ; but here we knew we were fairly launched in the 
 forest, a forest that extended even into Canada and to the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence. The woods, too, had a different 
 seeming. A wilder quiet rested over all, broken now and 
 then by wilder sounds. 
 
 While we were eating, a bear cried out from the hill-side, 
 back of the shanty : a plaintiff cry, like that of some forlorn 
 and benighted maiden wandering in the darkening forest. 
 Neither Scott nor myself would have known what it was, but 
 for the ready interpretation of Fred's practised ear.
 
 84 * NOCTURNAL DISTURBANCE 
 
 " 1 would aot wonder if we might get a shot at mm, by 
 all starting out with our guns and getting around him," said 
 he. "As soon as he heard any one of us he would run, and 
 make such a. noise in the brush that some of us might get a 
 shot." 
 
 We were all tired, however ; and to tell the truth, did not 
 much relish the idea of such a hunt in the night. Besides, 
 there was some danger of shooting each other by mistake. 
 
 As the evening advanced, other cries, generally at a con- 
 siderable distance, broke the stillness. Various prowlers 
 were abroad. A sharp, raspy screech resounded on a sudden, 
 seemingly from near where we had tied up the boat. It 
 made us start sharply, it was so near and ugly. The next 
 moment it was followed by a deep tu-whit-tu-whooo-oo ! 
 
 " Nothing but a screech owl," said Fred. 
 
 These dense fir and spruce forests on the river seemed a 
 populous haunt of owls. 
 
 There was a long bunk, bedded with boughs, on the back 
 side of the shanty. We closed and pinned the door ; then 
 rolling up in our blankets, lay down and talked till we fell 
 asleep. 
 
 But along in the night we were awakened by a great 
 racket on the roof of dry splits over our heads. Something 
 was digging, scratching, and tearing them up. They rattled 
 prodigiously. We all jumped up into sitting posture. 
 
 " What on earth is that? " demanded Scott, in an alarmed 
 whisper. 
 
 " I don't know," says Fred.
 
 SPOT'S FRIGHT. 85 
 
 " Means to dig down to us ! " Farr said. " Smells us ! " 
 
 "Thinks there's something hurting down here," said 
 Fred. 
 
 " I'll fix him I " Scott whispered. " Keep quiet." 
 
 We got out of the bunk and fumbled out one of the 
 guns, Fair's double-barrelled one. We heard him cocking 
 it. 
 
 " Don't hold the muzzle too near the splits," Fred cau- 
 tioned. 
 
 But he did hold it too near, and fired both barrels at once. 
 It made a stunning report, and recoiled violently out of his 
 hands. So great was the pressure, that the splits were blown 
 up off the poles, for they were not nailed down. 
 
 Almost at the same instant, I heard something leap off 
 on to the ground. Fred opened the door and shouted st 
 boy I to Spot. Out bounded Spot, barking furiously. But he 
 didn't run far. Before we had even time to step out, he 
 came back with a yelp and scooted into the door, betwixt 
 our legs ! 
 
 Farr struck a match and lighted some dry splints. The 
 blaze disclosed Spot glaring out at the door, the hair on his 
 back raised and stiff as bristles, and his tail straight as a cob. 
 
 Fred began to laugh. 
 
 " You'll get eaten up, Spot, as sure as fate," said he. 
 
 We went out and listened. It was too dark to see much ; 
 and the cleared space was full of old spruce tops and low 
 shrubs. We heard once what seemed the stealthy snap of a 
 twig. Farr let fly a slug fiom O.vc rifle. The light of the
 
 86 THE PROWLER DECAMPS. 
 
 discharge lit up the brush ; but we saw nothing and heard 
 nothing more. 
 
 " Lucivee, I guess," said Fred. " Smelled our cookery 
 and so jumped up on the splits to sharpen his claws." 
 
 It took some little time to get quieted down enough to 
 go to sleep, after this rouse-up. But we had a good morning 
 nap.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 fn Jolly Spirits. A Fine Morning. " The Narrows." A Struggle. 
 
 "Hi!! Hi!! Hi!!" "Wake up! " Worsted. The Tow- 
 line. The Beautiful Mountain-ash. " Lincoln Pond Brook 
 Camp." Metallic Pond. Some Profane Trees. <f The Mead- 
 ows." Glowing Plans. The Story of some Young Farmers. 
 Robins. A Winter Haunt of Robins. Our Camp on the Bluff. 
 
 High-bush Cranberries. 
 
 IT was after sunrise before we were astir ; and nearly 
 eight before we started for the boat. 
 
 We left the old shanty as good as we found it, save for 
 the blackening of the splits and several buck-shot holes 
 through them, where Scott had fired at our nocturnal dis- 
 turber. We took along enough buttered Horsfords (bis- 
 cuits, the reader must understand) to serve for our noon 
 lunch; so as not to have to delay to kindle a fire and 
 cook. 
 
 The morning was beautiful, cloudless and mild, with a 
 lingering breath of summer in the breeze. The sun shone 
 warmly, yet softly. We were in uncommon spirits, and 
 sang and whistled for pure love of the thing. Times 
 came when we had to do it to keep up our spirits. But 
 none of those things troubled us that morning. We made
 
 88 "THE NARROWS." 
 
 the old bateau shoot through the water, and laughed at 
 the puniness of the current. But currents are things that 
 hold their own better than exuberant spirits. 
 
 We had rowed perhaps two miles, when a low roar of 
 rushing waters began to be heard. It grew more distinct, 
 till rounding a bend, we saw where the stream pours force- 
 fully between two ledges, not more than forty feet apart. 
 
 " The Narrows," said Fred. "Now for something like 
 work." 
 
 At the foot of the cascade there is a great eddy, flanked 
 by reaches of- dead water. We pulled up into the eddy 
 within a hundred feet of the bottom of the rapid, then 
 stopped to take a look and deliberate. 
 
 The ledges mark the difference of level between the 
 lower and the upper portions of the river valley. The 
 length of the rapid is not over twenty yards, at most, and 
 the descent not more than four or five feet. Yet the cur- 
 rent was wonderfully swift, and sucked through the narrow 
 passage with a strength that we had not quite expected. 
 
 " Can we run it ? " said Farr, doubtfully. 
 
 "Well, we can try," Fred replied. "We're fresh this 
 morning. It's a mere question of muscle. There are no 
 rocks in the way and it isn't a long pull." 
 
 " All right," Scott exclaimed. " Draw wind for it ! " 
 
 As usual, I had the stern seat and steering paddle. 
 
 " Head her right straight into it," Fred advised. " Don't 
 let her swerve a hair. Punch her nose right through it I 
 All ready now. One ONE ONE 1 "
 
 A STRUGGLE. 89 
 
 We struck, every one together and with full strength on. 
 The bateau went into it like a steam ram. We could feel 
 her head going up. 
 
 " She's mounting ! " Fred shouted. " At it ! " 
 
 Plash plash ! dipped the oars. 
 
 The downward current gurgled loudly against us and 
 put out all its mighty strength to drive us back. We struck 
 hard and fast to conquer it, and gained, though more and 
 more slowly, till we got into the narrowest place. There 
 we stuck as in a vice. 
 
 A minute of utmost exertion, then back we went, 
 turned in the eddy, and lodged in the dead water under the 
 right bank. 
 
 Then there was panting and puffing, and cooling of burn- 
 ing palms in the water. I had raised a blister in less than 
 two minutes ! 
 
 " Gracious, isn't that a strong draft ! " Scott exclaimed. 
 
 " A regular suck-hole," said Farr. 
 
 " What think of it now, Fred?" I queried. 
 
 " It seems as if we ought to do it," said Fred. " The 
 place is so short, we ought to get up it." 
 
 "Yes, it's short but, oh, Moses!" laughed arr. 
 " There's one way, and only one way : that is, to get up full 
 speed before we strike into the sluice-way there. We must 
 back her down below the eddy, then start and get the boat 
 under full headway. If we do that, and pull like all pos- 
 sessed, we may go up." 
 
 This seemed reasonable.
 
 9 
 
 "HI! HI ! HI!" 
 
 We rested some minutes and got breath, then dropped 
 down with the current fifty or sixty yards. 
 
 "We'll drive her up this time," Farr said, confidently. 
 
 But first we shifted the load somewhat, in order to bring 
 the nose higher in the water. 
 
 " Are you all ready ? " Fred demanded of us. 
 
 " All ready." 
 
 " Well, then, -- Hi ! Hi ! Hi /" . 
 
 " HI ! HI ! HI ! " 
 
 We dashed through the eddy, at full jump, went into the 
 rapid again, and climbed up, up, up, almost to where 
 the smooth black stream bent downward. Every muscle 
 now ! 
 
 " Wake up ! " yelled Fred. " Wake up ! One yard more ! 
 One more ! "
 
 WORSTED. 91 
 
 We should have done it, I am sure we should. We were 
 doing it, when I let the nose swerve a foot, no more. I 
 couldn't help it It was done quick as a wink. Another 
 moment and we were over-matched, and swept back into the 
 eddy, and into the selfsame place under the right bank. 
 
 "That was almost, but not quite," exclaimed Fred, du- 
 biously. 
 
 " If you had only kept her head straight," lamented 
 Scott. 
 
 Yes; I knew that as well as anybody. Such a blunder 
 cuts a fellow awfully. Neither Fred nor Fair found a word 
 of fault. But the thing spoke for itself. 
 
 "What say to trying the line?" Farr proposed. "We 
 don't want to lay on too many blisters at one heat." 
 
 We had a sixty-foot line, taken along for such emergen- 
 cies. It was got out We then pulled up to the foot of 
 the rapid on the left bank, and landed Farr and Scott. One 
 end of the line was now knotted into the ring in the bow, 
 and the other end thrown to them. They climbed round 
 the base of the ledges, and straightening the rope, began to 
 draw on it. It was a rather ticklish business. Fred and I 
 had our hands full to fend off with our oars, and hold the 
 boat from being dashed against the jagged sides. But "slow 
 and steady " did it. 
 
 Once in the smooth water above the rapid, we recoiled 
 our line and went on, a little chagrined, however, at hav- 
 ing had to use it. When a fellow sets out to go by water, he 
 naturally wants to do so.
 
 92 SOME PROFANE TREES. 
 
 It was ten o'clock. We thought the current a little swift- 
 er above " The Narrows " than below ; not much. The fu 
 forest continued ; but there were higher banks, with occa> 
 sional rocks. The profusion of round-woods increased 
 rather than diminished. 
 
 A little past twelve we stopped at a pole camp, on a low 
 bluff, to eat our Horsfords and drain off what coffee there 
 remained over hi the coffee-pot from breakfast. 
 
 This camp is known as " Lincoln Pond Brook Camp." 
 The brook that here makes in is the outlet of Lincoln Pond, 
 lying off to the east of the river. 
 
 A tree near by proclaimed this to be "a star- 
 vation country." But we had not found it so, thus far. 
 Not only do many of the firs along this river have a sylvan 
 language of their own, but they seem to have adopted the 
 language of men, and a very profane and ribald tongue we 
 found it. It at least shows what sort of company they have 
 kept. Trees that talk like those, have no business in good 
 society. And lest they should corrupt the morals of some 
 innocent and untutored tourist, we took the liberty of spot- 
 ting off some of their unblushing ribaldry with the axe. 
 This we did the more sedulously since we had heard that an 
 adventurous party of young ladies from New York were in- 
 tending to penetrate this region the next summer. That 
 they should fall in with such scurrilous trees, was not to be 
 thought of; and we could think of no better way to reform 
 them. 
 
 We gave ourselves twenty minutes for dinner.
 
 THE MEADOWS. 93 
 
 Not long after, we passed Metallic Pond, a pretty little 
 expanse opening into the Magalloway by a broad outlet 
 on the west side. There are two Metallic Ponds. The 
 other is on the east side of the river, and is not in sight 
 from it. 
 
 An hour later we emerged from the evergreen forest, and 
 saw, stretching off to the north of us, a great tract of open 
 land set here and there with large elms. 
 
 " The meadows," said Fred. 
 
 We had reached the foot of those famous natural mead- 
 ows of the Magalloway, which extend for twelve miles along 
 the banks, and are of themselves well worth a visit. Origi- 
 nally, I presume, there may have been a lake here, the bed 
 of which the forest has not yet encroached upon. Some 
 enterprising farmer, with a few thousand dollars' capital, 
 might put this whole tract into good grass and make a for- 
 tune in hay. For hay in this region often sells for thirty 
 dollars per ton at the logging camps. 
 
 Cranberries, too, might be cultivated on many hundred 
 acres of this meadow, with profit, no doubt. 
 
 We talked of all these chances of gain, as we rowed on. 
 
 " If we cannot make money any other way, we will just 
 come up here and settle," Fred would say, after each argu- 
 ment of the chances. 
 
 We grew quite enthusiastic over the beauty and extent of 
 this great alluvial bottom ; and I still think it would have 
 been a nice opening for us four boys, to have got a permit 
 and settled there. I am quite sure that for every dollar we
 
 94 GLOWING PLANS. 
 
 now have, we might have had five, if we had had the perse- 
 verance to carry out the plans we laid there that pleasant 
 October afternoon. 
 
 I am the more confident of this, that I have since known 
 four young fellows, from the city, who left town and took up 
 a similar plantation in the wilderness. Their adventures and 
 experiences (of which one of their number has kindly fur- 
 nished me some account) were so amusing, pleasant, and 
 sometimes so exciting, that I have often regretted not being 
 one of their party. I doubt whether four youngsters ever 
 had a better time than they had, and are still having. Add 
 to these pleasures of pioneer life the robust health they 
 have ever enjoyed, and the reader will agree with me that 
 they are really to be envied by the whole army of pale 
 clerks on their high stools, who still cling to the city and its 
 pitiful salaries. White hands and stylish coats are good 
 things enough in their way, no doubt, but not to be set 
 against vigor, fresh air, liberty, and plenty of cash, in my 
 humble opinion. 
 
 My four friends above alluded to have now a backwoods 
 farm, or rather, plantation, worth fifty thousand dollars, which 
 yields them a net profit of from twelve to fifteen thousand 
 a year. They come as near being kings as we tolerate here 
 in America. Nothing would tempt them to go back to 
 clerking. And when I consider how much unoccupied ter- 
 ritory we have, even in the State of Maine, that might be 
 taken up in the same way, and how full the cities are of poor- 
 ly paid young men, I really wish that more would do as
 
 ROBINS. 95 
 
 these four have done. They would be happier, healthier, 
 and make more money ; and the country at large would be 
 the better for it. But everybody must follow his own bent, 
 I suppose, if he has one. 
 
 Even here the round-woods continued to fringe the 
 banks and hang out their profusion of red berries. There 
 were great quantities, too, of high-bush cranberries. 
 
 The current is swifter through the meadows than we 
 had generally found it below. It perceptibly increased 
 the labor of rowing, and at some points was about as 
 much as we could comfortably breast. Through the 
 meadows, too, the stream was seemingly more crooked 
 than below; the crooks were not so broad, but sharper 
 and more of them. Contrary to what would be expected 
 here, the bed of the stream is sandy in many places, often 
 disclosing sandy spits and beaches. At one of these latter 
 there was a board stuck up in the sand, on which was in 
 red chalked, 
 
 " This is Turkic Government." 
 
 But we saw no turkles (turtles) here, though somebody 
 has, no doubt. I think that it was nine herons Scott 
 saw along the meadows, and kept the account of. 
 
 But a more interesting ornithological fact came out in 
 connection with this locality. Soon after entering on the 
 meadows, we began to hear the " kiff " of robins, and saw 
 scores of these birds all about on the elms. It seemed a 
 robins' paradise. As we went on, the air fairly resounded 
 to their sharp notes. They were feasting on the great ban
 
 96 A WINTER HAUNT OF ROBINS. 
 
 quet of round-wood berries which nature has here set out 
 for them, a banquet that to exhaust would be impossible. 
 There were hundreds, I may safely say, thousands, of rob- 
 ins about the meadows ; and it was their presence that 
 gave the locality so great a charm for us. 
 
 And now I have a fact for naturalists, one I hope they 
 will receive as given on good authority. When we came 
 back down the river on the ice, seven weeks later (about 
 the first of December), we still saw robins here, though not 
 in so great numbers. There was then nearly a foot 
 of snow. The weather was cold, and had been very cold 
 indeed. In a word, it was severe winter weather. The 
 round-woods were still red with the frozen fruit ; and the 
 robins were contentedly billing it off. 
 
 Two lumbermen at Errol, N. H., told me that on one 
 occasion they had seen robins here in February, and on 
 another, in January. He confidently asserted that many 
 robins winter here, whenever it is a good season for 
 round-wood berries. This fact acquires some importance, 
 when it is remembered that these " meadows " are in 
 about the latitude of Montreal. I know of no other in- 
 stance or locality where the robin has been known to pass 
 the winter so far north. 
 
 As we drew near the head of the meadows, we saw 
 numerous bluffs covered with fir and spruce, and occa- 
 sionally with pine. These were, no doubt, islands of the 
 old-time lake. It was getting near sunset, and we 
 resolved to camp on one of these, past the very foot
 
 HIGH-BUbH CRANBERRIES. 97 
 
 of which the river ran. It rose fifteen or twenty feet 
 above the surrounding bottom, and was wooded with 
 a mixed growth of white birch, fir, spruce and horn- 
 beam. 
 
 The boat was hitched to a stout sapling of this latter 
 wood ; and while Fred and Scott set up the " A " tent, Farr 
 and I felled a white birch and slivered an old pine stump. 
 From the bark of the former and the fat splinters of the 
 latter, a cheerful blaze was soon crackling. 
 
 The reader can easily guess of what our supper con- 
 sisted. So I have no need to print the bill of fare, though 
 it was by no means a long one. 
 
 Fred took a dipper, however, while Farr was frying 
 meat, and going down the bank, gathered a dessert to make 
 our meal relish better, a dessert of high-bush cranber- 
 ries. I liked the taste of these pretty well. Scott de- 
 tested them. Thus do tastes differ. 
 
 After supper we cut more wood, built a glorious fire, 
 then sprigged a grand bed of the boughs. On this, with 
 the flap of the tent buttoned back, we lay enjoying an 
 after-supper hour of rest. But this is a luxury that only a 
 tired voyager can fully appreciate. 
 
 There was a glorious yellow twilight, glowing over the 
 black evergreen ridges and peaks to the west of the valley. 
 We watched it die off, and not very long after died off 
 ourselves in profound slumber. There were no dis- 
 turbing "lucivees " that night. If owls saluted our fire, we 
 7
 
 98 OUR CAMP ON THE BLUFF. 
 
 heard them not. Whatever savage eyes glowered at us 
 in our white tent, we recked not of them. We were, to use 
 Farr's ornate phrase, "putting the slumber into our- 
 selves " ; slumber being an article that must be taken in. 
 like water and food.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Mild Weather. " On to Parmachenee ! " "1 owse Ahead ! " The 
 Great Rips. Tow-line again. Wading. The Forks. The 
 Little Magalloway. What the Trees Said. Parmachenee Car- 
 ry. The Carry Path. Heavy Packs. Windfalls. A Tire- 
 some Tramp. Parmachenee Gorge and Camp. The Dam. 
 A Stove with an " Elevated Oven. " Some " Sprung " Pork. 
 The Basin-lamp. ' ; What day is it?" 
 
 "TJ^RED kindly got up and built a fire that morning before 
 JL waking the rest of us ; and this was only one of his 
 fatherly ways. 
 
 It seemed like a late April morning. There was that in 
 the air that reminded us of Spring. The same light, gauzy 
 mists were rising from the ground ; and out on the elms the 
 robins sang, as in nest-making time. The illusion was almost 
 perfect. Only the red cranberry clusters and the bunches of 
 round-wood plums marred the fancy. 
 
 We breakfasted immediately and went on. The stream 
 had fallen several inches during the night. The high water 
 from the freshet was subsiding. 
 
 Two miles more of meadow, and we had again entered the 
 fir woods, leaving the meadow with its robins behind. 
 
 " Now bowse ahead, fellows ! " Fred exhorted. " On to
 
 IOO ON TO PARMACHENEE. 
 
 Parmachenee ! We ought to reach the foot of the lake to- 
 night." 
 
 " Bowse ahead," I may remark, had been our motto all 
 the way up. It is not, I am aware, a very elegant one ; but 
 in tight places we had found it expressive, more forcible 
 than mere "go ahead." 
 
 And we had need to bowse; for immediately after leaving 
 the meadows we found ourselves in a very long and tiresome 
 rapid, though not a very violent one. Before we reached the 
 comparatively moderate water above, we had taken the morn- 
 ing kinks well out of our muscles. 
 
 A mile above are the "great rips." 
 
 These we reached twenty minutes later. The banks on 
 both sides are here very unfavorable for using the tow-line ; 
 and to get up without it, was quite out of the question. 
 
 " We shall have to take to the water," Fred declared, at a 
 glance. 
 
 The " rip," or rapid, is a hundred yards in length ; and the 
 water runs pretty roughly, with a clearly denned roar : all these 
 descents have each a distinct and peculiar voice ; some harsh, 
 gruff and ominous, others mellow, and still others cheery, 
 though brawling. 
 
 "How deep is the water?" Scott queried; "and will it 
 not take a fellow off his feet? " 
 
 " Pull up to the foot of it," Fred said ; " and we will soon 
 find out. It doesn't look deep." 
 
 |^e jumped out. It was about to his middle. 
 
 " I'll hold the boat," said he, taking hold of the nose. 
 " Fix the line, Fair."
 
 Fair knotted one end of the tow-line into the ring. 
 
 " Now, then, pile out," says Fred. " We'll Indian-file it 
 up the centre." 
 
 This was our first experience of wading. Below, the stream 
 had been far too deep. Scott hesitated a little about step- 
 ping overboard, till seeing the rest of us laughing at him, he 
 leaped out promptly. 
 
 WE WALKED STEADILY UP. 
 
 Nothing like a little not too much ridicule, to bring a 
 fellow out. 
 
 Fred went ahead and picked the way. Fair followed next. 
 Scott and I brought up the rear. It did not draw very hard.
 
 102 THE FORKS. 
 
 We walked steadily up. The water did not, even in the holes, 
 come above our waists. It was considerably strong. It took 
 Scott off his feet once ; but he supported himself by the rope. 
 We were not more than ten minutes getting up. After the 
 first chill, the water did not feel cold at all. On the whole, I 
 rather enjoyed it. Of course it left us with wet pants, etc. ; 
 but these are things one does not mind off in the woods, 
 if the weather be not cold. 
 
 A hundred rods above this place are the Forks, with the 
 Little Magalloway, which joins the main stream from the 
 north-west. The Little Magalloway is not more than one- 
 third the size of the main river. It is a very pretty stream, 
 running over bright yellow sand and pebbles. A boat can be 
 run up for a number of miles. We had been told that a boat 
 could be towed up the Magalloway proper as far as " The 
 Great Eddy," one mile above the Forks ; but the rips looked 
 so formidable and continuous, that we concluded to land here 
 and take to the carry-path. Accordingly, we pulled into the 
 Little Magalloway, and after proceeding from sixty to eighty 
 rods, for a guess, landed at the place where many former 
 voyagers seemed to have moored their boats, and where, in- 
 deed, Godwin had advised us to land at the outset. 
 
 Here were the traces of numerous camp-fires. Trees had 
 been felled for fuel. As it was near noon, we determined to 
 have dinner before attempting to cross the carry. From this 
 point to the foot of the lake it is four miles, so called. It 
 cannot be less. My own impression is that it is five, cer- 
 tainly. It seemed ten before we got our bateau across it 
 next day.
 
 WHAT THE TREES SAID. 103 
 
 Above the " Big Eddy " there are continuous falls, clean up 
 to the dam at the lake. There is a fairly-defined carry-path 
 through the woods, though trees have fallen across it in many 
 places. This path was " bushed out " some years previously 
 by the lumbermen when the Berlin Mills Company logged on 
 the lake, and built the dam at the foot of it. 
 
 Here, as at other places, the trees had a good deal to say. 
 One large spruce declared, 
 
 " This is a fine wild country, but lacks good grub and 
 ladies' society." 
 
 Another fir put a query respecting the origin of the name, 
 Magalloway. It asked, 
 
 " Is Magalloway an Indian name, or simply from My- 
 gall's-away ? " Still another profane hemlock swore fearful- 
 ly about the length of the carry, and the tree-trunks across it. 
 Scott indignantly rebuked it with the axe. 
 
 As soon as dinner was got and eaten, we drew up the ba- 
 teau out of the stream, in order that it might get dry for to- 
 morrow's task of carrying it up to the lake. Our traps, 
 bags, etc., we then carried to a little distance and hid in a 
 thicket of firs. We did not deem it probable that any one 
 would pass, yet there might somebody come along; and 
 from the profanity of the trees we gained a poor opinion of 
 the morals of the place generally. 
 
 Our blankets, kettles, tin-ware and raw provisions for 
 several days were then packed up, each pack weighing 
 from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds. Of these, we gave 
 Scott the lightest one. Each adjusted his pack to suit his
 
 104 A TIRESOME TRAMP. 
 
 own back. We took also our guns in our hands, and the 
 ammunition in our pockets. 
 
 By the time we were ready to set off, it was two o'clock 
 or after. 
 
 The path, which could only be followed by close attention, 
 wound in and out among a heavy spruce growth with an 
 occasional lofty pine. 
 
 "There's a hundred dollars in that tree," Fred would 
 remark, pointing to one of these forest monarchs, where it 
 towered high over the surrounding growth. 
 
 Often these pines were five or six feet in diameter, show- 
 ing a clean trunk for sixty or seventy feet. ' 
 
 Immediately we began to find trees, spruce and fir, across 
 the path, just as they had fallen, lying at breast height. 
 Over the first of these we climbed without noticing the in- 
 convenience ; but after getting over a dozen or more it be- 
 gan to grow a very wearying business. If any reader wishes 
 a practical idea of it, let him take a weight of thirty pounds 
 on his shoulders, and a gun in his hand, and climb over a 
 gate twenty or thirty times. It takes a very fair allowance of 
 time to go a mile under such circumstances. 
 
 It was three o'clock when we reached the point where the 
 path from the "Big Eddy" joins the main carry-path. 
 Here a pine announced, in red chalk, that it was three miles 
 to the dam. 
 
 "Bowse ahead," Fred exclaimed. "It'll be pitch dark 
 before we get there ! " 
 
 We walked and climbed on. as fast as we could. It
 
 PARMACHENEE GORGE AND CAMP. 105 
 
 was a tolerably dry path, however; there were but two 
 sloughs. 
 
 At intervals we could hear the roar of falls ; but the path 
 had diverged from the river, which comes down a ravine to 
 the east of it. 
 
 The latter portion of the way was not so badly cumbered 
 with fallen trees as we had found the first part, else we 
 should have got quite discouraged. Nevertheless, dusk was 
 falling over this whole wild region, and the deep recesses of 
 the spruce woods had grown dark enough, when a turn of 
 the path led us out to the brink of a great gorge, partially 
 cleared of trees. 
 
 " Parmachenee ! " shouted Fred. 
 
 The lake was not in sight ; but we could plainly hear the 
 ponderous plunge of the waters at the dam ; and' far down 
 at the bottom of the gorge, near the foaming torrent, we 
 could dimly discern a small log camp. 
 
 " Parmachenee, at last ! " Farr exclaimed. " Parmachenee 
 gorge and camp !" 
 
 The path led down the side of the gorge ; but it is amaz- 
 ingly steep and difficult. Half stumbling, half running, we 
 made our way down. The old camp was of spruce logs 
 chinked up with moss and mud, and roofed as usual with 
 "splits." It emitted a rather peculiar odor. 
 
 Like the camp above Escohos Falls, it contained a stove, 
 a very large, and withal, a very rusty one, with an "elevated 
 oven." There were two barrels of pork, a barrel of beans, 
 about a third of a barrel of flour ; tea, pepper and salt, in 
 proportion.
 
 io6 SOME "SPRUNG" PORK. 
 
 These were the remains over and above the wants of 
 the last logging gang. The stores had been standing here 
 two years and over. The flour was musty. The beans 
 were caked ; and the pork was in that rather precarious 
 condition, which Fred terms "sprung" When fried in a 
 spider it frothed and foamed like a veritable wild boar ; 
 and the smell of it invariably put Scott to flight* 
 
 We had no lamp or candles with us that night; and 
 Fred had immediately set to work to provide a light, by 
 frying some of the pork to get the fat for oil. This lard- 
 oil he put in a pint-basin, then cut a button from his waist- 
 band, and through the holes in the button passed a bit of 
 string for a wick. This contrivance for a burner he first 
 floated on the fat, then lighted it ; and lest the fat should 
 cool and harden, he set the basin on the elevated oven of 
 the stove. It burned well and steadily, giving a fair 
 light. 
 
 We got our supper and ate it. Tired and hungry enough 
 we had become. 
 
 As in the lower camp, there was a long bunk across the 
 back side of the hovel. It was not without misgivings as 
 to the possible population of the old fir-bough bed, that 
 we turned in on it; yet we were too tired to get a fresh 
 supply of boughs. 
 
 I sincerely hope that none of our readers have be- 
 thought themselves that the day now just passed in hard 
 
 * It is customary for trampers in these wilds to help themselves to 
 whatever stores they find in these old camps.
 
 THE BASIN-LAMP. 1 07 
 
 labor up the river, and harder tramping over the long 
 carry, was Sunday I It is almost incredible as well as un- 
 pardonable that we had none of us thought of it. We had 
 somehow, in the newness of the life we were leading, lost 
 a day. I thought it was Saturday ; so did the others. It 
 was not till we were rolled up in our blankets that this ir- 
 reverent fact came out. x 
 
 Said Fred, " Let's see, how many days have we been 
 getting up here ? Started Monday ; six days, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Scott. " First night down there in Grafton 
 Notch, second at the Lake House, third at Moll's Rock, 
 fourth in the old house below Escohos, fifth in the shanty 
 above Escohos, sixth down therein why fellows! 
 this is the seventh night! ain't it? Hold on, let me 
 count again." 
 
 We counted again. It was the seventh night, sure. 
 
 " Then to-day's Sunday ! " cried Scott, self-convicted. 
 
 " Can't be ! " we exclaimed. 
 
 "Well, it is!" 
 
 " Blessed if it isn't, now ! " admitted Fred. 
 
 " Well, I declare, we're worse than a pack of heathen," 
 I could not help saying. " We had better get a lathe and 
 make notches, if we can't remember better than this." 
 
 " What's to be done ? " said Scott, laughing in spite of 
 himself. 
 
 " I don't see as any thing can be done now" said Farr. 
 " The day's gone." 
 
 "Might keep to-morrow," I suggested.
 
 io8 "WHAT DAY is IT?'* 
 
 My comrades reflected a moment. 
 
 "Oh, that would be mere fanaticism," said Scott, at 
 length. " The only thing to be done is to try to remem- 
 ber better next time ; for I believe in keeping the Sab- 
 bath as much as any one." 
 
 And so we went to sleep.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A Tough Day's Work. Squirrels. A Spruce Partridge. Moose 
 Tracks. Marten Signs. Carrying the Bateau up to the Lake. 
 Great Fatigue. Parmachenee Dam. Hoisting the Gates. An- 
 gling for Trout The Fish Law of Maine. Scott's Lame Stom- 
 ach. Sacking our Supplies Across the Carry. Glimpse of a 
 Woodsman. A Suspicious Circumstance. 
 
 I ^RED had potatoes nearly roasted in the "elevated 
 JL oven" next morning before I was awake. 
 
 For our breakfast, we had roasted potatoes and butter, 
 also a mess of " Horsfords," a bountiful mess, too, of 
 which Fred exhorted us to partake largely. " For," said 
 he, " we've got a tough day's work before us to get that 
 boat up here and launched in the lake above the dam." 
 
 We had no doubt of that. 
 
 At a quarter of eight we set off to re-cross the carry, 
 and, climbing the side of the gorge, entered the path again. 
 The woods were full of red squirrels, now in the midst of 
 their morning antics ; and so great a din did they keep 
 up, that little else could be heard. Scarcely had we 
 gained the top of the ridge, however, when Farr esp:ed
 
 110 MOOSE TRACKS. 
 
 three spruce partridges running in the path ahead of us. 
 Scott had taken our little rifle. We fired at them and 
 killed one, tearing a fearful hole through its body where 
 the slug pierced it. Fred hung it up to a bough over- 
 nanging the path, that we might take it on our return. 
 
 About half way across the carry, Farr, who was ahead, 
 suddenly drew up. 
 
 " Look here," said he, pointing to a large hoof mark in 
 the mud : " moose track. A moose has been along here 
 since last night. Isn't that a moose track, Fred ? " 
 
 Fred said it was one, for certain. 
 
 That was the first moose sign we had seen. The animal 
 had walked along the path for some distance. The 
 track was as large as the track of a large ox. Fred also 
 pointed out to us where "saple" (marten) had dug in 
 the moss in several places. These signs rejoiced us 
 greatly. 
 
 " We'll have us a ' saple line ' on both sides of the lake," 
 Farr planned. 
 
 Just before coming out to the Little Magalloway, where 
 we had drawn up our boat, we stumbled upon a second 
 flock of partridges five of them ; Scott fired, but missed 
 them. 
 
 At best, the bateau was a heavy boat, considered as a 
 portable one. I do not know how many pounds it 
 weighed, but should set it, for a guess, at four hundred ; 
 perhaps not more than three hundred and fifty pounds. 
 There were four of us to carry it.
 
 CARRYING THE BATTEAU.
 
 CARRYING THE BATEAU UP TO THE LAKE. Ill 
 
 At first thought, this does not seem a very heavy load 
 per man. But when the length and obstructed character 
 of the carry are considered, I imagine that the reader 
 will agree with me that we had any thing but an easy job 
 before us. 
 
 Two sticks were hewn from a fallen spruce, with han- 
 dles at each end. These were not more than three feet 
 long, and were nailed transversely, one across the nose of 
 the bateau, the other across the stern, near each end, so as 
 to allow the ends, or handles, to project far enough to 
 take hold of. The boat was turned bottom up. It was 
 then ready for carriage. We had only to take it up and 
 go on. 
 
 Fred took the left-side handle at the bow. I took the 
 other side, opposite him. Farr and Scott had the stern 
 handles, the former on the right and the latter on the 
 left. (We changed places afterwards.) Farr carried the 
 little rifle slung across his back. It was ten o'clock when 
 we were at length ready for a start. 
 
 " Pick him up," was the word from Fred. 
 
 We picked him up. I for one was not in the least de- 
 luded in my first impression. It picked up heavy at the 
 outset. I knew we had a big job on hand, and collected 
 my strength, and tried to use it economically. 
 
 " We won't make long heats," said Fred. " We won'* 
 go more than twenty rods at once, without resting." 
 
 " That will make sixty-four heats for the four miles,' 
 Scott reckoned.
 
 112 GREAT FATIGUE. 
 
 But as a matter of fact, we had nearly two hundred 
 heats ! 
 
 The path was barely wide enough to admit of our car- 
 rying it in the way that we had chosen. Often it grazed 
 against the rough trunks on either side. And then the 
 climbing over those countless windfalls across the path ! 
 
 Ah, me ! that is a task long to be remembered. We 
 worked hard four hours, not including the half hour of 
 rest we took at a little after noon. It was nearly three 
 o'clock when at last we set the old thing down before 
 the camp door. 
 
 Scott had passed through all the different stages of 
 fatigue, from a profuse perspiration to a dry pallor. He 
 went in without a word, and laid down in the bunk. We 
 resolved to have something to eat, then carry the boat 
 above the dam and launch it. For my own part, I felt as 
 if I might drop at any moment, but determined to keep 
 my legs as long as possible. 
 
 Fred made some strong coffee, and baked more biscuits 
 and potatoes. It came on dark before we had finished 
 eating. So the boat lay over for next morning. 
 
 There is such a thing as being too tired to sleep well, 
 or even at all. Scott did not go to sleep, he told me, till 
 long past midnight. As for myself, I slept, but was still 
 carrying the boat till toward morning, when a good nap 
 succeeded. 
 
 But on getting up next morning, our stomachs were so 
 lame that it was agony to draw a long breath, or stoop.
 
 PARMACHENEE DAM. 1 13 
 
 We were about used up, Scott especially; while Fair and 
 even Fred complained a good deal of lameness and sore- 
 ness. It made us wince and groan plentifully when we 
 came to carry the boat up to the dam, a hundred yards. 
 Scott declared that it was like putting a knife betwixt his 
 ribs to lift his side of the boat ; and he came rather near 
 profanity, on this wise: said he, "Do you remember 
 what that hemlock down at the forks said about the 
 carry ? " 
 
 We did, distinctly. 
 
 " Well," says Scott, " I wish I had let that stand as it 
 
 This peculiar mode of putting it set the rest of us 
 laughing, but hurt us so horribly that our guffaws were 
 speedily turned into howls. 
 
 The dam at the foot of the lake is built of spruce logs, 
 and has five gates, set in ponderous hewn frames. There 
 is a machine, consisting of iron cog-wheels and levers, for 
 hoisting these. The dam itself is not more than a hun- 
 dred and fifty feet in length. The site seems to have 
 been very advantageously chosen. It has a perpendicular 
 lift of about twelve feet. Brown, the agent of the Lum- 
 bering Company which owns the dam and the land about 
 the lake, had told us the gates were up. We were, there- 
 fore, somewhat surprised to find three of them closed. 
 Some one had either let them fall for mischief, or else to 
 better the trout fishing at the foot of the dam. The -next 
 <*-vy, before setting off up the lake, we raised the gates. 
 8
 
 114 ANGLING FOR TROUT. 
 
 That forenoon, after launching the bateau, we unpacked 
 some fishing tackle, hooks and lines, and taking pork 
 for bait, went up to try our own luck at trout-fishing. 
 There were several long alder-poles lying about on the 
 dam. To these we attached our lines and dropped in. 
 The trout did not rise to the pork bait readily; though after 
 fishing for a half hour, Farr hooked a two-pounder. Fred 
 meantime put on a red " fly," of which he had brought 
 three from Upton. The trout rose to this in numbers, but 
 would not snap; after fishing for some time, however, he 
 caught one nearly as heavy as Farr's, and a few minutes 
 after, a larger still. There were plenty of trout under the 
 " apron " of the dam. We could see them rise, but the 
 high water was unfavorable. 
 
 This was toward the end of the trout-fishing season. 
 After the i5th of October the law protects them as 
 much as it can. 
 
 In the afternoon, we went down the carry again, to get 
 the remainder of our provisions and traps. (Scott, I should 
 add, was left in the camp, to get over his lame stomach.) 
 
 We brought up this trip every thing, save the pota- 
 toes ; and of these we had brought rather over a peck the 
 previous evening. 
 
 Scott surprised us, and rendered us not a little uneasy, 
 by announcing that he had seen a man a rough-looking 
 customer up at the dam while we were gone down the 
 carry. The fellow had a double-barrelled gun, and, as 
 Scott thought, a belt with a dirk-knife.
 
 A SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE 115 
 
 Immediately on catching sight of Scott down at the 
 camp, he had made off. This looked suspicious; and 
 fearing lest he might steal the boat, Scott took his gun 
 and went up to the dam, in sight of where the bateau lay. 
 But he saw nothing more of the woodsman. 
 
 This information disturbed us all a good deal, and 
 Fred especially. He let out to us that the woods in this 
 section of the State had borne a bad name, as 1 being the 
 resort of a gang of rough fellows, who had made the set- 
 tlements too hot for them, on account of various tres- 
 passes. 
 
 " But I was in hopes we should steer clear of them," 
 he added. 
 
 For fear the boat might be stolen in the night, we went 
 up, took it out of the stream, and brought it back to the 
 camp. 
 
 There was something very unpleasant in the idea of 
 being watched by such human beasts of prey.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 We Finish " Sacking " our Supplies. More Partridges. The Mon- 
 heimer Potatoes. We Set Off up the Lake. The Outlet. A 
 Fine View. Parmachenee Lake. A Great Flock of Sheldrake. 
 "Bose-buck Cove." The Upper Islands. The Upper Ma- 
 galloway. "Cleaveland's Camp." We Establish Ourselves at 
 the Head of the Lake. Musk-rat Haunts. Setting Traps. 
 Certain Cirumstances Render us somewhat Uneasy. 
 
 THE next morning, as soon as it was light in the 
 woods, Fred and I set off to bring up the pota- 
 toes. 
 
 Farr, meantime, took his double-barrelled gun and went 
 off up the side of the outlet and lake to reconnoitre. We 
 were desirous to know whether there was a gang camping 
 anywhere about. By going up to " Loon Point," where 
 the outlet leaves the lake proper, Farr thought he might 
 detect the smoke, if there was a party at the head of the 
 lake. 
 
 Scott remained in camp ; partly as guard of our property 
 there, and in part to recuperate and get better of his 
 lamed stomach. 
 
 Fred and I got back up the carry at a few minutes 
 before eleven. Farr had come in. He had seen no signs
 
 THE MONHEIMER POTATOES. 117 
 
 of a party; but he had run among a flock of partridges, 
 of which he shot three at the first fire, and a fourth with 
 his second barrel. And he had come upon the last August 
 camp of a sporting party from New York city. A spruce 
 told the story, to wit, that " R. Monheimer and party camped 
 here from August igth to September 3d." 
 
 There was a raft drawn up near the camp. This party 
 had not taken their boat over the carry, but had preferred 
 to leave it down at the " forks," and build a raft for the 
 lake. 
 
 Farr had poked about and found a pile of potatoes 
 nearly a bushel at the foot of a tree, on which was 
 written, "A free gift to whoever wants them." 
 
 They were, to use a young ladies' adjective, splendid 
 potatoes, brought from Upton or Magalloway, probably, 
 localities noted for the excellence of their potato crop. 
 The rains had washed them clean and white. Farr had 
 at once determined to avail himself of Monheimer's offer. 
 There was little doubt that we should want all the pota- 
 toes we could secure. After being brought all the way 
 from Upton and " sacked " over the carry, they were very 
 precious, and really valuable. 
 
 Dinner was prepared and eaten. We then decided to 
 set off for the head of the lake without further delay. 
 That was the place where we wished to have our head- 
 quarters; and unless there was another party there, the 
 sooner we took possession the better. And if there was 
 another party there, we wished to find it out and keep 
 clear of them.
 
 Il8 WE SET OFF UP THE LAKE. 
 
 The bateau was again carried up, put in the stream, and 
 loaded with all our effects. We took from the supplies in 
 the shanty, a few pieces of the " sprung " pork, four quarts 
 of beans, a paper of pepper, about a quart of salt in a box, 
 and a small quantity of tea. These articles we thought 
 we might need, and when we returned down the stream, 
 we could account for them to Brown ; this is a customary 
 procedure. 
 
 This done, we bade adieu to the camp in the gorge, and, 
 pulled off up the outlet above the dam. 
 
 Not more than fifty rods from the dam, a large brook 
 comes into the main stream from between two hills on the 
 east side. An old trapper at Upton had told us there 
 were beaver up this stream. We resolved to explore it 
 ere many weeks, after we got settled. 
 
 From the dam up to the lake proper at "Loon Point," it 
 is about a mile. This flowed portion of the outlet is a 
 broad " thoroughfare," fifteen, twenty and twenty-five rods 
 in width. 
 
 We stopped at the Monheimer camp to take in the pota- 
 toes. It was just the place for a picturesque camp. No 
 doubt Monheimer and friends enjoyed themselves. We 
 were grateful for the potatoes. 
 
 On the east side of the outlet, a forest fire had killed 
 the growth far up the ridge. The dead trunks were fall- 
 ing across each other. It was a picture of vegetable ruin. 
 Fire is the great devastator of our forests, and has de- 
 stroyed more pine in Maine than all the lumbermen have 
 cut off.
 
 PARMACHENEE LAKE. . 119 
 
 When near the lake, the outlet bends sharply to the 
 west, around a bushy point. It was not till we had doubled 
 this, that the fine expanse burst on us. Farr had been up 
 here already in the morning. I saw that he was watching 
 the rest of our faces with a certain air of triumph. 
 
 "What say to this?" he exclaimed, as we rounded the 
 bushes and caught sight of the lake. 
 
 Involuntarily we turned, and sat gazing off for a long 
 time. This, then, was Parmachenee. I do not know 
 what the name signifies, but it ought to mean Beautiful 
 Lake. The "Indians named it; and I cannot but think 
 from the well-known fitness of their terms, that this silvery 
 word has a beauteous significance. 
 
 It is not so large as Moosehead, Apmoogenamook, Um- 
 bagog, and a score of others ; but to my mind, it is the 
 most beautiful of them all. Its whole length does not 
 exceed five miles ; and its greatest breadth, from the mouth 
 of Moose Brook on the east shore to the foot of Bose-buck 
 cove at the south-west corner, is not more than four miles. 
 
 The most of our Maine lakes are long and narrow; 
 Parmachenee is an exception. It fills a natural sink or 
 basin, walled about by high, wooded hills, some of which 
 are mountains of note. Bose-buck, for example, at the 
 foot of the cove of the same name, is one of the finest 
 cone-shaped peaks in New England. 
 
 Two hunters, with their dog Bose, were skirting the 
 lake, so the story has it. For some days they had shot 
 nothing, and were suffering for food. As they passed the
 
 i2o "BOSE-BUCK COVE." 
 
 foot of the cove, Bose started a buck, which ran directly 
 up the side of the mountain, till the dog overtook and 
 pulled it down. So they named the peak Base 1 s-buck. 
 
 In the north-east, too, a very high blue mountain is visi- 
 ble over the nearer peaks. This is one of the Boundary 
 Mountains. Over all the hills which border the lake 
 shores, a heavy mixed growth comes down to the very 
 water's edge ; spruce, birch and maple, mainly, with here 
 and there a grand old pine rising head and shoulders 
 above every thing else. 
 
 On the west side, above the cove, there is a grand slope 
 leading up from the shore, for a mile, to the height of 
 land. 
 
 " What a place for a farm ! " Scott exclaimed, as we re- 
 marked it " A fellow might make a paradise for himself 
 on that slope ! And what a view he would enjoy all his 
 life long ! " 
 
 There are no islands in the lower part of the lake. 
 Toward the northern end and above " Indian Field Point" 
 there is a chain of three wooded islets extending down 
 in a line ; and above these there are numerous curious 
 floating islands, some of an acre in extent, which rise and 
 fall with the lake surface. They are covered with water- 
 grass and a few low shrubs. These are the favorite 
 haunts of the musk-rat ; the islands are studded with their 
 mud huts. The head of Parmachenee Lake is probably 
 the best place for musk-rats in the State of Maine. But the 
 poor little creatures are scarcely worth hunting ; for some
 
 THE UPPER ISLANDS. 121 
 
 years their skins have brought no more than fifteen and 
 eighteen cents, and often not over twelve cents. The 
 afternoon was very pleasant. There was no breeze. The 
 lake lay smooth as glass before us. A soft haze rested on 
 the mountains ; and the sunlight was mellow and warm. 
 It was the poetry of October weather. 
 
 As we rowed on, we espied a very large flock of shel- 
 drakes, and gradually approached them ; but when within 
 a quarter of a mile, they saw us and began to swim off. 
 Fred took up the little rifle and fired after them. We 
 could distinctly hear the whizzing of the slug, so still was 
 the air. It struck a little short, and went skipping in 
 among them, at which there was a prolonged quacking and 
 flapping of wings ; but they did not rise. 
 
 Reloading quickly, Fred fired again and again, without 
 striking any one of the flock. It was not till the fifth or 
 sixth shot that they rose. There were not less than fifty. 
 They circled about for some minutes, then settled on the 
 lake again at a distance of a mile or over. 
 
 We were nearly or quite an hour rowing up to Indian Point, 
 which from the south side seems a part of the north shore, 
 but which in reality separates the lake from a roomy expanse 
 of a square mile or over, known as " Indian Cove." 
 
 We explored this cove pretty thoroughly, in search of the 
 inlet where the Magalloway enters the lake. But the inlet 
 is not through this cove, but off to the north-east. We at 
 length got into it by passing in between the second and third 
 of the wooded islands.
 
 122 " CLEAVELAND'S CAMP." 
 
 We had heard that there was a logging camp on the Ma- 
 galloway at a little distance above the lake ; and there we had 
 had it in mind to take up our abode while at the lake. The 
 stream enters the lake through a marsh full of black alder. 
 It winds deviously about for a half mile or more. The whole 
 upper end of the lake is in process of filling up with alluvial 
 matter .brought down by the river. Probably the lake occu- 
 pied the whole space back to the woods formally. But even 
 after entering the woods, we found little current. There 
 were long stretches of dead water. 
 
 The camp of which we were in search is located on the 
 west bank of the stream, not quite a mile above the lake. 
 Farr was the first to espy it. 
 
 " Here we are ! " he sang out, pointing in, past a great 
 yellow birch trunk. 
 
 "Two camps," said Scott. 
 
 "One's the ox-camp," Fred explained. 
 
 "The other must be the man-camp," Scott reasoned. 
 
 We landed, to explore our prospective home. It was close 
 upon the bank of the stream, not more than twenty yards 
 from it : a great ark of a camp, big enough to accommodate 
 forty men, as thick as they usually stow them in a logging 
 shanty. We were a little dismayed to find the roof broken 
 in at one end. Heavy snows had done it. The end next 
 the door was sound, however, for twenty feet or upwards. 
 
 " Well, there is enough of it left for us, as it is," said Fred, 
 after we had surveyed the ruin. 
 
 This camp, unlike the most of them, had a double roof.
 
 "CLEAVELANDS CAMP. 123 
 
 Evidently it had been in its day a sort of palace among shan- 
 ties. There was a floor of hewn planks, and a stove with 
 two broken legs lying partially under the wreck of the roof. 
 
 There was also a grindstone, where the men sharpened their 
 axes, and an anchor and anchor-line four or five hundred 
 feet in length, used in warping rafts of logs down the lake. 
 
 In one of the logs in the end of the camp there were cut 
 the words, " Cleaveland's camp." This Cleaveland, Fred told 
 us, had been a noted lumbering " boss " in this region. 
 
 We at once proceeded to set ourselves up in house- 
 keeping, in the habitable end of the camp. The roof had 
 broken down in such a way as to keep out the weather, even 
 from the ruinous end. It looked as if we might make 
 ourselves comfortable. The old stove was extracted from 
 the fallen splits, two stones substituted for its broken legs, and 
 a hole cut through the roof for the bruised and battered 
 funnel. It was not so good a stove as the one down at the 
 Gorge camp ; it did not draw so well, and it had no " ele- 
 vated oven." As cooks, we liked " elevated ovens." 
 
 In order to have bait for our mink and otter traps, Fred 
 and I went back down the stream to the lake (having first 
 unloaded the bateau), to set traps for musk-rats on those 
 floating islands where we had seen their huts. 
 
 In setting these traps for musk-rat, we took no pains to 
 conceal or cover them ; simply staked them down and left 
 them uncovered, in the paths made by the rats. 
 
 On some of the islands there was a perfect net-work of 
 these paths; and I counted not less than twenty huts.
 
 124 MUSK-RAT HAUNTS. 
 
 These latter are on the same plan as those of the beaver, 
 only smaller and not so well finished. But the principle is 
 the same. In both cases the entrance is from beneath and 
 under water. 
 
 The musk-rat lives mainly on water-grass, roots and twigs. 
 It is not frequently seen out by day. We saw nothing of 
 them, not so much as a glimpse, that afternoon. Asleep in 
 their huts, perhaps. 
 
 Where the floating islands were of considerable extent, they 
 bore our weight readily ; but the smaller ones would begin 
 to settle gradually, deeper and deeper under the water, till 
 we were glad to leap into the boat to avoid going over boots. 
 
 The upper end of the lake, above Indian Point, was a very 
 curious place, with its floating islets, covered with waving 
 grass and populous with huts, inclosed in a dark border of 
 evergreen forest. By slightly magnifying the huts, in imagi- 
 nation, one could fancy that he had come upon some pre- 
 historic settlement of the early human times, a colony of 
 rude lake-dwellers, living here in utter seclusion and har- 
 mony. We had invaded their long-secure retreat ; and, alas ! 
 we were bringing nothing but war and death for them. 
 
 But such ideas have no business in the minds of trappers 
 and hunters. We had come to slay and play, to get gain 
 from it. A new and terrible destructive enemy had come 
 upon the pigmy settlement, an insatiable foe, who would 
 never rest till the last skin was in his bag. 
 
 We set sixteen traps and went back to camp. It had 
 clouded over, and begun to rain a little after sunset.
 
 SETTING-TRAPS. 125 
 
 Fan and Scott had got every thing under cover, and had 
 the stove hot and supper cooking. For variety, Farr had 
 stewed some beans and made a Johnny cake. 
 
 Before the shower had begun to fall, Scott had brought in 
 a great quantity of boughs, of both fir and spruce, for a bed. 
 We drew the bateau out of the stream, so that it could not 
 be stolen without our hearing something of it. 
 
 There were no signs of a party having been about the 
 camp here, and we had seen nothing more of the prowling 
 man at the dam. 
 
 " He may have been only some straggling hunter," Fred 
 said. 
 
 In the ox-camp, which was placed about a hundred feet 
 from the other, Farr had found as many as twenty axes 
 stowed away in a grain box. This ox-camp was a dreadful- 
 ly dirty hole, dark and stinking. It was roofed with sods 
 and dirt to the depth of two feet. In winter it may have 
 been warm, but now it dripped constantly. 
 
 As it grew dark, we heard the cries of many wild creatures, 
 some near, some at a distance. The wilderness clearly had 
 its dwellers. Night called them out. We were, as we now 
 began to feel, in the very heart of the wild lands. Not a 
 single human habitation within thirty or forty miles ! If 
 there were savage beasts in the forest at all, they were here, 
 no doubt, and these were their cries. 
 
 From up the river the roar of falls came borne on the 
 still air. The rain had ceased, for a time, though it was very 
 cloudy and the air was thick with mist. Objects had a wild
 
 126 CIRCUMSTANCES RENDER US UNEASY. 
 
 gloom about them. We were not afraid, but this impres- 
 sion clung to us. Then there came the thought of the woods- 
 men, who had likely as not been observing our movements : 
 this was the only real dread we experienced. The presence 
 of man, or at least, of men of this sort, brought no reassur- 
 ing feeling of companionship. So far from the settlements 
 and the protection of law, crime knew no restraint. Deeds, 
 however dark, could not be punished. Here we must look 
 out for ourselves, and make our own rights good by force, 
 if necessary. So used do we grow to the protection which 
 the laws give us, that it is a bewildering thought to know, for 
 the first time, that one is beyond their reach, and that his 
 safety lies in his own strength and courage. At first it sends 
 a strangely insecure feeling over a person; afterwards he 
 comes to enjoy it and feel the freer. 
 
 There were plenty of owls here ; and as the evening ad- 
 vanced we heard a loud snort, followed by others from the 
 east bank of the stream. Scott took up the rifle, to fire in 
 the direction of them. 
 
 " I don't believe I would fire," Fred said. 
 
 " It will do no good, and it may do hurt. We had better 
 fire no more than is necessary here." 
 
 Scott desisted readily. 
 
 We fastened our door securely. As for Spot, we could 
 never get him out of the camp after dark ; he was the 
 most inveterate coward I ever fell in with for a dog.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Trapping in Earnest. Early Astir. The Shyness of Wild Animals. 
 
 Eight Musk-rats. The Plain Prose of Trapping. " Little 
 Boy's Falls." Moose and Deer Signs. Mink Traps. Scents. 
 
 Otter Traps. Otter " Slides." Caution. Our " Saple Line." 
 
 The Pine Marten. Setting up " Dead Falls." Some Prime 
 Partridge Shooting. Our First Mink. Our First Marten. 
 
 T~^ RED waked me early. 
 
 JL " Let's go look at our traps," he said. " We must be 
 up early mornings, now. Time's precious. Farr and Scott 
 can get the breakfast." 
 
 We launched the bateau and paddled down the river. 
 The mist felt cold. It was barely light. There was frost on 
 the wet dead leaves and on the water-grass. I shivered till 
 warmed by the exercise of rowing. 
 
 Some creature swam the stream at a distance below us, and 
 partially around a bend. We heard the splashing, but could 
 see nothing distinctly. Fred thought it might be a deer, or 
 possibly a moose. There was a snapping of brush as it ran 
 off on the east side. Evidently there was game enough 
 about, if we were smart enough to take it. 
 
 It was the dream of young sportsmen, particularly those 
 from the cities, that in these wild regions game of all sorts
 
 128 EIGHT MUSK-RATS. 
 
 is plenty, so plenty that by just going out and walking foi 
 a few miles in the forest, deer, bears, and eyen moose can be 
 frequently shot. But the fact is, that all these larger wild 
 animals are exceedingly shy ; and their senses are so acute 
 that an amateur sportsman might hunt in these forests weeks 
 together and never have even a glimpse of them. They hear, 
 see, or smell, and are off long before he is aware of their pres- 
 ence. It is only by the utmost caution and by overmatching 
 their natural keenness by successful stratagem, that game of 
 this sort can be taken : this, at least, is the rule, though it 
 sometimes happens that an animal is stumbled upon and shot 
 in a manner most unaccountable to one who appreciates 
 their natural shyness and acuteness. 
 
 It was with a good deal of expectation that we drew near 
 the musk-rat colony on the floating islands. We could see 
 them hopping about in the traps amid the grass, while yet at 
 a distance. 
 
 "I set it at six," Fred said. 
 
 I thought four would be nearer the mark. 
 
 There were eight of them, hard and fast by the legs, 
 leaping about and gritting their teeth. One was caught 
 round the body and squeezed to death ; it was a trap large 
 enough for an otter. In two traps we found only toes. " Foot- 
 ed themselves," Fred said, meaning that they had gnawed 
 off their legs to escape. Minks also do this frequently. 
 
 Some of the larger ones, the old male rats, jumped at us 
 ferociously when we approached to lap them on the head ; 
 and when struck they uttered a curious squeak.
 
 THE PLAIN PROSE OF TRAPPING. 129 
 
 It seemed too bad, but then "business is business." 
 With as little waste of time as possible, we reset the traps and 
 pulled back to camp, keeping attentive eyes to every thing 
 stirring, or the least signs or sounds of game : this is the 
 hunter's art. 
 
 Fair and Scott were up and getting breakfast. 
 
 Fred began to skin rats at once. I made " stretchers " for 
 him out of the dry pine splits, off the roof. We took the 
 skins off whole, and immediately stretched them on the shin- 
 gles, as I prepared them. 
 
 Skinning musk-rats, or any other sort of game, is work, not 
 play ; very disagreeable work I call it. If the reader's nose 
 has never realized the odor that a musk-rat emits while under 
 the knife, he must imagine it, that is all ; for my own part, I 
 would much sooner imagine it than smell it. But it is a job 
 that has to be done, none the less. 
 
 We figured up our morning's profit at one dollar and twen- 
 ty cents, reckoning the skins fifteen cents apiece. 
 
 This was our first profit, too; hitherto it had been all 
 outset. 
 
 It encouraged us and filled us with zeal. We believed we 
 could make something, and determined to work. And from 
 that time forward we did work. I never labored harder than 
 during those weeks trapping and hunting at the head of 
 Parmachenee. We got up early and kept busy till dark, 
 then skinned game till bedtime. We neither loafed nor 
 played a moment that I can now recall. It was business, 
 steady business, every hour. 
 
 9
 
 130 "LITTLE BOYS FALLS. 
 
 As soon as breakfast -was despatched, we set off up the 
 river, with traps and bait, to explore the falls, and put 
 down mink-traps, if there were signs of mink. 
 
 It is rather over a mile up to the falls, " Little Boy's 
 Falls," they are called. 
 
 An Indian with his family were once crossing above the 
 falls, when a pappoose tumbled off their raft and was car- 
 ried over. They got the little monkey out alive, however. 
 Hence the name of Pappoose, or, as it is more commonly 
 called, "Little Boy's Falls." 
 
 It is a pretty fall of about six feet. The locality and 
 the ledges which make the cascade are much like those at 
 " The Narrows." 
 
 A little below the fall there is a bark shed, built by 
 some trapper, perhaps. It is only large enough to shelter 
 two, at most. Past it runs a little brook, that flows into 
 the stream from a pond only a few rods from the brook ; 
 so near, indeed, that we drew out the bateau and carried 
 it across to launch it, but were deterred by what we saw 
 in the moss and in the sand on the shore. All along the 
 water's edge the tracks of deer were as plenty as are 
 sheep-tracks when a large flock have passed. Among 
 these, too, Fred pointed to more than a score of great hoof- 
 prints. 
 
 " Moose," said he, in a whisper. 
 
 We carried back our boat, without a word. It was a 
 too promising locality to be spoiled by premature hunting, 
 or even by showing ourselves on the shore.
 
 MOOSE AND DEER SIGNS. 13! 
 
 On the west side of the falls, a bluff rises almost per- 
 pendicularly. There are shelving rocks and many old 
 roots with holes under them. These holes were nearly all 
 worn, as if by animals passing in and out. Here we set 
 five traps for mink, in the holes. We staked these, and 
 carefully covered them over with leaves and earth. The 
 bait Fred generally placed under the trencher, so that the 
 animal would dig for it through the dirt and leaves. The 
 entrails of the rats were also strung about, to make a 
 scented trail to the traps. Fred had also brought a bottle 
 of the oil of anise, with which he perfumed the traps them- 
 selves, to take away the odor of rusty iron, which both 
 mink and otter are quick to detect and instinctively avoid. 
 
 This occupied the forenoon. 
 
 In the afternoon, we went off to set otter traps we 
 had four large enough for otter at a little pond to the 
 west of the Cleaveland camp. Farr had explored it the 
 previous afternoon while we were setting for musk-rat. 
 He had found what he called two otter slides, and they 
 may have been such ; the bank, indeed, was worn smooth, 
 as if by something sliding down it. We set two traps 
 under water at the foot of one of these and another at the 
 second. All three were chained to poles such as trappers 
 call "sliding poles." If the otters should be minded to 
 slide here, we supposed that they might possibly slide a 
 leg into the traps. That was Farr's idea, at least. 
 
 Along the farther shore of this pond we saw, as at the 
 pond above, a vast number of deer tracks. In some
 
 132 OUR "SAPLE LINE. 
 
 places the ground was trodden hard ; and there were occa 
 sional moose tracks here, too. 
 
 In all our movements here we used care to make as 
 little noise as possible, and refrained from all loud conver- 
 sation and from firing the guns. 
 
 It is a very easy matter to frighten off game from any 
 given locality. The more quiet the trapper keeps, the 
 greater are his ( chances for success. Animals do not 
 readily leave their accustomed haunts, unless rudely 
 scared. But a continuous discharging of guns will rout 
 them in a very few days. This is especially the case with 
 beaver, and to a less extent with otter. 
 
 The next morning we had seven musk-rats ; and on 
 going up to Little Boy's Falls we found that a mink had 
 been in one of the traps, set in a hole under a birch root ; 
 but the trap had not held him for some reason. We 
 knew it was a mink, from the hair left, on the trap jaws. 
 This was vexatious enough ; for a mink is now worth from 
 five to seven dollars ; and mink were our great expectation. 
 
 The day after, and also Monday and Tuesday the fol- 
 lowing week, we were employed in setting up a "saple 
 line," clean around the lake ; going down the east shore 
 and coming back up the west shore ; and keeping the 
 height of land on the hills above the lake, from half a mile 
 to a mile back from the water. 
 
 The pine marten is moderately plentiful in these forests, 
 though rarely seen. 
 
 Fred tells me that one day while hunting near the Rich-
 
 THE PINE MARTEN. 133 
 
 ardson Lake he sat down to rest on a stone, and a few 
 minutes after saw a marten come out in sight, following his 
 track. He had a bunch of partridges in his hand. The 
 marten had smelled them and followed him. But the instant 
 it caught sight of Fred, it vanished like a sun-ray, before 
 he could even cock his gun. 
 
 They are very shy little creatures. 
 
 Our " line " consisted of a hundred and thirty-one traps, in 
 all, set at intervals of thirty-five and forty rods. These were 
 all wooden traps, of the kind known as " deadfalls," " squat 
 traps," "figure-four traps," etc. The entire length of the 
 line was from fifteen to seventeen miles. It was a pretty 
 good day's work to " go over the line," carry bait, reset such 
 traps as were sprung, and carry home the game, if there was 
 any. The.n there was the drag to draw. 
 
 Two of us always went together on this round. It was not 
 quite safe for one to go off alone for so long a trip, through 
 such a wilderness, even if he was sure of getting round before 
 dark. 
 
 To set up a hundred and thirty-one traps of this sort was 
 something of a job ; as much as we could well do in three days, 
 all four of us. Fair and Scott went ahead. At the place 
 where it was desirable to build a trap, they fell to work, and 
 either cut up a quantity of stakes from saplings of the required 
 length, about two feet, or else cut into the trunk of a fir 
 or a spruce, and split out thick slivers to serve as stakes. 
 
 It was my duty to make the cuddy of the trap, by driving 
 three stakes into the ground on three sides of a little square,
 
 134 SETTING UP "DEAD FALLS." 
 
 a side of which would generally measure about fifteen inches. 
 Besides the stakes, it was the duty of Scott and Fair to pro- 
 vide two poles for the " fall," and two logs or heavy chunks of 
 wood for weights. Fred brought up the rear, drawing the 
 scented " drag " of musk-rat carcasses, and bringing the bait. 
 He carried also a pine " split," out of which he made with 
 his pocket-knife the spindle and " figure-four " arrangement. 
 With him rested the care of the baiting and setting the traps 
 ready for the martens. It was furthermore my duty to spot 
 trees at intervals of a hundred yards along the whole line, in 
 order that we might be able to follow it without difficulty in 
 future. 
 
 There was an enjoyment from this work such as I cannot 
 hope to make plain to the reader. It came to us out of the 
 free, boundless forest, from the exercise itself, as well as from 
 the hope of game to be captured. Yet were I to dwell on 
 all these minor incidents, the story might be deemed but a 
 tedious recital. I can only urge the reader to bury himself 
 for a few weeks in the woods, if he would experience it. 
 
 Down at the dam, too, and on the rapids below, we set 
 eight or ten more traps for mink. 
 
 In the wooded valley above Mount Bose-buck on the west 
 of the lake and on the hard-growth slopes farther up, we found 
 the partridges so plenty that a dozen could be shot by simply 
 walking the " line." Never in any other spot have I seen 
 them so numerous. This was about five miles below our 
 camp ; and we decided to do our bird-shooting here exclu- 
 sively, within the compass of a couple of miles. The firing
 
 PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 135 
 
 would not be heard at the head of the lake. A few martens 
 might be frightened off, but then we must have partridges. 
 
 During the time we were in camp there, I think we shot 
 rising a hundred and fifty in all, the most of them over here 
 among the hard-wood growth on this side of the lake. Some- 
 times we set off in the bateau on purpose to shoot partridges, 
 but generally they were shot while making the round of the 
 " saple line." 
 
 While making these trips through the forest, we had kept 
 a sharp eye to another possible source of profit, to wit, spruce 
 gum. Fair had even dug a few pounds experimentally. On 
 the ridge and mountain sides where the spruce form nearly 
 the entire growth, gum was to be found in abundance : of 
 this fact we soon satisfied ourselves. There would be no 
 great difficulty in digging a hundred weight. 
 
 Rough gum was worth, we had learned, from seven to 
 twenty cents a pound ; but pure " purple gum," all cleaned 
 and ready for chewing, would bring seventy cents, and even 
 a dollar a pound in the cities. 
 
 First we had resolved to try trapping and hunting thorough- 
 ly, then if game got scarce, we would go to digging gum, and 
 make what we could from that. 
 
 For the week in which we set up the saple line we took 
 forty-three musk-rats. I have little doubt there were a 
 thousand of them about the little islands at the head of 
 the lake. 
 
 Farrwas the first to bring in a mink. He found it in one 
 of the traps at " Little Boy's Falls." How we doted over
 
 136 OUR FIRST MINK. 
 
 that slim mink! Almost black it was, with a beautifu 1 
 gloss on its fur, and a tail that fairly glistened in the light 
 of the basin-lamp, as Fred skinned it. This tail made to 
 our eyes a very fine contrast with the bare snake-like tails 
 of the musk-rats, of which we already had a long row hung 
 up on one side of the camp. 
 
 " Good for six dollars," said Fred, as he hung it up to 
 cure; "worth thirty-six of these rat-skins." 
 
 " Nearer forty," said Farr. " It don't pay to trap rats, 
 anyway." 
 
 Scott and I were the first to^find marten in the traps. 
 
 Fred and Farr made the first round, the second day after 
 we had set up the line. They found nothing, and were not 
 a little chap-fallen. 
 
 But two days after, Scott and I found two martens on 
 the east side and one on the west side of the lake. Ah, 
 that was a proud return to camp that night, three "sa- 
 ple " ! It made Farr shout like a Methodist Elder. 
 
 These martens were a third, yes, a half, larger than a 
 mink. Over the back and sides their color was much like 
 that of a fox. Beneath, they were a reddish white. Their 
 fur was very thick, and though lithe, they still had a chubby 
 look, with the nose and head wonderfully slim, sly and 
 beautiful. 
 
 The tails were much more bushy than that of the 
 minks. 
 
 Ah, there's no sport like trapping for youngsters of OUT 
 age then.
 
 THE MARTIN IN THE TRAP.
 
 OUR FIRST MARTEN. 137 
 
 We reckoned the three martens worth seven dollars and 
 fifty cents. 
 
 That night, while sitting in the camp, eating supper, I 
 think, we heard what sounded to me like the report of a 
 gun at a distance. It startled us. 
 
 " Gun, wasn't that ? " Scott exclaimed. 
 
 " Gun, or a tree broke and fell." 
 
 " There's no wind," said Scott. 
 
 We were puzzled. 
 
 Farr thought it was a tree. Fred declared he could not 
 tell which it was.. The more we thought it over, the more 
 readily we believed that it might be a tree. But our first 
 impression was that it had been a gun ; and first impres- 
 sions of such sounds are generally best. 
 
 " I don't believe we had better leave our fur here in the 
 camp days while we are off in the woods," Fred said, at 
 length ; " or our provisions, either. It would be a very easy 
 thing for some prowling party to come along and go through 
 us." 
 
 We had planned to go up the stream above " Little Boy's 
 Falls " the next day.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 We Hide our Fur. An Expedition to Explore the Upper Magallo- 
 way. We See a Caribou. A Curiously Gnawed Stick. Beav- 
 er! The Beaver's own Retreat Rump Pond. "Hist!" 
 Two Moose. Some Eager Eyes. We Fire at the Moose. 
 An Exciting Chase. Blood on the Leaves. We find one of the 
 Moose Dead in the Stream. The other Escapes. Carrying the 
 Game to Camp. A Laborious Task. 
 
 EARLY the next morning, as soon as we had got break- 
 fast under way, Fred carried the flour, meal, pota- 
 toes, meat, etc., off into a thicket at some distance below 
 the camp, and covered them over with the tent and the 
 rubber blankets. The fur he then hung up on the back 
 side of the ox-camp. It was a dark hole in there ; and 
 Fred stood up old boards and piled up the grain-boxes in 
 such a way that a person would not be very likely to see 
 the skins, even if he went in. But our wool blankets and 
 the tin ware we did not think it worth while to remove. 
 
 Immediately after breakfast we set off in the bateau, 
 pulled up to Little Boy's Falls, and cut a path through the 
 bushes about them. Over this we carried the bateau and
 
 A CURIOUSLY GNAWED STICK. 139 
 
 launched it in the stream above. It was a very short 
 carry, not over four rods long. We heartily wished all 
 the carries were as short. 
 
 There is dead water for half a mile above, or at least, 
 the current is not strong. Then come short rips, where the 
 stream is so very shallow that, had our bateau been loaded, 
 we could not have got up. As it was, we had to lift it over 
 two gravel bars. Generally there was water enough. 
 
 Two miles (for a guess) above the falls we came off 
 abreast another camp with its ox-shed, " Cleaveland's 
 Upper Camp." This is the upper limit of logging opera- 
 "tions. Above this point not even the omnipresent lumber- 
 man has penetrated. 
 
 At a place where there are black alder thickets border- 
 ing the stream, we saw a deer, but not in time for a shot. 
 It had started to bound away before Fred espied it. We 
 thought it was of the species known as caribou. 
 
 A more interesting matter immediately claimed our atten- 
 tion. A stick of hazel, green, and with the bark entirely 
 peeled off, came floating down. Farr grabbed it out of the 
 water. The ends were cut smoothly off. 
 
 "There's somebody not far above here!" he exclaimed. 
 " This stick wasn't cut many hours ago ! " 
 
 " Let me look at that," said Fred, pulling in his oars. 
 
 We examined it carefully. 
 
 " That somebody is beavers" he said. 
 
 " Beavers ! " Scott exclaimed. " Good ! " 
 
 " Yes, fellows," Fred went on, looking critically at the
 
 140 BEAVER! 
 
 stick. " See the mark of their teetfh? broad teeth. Hard 
 telling it from a knife, at first. But it's beaver, fast enough ; 
 done last night, too. May be a mile or two above here, 
 though." 
 
 We pulled on, making just as little noise as possible, and 
 speaking in whispers. 
 
 Presently we came to where the stream winds through a 
 queer sort of tract, half open bottom, filled with wonder- 
 fully tall water-grass, and interspersed with thickets of 
 alder and firs : a place as singular in appearance as I ever 
 saw. The stream here grew so narrow that our oars would 
 sometimes stick in the banks on both sides, but the chan- 
 nel was very deep, with little current. And here, at a place 
 where some thick and shaggy firs leaned out from the 
 banks just after turning a bend we came upon the 
 beaver's own retreat ! There were no houses, but the bank 
 around the firs was worn and trodden smooth where it fell 
 off into six or eight feet of water ; and the stream had un- 
 dermined the roots of the trees. All the hazel and alder 
 bushes near the bank had been gnawed off, and the ground 
 was covered with bare sticks. Many of these were float- 
 ing about. 
 
 "They live under that bank," Fred whispered. "Bet 
 you there are half a dozen of them ! " 
 
 A little above, we saw where they had felled a poplar, six 
 inches across, so as to have it fall out into the stream. 
 The small branches of this were completely denuded of 
 bark.
 
 RUMP POND. 141 
 
 During the summer and early fall, beavers are seldom 
 found at their winter houses. They wander about in fam- 
 ilies, and occasionally solitary individuals, visiting many 
 different streams over a considerable territory, till ice be- 
 gins to form, when they once more seek their homes. 
 
 We supposed this to be some such family which had 
 taken up their abode under this quiet bank for a few 
 weeks. 
 
 We had taken along our one large trap. This we 
 attached to a sliding-pole and set it on the bottom under 
 the ,bank. Quietly then, and without a loud word, we 
 pulled away and continued our cruise up stream. We 
 heard of a pond somewhere on the upper waters of the 
 stream. Lumbermen called it " Rump Pond " : a reference 
 to venison, perhaps. We hoped to reach this pond that 
 day. 
 
 We passed the mouths of numerous brooks, and indeed 
 the main stream showed unmistakable signs of dwindling 
 to a brook itself. 
 
 About an hour later, I judge, and after pulling per- 
 haps five miles above " Little Boy's Falls," we crooked 
 our way into a pond, which I doubt not is the " Rump 
 Pond " above mentioned. It was a rather pretty expanse 
 of perhaps a square mile in extent, set about with the 
 usual evergreen forest, and showing the tops of dark peaks 
 over the woods, at a distance. 
 
 There is a pleasure in exploring wild and unknown 
 ponds and streams. Something of this we felt as we
 
 142 " HIST ! " 
 
 pulled out of the river and saw this new pond spread out 
 before^us. 
 
 In order to thoroughly explore it (from a trapper's point 
 of view), we went up the west shore, looking for mink and 
 other signs, intending to return down the east shore. 
 
 There are on the west side several little coves where 
 small brooks make in. Into the second of these, with 
 noiseless dips of the paddles, we were just turning, when 
 we heard distinctly several leisurely splashes, as of a cow 
 walking in a pool, just within the cove and around a 
 thick bunch of black alders. 
 
 " Sh ! " from Fred. 
 
 Momentarily we reversed the stroke. 
 
 Scott was in the bow. He peeped with eyes round as a 
 lynx's. But the alders were too thick. Fred crawled 
 along beside Scott. They both peered eagerly. Then 
 Fred's hand dipped cautiously in the water and paddled 
 us imperceptibly forward a yard or more : both staring in- 
 tently all the while, with Farr and myself craning our 
 necks for a glimpse, one hand on our guns. 
 
 Suddenly, Fred started and ducked his head. I saw 
 his hand feeling behind for his gun. 
 
 " Moose ! " he breathed to us behind his other hand. 
 
 Farr's eyes glistened. I presume my own fairly snapped 
 with excitement. But every other second, Fred would 
 turn us just the white of one of his, warningly and be- 
 seechingly. As for Scott, he had caught sight of the 
 game at last and stared rapturously, never once winking, 
 and evidently quite forgetful of the rifle.
 
 TWO MOOSE. 143 
 
 Farr and I could not stand this. We were expiring for 
 a look. We began to crawl forward, regardless of the 
 prayers in Fred's eye. Seeing us coming, he cocked both 
 barrels ; and hearing the faint clicks, Scott grabbed for 
 his own rifle ; he had just thought of it. 
 
 " Look, if you must ! " Fred aspirated. 
 
 Like two clumsy snakes, Farr and I crawled over the 
 thwarts and partly on to Fred. Our four heads were now 
 all in the bow. We were all eyes then. Ah ! but wasn't 
 that a picture for a hunter's optics ! 
 
 Up in the cove, close under a bunch of swamp maples 
 that hung out over the water, and standing knee-deep 
 among reeds and pickerel grass, and all in the shadow of 
 the tall dark firs behind, there they stood, two of them. 
 Perhaps it was sixty yards : not over that. They had not 
 heard us, or at least, they had not seen us. I could think 
 of nothing but two great donkeys, or rather, two enor- 
 mous rabbits. 
 
 Neither of them had antlers, but they had prodigious 
 flapping ears. They were nosing the water and the grass, 
 and as I looked, the larger raised its ungainly nose and 
 with its muffle and teeth cropped the twigs of the swamp 
 maple. They looked to me quite black, where they stood, 
 and seemed grotesquely* ugly ; ungainly in every part, as 
 we appreciate beauty. 
 
 But poor Farr had not yet got a good look. I doubt if 
 he had even got his eye on them, through the alder brush. 
 We made a fresh effort to get farther forward, on to Scott
 
 144 WE FIRE AT THE MOOSE. 
 
 And in so doing he hit his toe against the tin bailer in the 
 bottom of the boat. It rattled. 
 
 " You've done it now," Fred whispered, in disgust. 
 
 Instantly both moose started sharply, raising their huge 
 ears. For an instant they stood cowering, trembling, I 
 fancied, their great eyes dilating toward the alders. 
 
 " Fire, Scott," Fred whispered. " Let drive ! " 
 
 One! spoke the little breech-loader. 
 
 A loud snort! A mighty splashing! Bang bang: 
 both barrels of Fred's gun. I had a long single-barrel, 
 and fired the same moment through the smoke at what I 
 took for the moose, one or both : and Farr let fly both 
 barrels of his shot-gun, at random, necessarily. There 
 was a smash of brush, a jar and pounding of the ground. 
 Almost at the same instant a singular sound, twice re- 
 peated, such as I once heard a young elephant at a mena- 
 gerie make through his trunk. 
 
 " Pull in ! Pull in ! " Fred shouted. 
 
 Under our excited strokes the bateau forged into the 
 cove and plunged through the reeds into the muddy bank. 
 We jumped out and looked for traces. There were deep 
 hoof-prints in the soft black muck. The water was turbid 
 with mud ; and on the slime and beaten-down reeds there 
 was a tinge of blood. * 
 
 " Some of us hit ! " Farr exclaimed. 
 "And look here," said Fred. 
 
 On the round withered leaf of an orchis there stood a 
 bright red drop, and against the trunk of a fir another had
 
 AN EXCITING CHASE. 145 
 
 spattered and run down ; and still farther up the bank, 
 another had splashed on a white birch. 
 
 " Blood flew well," said Scott. " But they're gone." 
 
 Fred was hastily re-loading. Farr and I followed his 
 example. Whether one or both were seriously wounded, 
 we could only guess. They had gone out of sight and 
 hearing. 
 
 " Too bad we left Spot," Fred said ; for lest he should 
 bother us, by eating bait or frightening game, we had left 
 him shut into the camp that morning. Spot was not a 
 good trapping dog ; he had little knowledge of any thing 
 save of his own wants. It was a mistake from the outset 
 taking a dog. But just now he might have been of use. 
 
 The prints of their hoofs were plainly visible, however, 
 on the dead leaves. We followed in hot haste. Blood 
 drops here and there encouraged us. For a considerable 
 distance a mile, very likely the moose, ran off up from 
 the pond shore to higher land. They were keeping to- 
 gether. At places where the ground was moist, we 
 tracked both of them. The direction must have been 
 west or north-west ; though we paid little attention, in our 
 excitement. Soon, however, the trail veered. The moose 
 had tacked for lower ground again. 
 
 " Making for water ! " panted Fred. 
 
 We ran on, in better hopes. 
 
 " Good sign," Farr said. 
 
 But we were in nowise certain that they were going for 
 water. 
 
 10
 
 146 ONE MOOSE DEAD IN THE STREAM. 
 
 A hundred rods farther on, we entered a great alder 
 bottom full of grass, bushes and cat-tails. Here there was 
 a very distinct trail ; but it was slow work beating through 
 the undergrowth. Tearing ahead, we came out upon a 
 big brook, and almost at the same moment heard a crash 
 of twigs, a snort, then another of those trumpeting squeaks. 
 Fred was ahead. He fired. 
 
 " One of them ! " he shouted. " Gone like a streak ! 
 Come on." 
 
 We jumped into the brook waist deep, splashed through 
 it, and were climbing up the bank, when Farr stopped 
 short. 
 
 "Why! See there!" he exclaimed, pointing into the 
 brush and water in the bed of the brook, a few yards 
 above where we were crossing. 
 
 What seemed a great mass of wet hair and hoofs lay half 
 under water ! 
 
 " By Jove ! " cried Fred. " If there isn't the moose!" 
 
 There it lay, sure enough, flat in the brook, dead as a 
 stone 1 
 
 The thing astonished us. After drinking, it would seem 
 to have fallen dead in the water. The other had stayed 
 about till we came up. 
 
 Farr thought that the smaller one was a calf; for this 
 one that we had shot was a cow-moose. For my own part, 
 I had not detected much difference in their size. 
 
 Fred was not at all sure that he had hit the second one. 
 We could see no blood ; and after looking along for twen-
 
 CARRYING THE GAME TO CAMP. 147 
 
 ty or thirty rods, we gave it up ; we felt very tolerably 
 content. 
 
 This larger brook, as we began to suspect, turned out 
 to be the upper course of the main stream above the pond. 
 It was not over twenty feet wide here, with many sharp 
 crooks, but the depth was not much under two feet at 
 any place ; for the current was sluggish through the alder 
 swamps. 
 
 As soon as we had satisfied ourselves that the brook 
 was the inlet of the pond, we determined to take out the 
 moose in our boat. The carcass was so heavy that all 
 four of us could scarcely raise it. We judged it might 
 weigh toward seven hundred pounds. Farr and Scott set 
 off to take the bateau up the brook ; while to avoid 
 carrying a heavier load than necessary, Fred opened the 
 carcass to take out the entrails. 
 
 Wishing to be able to state the actual size of the moose, 
 I carefully measured its length, as it lay on the bank, with 
 the tow-line, and indicated the measurements by knots. 
 The entire length, from the roots of the tail to the end of 
 its muzzle, was (as I afterwards verified it by a rule) 
 eight feet, three inches. Its height, from the tips of its 
 forward hoofs to the top of its withers, was six feet and an 
 inch. Its girth about the body, just back of the fore- 
 legs and shoulders, was five feet and eleven inches. This 
 was a cow-moose, it must be borne in mind. The male is 
 said to be often a third larger. 
 
 Scott and Farr were fully two hours getting the bateau
 
 148 A LABORIOUS TASK. 
 
 up the stream to where the moose lay. And the getting 
 back down to the pond with the heavy carcass aboard, was 
 a still longer task. We had to lift the boat over logs and 
 "jams " of brushwood ; wading ourselves nearly the whole 
 distance with our hands on the gunwale.
 
 HAULING THE MOOSE DOWN THE BROOK.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Farr Smells Smoke. Ugly Fancies. A Disagreeable Surprise. 
 We Find our Camp Burned Down ! Was it an Accident ? 
 Spot's Wound. The Fur Safe. Farr Discovers that the Grind- 
 stone, Anchor and Anchor-line have been Removed. The Burn- 
 ing takes the form of a very unpleasant Mystery. Our Blankets 
 and Whole Kit Stolen or Burned. We Camp in the Grain-shed. 
 
 AT the portage, on getting down to Little Boy's Falls, 
 we had another stint. The moose was much 
 heavier and more unwieldly to carry across than the 
 bateau ; indeed, we did not carry it, but dragged it per- 
 force. 
 
 These labors consumed the time. It was after sun- 
 set before we were clear of the falls ; and dusk was falling 
 as we drew near the camp. 
 
 We had, I recollect, turned the " big crook " and entered 
 the long stretch of dead water that led down past the 
 camp, when Farr stopped paddling and sniffed, quite on a 
 sudden. 
 
 " Don't you smell smoke ? " he exclaimed. 
 
 We all sniffed, at that. 
 
 There was a very perceptible odor of resinous smoke.
 
 150 A DISAGREEABLE SURPRISE. 
 
 " Pine burning," Fred said. 
 
 We looked at each other in great uneasiness, then 
 began to paddle in haste. 
 
 " You don't suppose " Scott began. 
 
 " Yes, sir ! " Fred cried out, standing up in the boat as 
 we came down past the last thicket on the bank. " It is 
 the camp ! Burnt up ! " 
 
 Where the camp had been, there was a bright bed of 
 coals and smoking logs ! 
 
 The suddenness of this catastrophe, coming so closely 
 on our good luck, struck us quite speechless. 
 
 " Poor Spot ! " Scott exclaimed, breaking the silence of 
 our dismay. 
 
 " Burned up with it," said I. 
 
 But Spot was not dead. A moment later, we caught 
 sight of him standing out near the ox-camp ; and hearing 
 our voices, he came to meet us, limping, and with a blood 
 stain on the white hair just back of his left shoulder. He 
 wagged his tail in a sad sort of way when we spoke to 
 him. His whole appearance and manner seemed to 
 say, We've had an awful time here ! '' 
 
 Landing hastily, we went to look at the ruins. Not 
 much to be seen : only coals and a few logs not wholly 
 burned. Evidently the fire had taken place some hours 
 before. " What will Brown say to this ! " Fred exclaimed. 
 "Camp's gone." 
 
 " But I don't see how it caught ! " Farr said. " We left 
 scarcely a spark of fire in the stove ; and I shut it up close 
 and tight the last thing before I came out ! "
 
 WE FIND OUR CAMP BURNED DOWN. 151 
 
 "Well, there it is in ashes," said Fred. " Of course it 
 must have caught from the stove somehow ; a coal may 
 have snapped out and got down between the. planks of the 
 floor, while we had our fire going for breakfast. But I 
 don't see how Spot got out. Here, Spot, come here. 
 He does not seem to be singed." 
 
 " Oh, he dug out somehow," said Farr. " You weren't 
 going to stay in there and be burned up, were you, old fel- 
 low?" 
 
 Spot looked volumes, but said little. 
 
 " And our blankets ! " said I. 
 
 " And all our plates and kettles and things ! " Scott ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " Lucky we took out our fur," Farr said ; " and our pota- 
 toes and flour.*' 
 
 Fred ran down to the thicket where he had hidden the 
 provisions. " Yes, they are all right," he said, coming back. 
 
 Farr went out to the ox-camp to look to the skins. 
 
 " And there was that great grindstone, and anchor and 
 anchor-line," Scott anxiously enumerated. "Why, Brown 
 will raise Cain with us for letting this camp burn ! " 
 
 Fred was looking among the coals and logs. 
 
 " I don't see a sign of the stone or the anchor," he said. 
 " Now isn't that queer ? " 
 
 " Under the ashes and coals," Scott suggested. 
 
 " But there lies the old stove," said Fred. " It doesn't 
 seem to be broken up much, either." 
 
 Suddenly Farr called to us from the ox-camp. 
 
 " Just come out here ! " he said.
 
 152 WAS IT AN ACCIDENT ? 
 
 We ran out. 
 
 " Fur gone ? " questioned Fred, anxiously. 
 
 " No, the skins are just where you put them," Farr said, 
 * But look in here ! " 
 
 There was a small side shed joining the end of the ox- 
 camp, where they kept the grain and other provender in 
 great boxes. The door had a huge wooden button on it. 
 Farr had opened it, and stood pointing inside. We took a 
 hasty look within. There lay the anchor-line and the anchor; 
 and there stood the grindstone ! 
 
 " Did you bring those things out here this morning be- 
 fore we went off? " Farr queried. 
 
 " Why, no ! " Fred exclaimed. 
 
 " No, indeed ! " said Scott and I. 
 
 " Well, somebody has," Farr replied. 
 
 We felt confounded at this. 
 
 " Somebody was here when the camp burned, and took 
 these things out," Farr repeated. 
 
 " And set the camp afire themselves ! " Fred exclaimed. 
 
 " But I can't understand this at all," Scott said. 
 
 " Well, I can," said Fred. " You see, there's some one 
 half a dozen, perhaps lurking about. They came along 
 here to-day and found us gone. Like as not they are trap- 
 ping themselves, not far off. They want to drive us off. 
 So they set the camp afire. But I suppose they thought it 
 was rather too bad to burn up that anchor-line. It's worth 
 forty or fifty dollars. Perhaps they mean to use it them- 
 selves ; so they carried that and the anchor and grindstone 
 out here."
 
 OUR WHOLE KIT STOLEN OR BURNED. 153 
 
 "But how about our blankets and tinware?" I said. 
 
 " Oh, they have stolen those," said Fred. 
 
 " And Spot?" Farr queried. 
 
 " I'll bet they tried to kill him," said Fred. 
 
 " Shot at him or struck him. Poor doggy ! did they try 
 to murder you, Spot? But you got away from them, didn't 
 you ? " 
 
 We looked at the bloody stain on his back again. There 
 seemed to be a cut through the skin ; but it did not look 
 like a shot mark. We could only surmise how he received 
 it, or with what sort of a weapon. 
 
 And explain it as we would, the whole affair was more or 
 less a mystery : there was something queer about it. Who- 
 ever had been there in our absence, they had left no trace ; 
 yet we knew that somebody must have been there. 
 
 " Well, shall we bring up the tent, or camp here in the 
 grain-shed ? " Fred at length asked ; for it was growing 
 dark. 
 
 As the grain-shed was a very comfortable little shanty, 
 we decided to bunk in it, and use the tent in place of our 
 wool blankets that had been either stolen or burned. The 
 only objection to this arrangement was that it was rather 
 too near the ox-camp ; but we were not over-fastidious. 
 
 Among the ruins I found the long-handled spider; but 
 the potato kettle was broken in halves ; and the other had 
 a big crack through it. Nevertheless, Fred cut some large 
 thick slices of moose meat to fry; and our potatoes we 
 roasted in the hot ashes and coals of the burned camp.
 
 154 WE CAMP IN THE GRAIN SHED. 
 
 We also scraped together a great heap of the coals, and 
 cooked large " hunks " of the moose sirloin in a still more 
 novel manner: we thrust them through with a sharpened 
 stick of green maple, and then setting one end of the stick 
 in the ground, let the meat hang over the coals, a foot above 
 them. It cooked nicely so. It was fine eating. Despite 
 our vexation at the loss of the camp and our blankets, and 
 the continual feeling of anxiety as to who and what were 
 plotting mischief about us, we yet enjoyed that supper of 
 moose meat. We were hungry; and it was superlatively 
 good. 
 
 The hide we carefully took off the carcass, and hung it 
 up as a trophy of our first moose.
 
 CHAPTER xvn. 
 
 Staniling Guard. A Trip to the Camp in the Gorge. Watching for 
 Deer. Farr's Great Chance Shot : the Way he Charged his Gun. 
 A Fawn. Moose Meat and Beef Compared. Spot and the 
 " Quill-pigs." A Mink. A " Lucivee " Surprised while in 
 Pursuit of a Marten. A Long Leap. The Lynx takes Refuge 
 in a Thick Hemlock. A Lively Scrimmage. The Game Es- 
 capes. 
 
 A FTER what had happened, we decided to keep 
 -JLJL- guard in future, not only by night, but by day. 
 That night we watched each two hours, in turn, as also 
 the next night. It would have been much better for us 
 to have stuck to this rule, as it turned out. But after 
 three nights, we knocked off watching, and all slept, as 
 before. 
 
 By day, however, we did not leave the camp unguarded. 
 One of us always stayed about, with a loaded gun ; and 
 this considerably interfered with our work, too ; though 
 Fred used to sometimes make a round of the " saple line " 
 alone. None of the rest of us went off so far alone. It 
 did not seem quite safe. Besides, seventeen miles through 
 the woods alone is not a pleasant ramble. 
 
 The next day after the burning of the camp, Farr and
 
 156 STANDING GUARD. 
 
 Scott went down the lake, to the camp in the gorge, after 
 tin plates, knives, forks, etc. We found it quite impossi- 
 ble to keep house without something of this sort ; and 
 save the frying-pan, we had lost our whole kit ; for which, 
 I may here add, we had to give Godwin a six-dollar mink- 
 skin in payment. 
 
 That day I watched the camp with Spot. Fred went 
 over the " line " alone. I had the little rifle and one of 
 the double-barrelled guns, all loaded and ready. I kept 
 inside the grain-shed the most of the time, and turned it 
 into a fortification by cutting loop-holes through the sides. 
 If any of the supposed marauders came near, I meant to 
 cover them through a hole with the rifle, and bid them 
 stand and give an account of themselves ; and if their 
 account was not satisfactory, I meant to bid them begone 
 in a terribly bass voice. In fact, I even practised a vocal 
 series of " begones ! " and " clear outs ! " 
 
 If they did make an attack on the shed, I fancied I 
 could make it hot for them. 
 
 We felt terribly warlike for a few days after the fire : 
 we missed our blankets considerably nights, and had it 
 not been for the tent we should have laid cold indeed. 
 
 At night we talked of little else save what we should 
 do if we were attacked, or found any of them about the 
 camp. 
 
 For this week, we took thirty-four musk-rats, three more 
 martens, and toward the last of the week, a mink at the 
 falls ; and on Sunday following, a mink got into one of our
 
 FARR'S GREAT CHANCE SHOT. 157 
 
 traps below the dam at the foot of the lake. Farr and 
 Scott found it there the next morning. But nothing was 
 taken in the otter traps, nor yet in the trap we set for 
 beaver up near Rump Pond. 
 
 We watched two nights for deer at the pond, off to the 
 west of Little Boy's Falls, but did not get a shot. 
 
 On the following Wednesday, Farr made a remarkable 
 chance shot. He had got in the habit of loading his shot- 
 gun one barrel of it with the bullets he had run for 
 the old Sharpe's carbine: the one that burst at Bottle 
 Brook Pond. The shot-gun had a large bore, and he 
 used (whether prudently or not, I shall not attempt to 
 say) to put in two and three of these bullets, with a hand- 
 ful of shot to keep them steady, and powder enough to 
 throw them. This barrel, thus loaded, he kept for emer- 
 gencies, doing his ordinary shooting with the other barrel. 
 
 Wednesday afternoon we set off in the bateau, Farr, 
 Scott and I, to shoot patridges down at" the slope on the 
 west side of the lake. 
 
 We had doubled Indian Field Point, and were making 
 our way down the shore, keeping close in, when Scott 
 espied something moving a long way ahead of us. It was 
 an animal standing partly in the water and in the shadow 
 of the spruces, which there leaned out over the lake. 
 Scott spoke to us of it We stopped rowing ; but he had 
 some trouble to make us see it, the distance was so great. 
 
 I cannot say just how far off it was, but do not believe 
 it to have been under fifty or sixty rods. Farr at length
 
 158 A FAWN. 
 
 got his eye on -it, and stretching out at full length in the 
 bow, took aim and fired the three balls and shot at it. 
 
 Instantly the creature turned, bounded out of the water, 
 and went out of sight into the woods. Scott and I 
 laughed ; so did Farr. 
 
 " We might have got a little nearer," Scott said, humor- 
 ously. 
 
 We had no thought that the creature was hit. It took 
 us some little time to get down where the animal had 
 stood. We passed close to the shore, to see the track. 
 
 "It was a deer," said Scott, after a glance at the small 
 hoof-track in the mud. 
 
 " I will just get out and take a look," he added, jumping 
 ashore. 
 
 He went up the bank, and was gone not more than 
 three seconds when we heard him shout, "Farr, you 
 killed it deader than a nail ! " 
 
 We both jumped* out at that, and ran up the bank. 
 
 There, among a clump of round-wood, lay a small deer, 
 with its tongue out and one fore leg in the air, dead. 
 One of those bullets had gone through its body, striking 
 just in front and beneath its left hip, and coming out near 
 the right shoulder. Twas a purely chance shot, I sup 
 pose, but a very lucky one, certainly. Farr felt not a 
 little proud of it; though he owned that it was mere 
 luck. 
 
 We did not trouble to go farther after partridges that 
 
 afternoon. 
 
 I
 
 PARK'S "CHANCE SHOT/
 
 SPOT AND THE "QUILL-PIGS." 159 
 
 This was not a caribou deer, but one of the ordinary 
 species (Cervus Virginianus). We judged it to have been 
 a last spring fawn ; its color was unusually light for the 
 species ; and it was seemingly not more than half grown. 
 It would not have weighed over seventy-five pounds, un- 
 dressed. 
 
 Again we revelled in venison ; but the meat did not 
 have the body and flavor of the moose meat. This latter 
 was equal in quality to the best of beef, and to our palates 
 (while up there) far superior in flavor. 
 
 I think it was the next morning after shooting the fawn, 
 that Spot came in while we were eating breakfast, with 
 his nose full of hedgehog quills. In his morning stroll 
 through the woods, he had stumbled on a " quill-pig," as 
 Fred terms them. To get out these quills, Farr made a 
 pair of wooden pincers, by splitting a blunt stick of dry 
 ash at one end. With this he pulled out the most of 
 them ; but we had to hold the dog down by main strength 
 to do it. Next day his nose was badly swollen, and so 
 sore he would not eat. 
 
 It would appear that there are hedgehogs in this northern 
 forest, though we did not see one. 
 
 Not more than two mornings after, we had a very lively 
 adventure with a wild-cat, or lynx. 
 
 It was Scott's turn to guard the camp that day. Fred, 
 Farr and myself had gone down to the dam to look to the 
 traps there and on the rapids below. We were coming 
 back up the outlet toward the lake, when quite suddenly,
 
 i6o A "LUCIVEE" SURPRISED 
 
 a great snapping of twigs and racing through dry brash began 
 up among the dead growth on the east side, where the fire 
 had run some years before. 
 
 " Hark ! " Farr said. " What's that ? " 
 
 It was about the liveliest snapping and scampering I ever 
 heard. It went tearing along the ridge-side. Presently there 
 was a sound of nails hi the bark of a tree ; and we saw, first, 
 a marten run up a dead hemlock, in sight from the stream, 
 over the other trees. After him came a largish gray animal 
 with a big head. 
 
 " Lucivee ! sure's ye live ! " Fred muttered, under breath. 
 
 The marten ran up to the very top of the hemlock ; but 
 the wild-cat durst not trust himself on the fragile topmost 
 limbs. He came to a stop while yet eight or ten feet below 
 the marten, and clung, glaring at it 
 
 Farr cocked his gun. 
 
 " No, no," Fred whispered. " Too far ! Pull in ashore. 
 We can work up through the woods. Sh ! still ! " 
 
 Landing, we ran up toward the hemlock. The place was 
 full of dry brush. It snapped, despite our care. Yet so in- 
 tent was the lynx on its prey that it did not stir nor turn its 
 eyes from the marten, though we came within a hundred 
 yards. 
 
 " I can drop him from here," Farr said. 
 
 "Well," said Fred, "I'll take the 'saple.'" 
 
 They both fired. 
 
 The marten leaped instantly into another tree, a dead 
 poplar. 'Twas a long jump ; not less than thirty feet off and
 
 A LIVELY SCRIMMAGE. l6l 
 
 downward. The dry branches amongst which it caught broke. 
 Down it came, snapping and crackling, to the ground, but 
 momentarily ran away like an arrow. 
 
 But our attention was mainly directed to the big cat. As 
 Farr fired, he turned a pair of great staring eyes on us, then 
 whirled about and ran down the hemlock. We sprang for- 
 ward, shouting loudly ; but it reached the ground and ran. 
 Before it had taken three jumps, however, I let go at it with 
 the single-barrelled gun. I don't think I hit it. But the 
 report and the shouting so frightened the creature that it took 
 to the trunk of a large green hemlock standing near, and 
 went up amid the green boughs in a trice. 
 
 "We've got him now," Fred exclaimed. "Surround the 
 hemlock. We'll pepper him. We'll have some fun now 1 " 
 
 Reloading the guns, we walked round the hemlock, at a 
 distance from the roots, peering into the green top, to get a 
 glimpse of the animal. But so dense were the boughs, and 
 so snugly had the beast ensconced himself, that we none of us 
 could get eyes on him. The tops of these great hemlocks are 
 often surprisingly thick. Whether the lynx was up near the 
 top, or midway the tree, we could not tell. 
 
 "Let fly up the trunk," Fred at length said to me. "Farr 
 and I will stand ready to nail him, if he jumps out." 
 
 I went up to the foot of the hemlock, and fired up into the 
 top a charge of heavy duck shot. Possibly some of these 
 hit the animal. Instantly it jumped out of the top and made 
 a flying leap, with its legs spread out, of twenty-five or thirty 
 feet, to the ground. Fred and Farr both fired. The beast
 
 1 62 THE GAME ESCAPES. 
 
 struck the ground with an audible tnump! but at once re- 
 gained its legs and went off at full jump. Farr aimed and 
 fired his second barrel, the only effect of which was to make 
 the brute take a prodigiously high leap, and run the faster. 
 
 Without stopping to load, we ran after it, shouting and yell- 
 ing at the top of our lungs, in the hope of driving it up 
 another tree. But we soon lost sight of it ; and though we 
 chased on for forty or fifty rods, we saw nothing more of it. 
 'Twas quite a lively sort of scrimmage ; though nothing came 
 of it. 
 
 We got a mink down at the dam that morning. It had 
 gnawed its leg almost off. In ten minutes more it would 
 have been free to run on three legs. Determined little 
 chaps, these minks !
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 We Take Up our Beaver Traps. A " Bear-path." Bears' Dens. 
 We Set our Big Trap with Great Care. Clogs. We Find the 
 Trap with its Clogs Gone. A Long Chase. The Beast Turns 
 on us. A Savage Apparition. " Come on ! I'll Slit your Hides 
 for ye ! " A Hard Skull. A Better Shot. Night at Hand. 
 Facts about the Canada Lynx : its Teeth, Claws, etc. 
 
 A DAY or two after, we took up our large trap, up at 
 the " beaver bank," and set it in a " bear path " which 
 Fred had crossed about a half mile to the west of the pond 
 near Little Boy's Falls. Fred was a great case for hunt- 
 ing up signs of game. Often he would go off for an hour 
 or two and search steadily for paths, tracks, croppings 
 and dens. I think he discovered five or six dens of bears. 
 The trouble with these dens is, to tell whether there is 
 a bear in them or not; and if there is, to get him out 
 without too great personal peril. 
 
 This trap was hardly large enough to have held a large 
 bear ; yet it might hold a small one we reasoned. So we set 
 it with great care and preparation in a bed of dry leaves, 
 at a place where the path wound between several large 
 rocks. We took along an abundance of bait: musk-rat 
 carcasses, moose bones, and refuse pieces of meat. These
 
 164 WE SET OUR TRAP WITH GREAT CARE. 
 
 we scattered about and placed upon the rocks. Entrails 
 of the musk-rats we strung about. Directly over the trap 
 we bent down a sapling and hung on it a big piece of moose 
 meat. Altogether we provided a feast of it. 
 
 " Should think that might draw a crowd," said Farr, 
 pausing for a final inspection of the arrangements. 
 
 We did not chain the trap, but attached to it a couple 
 of heavy clogs off a spruce trunk. 
 
 Fred ran over to see if there was any thing caught in it 
 the next morning. There were, he told us, no signs of 
 there having been any animal about it. So we let two 
 days pass before looking to it again. Indeed, it was the 
 afternoon of the second day after that, when Fred and I 
 went over to it. Farr had gone up to the falls, and Scott 
 was on guard with Spot. 
 
 This time we found nearly all of the bait eaten up and 
 the trap gone, clogs and all. 
 
 Through the moss and on the dead foliage there was a 
 very distinct trail where the clogs had torn along. 
 
 "What is it, suppose?" I queried. 
 
 " Bear, or a lucivee," said Fred, looking to the caps of 
 his gun. 
 
 I had the little rifle. 
 
 We followed the marks in the moss and leaves, keeping 
 a cautious eye ahead. We did not care to run upon the 
 beast unawares. 
 
 It did not seem as if the creature could have dragged 
 those clogs very far. But we followed a mile, perhaps
 
 A LONG CHASE. 165 
 
 more, without seeing any thing of it, and began to think it 
 might prove a long chase. Night was coming, too. The 
 sun had not been more than an hour high when we set off. 
 Not a great way farther on, however, the trail entered a 
 swamp full of hackmatack and alder. This swamp bor- 
 dered on a large, unknown pond. We presently came out 
 in sight of it. Fred was ahead. Suddenly, he stopped 
 
 "LOOK OUT! HE MAY MAKE A DIVE AT US ! " 
 
 and backed hastily against me. At the same mo- 
 ment I heard a growl. 
 
 "Behind that old log!" Fred exclaimed, still backing 
 off. " Look out ! he may make a dive at us ! "
 
 1 66 A SAVAGE APPARITION. 
 
 We cocked our guns and stood on the defensive. The 
 creature's ears were just in sight over the log: it was 
 crouching there ! Fred picked up a stray knot and pitched 
 it over the log. In a moment the old fellow rose up, and 
 the way he screeched at us was lively to listen to ! 
 
 'Twas a lynx. He drew up his gray back, cat fashion ; 
 the hair stood up. His prick ears lay back felinely; and 
 his big eyes shone like silver knobs. Oh, he looked ugly ! 
 No doubt he felt ugly. Evidently a fight was what he most 
 longed for, a regular set-to with teeth and nails. He 
 seemed to say, " Come on if you dare ! I'll slit your cow- 
 ardly hides for ye ! " 
 
 But we had not a moment's time to lose. Darkness was 
 coming. 
 
 "Let him have it!" said Fred. "Right between the 
 eyes ! " 
 
 I took aim with the rifle and fired. 
 
 A yelp followed the report. The creature turned andean, 
 dragging the trap. The slug had struck the skull a little 
 too high, as we saw afterwards, and glanced along the bone 
 betwixt its ears. 
 
 Fred ran on after it with his gun half raised to get a shot. 
 The clogs impeded the animal so much that after a few rods 
 it sprang to the butt of a great hackmatack, and assayed to 
 climb up. But the clogs were too heavy. It got up five or 
 six feet and stopped ; it could not raise the clogs from the 
 ground. 
 
 Fred ran forward, and taking a rapid aim at the back of its
 
 FACTS ABOUT THE CANADA LYNX. 167 
 
 head, fired a barrel of his heavy shot. Down it dropped, 
 the trap rattling and clogs flying about. In a few seconds it 
 was dead. 
 
 Fred took it out of the trap as soon as it stopped kicking. 
 It was caught by one of its hind legs. 
 
 The lynx is a very furry animal, and looks much larger 
 than its weight would bespeak it. This one we thought 
 would not weigh over thirty-five or forty pounds, although it 
 looked as large as a rather large dog. Its head was very 
 large. 
 
 We did not dare to stop to skin it there, lest it should 
 .ome on so dark that we might not be able to find our way 
 hack, to camp. So Fred shouldered it and started. 
 
 I tmrw off the clogs from the trap and followed him. It 
 vras dark enough, too, before we got back to camp. Farr 
 and Scott >iaa begun to feel pretty uneasy about us. 
 
 This was a male lynx. The fur was in tolerably good con- 
 dition : a stone gray on the back and sides, but almost white 
 beneath. Its legs were very powerful and muscular ; its feet 
 were padded with thick fur. We cut and pulled out several 
 of the claws to save, for mementos. Those from the middle 
 toes of the fore paws were an inch and a half long. The teeth 
 were much sharper and rather longer than those of an ordinary 
 dog. (We compared them with Spot's.) The tail was very 
 short and tipped with black hairs. 
 
 If I remember aright, we received three dollars and a half 
 for the skin, sold with the rest of our fur.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A Night long to be Remembered. We are Surprised and Captured 
 by a Gang of Outlaw Woodsmen whom we Suppose to be 
 French Canadians. Their Horrible Oaths and Threats. They 
 Rob us of Every Thing and Drive us Down the Lake. Our Sad 
 and Perilous Condition. We Stop at the Gorge Camp. More 
 "Sprung Pork." We set out for Home. 
 
 IT was the night after this capture, the night of the 
 29111 of October. Ah, I shall never forget that night ! 
 There had been a snow-squall the previous afternoon. We 
 had got in early from looking to the traps. The stove we 
 moved into one end of the grain-shed ; for the weather was 
 getting rather chilly nights, as well as windy days. A glorious 
 supper of partridges and deer venison cheered us. We kept 
 the stove hot and lay on a great springy bunk of boughs, 
 with our rubber blankets and the tent for coverlets. 
 
 Our sleep was sound after those days of constant toil and 
 tramp through the forest. 
 
 Over our heads, as we lay, hung five mink skins and three 
 marten pelts. But all our musk-rat and the lynx skin and 
 moose hide were out in the ox-camp, hidden there behind 
 the boxes and boards.
 
 A NIGHT LONG TO BE REMEMBERED. 
 
 169 
 
 The night passed. It was faintly daylight, and very nearly 
 our usual time of getting up, when I was waked by Spot 
 barking savagely for him. 
 
 I jumped up, bewildered and greatly alarmed, with the 
 sense of something being around the camp. The other 
 boys were rousing, too. But before any of us could get f air- 
 
 " AF YAR STAR ! " 
 
 ly up, or reach the guns, the door was kicked open, with loud, 
 fierce shouts, which were more like the savage growls of 
 wild beasts than men, and the muzzles of two guns were 
 pointed in at us as we sat up in the bunk ! At the same in- 
 stant, we saw red, bearded, vicious faces peeping rather cau-
 
 170 A GANG OF OUTLAW WOODSMEN. 
 
 tiously in ! And I still think had we seized our guns prompt- 
 ly, the cowardly wretches would have fled even then. They 
 might have discharged their guns, which might, of course, 
 have hit some of us. But they were cowards, as such 
 scamps often are. 
 
 We were just simply stunned : we were hardly awake ; 
 and then their brute-like shouts appalled us. 
 
 " He-air, yar young ! Af yar star, we'll blaw yar 
 
 ter ! " one of them yelled at us, with a gutteral 
 
 rattle and rasp in his throat, keeping the gun pointed full 
 in our faces, and creeping through the door-way like a tiger, 
 the others after him. 
 
 Such sounds I never heard from men. They drew back 
 their lips like mad dogs, and snarled, gritting their teeth, the 
 front one especially. " SacreU Sa-a-a-cre II Sacre ! Sa- 
 a-a-cref!" he growled out, more than a score of times. He 
 had a gray fur cap on his head. His hair hung down long ; 
 his face was red and dirty. His coat or frock was of skins. 
 Even in the terror of the moment, I smelled a vile stench of 
 rum. Altogether, he was the most terrible object I ever saw 
 in human form or out of it. They swore awfully, a con- 
 tinued stream of the most frightful and disgusting profanity, 
 and all with the unmistakable accent of French Canadians. 
 But they knew a good deal of English. Indeed, one or two 
 of the gang were English, or Americans, at least. 
 
 "Af yar star! Af yar star ff" the leader kept snarling at us. 
 
 Of course we were frightened. Who wouldn't have been ? 
 We expected to be murdered. They looked capable of it.
 
 THEIR HORRIBLE OATHS AND THREATS. 17 1 
 
 And they had us in their power. If we had so much as 
 moved to take up a gun, they would have shot us. There 
 were five of them. Instinctively the rest of us glanced at 
 Fred. 
 
 " No use," he said in a low voice. " They've got us ! " 
 Then he spoke up to them : " What do you want? " 
 At that they all gritted their teeth and snarled like wolves 
 again, aspirating "Sacre/" away down in their throats. This 
 they did to scare us, I suppose : to get us thoroughly afraid 
 of them. 
 
 At that, Scott began to beg. I do not mean that he got 
 down on his knees; but he said, "Come, now, don't kill 
 us ; don't shoot us. We'll do whatever you say." 
 But the rest of us said nothing. 
 
 " Don't talk," said Fred. " Don't say a word to 'em ! " 
 He was right. That was the best way to do, say noth- 
 ing. They had no pity nor mercy about them. Begging 
 and pleading would have been just thrown away. They did 
 not, as it appeared, quite dare to kill all four of us ; but it 
 wasn't mercy. They were afraid to do it ; and they would 
 have killed us all the quicker for our begging. That is the 
 way with such wretches. It always makes them worse to 
 plead with them. The best way is to say not a word. Let 
 them do what they dare ; for they will do that, anyway. 
 
 " Naw yer coom out aw thart. Sacre! Sacre /" they be- 
 gan to say, after they had gritted and snarled at us what they 
 thought proper. 
 
 " Coom out aw thart, yer 1 an leave yar guerns, 
 
 yer !"
 
 1 72 THEY ROB US OF EVERY THING. 
 
 Fred got right up, as soon as they said this, and walked 
 straight out between them, looking them full in the face. 
 Farr followed, and I came next. But Scott hesitated and 
 rather cringingly shied out past them. Seeing his fear, 
 they gritted their teeth at him ; and two of them kicked him 
 brutally. If he had held his head up and looked them in the 
 eye like a man, they would not have touched him. Ruffians 
 of this sort are like curs. The only safety from them lies in 
 not fearing them. 
 
 They had a large gaunt bull-dog, brindled, with a bobtail. 
 Spot had run out, and stood cowering at a little distance. 
 
 " S-t tak 'im ! " one of them called out. 
 
 "S-t tak 'im, Rog!" 
 
 Spot cut away for dear life, with Rog, or Rogue, whichever 
 it was, after him. That was the last we saw of either of them. 
 
 As soon as we were out in front of the shed, Fred turned, 
 facing them. . They pointed their guns at us, three of them, 
 old army muskets. I did not know but that they would 
 shoot us down there in our tracks. 
 
 "Gav us yermowny ! " they ordered. 
 
 " Let them have it," Fred said. 
 
 We handed out what scrip we had, a little rising two 
 dollars. 
 
 Evidently they were disappointed in the amount. ' Thoy 
 swore again and "Sacred" ferociously. 
 
 "Tak arf yer coarts," the leader ordered us. 
 
 We took them off and gave them up. 
 
 " Tak arf yer warst-cuts," was the next requisition.
 
 THEY DRIVE US DOWN THE LAKE. 173 
 
 We unbuttoned our vests, Fred setting the example, and 
 gave them up also. 
 
 Then one of them, a red-eyed, wicked-looking villain 
 stepped up, and thrusting his dirty paw into our trowsers' 
 pockets, took out our pocket-knives and whatever other 
 things we had, combs, pencils, buttons, etc. And they even 
 made Scott take off his woollen shirt, leaving him in nothing 
 but his under-shirt and pants. I expected they would strip 
 the rest of us in a similar way ; but they did not. Scott's 
 shirt was a rather better one than the rest of us had on. Per- 
 haps they thought our shirts were not worth stealing. 
 
 While they were plundering us, I observed them attentive- 
 ly, rather from a sort of fascination than otherwise. They 
 seemed like men in process of turning to beasts. There 
 was a restive truculence in their glances, and an air of sullen 
 ferocity in all their movements, such as one sees in wild 
 animals of the fiercer species. We had no doubt that they 
 were the outlaws, living in the wildnerness, of whom we had 
 heard. 
 
 "Whuere are yer trarps? " one of them demanded. 
 
 " There are some up at the falls," said Fred. " There 
 are some in Indian Cove ; and some others down at the 
 dam." 
 
 " An yar tell us troo ? " cried another. 
 
 "Yes ; I have told you true," Fred said. 
 
 One of them, in particular, struck me as having the 
 strangest countenance I ever saw. He was forty years 
 old, perhaps, though it was hard guessing his age. His
 
 174 OUR SAD AND PERILOUS CONDITION. 
 
 beard was matted, and partially clotted with grease ; and 
 his face so flabby that his mouth looked like a mere crease 
 betwixt his lips. 
 
 The one that seemed to be captain, or leader of the 
 party, had very keen black eyes, eyes that may have 
 been clear and intelligent in boyhood, but which were now 
 hopelessly hardened and sinister. His face was deeply 
 pitted, and had other marks of a wild and lawless life. On 
 every one of their visages there was set the seal of physical 
 and moral depravity. 
 
 They had espied the mink and marten skins hanging 
 over our bunk. That seemed to please them somewhat. 
 No doubt they have means of disposing of fur. 
 
 This all occupied but a very few minutes. As soon as 
 they had robbed us, to our shirts and pants, the 
 leader pointed to the bateau. 
 
 " Be gittin' inter thart ! " he sang out to us. 
 
 We started obediently. While we were going to it, one 
 of them fired off a gun behind us. I heard the shot 
 whistle past our heads ; still I am inclined to think it was 
 done merely to scare us. 
 
 We got into the boat. I thought they were going to 
 let us go off in it ; but they came behind us with their 
 guns and got into it with us. 
 
 "I guess they are going to take us down the lake," 
 Farr whispered, as we huddled together in the bow. 
 
 He was wrong. They merely paddled across to the 
 opposite bank. We did not know what they intended to 
 do, and so sat still after the boat touched.
 
 WE STOP AT THE GORGE CAMP. 175 
 
 " Out ! yar ! " they shouted. 
 
 We got out. 
 
 They got out after us and covered us with their guns. 
 
 We trembled then. 
 
 " Now, thin ! " yelled the one that led, gritting his teeth 
 till he fairly foamed at his mouth. " Be arf wit ye ! 
 yar ! Stiver ! Nevair coom bark ! Mog ! " 
 
 There being no help for it, we mogged as fast as we 
 could, taking a course that would take us out to our 
 " saple line." They followed on after us for half a mile 
 or upwards, to see that we really went off ; and they fired 
 at us once at a distance, to let us know what we might 
 expect if we came back ; I, for one, had no idea of going 
 back. 
 
 We followed down the " saple line." As soon as we 
 found that the robbers had gone back and left us, we ran 
 for a mile, at least. Not much was said ; they had not 
 left us much to talk about. We were robbed of every 
 thing and driven out. For my own part, I felt for several 
 hours completely cowed, whipped. There we were, forty 
 miles from settlement, without arms ; we had not even a 
 jack-knife. 
 
 It was not till we had crossed Moose Brook, that even 
 a word was exchanged. There Fair said, " Where are you 
 going, Fred?" 
 
 " Down to the gorge camp," was the answer. 
 
 " What good will that do? " Scott demanded, querulously. 
 
 "What good ! " exclaimed Fred. "Why, I rather guess
 
 176 MORE "SPRUNG" PORK. 
 
 we shall want to be getting outside of some of that ' sprung 
 pork ' by the time we get down there. I, for one, haven't 
 been to breakfast yet." 
 
 We had none of us thought of breakfast. 
 
 On the ridge, near the lower end of the lake, we found a 
 marten in one of the " dead falls." What a mockery it 
 seemed to our trapping scheme ! Fred took it out, however, 
 and carried it along. 
 
 We crossed the dam, and got to the camp at a little before 
 eight o'clock. 
 
 How different our feelings now from what they had been 
 when we came here three weeks before. However, we set at 
 work to get breakfast from supplies there. We fried some 
 meat, boiled some beans, and cooked water biscuits. The 
 beans we ate with salt. The biscuits we dipped in the pork 
 fat. By heating it very hot, we fancied we had taken the 
 " sprung " out of it. It was the best we had ; and persons 
 must eat, whatever comes. 
 
 But we did not dare to stay long at the camp. Our cap- 
 tors might find us there. We were utterly defenceless. We 
 took a frying-pan, a tin dipper, two case-knives, two tin 
 plates, and the large "pot " that went with the stove. This 
 latter utensil we packed full of pork. There was also a two- 
 gallon coffee-pot, an old affair. This we filled with flour; 
 and as there was nothing else in our pants' pockets, we filled 
 those with beans and tea. We argued that our case was one 
 of absolute necessity, and so it was. 
 
 There was an old axe at this camp. Fred took that ; also
 
 WE SET OUT FOR HOME. 177 
 
 an old butcher-knife, which he stuck in his waist-band. Fan- 
 took a bunch of matches from the quarter gross put away 
 in the cuddy. 
 
 Thus equipped, we started down the " carry," toward the 
 forks and toward home.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A Gloomy Prospect Ugly Reflections. We Grow Desperate. 
 Fred's Reckless Vow. " Sunday Pond." Our Den among the 
 Rocks. A Birch-bark Jacket. Cold Nights. A Snow-squall. 
 Farr's Proposal. Fred's Hardy Plan. We Begin to Dig 
 Spruce Gum. The Spruce Woods. Fresh Hopes. Four 
 Pounds of Gum. 
 
 IF ever the world looked dark to four youngsters, it did 
 to us. At first we had been only too glad to get away 
 from the " Cunnucks " (as Fred called them) to think much 
 about the future. But now that we were fairly out of their 
 clutches, and started for the settlements, the full bitterness 
 of our situation began to break upon us. We had staked a 
 great deal for us on this expedition; and to be de- 
 feated in this humiliating way was unbearable. 
 
 We reproached ourselves for not keeping guard continually. 
 Then we should not have been surprised, and, in a word, 
 ruined. 
 
 We thought now of the figure we should cut returning 
 home in our shirts and pants, without our guns ; and of the 
 chap-fallen story we should have to tell. And how the folks 
 who predicted our failure at the outset would inwardly chuc-
 
 A GLOOMY PROSPECT. 179 
 
 kle while they pretended to pity us. Pity us they might j 
 but there would be their inevitable, " I told you so." 
 
 The story would get out, and then how inquisitive people 
 would be, and how. they would laugh over it, and say we had 
 better stayed at home. 
 
 And then where were our funds to go to the Academy the 
 next spring to come from? We talked, or rather croaked, 
 these dismal views to each other as we plodded down the 
 carry, till our hearts grew hard and wicked in our jacketless 
 bosoms; till we grew quite desperate and reckless; and 
 till at last Fred threw down the old pot of pork and vowed 
 he would not go home another step ! 
 
 " What's the use to go home ! " he exclaimed, hotly. 
 " I vow on my head, I had as lief be shot as go home in 
 this way ! " 
 
 Rash words. But I have no doubt he felt them, for 
 the moment, at least. Farr and I felt much in the same 
 way, although we neither of us had the grit to say it out- 
 right. 
 
 " But what shall we do ? " Scott asked, dubiously. 
 
 " / don't know" said Fred, candidly. " But I won'f go 
 home so I May I die on tJie road, if I do! " 
 
 He was in dead earnest. 
 
 We sat down on a windfall and looked at each other. A 
 crisis had come in our affairs. This outrage had goaded 
 us to desperation. I suppose that many of the reckless 
 exploits and desperate deeds which astonish the world are 
 done under similar stress of ill-luck and passion. When
 
 180 "SUNDAY POND.' 
 
 a fellow is driven clean to the wall, then look out 
 if he has spirit ; for if he has, he will never go down 
 without one grand effort to retrieve himself. Desperate 
 men hit hard. 
 
 Off to the right of the carry path (going down) there is 
 a little pond, named by some wandering hunter " Sunday 
 Pond." We had espied it the day we carried our bateau 
 up to the lake. It is a pretty little expanse almost circular 
 in shape and perhaps half a mile in diameter, set in a 
 natural basin, and surrounded by the thick spruce forest 
 
 "Let's go out to the pond and look about, and get 
 breath," Fred at last said. 
 
 So departing from our line of retreat, we went down 
 through the woods to the pond shore. Here we sat down 
 on an old drift-log near the water's edge, and looked at each 
 other again, a pretty long spell. 
 
 "What's the use to stay in this savage region," was 
 about all Scott had to say. 
 
 And, "I won't go home," was all we could get out of 
 Fred. But this much was decisive. 
 
 Farr and I said nothing : we could think of nothing to 
 say, to the point ; and at such times persons are not apt to 
 talk to no purpose. We sat there and brooded for two 
 hours, certainly. 
 
 " Well, if we're going to stay here, let's make us a camp 
 somewhere," Farr at length broke out. 
 
 The rest of us agreed to that. 
 
 Fred then led off, following the shore of the pond round
 
 SCOTT'S BIRCH BARK JACKET
 
 COLD NIGHTS. l8l 
 
 to the south-west side, where there was a little brook lead- 
 ing out of it down to the Little Magalloway, of which the 
 pond is tributary. Crossing this, we came to a rick of 
 great rocks on the hill-side above it. 
 
 " Might make us a den amongst these," Farr suggested. 
 
 Without waste of words, Fred set down the pot of pork 
 and began to cut poles. These we laid across the tops of 
 three of the large rocks that lay about and near to each 
 other, and then thatched them over with boughs of spruce 
 and fir. The little space inclosed by the rocks was par- 
 tially filled with dry leaves, twigs, and the fallen foliage of 
 the spruces. This, with sprigs of fir, offered a decent bed. 
 Scott shivered with cold in his under-shirt. Fred 
 peeled off as well as could be done at this season of the 
 year a broad slab of bark from a large canoe-birch, out 
 of which we contrived a sort of jacket for our scantily-clad 
 comrade. 
 
 As for the rest of us, we did not feel uncomfortably cold 
 in our woollen shirts while at work. It was only on sitting 
 down that we shivered. 
 
 The most of that afternoon was spent in getting up a 
 good meal out of such as we had. We could at least af- 
 ford a generous 'fire. Our only anxiety on this score be- 
 ing lest the "Cannucks" should see the smoke. But as 
 the pond was not in sight from the lake or its immediate 
 shores, we had no great fear of it 
 
 We were, as we reckoned it, twelve miles from the 
 Cleaveland camp.
 
 i&z FRED'S HARDY PLAN. 
 
 For coverlets that night, we had nothing but boughs and 
 birch bark ; but we built a great fire before the rocks, and 
 lay close to each other, in order to lose no warmth. De- 
 spite our nestling, we got pretty cold toward morning. 
 
 Fred got up before light and re-built the fire. 
 
 Just at sunrise there came on another violent snow- 
 Squall. The woods sighed and roared. It darkened ; 
 and the snowflakes fell thickly. It made us shudder. 
 Winter was evidently at no great distance, and what, alas ! 
 was our situation. 
 
 At breakfast, which we at length got, Fred said, 
 " They surprised us : what's the reason we can't surprise 
 them ? " 
 
 " With an old axe and a butcher-knife ! " Scott ex- 
 claimed, derisively. 
 
 Fred went on to explain that they would not always be 
 at the camp, all of them, at least. 
 
 But how do you know they are there, or stayed there an 
 hour ? " said I. 
 
 "Oh, they'll stay there and trap there awhile," said 
 Fred. " I know they will. That's why they drove us off, 
 they wanted our chance." 
 
 " But they will be on their guard for a day or two," he 
 added, after a long pause. 
 
 During the forenoon, Farr made the remark that if we 
 were going to stay there we might as well go to digging 
 gum as to do nothing. 
 
 That seemed sensible. Hope revived a little. Possibly
 
 WE BEGIN TO DIG SPRUCE GUM. 183 
 
 we might make a trifle yet. All about us there was a 
 heavy spruce growth, and on many of the trunks we had 
 noticed gum, large balls of it. 
 
 " But what are we to dig it with ? " Scott questioned. 
 
 " Here's the axe," said Farr. 
 
 " And the butcher-knife," said Fred. 
 
 " That will be for two only," objected Scott. (He was 
 homesick enough those days ; he wanted to start for home.) 
 
 " There are the case-knives," I said. 
 
 But they were too limber. 
 
 That fault was in part remedied by breaking them off 
 midway the blade. 
 
 To hold the gum after it was dug, we provided ourselves 
 with dishes, or trays, made gf birch bark, fastened together 
 at the corners with wooden pins. 
 
 This finding som'ething to do was a godsend to us. Work 
 takes up a fellow's mind. We grew quite cheerful going 
 from tree to tree to dig the gum. It is rather pretty work, 
 too, light and cheery. There is a pleasure in finding rare 
 " good trees " and big lumps. Some trees would be quite 
 crusted with it on one side from the ground upward for 
 twenty or thirty feet. But we could not reach higher than 
 six or seven feet. Sometimes gumming parties bind a 
 chisel to a long pole. There is also manufactured what is 
 called a gummer, an instrument made on purpose for the 
 business. 
 
 We had to use such instruments as we had in hand. 
 Nevertheless, in three or four hours we dug not less than
 
 184 FRESH HOPES. 
 
 six quarts of clear gum : about four pounds of it, we judged ; 
 and we reckoned it worth not less than two dollars. 
 
 When a party has had a long run of misfortune, even lit- 
 tle encouragements cheer them. 
 
 "We will take home what clear gum we can carry," Farr 
 said. " And we can carry a hundred weight between us. 
 That will be fifty dollars, certain."
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Cloudy and Cold. A Poor Camp-fire. Some Animal about the 
 Camp. Restless Watches. Fred Goes off to Reconnoitre the 
 Cannuck Camp. Gumming. Killing a Partridge with a Stone. 
 A Leveret. A Snow Storm. The Exhaustlcss Quantities of 
 Gum. A Gun. Scott Sneezes Continuously. His Birch-bark 
 Jackets. Tough Times. 
 
 r I THAT night it came in cloudy, with the weather cold 
 JL and piercing. We had bad luck with our fire. It 
 burned but poorly. There are some nights that a camp- 
 fire will not burn even if the wood be good. It kept dead- 
 ening down and smouldered. 
 
 Something was round the camp, too, some creature. 
 Perhaps it had followed us in from gumming, though we 
 did not hear it till as late as eight o'clock in the evening. 
 If we had only had a gun we would have made it scamper! 
 Fred did not care for it He lay down and went to sleep. 
 But it disturbed me thoroughly. I could not go to sleep. 
 No more could Scott ; and I think Farr did not rest any 
 too well. I noticed he kept one hand on the butcher-knife. 
 We could hear twigs break, of! a little way. I fancied I 
 could see its eyes. Repeatedly I heard its step. It kept
 
 l86 RESTLESS WATCHES. 
 
 prowling about till near morning. We had little idea what 
 it was ; the night was too dark to discern any thing off 
 from the fire. 
 
 Toward morning I fell into a sound nap. 
 
 When I woke, Farr and Scott were snoring well ; but 
 Fred was gone. jje did not come back till near nine 
 o'clock. \Jflfe guessed, however, that he had gone off to 
 reconnoitre, and so got breakfast ready and waited : that 
 is to say, we waited five or ten minutes, then ate the best 
 of it, but kept the rest warm for him. 
 
 He came in warm and tired. 
 
 " Wherever have you been ? " we asked. 
 
 He had been up as far as Indian Point ; seven miles, at 
 least. He had seen nothing of the Cannucks ; but there 
 was a smoke visible over the woods in the direction of the 
 old camp; and he had no doubt that they were there yet 
 
 We went out to dig gum again; and that day we dug 
 what we called five pounds. It gave us some idea of the 
 vast quantities in these woods. There were, we perceived, 
 tons of it. The supply was inexhaustible, so far as we 
 were concerned. 
 
 That day Fred killed a partridge with a stone. We had 
 it for supper. The reader may rest assured that we did 
 not throw away any part of that bird. There was no Spot 
 to eat the wings and legs raw. Poor Spot ! We supposed 
 that the big brindled dog Rogue had eaten him up. 
 
 That night it snowed an inch or two. 
 
 Fred went off early again to reconnoitre the Cannucks.
 
 TOUGH TIMES. 187 
 
 On coming back, he told us that he had been to the high 
 land on the west side of the lake, to the mouth of Bose- 
 buck ; and he had heard the report of a gun up near the 
 head of the lake. 
 
 "They are trapping up there, full blast," said he. "The 
 wretches ! Isn't it awful aggravating ? Our traps, our 
 grub, our guns, and our camp ! " 
 
 It was too aggravating to dwell on ! It was enough to 
 turn a fellow's blood to gall ! 
 
 We gummed five or six pounds that day. 
 
 Farr killed a leveret (young hare) with a pole. We had 
 rabbit for supper. 
 
 " Rather weak stuff," so Scott said ; and it was so. But 
 it was better than sprung pork, for a change, at least. 
 
 That night it was windy. We slept very cold. 
 
 Scott had now begun to sneeze about half the time. He 
 nearly sneezed himself out of his birch-bark jacket. He 
 had cold-sores and sore eyes, beside. 
 
 Poor wretch ! we pitied him.- That was all we could do, 
 except to make him white birch jackets; and that was no 
 small job, for he shook them to pieces sneezing. 
 
 Those were tough times. I don't see how we lived. But 
 we were too outrageously angry to die. Most of all things, 
 we wanted to get square with those beastly Cannucks.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A. Trip to Bose-buck Cove. The Cannucks Abroad in the Bateau. 
 
 We Watch Them from the Bushes. Fred's Sudden Resolu- 
 tion. A Hurried JaunL We Set off for the Cannuck Camp. 
 
 Cautious Movements. Moments of Suspense. Only Rogue. 
 
 Slaughter of Rogue. Missing Property. Poor Spot. The 
 Return of the Cannucks. " Our Turn ! " A Bold Stroke. 
 Fortune Favors Us. 
 
 r I i HE morning after, Fred and I went up to the lake 
 JL together to see whether any of our enemies were 
 abroad. From our camp, or rather den, among the rocks 
 at Sunday Pond, up to the lake, it was about three miles, 
 perhaps three and a half. We came out on the shore at 
 the foot of Bose-buck Cove, and stood gazing off up the 
 lake toward the islands, distant nearly five miles. 
 
 Presently, as we looked, I saw a speck moving across 
 the open stretch, between two of the islands. Fred saw it 
 at the same moment. 
 
 " What's that ? " he said. " Isn't that a boat ? " 
 
 It seemed likely. 
 
 "Yes, sir: that's our old bateau, sure's you're born, 
 Frank ! " Fred exclaimed, a moment later. " Coming down 
 the lake, too."
 
 THE CANNUCKS ABROAD IN THE BATEAU. 189 
 
 We hastily retreated out of sight among the alders, and 
 then watched the boat eagerly, anxiously. 
 
 It came on pretty fast. In half an hour it was in plain 
 sight ; and not long after we made out four persons in it. 
 
 "They are going down to the dam !" exclaimed Fred. 
 " Now's our time 1 " 
 
 "But they've left a man at the camp," I objected. 
 
 "Yes; but he may not be on his guard," said Fred. 
 " Now's our time to strike. He may step out a moment, 
 and if he does, why, we'll step in. Stay here and watch 
 the boat. I'll run for the other boys." 
 
 He was off like a shot. 
 
 It seemed a desperate enterprise ; but we were in des- 
 perate straits, ready to run risks. 
 
 The bateau crawled down the lake, and at length en- 
 tered the outlet and disappeared. 
 
 How long they would stay down at the dam and the 
 camp there, was a mere matter of conjecture. 
 
 Fred must have run all the way down to the pond ; for 
 in less than an hour they all three came panting through 
 the woods : Farr greatly excited and half crazy, and Scott 
 looking pale but determined. Once started on such an 
 errand, he was not the boy to show the white feather. 
 
 Fred had the axe and butcher-knife. He cut down a 
 horn-beam sapling, and armed the rest of us each with a 
 formidable club. We then went up the slope to the height 
 of land. There we struck our old " saple-line " on the west 
 side of the lake. This we followed up the west shore
 
 IQO A HURRIED JAUNT. 
 
 Fred went ahead, half the time at a dog trot. The rest 
 of us with our clubs kept up as best we could. Where \ve 
 could see out through the woods on to the lake, we stopped 
 to take a look. Each time it rejoiced our hearts to see 
 that the bateau had not yet come out in sight at the foot 
 of the lake. Then on we would go again. 
 
 I do not think we were much over an hour going up. 
 
 On getting within a half mile of the camp, however, we 
 advanced very cautiously ; and when within fifty rods, we 
 spoke only in whispers, and dared not let so much as a 
 twig break under our feet. 
 
 At length from among a clump of alders we caught sight 
 of it, the back side of it A smoke was rising lazily. 
 We could even smell the burning wood. All was quiet. 
 Nobody in sight. 
 
 "He's inside making something, or perhaps taking a 
 snooze," Farr suggested. 
 
 We stood watching for ten or fifteen minutes. We 
 knew that time was precious, too. Even now the bateau 
 might be on its way up the lake ! 
 
 " I'm going to see who's there, anyhow," Fred whis- 
 pered. 
 
 He crept forward, axe in hand. Moving to the right, so 
 as to bring the main ox-camp between him and the grain- 
 shed, he went quickly up to within a dozen yards of it. 
 Then after listening a moment, he stole forward to peep 
 through the cracks in the side of it. But before he was 
 near enough for this, a dog barked out on a sudden. In
 
 CAUTIOUS MOVEMENTS. 191 
 
 stantly Fred dropped behind a stump. Our hearts beat 
 loudly. We expected to see a Cannuck rush out, gun in 
 hand. 
 
 But nothing stirred, though the dog continued barking 
 boisterously from within the shed. We saw Fred creep 
 forward. He peeped through the cracks ; then, as if re-as- 
 sured, crawled around the end to look at the front side. 
 Then he jumped to his feet and called "Come on!" to 
 us. "There's nobody here." 
 
 We ran out to the shed. 
 
 " There's not a soul here," Fred said, as we came up. 
 " He's off somewhere. Left the dog shut in to watch. 
 But he'll soon be back if he hears the barking. We'll 
 put an end to it. Be ready with your clubs." Fred un- 
 buttoned the door. It swung partly open. Out leaped 
 Rogue all bristled and growl. Farr struck him across the 
 head with his club, on the instant. The blow stunned 
 him. Fred at once despatched the cur with the axe. 
 
 " One the less of them," said Farr. 
 
 " Be on the lookout," Fred advised. " You, Scott, and 
 Farr." 
 
 He and I went into the shed. 
 
 " Skins are gone," Fred exclaimed, at first glance, 
 " They've either hidden them or sent them off." 
 
 I was looking for the guns. There were four, stood up 
 in one corner, all loaded : two of their old muskets, one 
 of our double-barrelled guns (Farr's), and Fred's single- 
 barrel. The little rifle and our other double-barrel were 
 gone.
 
 IQ2 MISSING PROPERTY. 
 
 " Got them with them in the bateau," said Farr. 
 
 The ammunition, a part of it, lay on the little shelf 
 where we had kept it. We at once drew the charges and 
 re-loaded the guns. 
 
 Farr ran into the ox-camp. 
 
 "There are ten musk-rat skins and one of the mink 
 skins gone," he reported. 
 
 "Then I'll tell you what's up!" Fred exclaimed. 
 "They've sent a man off. out into Canada somewhere 
 after rum, with those skins and the scrip they got from us. 
 That's what's the matter ! " 
 
 We could find nothing of our coats, or waist-coats, either, 
 and thought it quite likely that they had sent these off 
 too. 
 
 The hide of some creature had been nailed up to the 
 side of the ox-camp, meat side out. We pulled it down. 
 
 It was the skin of poor Spot! 
 
 "There's all there is left of your dog, Farr," said Fred. 
 
 The sight of that skin made Charles Henry's eyes snap. 
 
 "Poor Spot!" was all we could say; and there lay Rogue, 
 too, dead as a hammer. Truly this had been a hard week 
 for dogs. 
 
 "But don't stand fooling there!" Fred exclaimed. 
 "We've not a moment to lose. The bateau will soon be 
 back, and then what? " 
 
 "We won't let them land," said Farr. "We will stand 
 with our guns cocked and pointed, and drive them off." 
 
 " And lose the bateau and what there is in it 1 " cried
 
 POOR SPOT. 193 
 
 Fred. " That won't do ! We must work shrewder than 
 that." 
 
 " I'll tell you," said he, after a little thought. " Let's get 
 inside the shed, shut the door, and lie quiet till they land. 
 Then we will stop 'em short, when they are coming up to 
 the camp from the boat." 
 
 "What! shoot them!" I exclaimed. 
 
 " No ; if we work it right there'll be no need of that. 
 They are a set of sneaks. They won't fight if they see 
 we have the advantage. We'll have our guns all ready, 
 cocked and aimed at their heads before they see us. I'll 
 do the talking. Don't shoot, any of you, unless I give the 
 word. We won't hurt them unless we're obliged to. But 
 we'll have our things back, anyhow. They don't deserve 
 to live, the scoundrels! But we won't shed their dirty 
 blood. We'll save 'em for the gallows. Now, fellows, 
 keep cool. Don't get scared. Keep cool. That's half 
 the battle. If we've got any pluck about us, we must show 
 it now. Now's the time to show what stuff we're made 
 of." 
 
 Instead of the shed, we concluded to lay in ambush in 
 the ox-camp. The door-way of the latter was larger and 
 we could step out quicker. 
 
 The carcass of old Rogue we threw inside the shed and 
 shut the door, just as they had left it. We even nailed 
 Spot's skin to the side of the ox-camp again. 
 
 It was now a little past noon. We kept out of sight in 
 the camp and waited.
 
 194 MOMENTS OF SUSPENSE. 
 
 An hour passed. It was this having to wait that tried 
 our courage most of all. As long as we could put things 
 through with a rush, we felt pretty brave. We had no 
 thoughts of backing out, however ; but the delay made us 
 nervous. 
 
 Finally, about two o'clock, we heard the sound of paddles 
 coming up the stream and soon rough voices. Our hearts 
 jumped, at least my own did. I /eft-pale and I noticed 
 the other boys looked so. We shut our teeth hard and 
 braced ourselves. 
 
 Nearer came the sounds. Each fresh noise sent a thrill 
 through me. Fred only stood where he could peep out. 
 
 The boat came slowly up to the landing place. They 
 were talking in French, Canada French. Their voices 
 were coarse. We knew enough of their talk to perceive 
 that their words were nearly all oaths. The sound of pad- 
 dles stopped. I heard them unshipping their oars. 
 
 " Be ready," Fred whispered. 
 
 They were getting out. 
 
 Still Fred stood motionless. 
 
 " They've stolen a barrel of that pork down at the other 
 camp," he whispered, at length. " They're unloading it. 
 Now they've begun to roll it up toward the camp. They've 
 left their guns in the boat. Be ready ! " 
 
 I could hear the heavy barrel crunching on the stones 
 and chips ; could hear even their breathings as they rolled 
 it along, with now and then an ejaculated French word 
 or curse.
 
 THE RETURN OF THE CANNUCKS. 
 
 '95 
 
 "Now!" Fred whispered, and stepped noiselessly out. 
 We followed him. 
 
 They were not a dozen yards off ; but they were bent 
 over and did not see us even then. 
 
 " Halt, there ! " Fred shouted. 
 
 You ought to have seen them jump! One of them 
 
 "HALT, THERE!' 
 
 jumped up a foot from the ground! We had our guns 
 pointed full in their faces. 
 
 " Stand where you are," Fred said, distinctly. 
 
 They stood and stared; they were astounded. One of 
 them turned partially, as if to run to the bateau. 
 
 " Stop ! " Fred shouted. " If you stir I'll shoot you 
 dead ! " taking aim at him.
 
 196 "OUR TURN!" 
 
 He stopped. 
 
 " It's our turn now," said Fred. " You had your turn. 
 But now we've got you. If you offer the least resistance, 
 we will kill you on the spot ! We'll shoot you down like 
 dogs ! " They stared at the muzzles of the guns stupidly. 
 
 " Turn that barrel up on end ! " ordered Fred, advancing 
 with his double-barrelled gun pointed directly among them. 
 Two of them stooped and turned it up. 
 
 " Now put our knives and whatever you stole from us on 
 it," Fred ordered. 
 
 They hesitated alarmedly ; they did not understand. 
 
 " Conteau-canif!" shouted Fred, slapping his pocket and 
 pointing to the head of the barrel. 
 
 Then they knew what was wanted, and fumbled the knives 
 and trinkets out one by one, the most of them, and laid 
 them down as directed. 
 
 "Now the 'mowney* you stole from us! " Fred sang out 
 
 They looked scared, shook their heads. " No got," they 
 said. " No got. Gome," pointing off up the river. 
 
 " Hand it out ! " Fred yelled at them. 
 
 " No got ! no got ! gorne ! " they protested. " Peter 
 gorne ! " 
 
 " We saw that the one which acted as their leader when 
 they robbed us was really gone. He was probably the Pctet 
 referred to. 
 
 "Where are our 'coarts' and ' warst-cuts' ? " Fred de 
 manded. 
 
 " Gorne 1 gorne ! " they chorused.
 
 A BOLD STROKE. 197 
 
 At that Fred pretended to be terribly enraged. He took 
 aim at them. So did we all. 
 
 They cowered, but kept saying, " Gornel Gomel" 
 
 We had little doubt of it. 
 
 " Pull off those boots ! " thundered Fred, pointing to 
 Scott's rubber boots, which one of them had on. 
 
 The villain obeyed with great promptness, and set them 
 together as far from him as he could well reach. 
 
 " Take off your 'coartsj " said Fred. 
 
 They took 'them off. 
 
 " Take off your ' warst-cuts. 1 " 
 
 They began to obey, but one of them grumbled audibly. 
 
 " Not a yip out of you !" Fred shouted. 
 
 The rest of us covered him with our guns. The vest came 
 off quick and was laid with the others. 
 
 "I've a great mind to strip them stark naked," Fred mut- 
 tered. 
 
 "I guess I wouldn't," said Scott. "It isn't best to behave 
 worse than they did. But I should like my shirt back." 
 
 "Off with that shirt ! " exclaimed Fred, pointing his gun 
 at one of the best-looking of their shirts, worn by the man 
 with the crease mouth. 
 
 He pulled it off. It left him bare to his dirty hairy skin. 
 
 "Have we served them bad enough?" Fred now ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 I thought so, for one. 
 
 " I guess they will do," Fair said. 
 
 "All right," said Fred. "Now take aim at them, sharp."
 
 198 FORTUNE FAVORS US. 
 
 We aimed, as if about to shoot them down. I rather 
 think they expected it. No doubt they were well aware 
 that they deserved it. 
 
 Fred pointed off Up the river. 
 
 " Stiver ! " he shouted. " Mog ! you won't find us nap- 
 ping again!" They started hesitatingly, as if half afraid 
 to move. 
 
 "Mog!" Fred reiterated. 
 
 They quickened thsir steps with eyes over their shoulders. 
 
 "Run !" we all yelled after them. 
 
 Then they ran for life, through the brush along the 
 river. No doubt they expected we would fire after them. 
 
 We kept shouting, then ran on after them, half way up to 
 Little Boy's Falls. But we soon lost sight of them ; for they 
 scudded away like foxes.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Little Rifle Gone. The Cannucks Coats and Waist-coats. Dog- 
 skin Vests. The Captured Weapons. A Discussion. Sentinel 
 Duty. We Determine to Shift our Quarters. The Log Camp 
 on the Knoll. We Fortify our Position with a Log Fence Nine 
 Feet High. A Strong Fort The " Sheep-hole." Our First 
 Night in the New Camp. Snug. Armed and Ready. 
 
 ended the affair, for that day. 
 JL In the bateau we found the other double-barrelled 
 gun and the other of their old muskets. But the little 
 rifle was gone. We concluded that Peter had taken that 
 too. Fred's jack-knife was not in the pile on the barrel 
 head. One of our combs, too, was missing, as also several 
 other trinkets. 
 
 Their old dirty waist-coats we had no disposition to put 
 on. 
 
 But the shirt Scott put in soak that night, and the next 
 day dried it and clothed himself in it, not without cer- 
 tain inward misgivings and a great deal of repugnance. 
 
 One of the coats was an army dress coat, a good deal 
 worn and soiled. Another was an army overcoat with the
 
 200 THE CAPTURED WEAPONS. 
 
 skirts cut off. The two others were frocks made of coon 
 skins, the hair turned in. The reader can guess how they 
 looked ! 
 
 We first shook them, then we smoked them over the fire, 
 then hung them in the wind. But there was a certain 
 odor about them that could not be shaken out. As it 
 grew colder, however, we were glad to put them on. The 
 coon skins especially were remarkably warm garments. 
 
 We skinned Rogue; and after the hide had dried, 
 Fred made Scott a waist-coat out of it ; and on the same 
 pattern Farr made one for himself out of Spot's skin. 
 
 We found in the shed two blankets, which we were very 
 sure were two of the four stolen from us when the old 
 camp was burned. We had no doubt that it was the same 
 party. 
 
 There was also a large powder-horn full of shot, and a 
 tin canteen nearly full of Hazard powder. Both of these 
 we found hidden amid the boughs of the bunk. There 
 was an old Colt's revolver lying with them, loaded with 
 buck-shot, and a rusty dirk-knife. 
 
 We did good sentinel duty that night ; indeed, none of 
 us slept much. The excitement of the day had keyed us 
 up too high. 
 
 We watched alternately, with guns ready for instant use. 
 There was a moon. 
 
 The situation of the old shed, however, in connection 
 with the ox-camp, was unfavorable for defence. About 
 twenty rods to the north of it, a high knoll covered with
 
 A DISCUSSION. 20X 
 
 dry spruce tops where the trees had been cut, commanded 
 it in most approved military fashion; and there were 
 thickets on the west and south sides, from any of which a 
 concealed Cannuck might fire upon us. We had little 
 doubt that they would come back and watch for an oppor- 
 tunity to surprise us. 
 
 The following morning we held a serious council. 
 
 " Will it not be better to pack up, find what of our traps 
 we can, and go off, down to Metallic Pond, say, and 
 leave them ' alone in their glory ' ? " Scott questioned. 
 " Then we shall be sure of no more trouble from them." 
 
 For my own part, I was much of Scott's mind in this. 
 
 " When that blear-eyed, pit-faced captain of theirs gets 
 back with the rum, there'll be a great to-do about this," 
 Scott went on. " They'll come round here again, trying to 
 get revenge ; and we shall have a fight with them, likely 
 as not." 
 
 But Fred would not hear a word to leaving on this ac- 
 count. 
 
 " I'll not be driven out by any such set of ruffians," he 
 declared. "They've no business here whatever. They 
 are a lot of 'deserters' and 'bounty-jumpers' from the 
 army, now turned into robbers and perhaps murderers. 
 I'll not run for any such trash! They've no business 
 whatever on the soil of this State. I won't budge for 
 them an inch. If I see one of them hanging round here 
 again, it will be the worse for him. And as for their firing 
 at us, they will find that we can fire back. We've got the
 
 202 THE LOG CAMP ON THE KNOLL. 
 
 upper hands of them now, and I for one mean to keep the 
 upper hand." 
 
 At such talk as this we all began to wax warlike again. 
 We had not run from them yet, and did not mean to do so. 
 Let them come if they wanted to. They would find a hot 
 reception. They would not find us all asleep again with 
 the door unfastened : so we talked. 
 
 Then it was debated how we should fortify our camp, to 
 prevent a surprise, evenings and nights. 
 
 "Let's tear down the old ox-camp and build a strong 
 palisade round our shed here," Scott proposed. 
 
 But the rest of us did not like the way the knoll over- 
 looked the shed. We went up on the knoll to look about, 
 taking our guns, of course, and keeping a careful eye about 
 us. 
 
 This knoll was some twenty or thirty feet higher than 
 the ox-camp. On the side next the river it fell off very 
 steep to the water. On the west and north sides the de- 
 clivity was not so great. On the lower side, next the camp, 
 it was rather steep. The best of the spruces had been 
 cut off. But there were scattering trees all about. 
 
 From the top of the knoll it was what Fred called " all 
 clear shooting " for fifteen or twenty rods on all sides. 
 
 " Why not build a camp up here ? " Farr said. 
 
 After some talk we concluded we could not do better. 
 Axes were brought up : those put away in the old grain- 
 box. We set to work chopping, all four of us, in good 
 earnest. The spruces were felled, and cut up into logs 
 thirteen feet long (about that).
 
 A STRONG FORT. 203 
 
 I remember that we cut six logs apiece, twenty- 
 four in all. With these we next proceeded to build the 
 walls of a shed. On three sides we built up with the logs, 
 notching and locking the ends together as is done in 
 building a log camp, or house of any sort. But we left 
 the front side open, and to secure the ends of the end logs, 
 where, as in a full sided camp, the front-side logs should 
 have locked across them, we drove down stout stakes on 
 both sides and bound them together with strong withes. 
 
 The heaviest logs we placed at the bottom, and then 
 rolled the lighter ones up into their places on skids. 
 
 These walls were about six feet high; hardly that, 
 though, I think, on reflection. 
 
 The roof we made of ash poles, over which we laid splits 
 from the old shed. 
 
 On the open front side we hung up the tent, which we 
 found in the shed as we left it, with the exception of a 
 square bit cut out for a patch for some of their clothes. It 
 furnished us with a very good door or curtain to our hut. 
 
 The building of this hut occupied all the forenoon ; we 
 worked hard. too. But we had a still harder task planned 
 for afternoon. For we had no thought of trusting our- 
 .selves in the shed with no other protection. 
 
 " We must have a wall round it," Fred declared. 
 
 But as stones were scarce, and the building of a stone 
 wall would have been a great task, we decided to make a 
 stockade of logs. And that was no small job. 
 
 During all the afternoon, allowing ourselves only an
 
 204 THE "SHEEP-HOLE." 
 
 hour for dinner, we toiled till the sun set, and raised a 
 huge fence nine feet high on all sides of the hut. This 
 fence was of logs laid upon each other, much like ordina- 
 ry log fences, only snug together, leaving but few cracks. 
 
 It was about thirty-six feet square on the outside, and 
 consequently left a walk about ten feet wide around the 
 hut inside the fence. The hut was our castle and the 
 fence was our castle-wall. 
 
 The only door-way through the fence was a hole about 
 three feet square. Through this we crept. For a door 
 we brought up the door from the grain-shed, and set it 
 sidewise betwixt stakes on the inside in such a way that 
 no one could open it from the outside. Whichever of us 
 happened to be on guard, he had to open it for the rest of 
 us when we returned from our trips to visit traps, or other- 
 wise. 
 
 Inside the fence we had a platform of logs built up, 
 where the guard could stand and look off over the top of 
 the fence. 
 
 That was a hard afternoon's work. Just at dusk we 
 carried up the old stove and set it up inside the stockade. 
 
 The Cannucks had made a great hole in our potatoes. 
 Evidently they had found them very palatable ; and they 
 had eaten up nearly the whole of our butter. This was 
 very vexatious. 
 
 "The scamps!" Fred would ejaculate. "I wish we 
 had stripped them to their skins and slit their noses for 
 'em ! "
 
 ARMED AND READY. 205 
 
 It was dark before we had got fairly moved into our 
 new quarters. But once in there, within our nine-foot 
 fence, with the " sheep-hole " (as Farr called the door) 
 stopped up, we felt much more secure. 
 
 " They would have hard work to get over that before we 
 could pop them ! " Fred said. 
 
 We took care to have our guns loaded and at hand. 
 
 I have often thought since that we were rather blood- 
 ily-minded in those days. Yet what else could we do? 
 If we stayed we must defend ourselves; and Fred was 
 determined to stay; he certainly had a right to stay, though 
 I suppose a genuine peace-maker would have thought it 
 better to go away at once. But there must be some fight- 
 ing in the world, else the peace-makers themselves would 
 soon have a hard time of it
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Our Night Watches. Lonely Hours. Three Martens. A Myste- 
 rious Cry. A Snow-Storm. Bad Weather for Trapping. A 
 Moose in Sight on Indian Point. A Stratagem for Capturing it 
 A Psuedo Hound. The Moose Takes to the Lake. We Give 
 Chase in the Bateau. A Long Pull. A Gallant Struggle for 
 Life. Towing a Moose. Facts about a Moose. 
 
 FOR the sake of regularity and convenience, we di- 
 vided the night into four watches: the first from 
 eight, evening, till half past ten ; the second from half 
 past ten till one, morning; the third from one till half 
 past three ; the fourth from that time till six, the hour 
 for rising. And here Scott's old watch which he carried 
 without a guard in a little inside pocket within the waist- 
 band of his pants, and which escaped the general robbery 
 by the " Cannucks " did us good service. 
 
 It had a curious semblance of military life, our hours 
 of guard-duty by night, and the constant vigilance with 
 which we watched days. I well remember that first night 
 in the new camp, I had the watch from one till half past 
 three. It was chilly. The stars shone brightly. There
 
 LONELY HOURS. 207 
 
 were occasional windy gusts, to which the vast sombre 
 forest rustled and sighed. The falls roared at a distance ; 
 and nearer, at the foot of the knoll, I could hear the fret 
 of the black current on the banks, and catch the silvery 
 reflection of stars. A saw-whet owl was practising at a 
 distance. Once a bear called out in lonely plaint. A 
 hooting owl answered. But the hours were hours of silence 
 and desolation, for the most part. 
 
 And thus it has been here, I reflected, through all the 
 ages since time began. No wonder that wildness and 
 loneliness have become stamped ineffably as it were on 
 these wilderness regions. 
 
 The next morning Farr was detailed to do guard-duty 
 at camp for the day. Fred, Scott, and I set off to make 
 the round of the " saple line," and look to our traps at the 
 lower end of the lake. We went armed each with a gun ; 
 and Fred took the old revolver which Farr had loaded 
 with the bullets run for the broken carbine. 
 
 On the east side of the lake we found two martens dead 
 in the traps. We concluded that the " Cannucks " had not 
 hit upon the saple traps. But they had found our traps 
 at the dam, and moved them into different places : three 
 were found ; the others were removed to some other locality, 
 we presumed. 
 
 Down at the rapids we found a mink in a trap, dead 
 also. It had probably been caught four or five days 
 previously. These traps were all as we had left them. 
 
 In the marten traps on the west shore of the lake, there
 
 208 A HARD DAY'S WORK. 
 
 was one marten, just caught evidently, for he was still 
 warm, though the heavy weight had broken his back. 
 
 We hurried a good deal, and made this entire round in 
 a little more than five hours. 
 
 Farr reported all quiet, with no signs of " Cannucks." 
 
 Dinner was got and eaten. Then we went down the 
 stream in the bateau to look to the muskrat traps in Indian 
 Cove. The " Cannucks " had been here. The traps had 
 been changed about, but we found all save four. There 
 were five muskrats caught. 
 
 This trip took us about two hours, and we still had time 
 to go up to Little Boys Falls. Of the traps we had set 
 here, the Canadians had removed all but two. In one of 
 these there had been a mink, but he had footed himself 
 and gone. 
 
 That was a hard day's work. We reckoned the entire 
 profit from the fur at thirteen dollars, three dollars and 
 a quarter apiece. 
 
 That night Fred had the second watch, and at about 
 twelve he waked us. 
 
 " Just come out here a minute," he said. 
 
 We roused up and went out. 
 
 Fred was standing on the log platform ; and we got up 
 beside him. 
 
 " Hark ! " he said. 
 
 We listened. Some moments passed. Then, distinct 
 on the cold air, there came a singularly prolonged and 
 piercing cry from seemingly a long way off.
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CRY. 209 
 
 " I've heard that more than a dozen times," said Fred. 
 
 " Any idea what it is ? " Fair asked him. 
 
 " No ; never heard any thing like it before in my life." 
 
 It was repeated again and again, at intervals of five or 
 ten minutes. 
 
 " I don't believe that it is an animal," Farr said. 
 
 " Isn't it the* ' Cannucks ' trying to frighten us ? " Scott 
 said. 
 
 That question made us laugh. It was a rather improb- 
 able supposition. 
 
 We went back to our sleep. 
 
 Fred said next day that the sound had continued for an 
 hour or over after we had gone to sleep. 
 
 And the next night Farr waked us at a few minutes 
 after two to hear the same cries again. 
 
 They seemed even more distinct this time. But we 
 could gain no idea as to what produced them. 
 
 The second night after, Scott told us that at a quarter 
 before five o'clock he had heard it twice, but very faint 
 and far off. I do not think that even the second time we 
 heard it that it was within three. miles of the camp. 
 
 " Ah, I tell you, fellows, there are things in these woods 
 that folks do not know of," Fred would say occasionally. 
 This was a pet idea of his ; and, indeed, we never did 
 know what made that noise ; we could not even guess 
 with any certainty. 
 
 The fourth night after moving up to our fortified camp it 
 was very dark and cloudy ; and, at a few minutes after eight,
 
 210 A SNOW-STORM. 
 
 it came on to snow, a driving storm. I had the first 
 watch, but was glad to get down from the post of duty and 
 take refuge inside the shed. 
 
 " I guess the ' Cannucks ' won't stir out to-night," Fred 
 said. 
 
 It was agreed to watch inside our camp-curtain. But 
 at about half-past one there was a noise outside, on the 
 log-fence, as of some one trying to climb it. Farr was on 
 guard. He instantly cocked his gun, listened an instant, 
 then peeped out very cautiously ; for he knew, that, if there 
 were enemies inside the fence, they would fire into the camp 
 at the slightest indication of our wakefulness. 
 
 The storm was driving so thickly, and the darkness was 
 so great, that he could see nothing. But he stood ready 
 for instant defence for fifteen or twenty minutes ; then he 
 quietly waked the rest of us, and in whispers informed us 
 of what he suspected. We all took our guns, and listened 
 a long while. At length Fred crept out under the curtain, 
 with his revolver in one hand, and the butcher-knife betwixt 
 his teeth ! 
 
 He was out ten minutes or more ; and, on coming in, 
 reported that he could find nothing either within or without 
 the fence. But Fair was positive that he had heard a 
 considerable noise. Afterwards we thought that it might 
 have been a wild cat, or a bear that had smelled our meat. 
 
 But the alarm had so excited us that we none of us 
 went to sleep again till near five o'clock. 
 
 That morning the country presented a wintry appear-
 
 A MOOSE IN SIGHT: 211 
 
 ance. The firs and spruce were laden with the snow, and 
 the ground was ghostly white. The open stream at the 
 foot of the knoll looked like a river of ink in its white 
 banks. It was still snowing. 
 
 Getting breakfast that morning was a work of time. 
 
 Toward ten o'clock the storm ceased. About four 
 inches had fallen. 
 
 "We've got a sweet job before us, to dig out all our 
 traps and set them up again," Fred remarked. 
 
 He and I started down the river in the bateau to look 
 to the muskrat traps, leaving Scott and Fair in camp. 
 We were just emerging into the lake, when Fred stopped 
 paddling. 
 
 " Hold on," said he : "I believe, on my soul, that's a 
 moose ! " 
 
 "Where? "I exclaimed. 
 
 " Right out between these islands ahead ; on Indian 
 Point," said Fred. " Don't you see something there ? " 
 
 The distance was half a mile or over ; but on the snowy 
 shore of the Point, among the bushes near the water's 
 edge, I plainly discerned some large animal moving about 
 
 " That's a moose, sure as you're breathing ! " Fred , 
 exclaimed excitedly. " Now, how are we going to get 
 him ? Antlers, too 1 Don't you see them ? A big stag 
 moose ! We must have that old chap. But the minute he 
 sets eyes on us you'll hear a smashing ! And he will see 
 us up here if we don't look out." 
 
 ' Can we not surround him ? " said I. " By going down
 
 212 A STRATAGEM FOR CAPTURING HIM. 
 
 through the woods we could cut him off, so he could not 
 leave the Point without our getting a shot at him." 
 
 "Yes; but he would take to the water," said I red. 
 " The moment he heard us coming up the Point behind 
 him, he would splash into the lake, and fin it across to the 
 east shore. But I have it ! " he exclaimed. " We will 
 two of us come down in the bateau at the same time ; and, 
 if he takes to the water, we will overhaul him in the 
 boat." 
 
 As quickly, yet with as little noise as possible, we pulled 
 back up to the camp. 
 
 Farr and Scott were both excited when they heard our 
 account. 
 
 " But who will guard the camp ? " I said. 
 
 That was a poser. We all wanted to go after the 
 moose ; yet we all agreed that it was not safe for all to 
 leave camp. The " Cannucks " might come. 
 
 " Shall have to draw lots for it," Fred said. 
 
 But here Scott did a magnanimous thing. 
 
 * I'll stay," said he. " Go ahead, the rest of you : I'll 
 keep guard." 
 
 Upon that both Farr and myself were seized with a fit 
 of generosity. We offered to stay in his place. 
 
 " No," said Scott : " I'll stay this time." 
 
 "Come on, then," Fred exclaimed. "Load up for 
 moose ! " 
 
 Both of the double-barrelled guns and two of the old 
 muskets were charged with bullets.
 
 A PSEUDO HOUND. 213 
 
 It was agreed for one of us to run down through the 
 woods on the west side of the lake to Indian Point and 
 cut off the moose, to prevent his leaving the Point, 
 while the other two went in the bateau, as Fred had 
 planned. 
 
 Farr rolunteered to run down through the woods, and 
 set off at a trot with one of the double-barrels. 
 
 Fred and I rowed back down the stream as fast as we 
 could. 
 
 As Indian Point projects for a third of a mile or up- 
 wards into the lake, we had not much fear of the moose 
 getting back off of it, especially as he appeared, when we 
 saw him, to be leisurely feeding. 
 
 On coming out on the lake, Fred and I kept on the lee 
 of the second island ; but we pulled out to near the lower 
 end of it, where we could peep through the alder fringe. 
 From here we at first saw nothing of the moose. 
 
 "I'm afraid he heard us, and is gone," Fred said. 
 " Their ears are quicker than magic oil ! " 
 
 We were in an eager suspense, and hung there waiting 
 for Farr to get down. He had some two miles and a half 
 to go. 
 
 Presently we heard a hound, " Ough, ough, ough /" from 
 the woods off beyond the Point. 
 
 " A hunting party ! " Fred exclaimed, with a look of dis 
 tress. 
 
 But the regular bay soon changed to a "yap" 
 
 " That's no hound," said I.
 
 214 THE MOOSE TAKES TO THE LAKE. 
 
 " That's Farr barking," cried Fred disgustedly. "Well, 
 let him bark. It's the best thing he can do." 
 
 Soon after we heard a gun. 
 
 " If the moose is on the Point, he will soon be out in 
 sight," muttered Fred ; and he was correct in his surmise. 
 Immediately we saw the bushes swaying ; and, a second 
 afterward, the moose sprang through them, and stood in 
 the edge of the water, his great ears held up alertly, and 
 his head turned to glance into the woods behind him. So 
 motionless did he stand there, listening, that I should have 
 taken him for a great black upturned root. Then he ran 
 along the shore, through the bushes and brush, for several 
 rods around the end to the south side. We held our 
 breaths. 
 
 " He's going to cut out past Farr," Fred groaned. 
 
 But, a moment later, we heard more barking; and 
 the moose came tearing back round to the north side 
 again. 
 
 The moose had not seen any of us yet ; for Farr was not 
 within a hundred rods of him, and the woods were thick. 
 But the old fellow knew that something wrong was going 
 on. We could see his great ears rising at each fresh 
 sound. 
 
 Another report came wafted across the lake ; and, even 
 before the sound of it had reached us, we saw the moose 
 plunge into the water, and strike off diagonally toward the 
 east shore, not toward the islands. 
 
 " Now go for him 1 " cried Fred.
 
 WE GIVE CHASE IN THE BATEAU. 215 
 
 We both pulled hard. The bateau ran out past the 
 island.' Looking over our shoulders, we could see the 
 high antlers, and just a hand-breadth of his black nose 
 going steadily off from the Point. Faint splashes came 
 to our ears. 
 
 " Steady," said Fred. " He has got a good mile to 
 go to get to the other shore. We are all right for 
 him." 
 
 But the great beast swam powerfully ; and he kept bear- 
 ing away to the southward. Probably he had sighted our 
 boat. We drove the bateau along at a right jolly rate ; 
 but we did not gain much. The moose was a full hun- 
 dred rods in advance of us. We found that we should 
 have to put out our strength, and settled down to it, for a 
 regular heat. We were earning the game. For the first 
 quarter of a mile we had not perceptibly gained a rod. 
 Then we buckled down to it ; and, the next time Fred 
 looked, he said we were nearing him. 
 
 But we neared very slowly ; and if the creature had not 
 kept sheering off from us, thus giving himself farther to 
 swim, the chances are that he would have got away. But 
 he tired himself down at length ; and, after the first three- 
 fourths of a mile, we began to close up with him. The 
 hundred rods shrank to fifty, and this distance to twenty, 
 while yet he was a quarter of a mile from the south-east 
 shore. 
 
 " Keep at it," Fred exhorted me ; for I was getting 
 nearly as badly blown as the moose himself.
 
 2l6 A GALLANT STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 
 
 " His head keeps going under water," Fred said to me. 
 
 I expect this was from the great weight of his ant- 
 lers. 
 
 Fred would not stop to fire till we were close up to the 
 creature, lest we. might miss, and allow him to get the start. 
 It was not till we were so near that I could distinctly hear 
 the labored breath of the animal, that my comrade pulled 
 
 FRED AIMED AT THE BACK OF THE MOOSE'S HEAD. 
 
 in his oars, and seized one of the muskets. I stopped 
 rowing to see the shot. Fred aimed at the back of the 
 moose's head. At the report, he jumped in the water, with 
 a loud grunt that threw the spray in two jets from out his 
 nostrils. Then he sank partially, but rose, and swam 
 again. I caught up the oars. Fred took up the double- 
 barrelled gun and shot it twice more. One of these bul-
 
 TOWING A MOOSE. 217 
 
 lets, as we afterwards found, passed through his head com- 
 pletely. 
 
 We were now close upon him ; but, not knowing whether 
 he was dead or not, we did not dare to approach too near. 
 He had ceased to swim, and, as we watched, sank down so 
 far, that even his antlers went nearly out of sight. 
 
 " He's dead, I know," Fred said ; " and, if we don't take 
 him, he will sink to the bottom, and we shall lose him." 
 
 With a couple of strokes, I sent the bateau close upon 
 him ; and Fred caught hold of the top prongs of the antlers. 
 
 He said that even then he could feel a thrill of his ex- 
 piring life through them. 
 
 We drew the carcass up to the stern ; and, getting a 
 noose about the antlers with our tow-line, drew his head 
 entirely above water, and made it fast to the ring. 
 
 We then took breath. 
 
 We had got our moose ; but we had not got him home by 
 any manner of means, as we soon began to realize ; for, 
 on taking the oars for our return pull, we found that the 
 carcass towed unconscionably hard. Fred declared that 
 it was like towing a raft of logs. It seemed to me like a 
 ship dragging her anchor. There was no help for it either, 
 unless we cut loose from him altogether, and that we did not 
 want to do. At best, we could only move at a snail-pace ; 
 and the labor was so fatiguing, coming as it did on the end 
 of our race down the lake, that we were obliged to rest at 
 intervals of ten minutes. 
 
 Some idea of the task we had to tow the carcass up to
 
 2l8 ITS MEASUREMENT AND WEIGHT. 
 
 camp will be obtained, when I state that we were from a 
 few minutes after eleven till near four o'clock getting back 
 with it. Even after entering the stream, the hoofs dragged 
 on the bottom. It took in water, too, and was tremen- 
 dously distended. 
 
 Farr had seen the chase from Indian Point: he had 
 watched, and saw us kill the moose. Scott and he had 
 long been expecting us. But when they came to help us 
 pull him out of the water, they did not wonder at our slow- 
 ness. All four of us had hard work to get the carcass out 
 of the stream upon the bank. 
 
 The antlers of this moose were two feet and seven inches 
 high as they grew out of the skull. There were two main 
 branches, with eight minor branches, or prongs. 
 
 The entire length of his body was eight feet four inches ; 
 the height, to the tops of his withers, six feet five ; the girth 
 just back of his fore shoulders, six feet six inches (about). 
 
 His chest was exceedingly broad and heavy ; his muffle 
 very long and flexible. 
 
 It took but a slight knock of the axe to detach the ant- 
 lers from the skull. It was getting toward the season of 
 the year (December) when moose shed their antlers. 
 
 It is said that moose frequently knock off their antlers 
 while running through the woods ; and that, to cure the 
 soreness of the exposed wound, they rub the firs to apply 
 the balsam. 
 
 On one of the old axe-helves I found a two-foot meas- 
 ure laid off, with brass tack-nails driven into it. This I
 
 FACTS ABOUT THE ANIMAL. 2 19 
 
 found useful in determining my measurements with the 
 tow-line. 
 
 So exhausted had Fred and I become with our labor, 
 hunting this moose, that we did nothing more for that day. 
 
 Farr and Scott skinned him, and afterwards hung up the 
 best parts of the meat inside our log-fort.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Moose Steaks. The "Cannucks" Come Round during the Morning 
 Watch. Their Tracks. We Catch Sight of the Little Rifle in 
 Their Hands, and are Strongly Tempted to Fire on Them with 
 Bullets. Two "Doses " of Bird Shot A Lively Scampering. 
 Clearing the Marten Traps. A Prowler of a Different Sort. 
 A " Close Shave." Farr's " Streak o' Goose-Grease." 
 
 r I iHE snow melted somewhat during the afternoon ; 
 ^L but, as night came on, the wind grew very chilling, 
 and it began to freeze. 
 
 Farr and Scott moved the stove into the shed, cutting a 
 hole through the roof for the rusty old funnel ; and, in 
 order to make our position as cosey as possible, they 
 brought an immense mass of the long fan-like boughs, 
 from the green tops of the spruces we had felled, and fairly 
 overlaid our shed with it, shingling them on to the depth 
 of several feet 
 
 For supper, we had all we wanted of the moose sirloin, 
 with roasted potatoes and "Horsfords." The "Can- 
 nucks " had not used any of the bread preparation. Very 
 likely they did not know what it was. 
 
 The morning following, Fred had the watch from half
 
 THE CANNUCKS COME ROUND. 221 
 
 past three till six ; and, at a few minutes before the time 
 we generally got up, he waked us, bidding us be quiet and 
 come out without noise. 
 
 It was just beginning to get light a little. We crept 
 out. Fred was on his knees, looking through a chink in 
 the fence on the side next the river. I knew there was 
 something in sight. 
 
 "What is it?" Farr whispered. 
 
 " ' Cannucks,' " Fred whispered back. 
 
 That was a word that rendered us broad awake on the 
 moment. We crept along, and applied our eyes to the 
 chink. 
 
 "Where? "queried Scott. 
 
 " Look straight across the stream. About three rods 
 from the bank. Right behind that big fir," Fred directed. 
 " See him ? " 
 
 We looked attentively, anxiously; yet it was not at 
 once, in the dim dawn, that I made out that there was a 
 man standing behind the fir, with just a segment of his face 
 visible, peeping from behind the trunk. And it took Scott 
 and Farr even longer to make him out. 
 
 "Only one?" I said. 
 
 " That's all the one I've seen yet," Fred said. " The 
 others may be back in the woods, waiting, while he recon- 
 noitres." 
 
 " How long has he been standing there ? " whispered 
 Farr. 
 
 " About ten minutes," Fred said.
 
 222 THE PET RIFLE IN THEIR HANDS. 
 
 " I don't see how you came to see him at all," said 
 Scott. 
 
 " In the first place I heard a stick snap off over there," 
 Fred explained hurriedly. "That set me to looking. 
 And a minute after I saw this chap steal along to this fir. 
 They are watching for a chance to pounce on us." 
 
 " Best to fire on them ? " Farr questioned. 
 " I should not want to kill him," said Scott. 
 
 "No: we don't want their dirty blood on our hands," 
 Fred said. " But it would be well to fire and scare him : 
 let him know he cannot surprise us, and that we are up to 
 all their tricks." 
 
 " The old double-barrel's loaded for partridges," whis- 
 pered Farr. " The shot would not hurt anybody at that 
 distance." 
 
 " Bring it on," said Fred, grinning. 
 
 Back crept Farr after the gun. 
 
 It was growing lighter. We saw the concealed prowler 
 turn and beckon with his hand, and immediately another 
 figure came stealing cautiously forward from a tree a little 
 farther off. Then they both got on their hands and knees, 
 and crept cautiously forward into a clump of alders not a 
 rod from the river. In the increasing light, I distinctly 
 saw a silvery gleam from the nickel-plating on the skeleton 
 stock of the little rifle. Fred saw it, too, and nudged me. 
 
 " By jove ! I believe I could pick him from here with 
 this musket," Fred whispered, " and stop that rifle from 
 going away again 1 "
 
 TWO "DOSES" OF BIRD-SHOT. 223 
 
 It was a temptation. The sight of our little " pet" in 
 their hands made us feel revenegful. 
 
 "They would shoot us with it in a moment, if they 
 could," Fred said. 
 
 Farr came back with his shot-gun. 
 
 " They've got our little rifle there," Fred whispered. 
 
 " The thieves," muttered Farr, after an indignant look. 
 " Let's give them bullets ! " 
 
 But we could not bring ourselves to do that. 
 
 "No," Fred whispered. "We'll shed no blood, unless 
 we are obliged to do it in self-defence. That's the best 
 rule to go by. It would be a bad thing to have to think 
 of afterwards." 
 
 The two " Cannucks " were still crouching there in the 
 alder clump. The distance was ten or twelve rods. We 
 knew the bird-shot would not hurt them. 
 
 " Let it squirt at them," Fred whispered. 
 
 Farr cocked the barrels as easily as possible ; then, just 
 resting the muzzles in the chink, took aim, and discharged 
 a barrel. 
 
 The flash and the sharp report broke the early morning 
 quiet with startling suddenness. Instantly the two " Can- 
 nucks " jumped out of the alders and ran. We heard the 
 oaths flying out of their mouths. Before they had got ten 
 yards, Farr fired again ; and Fred, pointing the old mus- 
 ket in the air, discharged that. We heard them heeling 
 it off at a great pace through the brush. 
 
 It was vastly laughable. We lay there, and shook our-
 
 224 CLEARING THE MARTEN TRAPS. 
 
 selves. We did not know whether they were really medi- 
 tating an attack on our camp, or had merely come round 
 to steal the bateau, which lay in the stream at the foot of 
 the knoll. In either case, they got pretty thoroughly 
 frightened. 
 
 " They won't be seen round here again to-day," said 
 Fred. " It will take them about forty-eight hours, I reckon, 
 to get their courage sworn up to the fighting point again. 
 They will have to swear over their whole vocabulary of 
 profanity and obscenity, and add a few new oaths to it, 
 before they will be in plight to come round again." 
 
 That day Fred and I went the round of the saple-line 
 and the traps down at the dam. They were badly filled 
 with snow. We had a stint to clear them out and set 
 them in order. 
 
 "Trapping is poor business after snow comes," Fred 
 kept saying. " The sooner we give it up, and go to dig- 
 ging gum, the better." 
 
 There was one marten caught near the south-west cor- 
 ner of the lake : nothing in the mink traps at the dam or 
 on the rapids below. 
 
 It was sunset before we had made the entire round, and 
 got back to camp. The snow made the walking more than 
 usually difficult. 
 
 Farr had been down to the muskrat traps in the cove. 
 There were four rats caught. Our profits that day were 
 too meagre to be encouraging; but we had plenty of 
 moose-meat.
 
 A PROWLER OF A DIFFERENT SORT. 22$ 
 
 That night there was another prowler about, of a differ- 
 ent sort. It was getting dusk. Farr had taken the pail 
 lo get some water for tea. We brought our water from 
 the stream at the foot of the knoll, where the bateau was 
 moored. To avoid the more stagnant water near the 
 bank, we used to step into the boat and dip it over the 
 side. Farr was just about to step from the shore into 
 the boat with the pail, when a snap of twigs caught his 
 ear : twigs snapping were ominous sounds with us in those 
 days. It seemed to come from the bank a little above 
 and up the stream. He glanced quickly, hearing the 
 brush crack, and saw through the bushes, indistinctly, a 
 long black object stealing down toward him ! 
 
 With a yell Farr dropped the pail, and came up the 
 knoll "at three jumps," to use his own expression. The 
 rest of us were in the camp, where we had already lighted 
 the basin-lamp ; but, hearing the outcry, we seized our 
 guns, and sprang out, just in time to see Farr dive in at 
 the "sheep-hole." 
 
 Thinking there was an enemy in close pursuit, Fred and 
 I leaped to drop the door ; while Scott jumped upon the 
 log platform, gun in hand. 
 
 " What is it ! " Fred cried out, cocking his gun, and 
 glancing alarmedly around. 
 
 " I dunno ! " was Farr's lucid explanation ; then he got 
 up on the log platform beside Scott, and peered excitedly 
 over the fence. 
 
 This did not make the matter very plain to the rest of us.
 
 226 
 
 A "CLOSE SHAVE." 
 
 Said Fred, " I should like to know what's up, anyway, 
 Farr." 
 
 " Well, I guess you'd have thought something was up," 
 said Farr. " Didn't you see him, Scott ? " 
 
 " I thought I saw something," Scott admitted ; " but it 
 darted away like a shot " 
 
 IN TIME TO SEE FARR DIVE IN AT THE " SHEEP-HOLE." 
 
 "Well, it came like a shot, you'd better believe," says 
 Farr. " The first I saw of it, it was crouching almost to 
 the ground, and coming like a dart ! I came up this hill 
 at just three jumps, and the thing was at my heels when I 
 came in the hole."
 
 PARK'S "STREAK OF GOOSE-GREASE." 227 
 
 " But what did it look like ? " asked Fred, getting on the 
 log platform, and glancing sharply about the camp. 
 
 " Well, I don't know exactly. It was long, and it looked 
 dark-colored ; and it came after me like a streak o 1 goose- 
 grease ! By gracious ! another foot, and it would have 
 caught me, sure's you live ! I didn't hear its feet at all ; " 
 this was about all Farr could tell. 
 
 " What did you think it looked like, Scott ? " persisted 
 Fred. 
 
 " Why, it is so dusk, I could not see very well," said 
 Scott. " It went out of sight among the spruce-tops so 
 quick, I only barely got one glimpse of it." 
 
 " That must have been a queer animal," Fred laughed. 
 
 "'Twas a confounded catamount!" exclaimed Farr: 
 " that's what it was." 
 
 " Might have been, possibly," Fred said rather incredu- 
 lously. "Wish I could have seen it, though." 
 
 " Well, I wish you could 1 " cried Farr, who did not quite 
 like the humorous view of the chase in which the rest of us 
 were indulging. "I should have been very willing to 
 swap places with you just at that time ; and, if you've a 
 mind to, you may go and bring that pail of water." 
 
 " All right," said Fred, and went and brought it. 
 
 Farr would not say any thing more about it, because we 
 laughed. But there really was something that made a 
 dive at him. What it was, it was hard telling. As Fred 
 said, it might have been a panther possibly ; or it may 
 have been a large and ferocious lynx, such as are some-
 
 228 MORE CAUTIOUS AFTER NIGHTFALL. 
 
 times fallen in with in this section. After snow comes 
 and the weather gets cold, all wild creatures are more 
 dangerous. Ever after that we were more cautious about 
 going out after nightfall ; but Farr's " streak o' goose- 
 grease " was always a pretty good joke.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 A Muss. Those "Tea Grounds." We Take up Our Muskrat 
 Traps. An Adventure with Three Lynxes. A Bad Shot. 
 The " Old Tom " Turns upon Us. Scott Takes to his Heels. 
 Treed. An Unpleasant Predicament. The Bullet- Pouch in the 
 Wrong Pocket. Two Hours in a Tree. The Rescue. Shoot- 
 ing the "Varmints." A Good Day's Work. 
 
 far, like the four animals in the fable, we had 
 .X. lived in the greatest peace and harmony ; but the 
 morning after this adventure we had a regular muss in 
 camp. 
 
 Farr was cutting wood, and bringing it into the camp, 
 and Scott was getting ready to make some tea. He had 
 poured water into the tea-pot, and, after rinsing it about, 
 stepped to the doorway to throw out the " grounds ; " and 
 he threw them, water and all, just as Farr was coming in. 
 The whole mess splashed in his face and all over him. 
 Farr thought he did it on purpose : he dropped the wood, 
 and went at Scott by guess, not even giving him time to 
 explain. 
 
 They clenched, and flew round there at a great rate; :
 
 230 THOSE "TEA-GROUNDS." 
 
 they were not quite angry, but pretty near it. It took 
 Fred and I both to pull them apart. Farr had got hold 
 of a handful of the grounds, and wanted to scrub Scott's 
 face with them. It was a cold morning, and they both 
 felt a little fractious. The fun of the thing afterwards was, 
 that Scott could never make Farr believe that he did not 
 throw those " grounds " on purpose. 
 
 That day, or else it was the day following, we took up 
 all the muskrat traps. For several nights we had caught 
 no more than one or two. We let the mink traps remain, 
 however, and determined to tend the " saple-line " a week 
 longer. 
 
 Our other traps we set over at the unknown pond we 
 had found the night we found the lynx. These we visited 
 every second day ; and it was while returning from one of 
 these rounds that Scott and I had a lively adventure with 
 some lyxnes. 
 
 We had been round the pond, and were coming down 
 the north-east side of it, when we came quite suddenly 
 upon three of these creatures gnawing the bones of some 
 animal. It was among brush and old spruce-tops. We 
 were within ten yards of them before we saw them. They 
 leaped up spitting when they saw us ; and one of them, a 
 hideous-eyed old male, began to yawl and miawl, and arch 
 his furry back at us. They were mad at being disturbed 
 while eating. 
 
 Scott had one of the muskets, and instantly cocked it. 
 
 " Now knock the eyes right out of the big one ! " I said.
 
 ADVENTURE WITH THREE LYNXES. 231 
 
 He fired. They all sang out loudly at the report ; and 
 ;hen the first thing we saw was the old Tom coming 
 straight for us, snarling and snubbling like a dog when just 
 going to join battle with another. The musket bullet (as 
 we found afterwards) had torn one of his ears nearly off. 
 
 Scott gave a warning shout, and sprang aside amid the 
 brush, and ran as fast as he could. For my own part, I 
 dodged behind a great basswood standing there, and 
 jumped to a small white maple about a rod off. The cat 
 was making for me, with his back up and his neck beauti- 
 fully curved under and on to one side ! The idea of a 
 hand-to-hand combat with all three of them was not pleas- 
 ant. I dropped the axe I had in one hand, and shinned 
 up the maple at my best rate of climbing ! It was not a 
 hard tree to climb. I readily gained the first limbs, and 
 swung one leg over a large one, not much too quick 
 either. The old lynx, maddened by the pain of his lacer- 
 ated ear, ran vengefully up after me, his great claws cutting 
 audibly into the bark, and showing some ugly long feline 
 teeth. No time for reflection ! I drew up my legs as 
 snugly as possible, and, when the beast got within reach, 
 kicked down with emphasis. The heavy boot-heel, armed 
 with iron " buttons," gave a hard poke, full on the crea- 
 ture's head. It relaxed its hold a little, slipped back a few 
 feet, and then went sliding and growling, with its claws 
 tearing through the bark, to the foot of the maple again. 
 
 I expected another onset next breath, and drew up my 
 foot for another kick. But the old brute contented himself
 
 232 
 
 AN UNPLEASANT PREDICAMENT. 
 
 by setting down, as did also the other two, and staring 
 evilly up at me out of their great silvery eyes ! 
 
 The thought of tumbling down amongst them was not a 
 relishable one. I watched them a few moments, and then 
 
 UNDER THE TREE HERE. 
 
 hallooed for Scott, who I thought ought by this time to be 
 putting in an appearance with the gun. 
 
 " Here I am, out here ! " responded my comrade, at a 
 distance. " Where are the varmints ! " 
 
 " Under the tree here, all three of them, looking up at
 
 THE BULLET-POUCH IN THE WRONG POCKET. 233 
 
 me. Why don't you come and shoot 'em? you're a 
 pretty fellow to shoot a lucivee ! " I couldn't help flinging 
 out at him. 
 
 " Why don't I come and shoot 'em ! " repeated Scott 
 derisively. " How can I come and shoot them when you've 
 got the bullets ? " 
 
 Sure enough, the little leather pouch of bullets was in 
 my pocket, instead of his ! 
 
 An embarrassing pause succeeded this discovery. 
 
 " Well, what are you going to do ? " said I, at length. 
 
 " I'm sure, I don't know," answered Scott. 
 
 There was another pause. 
 
 " I'll tell you, Scott ! " said I, after some thought. " You 
 begin and creep up still, through the brush ; and I will 
 throw the pouch out to you. I can throw it thirty or forty 
 yards off over their heads. You will see and hear it when 
 it falls ; then you can creep up siy, and get it." 
 
 " Not if I know myself ! " cried Scott, at once rejecting 
 this proposal. " They'll see me and take a( me ! Then / 
 shall have to climb a tree." 
 
 " But you really ought to do something for a fellow," 
 said I rather injuredly. 
 
 " I know that," said Scott ; " and the only thing to be 
 done is to go back to camp and get some more balls or 
 shot." 
 
 " Well, do go as quick as you can, and get Fred," I 
 exhorted. " It's rather hard roosting up here." 
 
 He went away ; and I settled myself as best I could
 
 234 SHOOTING THE "VARMINTS." 
 
 among the limbs. But it was hard roosting : it was not a 
 good tree to roost in. The branches left the main trunk 
 at a very acute angle. It grew fearfully tiresome holding 
 on up there. I hoped the cats would go away. If I kept 
 quiet, I presumed they would go back to the carcass, 
 where we had disturbed them ; and one of them did 
 go back. Presently I heard it gnawing the bones. But 
 the other two kept under the tree, and stared steadily up 
 at me. The old male that Scott had hit continued to flip 
 his wounded ear, and grumble bitterly to himself. The 
 pain was just enough to keep him angry. 
 
 It was getting dusk ; Scott had been gone almost two 
 hours ; and I was nearly paralyzed in my cramped and 
 tiresome perch, when I heard Fred call out cautiously, and 
 at some distance. 
 
 I thankfully responded. 
 
 " I'm coming.'* said he. " We've got three guns loaded 
 with buckshot. I'll fix 'em now." 
 
 " Yes," said I, " pepper them good ; but don't shoot into 
 the tree." 
 
 Very cautiously he made his way from one tree trunk 
 to another, till he got up within sight and range of the 
 lynxes ; then, crouching behind a log, cocked one gun and 
 laid it beside him ready, and, taking careful aim with the 
 other, fired both barrels at once. A squall from the " luci- 
 vees " followed the report. They leaped up, as the large 
 shot cut through their hides. The next moment Scott 
 fired at them, a good shot. The old male dropped ; the
 
 A GOOD DAY'S WORK. 235 
 
 other was leaping about, miawling loudly. I began to 
 slide down the tree ; and Fred, running up, knocked the 
 wounded lynx on the head with the gun-stock. 
 
 The other one had skulked off at the noise of the firing. 
 So rigid had my joints become from holding on so long, 
 that I could scarcely step for some minutes. 
 
 We skinned the two lynxes. The carcass of the anima 
 they had been eating when we came upon them seemed, 
 from the black hair of the bits of skin that lay about with 
 the bones, to have been that of a small bear. Whether it 
 had died of itself, or the lynxes had killed it, we could not 
 tell. We had never heard of these animals attacking a 
 bear. Still it is not impossible that they may have done 
 so. The old male was very large and fierce. 
 
 His skin brought us seven dollars ; that of the smaller 
 one four dollars. We deemed that a pretty good day's 
 work, on the whole.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 An Indian Summer. Three more Martens and an Otter. Gum- 
 ming in Good Earnest Fred Fails to Come in. We Eat Supper 
 in Considerable Anxiety. A Gun is Fired. It Comes on to Storm. 
 We Search for him with Torches. An Anxious Night. We 
 again Scour the Woods in vain. Gloom. Forebodings. Fred 
 Comes in Fevered and Wild in his Mind. His Thrilling Story. 
 
 f I THERE came a number of warm and sunny days at 
 JL this time. The snow nearly all went off. 
 
 We caught three more martens and two minks ; and, the 
 fourth day after our adventure over at the pond, Fred 
 brought in an otter caught in one of the traps there. 
 
 Now, an otter had been one of our fairest dreams, and 
 we felt a good deal elated. We expected from twelve to 
 fifteen dollars for the skin, and, as a matter of fact, did 
 get eleven dollars for it. 
 
 Fred came in, and threw it down without a word. Scott 
 had never seen an otter. We made him believe it was a 
 panther's kitten at first, till he got sight of its webbed 
 toes. 
 
 The color of this otter seemed, at first sight, a deep
 
 GUMMING IN GOOD EARNEST. 237 
 
 wine-color; but, on opening the long outer hairs, the fir 
 was seen to be of a lighter tint. 
 
 Fred skinned and stretched it very carefully. 
 
 Its black ears were very short, but broad ; and its nose 
 was very broad, or blunt. Its tail was long, and very thick 
 at the base, but tapered to a point. The fur of the tail, 
 as also of the whole body, was very rich-tinted and glossy. 
 
 The entire weight of the animal may have been thirty 
 pounds : at a guess, not less than that It was not, we 
 thought, a very large individual. 
 
 Encouraged by this success, we carried over seven or 
 eight more of the traps, and set them around the pond ; 
 and Farr and Fred set the large trap over in the " bear- 
 path," where we had caught the lynx. 
 
 Once the snow had come, we had noticed many tracks 
 here ; indeed, the forest was full of tracks. If one had 
 judged from the tracks alone, he would have supposed that 
 the woods were alive with ferocious beasts ; for many of 
 the tracks had a most formidable appearance. In running 
 through snow, the lynx often takes eight and ten feet at a 
 jump, and, striking all its feet together, makes the snow 
 fly about smartly. 
 
 During this Indian summer weather we had begun to 
 dig gum in good earnest. The woods on both sides of 
 the lake offered plenty of gum for the digging. More 
 than half of all the trees were spruces. It did not take 
 long to hunt up one with gum on it 
 
 Leaving a man to guard camp (we did not omit that
 
 238 MORE PROFITABLE THAN TRAPPING. 
 
 duty), three of us would sally out with our guns, gumming- 
 knives, hatchet, and the sacks we had contrived to put the 
 gum in, and work steadily for five and six hours at a 
 stretch. It is not so exciting a business as trapping ; yet 
 it is as pleasant, and, judging from our experience, far 
 more profitable. 
 
 Spruce gum, when of good quality, sells readily for a 
 fair price in all our New-England cities. If a party of 
 young fellows have only the " grit " to endure the hardship 
 and rough life of the woods, they can do a very fair 
 business at gumming round Parmachenee Lake. Of this 
 fact I am confident. If they are diligent, they can safely 
 expect to clear two dollars and a half per day. 
 
 If we had gone into gumming in the first place, instead 
 of trapping, we should have made double that we did. 
 Gumming is a business you can safely count on from day 
 to day. Trapping is just the reverse of ftiis. 
 
 For a while we used to keep together as we gummed, and 
 always laid our guns convenient. But as day after day 
 went by without our seeing or hearing any thing more of 
 the " Cannucks," we grew less cautious. We hoped and 
 began to believe that they had left the vicinity, and that we 
 should see nothing more of them. To carry a gun round 
 with one constantly is a great task. At length we would 
 take but one gun and the revolver, and take turns carrying 
 the gun ; and after a time we would get strayed apart. 
 In such a business as digging gum it is very difficult for 
 three to keep close together all the time. Often we would
 
 FRED FAILS TO COME IN. 239 
 
 lose sight of one another altogether, and, after filling our 
 sacks, return to camp alone and at different times in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 We had been gumming in this way for a week or 
 upwards, when an event happened that threw a sad gloom 
 over us for many days, and showed us the necessity of 
 constant care and precaution. 
 
 On the morning in question, Farr had remained to guard 
 the camp ; and Fred, with Scott and myself, had gone over 
 to the east side of. the lake toward Moose Brook ; and my 
 own luck in finding good trees being unusually bad, I did 
 not get back to camp till near dusk. 
 
 Scott had got in an hour and a half ahead of me. He 
 and Farr had supper ready and were waiting, and had been 
 looking for Fred and myself : they thought we might be 
 together. 
 
 " Where's Fred ? " was therefore the question with which 
 they greeted me. 
 
 I had not seen him since a few minutes after starting 
 out in the morning. No more had Scott, and Scott had 
 carried the gun that day too : I had the pistol. 
 
 Still we supposed he would be in before long ; and, dig- 
 ging open the "bean-hole," pulled out the kettle of hot 
 baked beans, and fell to work with prodigious appetites. 
 
 Meanwhile it was growing dark rapidly. A chill, biting 
 wind blew from the north-east. It was overcast and 
 dreary. , 
 
 Presently Scott started up, exclaiming, " Fellows, I'm
 
 240 A GUN IS FIRED. 
 
 worried about Fred ! It's been in my head all day that 
 something was going wrong with some of us. I don't see 
 where he is all this time ! " 
 
 We all felt pretty anxious. To be out after dark in the 
 wilderness there was not safe. 
 
 " I guess we had better fire a gun," said Farr. 
 
 Our supply of ammunition was very scant. Scott drew 
 the shot from one barrel of one of the shot-guns, and care- 
 fully put it back into the pouch ; then, stepping out in 
 front of the log shanty, he discharged it. 
 
 Farr and I listened intently. Save the quick, smothered 
 echo, and the surge of the wind amid the tree-tops, there 
 was no response. Then we hallooed repeatedly; then 
 discharged the second barrel of the gun. 
 
 "He may have heard it," said Scott. "If he did. he 
 will come in. We will wait a while and see." 
 
 We waited ten or fifteen minutes ; he did not come : we 
 grew really alarmed. 
 
 " There's something wrong with him," said Scott ; a 
 chill fell upon us standing there. 
 
 "Fred isn't a fellow to stay off like this," Farr remarked. 
 " He's either lost, or something's caught him." 
 
 We thought of the " Cannucks." 
 
 " If he is lost, we must hunt him up if we can," said 
 Scott determinedly. " It's no more than he would do for 
 any of us." 
 
 By this time it had grown dark, the darkness of a 
 cloudy night. Farr split up an armful of pitch-wood
 
 A SEARCH WITH TORCHES. 241 
 
 splints ; Scott recharged the gun ; I looked to the fire, and 
 took one of the muskets. We then crossed the stream, 
 and, lighting two of the pitch-wood torches, entered the 
 woods, taking the direction we had gone in the morning. 
 
 But it was blind work, picking our way among and over 
 windfalls. Once I espied a marten staring at us from a 
 mossy rock ; but it vanished ere I could raise the gun. 
 
 A lynx saluted us with a long yawl at a little distance ; 
 but more dismal and annoying still were the hoots and 
 tu-hoos of a couple of owls, that were attracted by our 
 torch-light, and pursued us, circling and flapping among 
 the fir-tops. 
 
 It began to spit snow, snow and sleet commingled. 
 We kept on, however, for a mile or over, till we reached 
 the height of land where the heavy spruce growth takes the 
 place of the firs. Here we stopped, and hallooed again 
 and again ; but the owls replied so provokingly that we 
 could have heard nothing else. Scott fired at one of them, 
 but missed it in the darkness. The sleet, too, made a dull, 
 continuous rattling, as it fell through the branches. 
 
 It was of little use to search for him at that time of 
 night. Our splints were already more than half burned. 
 We went back : we were obliged to do it. The wind was 
 cold, and the sleet pelted hard : it seemed as if winter was 
 coming on. 
 
 I remember that we scarcely spoke. Our fears for 
 Fred filled us with a strange gloom. We sat round the 
 stove. Not one of us closed his eyes that night
 
 2 42 GLOOM. FOREBODINGS. 
 
 As soon as it was light we ate a few mouthfuls and set 
 off. The whole forest looked snowy and odd in the gray 
 light of that cloudy morning. There had fallen about an 
 inch of snow and hail : it was slippery walking. We hur- 
 ried forward, however, and went over the whole ground 
 where we had gummed the previous day. 
 
 We had taken our guns, and did not get out of sight of 
 one another ; for the forest seemed fearfully wild and 
 savage now that Fred had disappeared within it. 
 
 But we found nothing, and saw no trace or track of 
 him ; half hoping that he had come in, and that we should 
 find him at the camp, we went back to it at noon. 
 
 He was not there. 
 
 In the afternoon we set off to make a wider circuit ; and, 
 almost running in our anxiety, we kept on for as much as 
 seven miles to the south-east, and came round to the east 
 and north, in all twenty miles, without doubt. 
 
 We hallooed at intervals, and fired the gun several 
 times, quite in vain. We did not find a trace of him. 
 
 "We shall never know what has become of him," said 
 Scott. 
 
 The tears would come when we thought of that. 
 
 It was dusk before we got round to the camp ; for we 
 came near losing our way ourselves. 
 
 It was a sad thing to feel that we had done our best, and 
 yet done nothing to bring him back. 
 
 Too sorrowful to eat much, we sat looking gloomily off 
 into the darkening woods, when the cracking of the brush
 
 FRED COMES IN, WILD IN HIS MIND. 
 
 243 
 
 made us start. Through the fallen spruce-tops, on the 
 west side of the camp, something a person was com- 
 ing at a headlong pace. 
 
 " It's Fred or his ghost ! " cried Scott. 
 
 " FELLOWS, I'VE BEEN MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED MILES ! " 
 
 We all ran out and called to him, as he rushed, or rather 
 staggered, toward the camp. A sick thrill went through 
 me as I looked at him. His clothes were torn. He 
 looked wild and haggard. His eyes were blood-shot ; and
 
 244 A THRILLING STORY. 
 
 he cried out in a strange voice, " Fellows, I've been more 
 than two hundred miles /" 
 
 Then he threw himself flat on the ground, and sobbed 
 and cried like a child. I took his hand, and put my finger 
 on his pulse. It was fearfully quick. His flest burned. 
 He was on the verge of brain-fever. 
 
 We said not a word to him, but took him up and laid him 
 in the bunk. Then Scott got lukewarm water, and we 
 washed his feet, the bottoms of which were blistered and 
 raw. After that we bathed his head in cold water, and 
 washed his hands. 
 
 He was utterly exhausted, and in about an hour dropped 
 asleep; but kicked and muttered a good deal. 
 
 We watched him a while, then fell asleep ourselves, for 
 we were thoroughly fatigued. 
 
 Next morning Fred was calmer, but pitifully pale and 
 hollow-eyed. We got him a warm breakfast of roast pota- 
 toes and toasted biscuit, and made him some tea. The 
 food did him good ; and he began to talk, though he could 
 hardly speak of his hardships without shedding tears. 
 
 His account to us was like this : 
 
 " I kept gumming, and going from tree to tree that morn- 
 ing, till I had dug my sackful, and thought, from my feel- 
 ings, that it must be afternoon. It had come on cloudy. 
 But I had not felt ' turned round,' nor any thing of the 
 sort, till I started to come back to camp. Then, all at 
 once, it came upon me like a whirl, and for my life I 
 could not tell which way to go ! It startled me a good
 
 GOING WRONG. 245 
 
 deal ; but I kept cool. I laid down my gum-sack and 
 hatchet, and climbed a yellow birch to the first limbs, 
 about twenty-five feet, to take a look off. I was not fairly 
 up above the spruce-tops ; but I saw a mountain, that I 
 took for old Bose-buck, across the lake. So I broke a 
 limb on the side next to it, and then slid down, took up 
 my sack and hatchet, and set off in that direction. I 
 wasn't much uneasy : I thought I was all right. I walked 
 pretty fast, and after a while began to wonder why I did 
 not come out at the shore of the lake. But I kept on for 
 as much as fifteen minutes longer, with no signs of com- 
 ing to the water. 
 
 " Then I knew that I must be going wrong : the woods, 
 too, looked different from that round the lake. I began 
 to grow bewildered again, and climbed a white maple 
 almost to the top. Not a sign could I see of a mountain 
 anywhere, nor of the lake ! 
 
 " The land rose in swells, covered with black spruce all 
 about. I was down in a valley. 
 
 " You see, that wasn't Bose-buck that I saw from the 
 first tree. I was turned round then. Instead of Bose- 
 buck, it was old Birch-board mountain, away up toward 
 the Canada line. 
 
 " But I wasn't certain of any thing now. I got down 
 out of the tree. My head began to whirl, and the stran- 
 gest feelings came over me. There was a brook in the val- 
 ley. I got down and drank from it, and bathed my fore- 
 head.
 
 246 CIRCLING. 
 
 " That brook, I suppose, must have run out into the 
 Magalloway. If I had had sense enough to follow the 
 brook, I should have come out upon the river ; but I 
 never thought of it, I was so confused. 
 
 " I got up from the brook, and started the way it seemed 
 to me the camp was, and ran just as fast as I could. I 
 must have lost my gum-sack about that time ; but I didn't 
 know when I lost it. On I went ; and the first thing I 
 knew, I was whispering and jabbering to myself. My 
 head began to ache as if it would split. 
 
 "All at once I came to a brook, took a drink, and 
 stuck my head in the water ; then jumped across, and ran 
 on again as fast as I could ; and in about fifteen minutes 
 I came to another brook, just about as big as the other 
 one, drank, and ran on again ; and, in a few minutes, came 
 to still another brook ! And though I had drunk not ten 
 minutes before, I was so parched with thirst, that I flung 
 myself down to drink again. 
 
 " As I was getting up, I saw a boot-track in the wet 
 gravel and sand. I thought for a moment that I must be 
 near where some of you were, or had passed. But, on 
 looking again, I saw the mark of my iron button in the 
 heel : it was my own track I All those brooks I had been 
 coming to were the same. I had been running right 
 round and round ; and the last time I had come around 
 to the same place exactly where I had jumped across the 
 brook before. 
 
 " That thing scared me worse still. I was getting wild.
 
 ANIMAL ON HIS TRACK. 247 
 
 I pulled my coat off and climbed another tree, a large 
 ash. But a mist had begun to fall ; and it had grown so 
 dusk, that I could not see much. I got down, and started 
 on, with my back to the brook ; and every large tree I 
 passed I gave it a ' spot ' with the hatchet ; and that, or 
 something else, kept me from circling, for I did not come 
 to the brook again. 
 
 " I think, perhaps, that I had gone three or four miles 
 from this brook when I heard a twig snap behind me. I 
 looked round, and could just make out something in the 
 dusk, seven or eight rods away. I had raced about so 
 much, that some creature had got on my track. I was so 
 desperate and wild, that at first I did not care for it. But 
 I kept looking back, and the more I thought of it the 
 more alarmed I grew ; for I knew that after it got dark 
 the beast might spring upon me, and that I ought to build 
 a fire. 
 
 I had matches in my pocket ; and the next pine stump 
 I came to I split off a lot of shivers with my hatchet, and 
 kindled a blaze. 
 
 " As soon as I got a light started, I could not see about 
 me as before. But every few moments I could hear the 
 snap of some dry branch, now on one side, and then on 
 the other. The animal was hanging about, walking 
 round the fire. That was not a very pleasant thing to 
 know. I had no idea what it was. I sat down between 
 the fire and the stump, and hewed off splinters to keep the 
 blaze bright, and cut up a small sapling of white birch to
 
 248 A DREARY NIGHT. 
 
 make brands ; so that after that, whenever I heard the 
 brute's step off in the brush, I would let a brand fly in 
 that direction. 
 
 " Two or three times I heard it jump aside when the 
 brands fell near it ; and once I thought that I heard it 
 snarl. 
 
 " Two or three hours passed. Despite my fear of the 
 prowling animal, I began to grow very drowsy from fa- 
 tigue. I had several bushels of chips cut off ; and I now 
 placed my back to the stump, and stretched my feet out 
 to the fire. Every few minutes I would throw on a hand- 
 ful of the dry chips. I must have dropped asleep while 
 sitting there ; for suddenly I jumped to my feet. The fire 
 was nearly gone out ; and I had a glimpse of a wild, fero- 
 cious head, with gleaming eyes, scarcely a rod away, that 
 drew back into the darkness as I stirred. The beast was 
 stealing upon me. 
 
 " This startled me so much, that I did not go to sleep 
 again. It was cold too. A good deal of hail and snow 
 sifted down through the tops of the spruces. It rattled 
 drearily among the branches, and fell into the blaze of 
 my chip-fire with spiteful hisses. 
 
 " Once after this, when the fire had waned a little, I 
 heard the animal not far off ; but as I immediately threw 
 on more chips, and thumped lustily on the stump with the 
 hatchet, it did not approach nearer ; and, during the lat- 
 ter part of the night, it must have gone away, for I heard 
 nothing more of it ; and when, at length, day broke, it
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE CAMP. 249 
 
 was nowhere in sight. There was, however, a beaten path 
 of tracks in the snow and hail around the stump and fire, 
 at a distance of about a hundred feet. Some of these 
 were nearly as large .as the print of my hand in the snow. 
 
 " As soon as it had got fairly light, I started forward 
 again with my back to the lightened east, for I supposed 
 that our camp must be to the west of where I then was. 
 
 " To appease my hunger, I chewed a great quid of gum, 
 which I dug from a spruce. But I felt very weak, and had 
 to stop often and lean against a tree to rest myself. 
 
 " During the forenoon I crossed a large brook, by wad- 
 ing through it at a place where the bottom was sandy, and 
 then continued on for an hour or two beyond it, when it 
 occurred to me that this great brook might be the upper 
 course of the Magalloway. The more I thought about it, 
 the more certain I felt of it. So I tacked, and took 
 a direction which I believed would bring me back to it 
 at a point considerably below where I had crossed it. I 
 did not come to it so soon as I had expected, however. 
 
 " The afternoon was passing. I grew bewildered again, 
 and soon got as wild and feverish as I had felt the night 
 before. 
 
 " In this way I wandered on for two hours or over ; and 
 it had begun to grow dark again, when I caught sight of 
 your fire, and came out to the camp and the river." 
 
 Such was Fred's story of his " two-hundred-mile " tramp. 
 
 It was nearly a week before he was strong enough to go 
 out with us into the woods again.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Fred Laid up. A Solemn Promise. Our Gum at " Sunday Pond." 
 Another Mink. The Big Trap, Gone again. A Den. Punched 
 out. The Chase. A "Fisher:" Description of the Animal. 
 An Alarm. A Supposed " Cannuck." Strange Antics. A Raw- 
 pork Eater. " The Devil Himself ! " We Grow Superstitious. 
 Storiesof" Woods-Demons." Fred's Ideas. We are thoroughly 
 Puzzled. Rather Nightmarish. 
 
 WE made a solemn promise then and there never 
 to lose sight of each other again while off in 
 the woods. And, indeed, there cannot too much care be 
 used. 
 
 During this following week, Farr and I gummed alone : 
 Scott, by voluntary offer, remaining at camp with Fred. 
 
 Saturday we varied the programme, by going down the 
 lake into Bose-buck Cove with the bateau, and thence 
 down to Sunday Pond to our old den at the lower end of 
 it, in order to get the gum and other property left there. 
 
 While we were down there, we had dug what we esti- 
 mated at twenty three or four pounds. And for five days 
 that week we brought in what we called six pounds apiece 
 each day. That was our stint.
 
 THE BIG TRAP GONE AGAIN. 25 1 
 
 We dug nothing but good gum. In the evening we 
 would scrape and clean it nicely, then put it up in pack- 
 ages or boxes made of birch-bark, strongly sewed together 
 with small roots of spruce. These we found very tough, 
 though pliant, and more useful for our purpose than the 
 twigs of yellow birch, which are sometimes made use of. 
 
 These long, tough spruce-roots are what the Indians 
 use for sewing their canoes and for winding the gunwales. 
 
 We used to go over occasionally to look to our traps at 
 the pond we had discovered. But we did not succeed in 
 entrapping another otter, though we caught one mink. 
 
 For more than a week, too, nothing disturbed the large 
 trap in the bear-path. Farr and I had got sick of going 
 over to it for nothing, and set off, determined to take it 
 up and have done with the bother of it, when, consider- 
 ably to our surprise, we found it gone, and the bait we had 
 lavished about it all eaten up. 
 
 As before, we had attached two clogs to the traps. 
 These made a very distinct trail, which we followed for a 
 mile or more, to the foot of a steep ridgeside to the north- 
 ward. Here a large spruce had blown partially over, 
 raising a great mass of earth, scurf "and brush with the 
 roots, and leaving a dark hole underneath them. The 
 creature with the trap and clogs had taken refuge here. 
 Indeed, the cavity was large enough to " drive in a flock 
 of sheep," as Farr described it. It was a dark hole too. 
 We could not see much inside it. All was quiet about it, 
 yet we did not care to get too near. Whether the creature
 
 252 A DEN. 
 
 was a lynx, a bear, or a panther, was not certain, though 
 we presumed that it was a lynx. 
 
 We had the hatchet with us ; and with this Farr cut a 
 long pole, twenty feet at least, and began to prod 
 inside, to stir up the game. To the first three or four 
 punches there was no response ; but, on trying the other 
 corner of the den, there came a snarl so loud and vicious 
 that Farr dropped the pole, and we both retreated to a 
 safe distance. The trap-chain rattled. Evidently the 
 game was alive and kicking. 
 
 " I don't see how we're going to get him out," Farr said, 
 after we had considered the situation. 
 
 At length we concluded to fire under the root at a 
 venture. Taking aim at what seemed to me the probable 
 nook in which the beast was lurking, I fired first one barrel, 
 then the second. 
 
 The only effect of this was to make the besieged brute 
 growl ferociously. 
 
 We went around the root, and beat on it with the pole ; 
 but the creature would not run out. 
 
 We discovered, however, that the mass of dirt and 
 dried leaves on the root was not very thick, and set to 
 work to dig a hole through it on the back side. Cutting 
 some short stakes, which Farr sharpened at one end, 
 we fell to tearing away the earth, and at length got a small 
 hole through into the cavity beneath. But no sooner had 
 our stakes broken through, than, with a clank and rattle, 
 the animal bounded out on the other side and went off on
 
 PUNCHED OUT.
 
 THE ANIMAL CAUGHT. 253 
 
 a leap, jerking the trap and clogs after it. It was as 
 black as a crow. 
 
 { A bear ! " I exclaimed, catching up the gun. 
 
 " Too small for a bear," Farr said. 
 
 We ran on after it. But, even encumbered as it was, it 
 went off at a round rate ; and we should have had a 
 chase to come up with it, had not one of the clogs caught 
 under a beech-root, bringing the creature up short. There 
 it hung, springing and jerking, till, hearing us coming up 
 behind, it suddenly turned, facing us with a harsh growl 
 of defiance. 
 
 There it stood at bay, its eyes flashing, its body crouched 
 close to the ground, its short ears cocked, and the long 
 black hair along its back standing up like bristles. It was 
 as large as a lynx, but had short legs. 
 
 Farr fired at it with a heavy load of buckshot. It went 
 heels over head, but immediately got on its feet again, 
 wheezing and growling, a bloody and piteous spectacle. 
 
 Farr then stepped up, and fired the second barrel full at 
 its head. It fell, but kicked a long while, dying very 
 hard. 
 
 It was about the same weight of the lynx. 
 
 Farr carried the carcass, and I carried the trap. 
 
 On arriving at camp, Fred at once pronounced it to be 
 a fisher, or fisher-cat as some hunters call them, an 
 animal of the weasel family (Mustela Canadensis). 
 
 The creature is sometimes spoken of by naturalists as 
 Pennant's marten. Its color was black all over its body,
 
 254 THE LAKE FROZEN OVER. 
 
 save a few white hairs on its belly : its tail was rather long 
 and shaggy. Its legs were remarkably short, but stout : 
 it had broad feet, and sharp black claws. Its teeth were 
 as long and sharp as those of the lynx. 
 
 For its skin we received six dollars and fifty cents at our 
 general sale. 
 
 It came on very cold that night. The stream froze, but 
 there was too much wind to permit of the lake freezing. 
 The next day, too, was cold and chilling. We shivered as 
 we gummed. That following night it came on colder still. 
 Shortly after midnight the wind lulled. I had the watch 
 from half-past three till six (morning). It was stinging 
 cold. We were not surprised, as day broke, to see that the 
 lake had " skimmed " over. 
 
 " How are we ever going to get out if the lake freezes 
 up ? " Scott queried. 
 
 " Oh ! go down on the ice," Fred said. 
 
 " But how about our boat ? " I said. 
 
 " We'll put it on runners," Fred laughed. 
 
 We were glad to hear him laugh again ; for he had had 
 a sober time of it. 
 
 The next day he went out gumming with us for the first 
 time since his misadventure. 
 
 And I think it was that same day that we found a mink 
 in one of our traps up at Little Boy's Falls. 
 
 The weather continuing very cold, the lake froze still 
 harder, till it was like a huge mirror of plate glass set in 
 its black shores.
 
 A SUPPOSED CANNUCK. 255 
 
 It was a grand chance for skating, if we had had 
 skates and the time for it. As it was, we gummed on 
 steadily. 
 
 Our food was three-quarters moose-meat. 
 
 Friday night of that same week, about the 24th of 
 November this was, Farr called me up a few minutes 
 after eleven o'clock, and waked Fred at the same time. 
 
 " There's a ' Cannuck ' down at the ox-camp," he whis- 
 pered to us. We did not wake Scott, but, taking our 
 guns, went out with Farr. 
 
 There was a moon again now on its second quarterage. 
 It was just setting off over the spruces, but threw a bright 
 light down into the opening below us. The ox-camp was 
 plainly visible, so also the space about it, the frozen 
 stream, and the blackened ruins of the burned camp. 
 
 We looked, but saw nothing. 
 
 " He's gone into the camp," Farr said, " or into the 
 grain-shed. Hark ! " 
 
 We distinctly heard a noise, a rattling of boards, and a 
 sound as of pounding with a stone or a hammer. 
 
 " He's in there after our fur," I suggested. " Thinks, v 
 perhaps, we may have left those muskrat skins or that 
 lucivee's hide down there." 
 
 The noise continued louder than ever. 
 
 " He must be a fool," Fred said, " or else he doesn't 
 know we are up here. He must know that such a racket 
 as that would wake us up." 
 
 J3ump-bump! pound-pound! we could hear him knocking 
 at something or other.
 
 256 A RAW-PORK EATER. 
 
 " Well, now, he isn't a bit afraid of making a noise, is 
 he ? " exclaimed Fred wonderingly. " Just as lief we 
 would know he is breaking in there as not ! " 
 
 It struck me as a very strange performance. We could 
 not imagine what sort of job he was at. 
 
 " You don't suppose it's a trick ? " Fred queried, " to get 
 us out after him, and have his friends rush in and take our 
 camp?" 
 
 " Like as not," Farr said. 
 
 We went round the camp inside our fence, and looked 
 sharply off on all sides, but saw nothing of any lurking 
 party. Still they might be hidden among the brush in the 
 shadow. 
 
 " Let him pound," said Fred : " we will stay where we 
 are." 
 
 On a sudden the man came out of the grain-shed. We 
 watched him attentively. He came along to where there 
 was a stump, about a dozen yards from the shed-door. He 
 had something in his hands, and sat himself down on the 
 stump. 
 
 Pretty quick so still was the air we heard a sound 
 of smacking. 
 
 " He's eating something," Fred said. 
 
 He was certainly eating. We could now see him raise 
 a considerable piece of something or other, and tear off 
 mouthfuls from it. 
 
 " Did we leave any thing fit to eat down there ? " I said. 
 
 "Nothing there but that barrel of 'sprung' pork," Fred
 
 A SQUARE MEAL. 257 
 
 replied. " And I believe, upon my soul, he has broken in 
 the head of that, and got out a chunk of it. That's the 
 noise of pounding we heard ! " 
 
 " Must be hungry," said Farr. 
 
 "Hungry! I should think so," said Fred. "Why, I 
 would as soon eat carrion as to eat that stinking stuff 
 raw ! " 
 
 " Well, that's what he's up to, sure as you're born ! " ex- 
 claimed Farr. " Best to let a charge of shot fly at him ? " 
 
 "No," said Fred. "Oh, no! he is welcome to that 
 'sprung' pork, for all of me." 
 
 A minute later the moon went out of sight altogether, 
 behind the thick green tops ; and it grew too dusk to even 
 see the outline of a man so far (fifteen or twenty rods). 
 But we could hear smacking going on for fully twenty 
 minutes longer. The fellow, whoever he was, was clearly 
 making a square meal. 
 
 Once, some ten or fifteen minutes subsequently, we 
 heard the crack of brush on the farther side of the stream 
 to the east of our camp. 
 
 " He's going off, I guess," Farr conjectured. 
 
 We sat up with Farr an hour longer, I think ; then, hear- 
 ing nothing more of the mysterious pork-eater, we turned 
 in again. 
 
 The next morning this midnight raw-pork eater was the 
 subject of conversation. It puzzled us completely. We 
 did not know what to think, unless some of the " Can 
 nncks " had in reality got starved out.
 
 258 A REGULAR BOARDER. 
 
 We went down to the ox-camp, and found, as we had 
 suspected, the head of the barrel broken in with one of 
 the old axes lying there. Otherwise the hungry man had 
 left no trace. 
 
 Fred was on guard-duty that day. Farr, Scott, and I 
 gummed on the hills to the north-west of the lake. 
 
 There was a snow-squall near sunset ; but the evening 
 cleared up pleasant, with a broader and larger moon. I 
 had the first watch; and, at about ten o'clock, I heard 
 something moving through the bushes and brush on the 
 east side of the river. It was going down the east bank. 
 I watched sharply ; and, a few moments after, saw a man 
 come out on the ice, and cross the stream at a point directly 
 opposite the ox-camp. He went straight to the grain-slied. 
 We had fastened the door with a nail. But the man broke 
 it open readily and went inside. 
 
 Fred and Scott had not yet gone to sleep. I stepped 
 into our camp and spoke to them. 
 
 " It's the same one, no doubt," Fred said, " come back 
 after another pork supper." 
 
 This time the "hungry-man" was not long getting what 
 he wanted. Immediately he re-appeared with what we 
 took to be a piece of pork, and, going to his old perch on 
 the stump, began to eat it. 
 
 "Well, doesn't that beat the Dutch?" Fred exclaimed. 
 
 " We've got him for a regular boarder, or rather, Brown 
 has," Scott said. 
 
 There was something so strange about this unknown
 
 COMPLETELY MYSTIFIED. 259 
 
 person and his habits, that we felt queer as we watched 
 him. 
 
 " He has no gun with him, no weapon of any kind," 
 Fred remarked. 
 
 " But he may have a pistol," Scott suggested. 
 
 Yes, he might have a pistel. We could not see him 
 plainly: though the light was brighter than on the previous 
 evening, we could yet do little but make out the form and 
 figure of an ordinary-sized man. 
 
 After eating his pork he sat still a while, then got up, 
 stared around for a minute, and then stretched himself, or 
 at least seemed to do so ; for he raised his arms over his 
 head in a slow and peculiar manner. 
 
 Pretty quickly he turned, and, going down to the river, 
 crossed on the ice, and entered the bushes on the farther 
 bank. We heard him going off through the woods. 
 
 We watched a while. Then Fred took my place, for it 
 was his turn ; Scott and I went to bed. 
 
 We were so completely mystified as to this strange 
 person and his movements, that we did not now like to 
 talk of him. The weird singularity of his comings and 
 goings tormented us with a thousand fancies. 
 
 The next night he -came a little after eleven : so Farr 
 reported next morning ; he had not thought it worth while 
 to wake the rest of us. 
 
 We were beginning to get prodigiously curious to know 
 something about him. 
 
 Said Fred at breakfast that morning, "I'm bound to 
 find out who and what he is."
 
 260 WATCHING FOR THE PORK-EATER. 
 
 " If we should go clown there when he is there, he might 
 fire at us with his pistol, or draw a knife on us," Scott 
 observed. " And if he is really so hungry as to come every 
 night after that raw pork, why, I, for one, do not grudge it 
 to him, though perhaps Brown might," he added with a 
 laugh. 
 
 " Tell you what we might do, fellows," Farr said. "We 
 might hide there in the old ox-camp. Then we could take 
 a square look at him, if he comes again. He doesn't go 
 into the ox-camp at all : he makes straight for the pork- 
 barrel in the grain-shed." 
 
 We determined to do it. 
 
 That day I recollect that we got a marten, and found a 
 muskrat in one of our musk traps down at the dam. 
 
 Farr, Scott, and Fred made the round of the saple-line, 
 and gummed on the west side of the lake. I was on guard- 
 duty. It was a quiet day. My comrades did not get in 
 till dusk ; and it was after eight before we finished supper 
 and had skinned our fur. Immediately this was done, 
 however, we loaded the guns afresh ; and then Fred and 
 Farr and I went down to the ox-camp, to lie in wait for 
 our nocturnal visitor. 
 
 Inside the old camp it was dark as pitch. The moon 
 was just coming up over the tree-tops as we went down. 
 Soon 'the little clearing was all aglow with the silvery 
 radiance. 
 
 We set an old grain-box six or seven feet within the 
 door, in such a manner that one sitting on it could see out
 
 "THE DEVIL HIMSELF!" 261 
 
 readily, while the darkness inside the closed camp would 
 prevent his being discovered from without. On this long 
 box we seated ourselves with our feet hanging off it, and 
 began our vigils, or rather I should say that Farr and I 
 sat on the box ; for Fred stood in the doorway the most of 
 the time on the lookout. 
 
 An hour or two passed. It was rather chilly, moping 
 there. But our curiosity to solve the mystery kept us up 
 to the mark of watching, though fully another hour passed 
 before Fred at length exclaimed, " He's coming, I believe ! 
 I can hear the brush crack ! " 
 
 Then we listened intently. Something was coming 
 down the farther bank of the stream. A moment after, we 
 saw him come out on the ice, and retreated back into the 
 darkness, so that he might not discover us. We expected 
 to hear his steps on the chips before the camp, but we 
 heard not a sound of them ; and the form of the man 
 passed suddenly before we were looking for it into 
 the grain-shed, without our getting more than a glimpse. 
 So we drew forward as near the door as we dared, and 
 looked for him to come out. 
 
 We could hear him pulling over the sopping pork ; and 
 anon he emerged and went directly to the stump, as before. 
 Instantly I -was startled by his odd looks ! 
 
 " Good heavens ! " Fred whispered. " Tliafs the Devil 
 himself !" 
 
 His hair, as we could now distinguish, was long, very 
 long, and straggled in a tangled mane all over his face and
 
 262 A DISGUSTING SPECTACLE. 
 
 shoulders. He had no hat. His arms were bare, as high 
 as his elbows, where began the tattered sleeves of his coat. 
 His feet and legs were bare, too, up higher than his knees, 
 to where the ragged skirts of his old coat covered them. 
 Indeed, the only garment he seemed to have on was that 
 tattered coat, apparently an overcoat in its day, but now 
 hanging in rags about him. 
 
 His arms, in the moonlight, looked brown and roughened. 
 He held the great chunk of white pork in his black hands, 
 and tore at it, animal-like, with his teeth ; and, as he ate, 
 he champed like a hog ! 
 
 A strangely queer feeling came over me as I looked at 
 him : I felt sick at heart. It was a spectacle to disgust 
 the intellect ! 
 
 As he chewed and tore at the meat, his long, stringy hair 
 flew about his face ; and it was this hair that added so 
 much to the strangeness of his mien. 
 
 " I do believe it's a woman ! " Farr whispered. 
 
 "If it isn't Old Nick himself, I shall be thankful," said 
 Fred. 
 
 " You don't suppose it is a wild man ? " I whispered to 
 Farr. 
 
 Farr said that he looked wild enough for that or any 
 thing else. 
 
 He sat with his back partially to us, so that we could 
 not get a good view of his face. 
 
 After he had devoured the pork, he went off as he had 
 come.
 
 SUPERSTITIOUS FEELINGS. 263 
 
 We went back up to camp to tell Scott. 
 
 " I've heard stories of a sort of woods-devil, like what 
 we've just seen," Fred said. "The lumbermen and 'driv- 
 ers ' are always telling of such things. I supposed they 
 were lying ; but I begin to believe them." 
 ' " Nonsense ! " said Scott. " I don't." 
 
 But we none of us knew what to think of it. Strangely 
 superstitious feelings crept over us ; the more we thought 
 of it, the more unsettled we felt : it was like a nightmare.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The "Hungry Man" again. Scott's View of the Case. We 
 Resolve to Catch the Prowler, and Lie in Wait for Him in the 
 Ox-Camp. Fred's Reluctance. We Pounce upon Him. 
 "Whooh!" A Struggle. A Race. Another Scuffle. Slip- 
 pery. The Escape. Scanty Apparel. That Old Coat. Prob- 
 able Explanation of the Mystery. The Woods-Thieves of the 
 Moose-River Region. 
 
 THE next night the " hungry man " came at a little 
 past twelve. Fred had the watch. He waked Fair. 
 
 They told us next morning that they had set out to fire 
 at him, and either kill him or scare him off. 
 
 " If it's the Devil, we ought to kill him!" Fred said ; and 
 this shows what a bad hold the thing had taken on our 
 minds. 
 
 Scott was more sensible. 
 
 "That's a human being," said he, "as much as we are. 
 To shoot him would be murder." 
 
 Farr said, that, if it was a human being, it was the queer- 
 est specimen that ever he saw ; for his part, he believed it 
 to be a woods-witch, and if we did not look out it would 
 bewitch us. 
 
 264
 
 SCOTT'S VIEW OF THE CASE. 265 
 
 Scott ridiculed this talk. 
 
 " Til be one of three to go down there and catch him," 
 said he. " It's some poor woodsman who has got lost, 
 and perhaps turned light-headed." 
 
 Fred admitted that he had heard of these cases, where 
 men had got lost in these forests, and become crazy from 
 wandering about. But he declared that he did not care 
 to be one of the three to catch him. He should be very 
 loath to lay hands on that creature, he said : should be 
 afraid he might vanish, leaving a smell of brimstone be- 
 hind him. 
 
 " Oh, what stuff that is ! " Scott exclaimed in derision. 
 
 Thus we talked of it. 
 
 Of one thing we were pretty confident, namely, that he 
 had no weapons. 
 
 The next night Scott tried to induce us to go and help 
 catch the man. 
 
 " If he's crazy, wandering about here, we ought to do 
 something about it," he argued. "By and by he will 
 freeze to death, as the weather gets colder." 
 
 But he could not bring Fred or Farr to see it in that 
 light at all. 
 
 " I guess he will manage to keep warm" Fred would say. 
 "Looks to me like a chap that would not have any diffi- 
 culty in finding a hot brick 'most any time." 
 
 " Humph I " Scott would exclaim. " What's the use to 
 be a fool, Fred ! " 
 
 Evidently the many stories that Fred had heard from
 
 266 A RESOLVE TO CATCH THE PROWLER. 
 
 the lumbermen had not been without some effect on his 
 mind. He declared that he was not afraid of the man, 
 but he did not mean to interfere with him. 
 
 Scott, on the other hand, argued that it was our duty to 
 find out what ailed this person, and assist him. That very 
 evening he roasted a piece of moose-meat in the oven, 
 and, taking it down to the grain-shed, hung it up by a bit 
 of rope directly in the doorway. It was his watch (the 
 first watch) that evening, and he watched till one o'clock 
 (two watches) to see what came of it. 
 
 Next morning he told us, that, at a little before twelve, 
 the man had come ; and that, on espying the roast meat 
 hanging there, he had seized upon it with strange, wild 
 exclamations of what Scott took for delight. 
 
 Fred told him that he had better not go to holding com- 
 munications with the Devil. 
 
 But Scott now gave us no peace ; and during the next 
 two days, first I, and then Farr, agreed to help him catch 
 the unknown ; and at length Fred consented to help. 
 
 For my own part, I had by this time very little fear that 
 it was a supernatural being ; but I did dread to touch the 
 poor filthy creature. 
 
 Accordingly, that night, at ten o'clock, we all four went 
 down to the ox-camp, and hid ourselves there in ambush, 
 as before. And this time we did not have long to wait. 
 We had not been there more than fifteen or twenty min- 
 utes before we heard him coming through the brush, on 
 the other side of the stream.
 
 FRED'S RELUCTANCE. 267 
 
 " He's more prompt since he has got a taste of your 
 moose-meat, Scott," Farr said. 
 
 The strange being came up to the door of the grain- 
 shed, looked about it a while, then went inside. We held 
 ourselves in readiness. 
 
 " Disappointed that he didn't find one of your moose- 
 steaks waiting for him there," Farr whispered. 
 
 Presently the wretched creature came out with a piece 
 of pork, and sat down on the stump. 
 
 Said Fred, " I had rather tackle a catamount than go 
 near him." 
 
 "What foolishness!" Scott whispered back. "The 
 bare fact of his eating that pork shows that he is human 
 fast enough." 
 
 " Don't know about that," retorted Fred. " Perhaps he 
 needs it to grease down his brimstone with ! " 
 
 " Well, come on," Farr whispered. " If we must, we 
 must. Now for him ! " 
 
 We had laid down our guns ; and, at the word, made a 
 rush at the unconscious pork-eater. But I must needs 
 confess, that we did it with no great alacrity. I think that 
 each one of us was very willing that some of the rest 
 should be the first to lay hold of him. We had but a few 
 yards to go, and were upon him before he had even time 
 to turn. Had we seized him pluckily on the instant, we 
 should have held him beyond doubt ; but we all held back 
 a little. 
 
 Up leaped the unknown.
 
 268 
 
 THE STRUGGLE. 
 
 " Whooh ! " he snorted. " Moon tykes ! Moon-tykes ! " 
 " Scott seized hold of him ; so did I, and so did Farr. 
 
 But the man whirled, kicked, and struck with such effect, 
 
 that he threw us off and ran. 
 
 But now that our blood was up, and we were fairly into 
 
 ' MOON-TYKES 
 
 it, we gave chase hard after him, Fred ahead. Down 
 the bank, on to the ice, and across the stream, went the 
 "hungry man," screaming "Moon-tykes! Moon-tykes!" 
 at every leap. Half a dozen times going across the river,
 
 THE ESCAPE. 269 
 
 we had our hands on him almost. The opposite bank 
 was three or four feet high, and set thick with alders. 
 Among these the man leaped ; but, before he could force 
 his way through them, Fred grabbed him, and threw him 
 back upon the ice. We all lay hold of him, by guess, but 
 it was slippery as glass there. Round and about we went, 
 and all came down together -wallop ! I, for one, had 
 both hands fastened into that old coat, and held on. But 
 the coat did not hold the wearer ! It gave way like brown 
 paper. The pork-eater jumped out of it, and regained his 
 legs. Fred seized one ankle ; and the wretch ran, drag- 
 ging Fred, stomach down, on the ice. His bare feet stuck, 
 while our boots slipped. Fred said that the man kicked 
 him in the head, and for that reason he let go his ankle. 
 At any rate, he got away, and ran off up the stream for 
 twenty rods or more, and thence into the woods naked 
 as when he was born / 
 
 " I guess he will freeze to death now ! " said Fred as 
 we listened to his departing footsteps. 
 
 Scott was disposed to blame the rest of us for not hold- 
 ing him. 
 
 " We had better let him alone than used him in this 
 bungling way," he said. 
 
 Farr laughed as if it were a good joke. 
 
 We hung his coat up on the alders, so that if he ventured 
 back after it he might take it. 
 
 But next morning there hung the coat 1 I went down to 
 take a look at it by daylight.
 
 270 PROBABLE EXPLANATION OF THE MYSTERY. 
 
 Of all the coats I ever set eyes on, that was the shock* 
 ingest one ! It was a mere bunch of rags, filthy and mal- 
 odorous to the last degree ! I thought that it might ori- 
 ginally have been of black tricot ; but, indeed, it was hard 
 telling what it was originally. The pockets had been torn 
 out, or worn out, long previously. There wasn't a single 
 button on it. In front it looked as if it had been tied 
 together with strings. 
 
 We watched the following night from ten till after one. 
 The " hungry man " did not come ; and next morning there 
 hung his coat still. We never saw so much as a hair of 
 him afterwards. 
 
 Farr said, that, as he had nothing to wear, he was prob- 
 ably too modest to pay us another visit. 
 
 Scott regretted the way the affair had turned : he talked 
 of little else for several days. 
 
 Three nights after, the old coat either blew away, or 
 else the owner did actually come after it. And the man 
 may even have come back to the grain-shed after more 
 pork, for the moon did not now rise till toward morning, 
 and cloudy weather had set in. As to who or what he 
 really was, we never knew further than I have related. 
 
 At present writing I am inclined to believe that it was a 
 person more or less light-headed, very possibly one of the 
 " Cannuck " gang we had known of, whom the others had 
 unfeelingly turned adrift to shirk for himself. The exist- 
 ence of several of these roving gangs is a well-ascertained 
 fact. Sometimes they have plundered the fields, and stolen
 
 WOODS-THIEVES OF THE MOOSE-RIVER REGION. 271 
 
 horses from the pioneer towns and plantations. The 
 Moose -river settlement were seriously troubled by a party 
 of nine of these woods-thieves only recently. Six or seven 
 horses were taken ; and the gang was dispersed and driven 
 off only after a sharp and bloody fight with the citizens.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A Heavy Snow-Storm. Wet Feet. Moose-Skin Moccasins. A 
 New Branch of Business. We Fish for Trout through Holes Cut 
 in the Ice on the Lake. Good Luck. Some Finny Beauties. 
 What Shall we Do with Them ? Fish for Market Our Fish-box. 
 The Trout Continue to Bite. A Grand Haul. A Thaw. 
 Ominous Sounds from the Lake. 
 
 A FEW days later, there came a heavy snow-storm for 
 .XJL. the season. As many as seven or eight inches fell 
 in one night. Our boots had worn almost entirely out. 
 Scott had rubber boots ; but the rest of us went with wet 
 feet for three days in succession. We took cold by it, and 
 felt miserable enough. 
 
 At length we determined to sacrifice one of our moose- 
 hides and make it into moccasins. This we did ; though 
 they were not of any particular pattern, being mere oblong 
 pieces of the hide folded over our old boots, hair side out, 
 then bound tightly around our ankles. 
 
 Meantime we gummed on perseveringly ; and another 
 week passed. 
 
 Quite unexpectedly we now struck a new branch of 
 business. I think it was Monday night of that week that
 
 A NEW BRANCH OF BUSINESS. 273 
 
 Fred proposed to try the lake for trout, through holes in 
 the ice. There were trout in the stream ; and he did not 
 see why there might not be trout in the lake. 
 
 We all hailed this project with delight. To tell the 
 truth, we had become a little tired of gumming so steadily 
 and so long. A change of business, even for a single day, 
 was pleasing. 
 
 The next morning we were early astir. Farr lamented 
 that fate gave him the duty of guarding camp that day : 
 the rest rejoiced, I fear. 
 
 Directly after breakfast we got out our stock of fish- 
 hooks and lines (including several stout hooks we had 
 taken from the " Cannucks "). 
 
 " What shall we have for bait ? " Scott questioned. 
 
 " Pork," said Fred. 
 
 " Not that sprung pork ? " 
 
 " Yes : they will not mind it." 
 
 Farr suggested moose-meat. 
 
 We decided to take both, and wrapped up a generous 
 chunk of each in one of the " Cannuck " waistcoats. Then, 
 providing ourselves with a couple of the axes to cut holes 
 in the ice with, we set off. 
 
 " Aren't you going to take something to bring your fish 
 home in ? " Farr called after us. " Better take the pail 
 and the big pot I " 
 
 " You just attend to your duty," Fred retorted : " we'll 
 attend to the fish. We don't mean to tempt Fortune to 
 disappoint us by carrying a large dish."
 
 274 CUTTING FISHING-HOLES. 
 
 " You're a superstitious fellow, Fred," laughed Scott. 
 
 We followed down the stream on the ice, and went out 
 on the lake to a point directly between the first and sec- 
 ond islands, this being the channel of the river in its 
 course through the lakes. 
 
 " Guess we'll try 'em here," Fred said. " They will be 
 more likely to be passing back and forth here than in 
 dead water." 
 
 There was about six inches of snow on the ice. This 
 we scraped aside ; then Fred began to hack through the 
 ice. It was no great job at this season. The ice was not 
 over four inches thick ; later in the winter, February, 
 say, the ice would be found nearly a yard in depth. To 
 cut a fishing-hole would then be a task, half an hour of 
 steady chopping. 
 
 Fred cut a small hole, eight inches in diameter. 
 
 " It isn't best to cut a too big one," he said. " We 
 don't want one large enough to let ourselves through; 
 else, if we should hook a big laker, he might do the catch- 
 ing part himself. That, you see, would not be pleasant." 
 
 " No," said Scott, " I should think not. They would 
 soon pick a fellow's bones clean, those big trout, if he 
 should tumble through here." 
 
 We agreed that it was not best to give the fish the ad- 
 vantage of a too big hole. 
 
 Meantime I had cut some stout alder sticks, about two 
 feet in length, to the middle of which we made fast the 
 ends of the lines, so that, if dropped, or twitched out of our
 
 FISHING FOR TROUT. 275 
 
 hands, they might not be lost through the hole into the 
 lake. This done, Fred cut off a scrid of the lean moose- 
 meat, carefully baited his hook, and dropped it in at the 
 hole. 
 
 Down it went, five, ten, a dozen feet. Then he began 
 to play it up and down, after the manner of anglers gen- 
 erally. 
 
 Scott and I looked on expectantly. A minute passed, 
 and no bite. 
 
 " Aren't hungry, I guess," Scott said. 
 
 " Loss of appetite," I hazarded. 
 
 " Froze up," Fred suggested. 
 
 " Gone a-visiting," Scott added. 
 
 " Moose-meat's too dark-colored," Fred observed. 
 " Guess I will try the pork. That's whiter. See it better. 
 Dark down there, perhaps." 
 
 He was drawing up the hook, when there came a smart 
 and most unexpected jerk. Fred jerked, too, and then 
 held on. 
 
 " Got him ? " we cried. 
 
 "Guess so," said Fred, carefully drawing in the line. 
 " But he comes easy ! " 
 
 All at once he did not come so easy ! For the moment 
 Fred brought the fish to the surface it made a sudden 
 bolt off under the ice, pulling the line sharply through 
 Fred's hands, and running out fully fifteen feet of it. 
 Then began a sharp fight. To and fro went the strong 
 fish, right and left, down and up, making the water fairly 
 boil in the hole.
 
 276 BROKE HIS LINE. 
 
 " Hold him, Fred ! " we exhorted. 
 
 Fred held him easily enough ; but a second later the 
 fish drew the line against the sharp edges of the ice on 
 the sides of the hole so forcibly, that it frayed and 
 snapped. 
 
 " Gone ! " Scott cried out in a tone of anguish. 
 
 " Lost ! " I vociferated, fairly beside myself with grief 
 for the moment. 
 
 "Gone, sure, hook and all," Fred said, examining his 
 hands where the line had sawed into them. 
 
 " And now he will go and tell all the others," groaned 
 Scott. 
 
 Fred took the axe, and carefully rounded the sharp 
 edges of the ice around the hole. 
 
 " Ought to have done this in the first place," he said. 
 
 Then we prepared another line ai^d hook, baiting it as 
 before with moose-meat. 
 
 It had not gone down six feet before it was taken with 
 a smart pull. This time Fred was on the lookout, and, 
 drawing the line quickly up, pulled out a fine large, 
 speckled trout, without giving it time to lunge and jerk. 
 It came out quivering and struggling, the light flashing 
 from its bright red spots. 
 
 Swinging off from the hole, we let it flop a few moments, 
 then unhooked it, and left it to die in the snow. It was a 
 fine trout, and would have weighed two pounds and a half 
 we thought. 
 
 " Not so heavy as that first one," Fred said.
 
 GOOD LUCK. 277 
 
 The fishes that we lose are the heaviest and finest 
 always. 
 
 Hardly had the hook been re-baited and dropped in 
 again ere a third took it. 
 
 " If he told them, they don't heed it," Fred exclaimed. 
 
 IT CAME OUT QUIVERING AND STRUGGLING. 
 
 "That's the fate of good advice usually," Scott 
 remarked. 
 
 This third fish was landed as quickly as the second. 
 It was not quite so large. 
 
 " Going to have a streak of luck," Fred prophesied.
 
 278 SOME FINNY BEAUTIES. 
 
 " Well, Frank," said Scott, " let us have a dab at it ! 
 What's the use to let Fred have all the fun ? " 
 
 " No use clearly." 
 
 We seized the axes, and, going off a little way, began 
 to prepare each a hole for himself, into which we soon 
 dropped our own hooks. 
 
 In a very few moments I had the fun, the rare sport, 
 of pulling out a three-pounder, the biggest one caught 
 thus far ! 
 
 I recollect the next two hours with delight, even now. 
 It is fun to fish, when they bite well, and the mosquitoes 
 do not bite too well. And we found Parmachenee Lake a 
 rare good fishing-ground. We twitched out a lot of them 
 that forenoon, and a very pretty lot too. All, save three 
 or four chivin and one sucker, were speckled trout, weigh- 
 ing from a pound up to three pounds and a half. One we 
 thought would have weighed four pounds. We soon had 
 the snow about the holes lively with their frantic leap- 
 ings. 
 
 Fred caught during that forenoon thirty-one. Scott got 
 nineteen, and I got twenty-three : altogether, seventy- 
 three. We thought that they would weigh near a hundred 
 and fifty pounds. At any rate, there were about as many 
 as we could in any way carry, all three of us. We strung 
 them on large alder stringers, and went toiling back to 
 camp under the weight of them. 
 
 Farr was astonished. 
 
 " How I wish I co.uld have been there ! " he bewailed.
 
 WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THEM? 279 
 
 We fried four for dinner, rolling them in meal to give 
 them a good brown crust They were delicious. 
 
 " What fools we were not to have fished there before ? " 
 Scott kept reminding us as we ate. 
 
 Toward four o'clock we went down again, and caught 
 eleven more. ' 
 
 " I'm going to feed these holes," Fred said, " so as to 
 draw a whole school of fish about them." 
 
 It seemed a good plan. We brought down a great 
 quantity of the refuse moose-meat and unpicked bones and 
 dropped them into the holes, to draw the fish. 
 
 " But what shall we do with all these trout ? " Scott asked 
 that evening. 
 
 "They're worth ten, twenty, and sometimes even fifty 
 cents a pound in the cities, these speckled trout," Fred 
 said. " If the weather holds cold, I don't see why we can- 
 not take these out with us and get something handsome 
 for them." 
 
 Of course we all liked that idea. 
 
 Forthwith we got up one of the big grain-boxes from the 
 grain-shed, and began to pack them down in clean snow. 
 
 The next morning we fished again at the holes. Farr 
 tried his hand. Fred was on guard-duty. We caught 
 twenty-four, and five more about sunset. 
 
 The next day we went down to the foot of the lake, 
 Fred and Farr and I, and cut holes near where the outlet 
 leaves the. lake. Here we caught twenty-two, or about 
 fifty pounds as we reckoned it.
 
 280 
 
 The day following, the other three boys fished both at 
 the foot and the head of the lake : they caught seventeen. 
 
 That day the weather began to moderate. Towards 
 night it came on cloudy. It looked like rain. We were 
 in jeopardy about our fish, lest they should spoil. We 
 brought snow, and buried the box in it to the depth of two 
 feet or over. 
 
 The next morning it was misty and wet. During the 
 night there had been a most ominous groaning and roaring 
 of the air beneath the ice on the lake, a sure sign of a 
 thaw, Fred assured us. All that day it held wet and warm. 
 The snow melted considerably. But we kept a heap of it 
 on the fish-box.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Fears for the Fish-box. The Weather Changes. " Let's go Home 
 while we Can." Ice. The Bateau on Runners. Off. Adieu 
 to our Strong Camp. Down the Lake. Cutting our Road. 
 'On the Ice-bound River. A Moose. A Marten. A Wolf (?). 
 Cold Nights. Civilization once more. Pete. Spencer's 
 Bill. We Reach Upton. Rather Woodsey. Bethel again. We 
 Sell our Furs. Fred Goes to Portland with our Fish and Gum. 
 A Fair Profit The " Cannuck " Muskets and Revolvers. Some 
 New Clothes and Eighty-seven Dollars apiece. 
 
 r~p>HE next day was sloppier still. We used all the snow 
 JL around, to keep our box buried, and even cut slabs of 
 ice out of the river. That night, however, about one o'clock, 
 Fred reported a change. The clouds and fog broke up ; 
 the wind began to blow from the north-west. The next 
 morning it was blowing smartly, and the damp snow and 
 slosh on the ice was beginning to freeze. 
 
 " There's sure to be a hard crust," Fred said. " By 
 to-morrow it will be gay running." 
 
 "And that means Home!" exclaimed Farr. 
 
 'Twas a unanimous sentiment. 
 
 Si
 
 282 THE BATEAU ON RUNNERS. 
 
 " Our fish won't stand another thaw, any way," Fred 
 said. " Let's be off." 
 
 We did not care to stay longer, and run the risk of being 
 blocked in by a three-feet snow-storm. Evidently now 
 was our time. 
 
 We fell to work to get ready. First the bateau was cut 
 out of the ice. 
 
 " Now, how can this be best turned into a sledge ? " was 
 Scott's question ; and it was something of a question with 
 the whole of us. 
 
 Fred went out and cut a stick of green white ash, twenty 
 ,feet long. This, with the axes and with wooden wedges, 
 he split in halves, for the runners. Then we knocked to 
 pieces one of the old grain-boxes, to get nails. Along the 
 flat bottom of the bateau we next nailed strips of hewn 
 plank from the ox-camp, in two rows, lengthwise, and upon 
 these we nailed the ashen runners, turning them up at 
 the nose of the boat. The bottom of the bateau was then 
 raised about four inches. At best it was a rather rough 
 contrivance, but we could not then do better. This took 
 till afternoon. 
 
 After dinner we loaded in the great fish-box, then the 
 gum, next the fur, and afterwards such of our remaining 
 provisions as we might need, a few frozen potatoes, a lit- 
 tle meal, some of the moose-meat, and a few of the trout 
 which we had saved out of the box. 
 
 That night we kept a vigilant watch, lest the " Can- 
 nucks " should come and steal our exposed treasures.
 
 EN ROUTE FOR HOME.
 
 ADIEU TO OUR STRONG CAMP. 283 
 
 At six that next morning we ate our last breakfast at 
 the fortified camp on the knoll. We had tea, trout, moose, 
 corn-cake, and a batch of Horsfords. As soon as it was 
 light we set off. 
 
 It was not without regrets that we bade adieu to our 
 strong camp, where we had done sentinel duty for so many 
 nights. One comes to love a place which he has to fight 
 to hold. 
 
 Long before sunrise we had started down the stream. 
 A faint wreath of smoke was rising from out the funnel of 
 the stove, inside the fence, as we moved off. Farr even 
 proposed to burn up the camp, that it might not fall into 
 the hands of the " Cannucks." 
 
 The tow-line was attached double to the nose of the 
 bateau. Fred and I pulled ; while Scott and Farr pushed. 
 Altogether, it must have weighed near half a ton. But 
 when once we had got it started on the ice, it ran almost 
 of itself. 
 
 Instead of going down to the outlet, we went directly to 
 the foot of Bose-buck Cove. Here we arrived a few min- 
 utes before nine. From this point we had determined to 
 cut a road through to Sunday Pond, and thence out to 
 the Little Magalloway. We had our own axe, and had also 
 taken one of those at the ox-camp, for this purpose. 
 
 From the bottom of the Cove to Sunday Pond it is 
 about two miles. By carefully choosing our path where 
 the woods were not very thick, we avoided the cutting of 
 but few trees larger than bushes. But it was laborious
 
 284 CUTTING OUR ROAD. 
 
 work to drag the bateau through. It took all our strength. 
 If there had been soft snow, we should never have got 
 through. We were all the rest of that day getting down 
 to the pond. 
 
 That night we camped at our old " den " at the foot of 
 Sunday Pond. Tired enough we were too. We had only 
 our tent, and such boughs as we could cut, for a shelter. 
 We lay rather cold. 
 
 It took us all the next forenoon to get down to the Lit- 
 tle Magalloway, about a mile. Here we built a fire, and 
 fried moose-meat and potatoes. 
 
 Once on the river, we found good sledding. The slosh 
 on the ice had frozen hard as the ice itself. We had no 
 trouble now in going on as fast as. we could comfortably 
 walk. A little later we came to the junction with the 
 Magalloway proper, and during the afternoon went down 
 through "the meadows." 
 
 Here it was that we again saw the robins eating " round- 
 wood " berries. 
 
 In quite a number of places there was open water ; but 
 by keeping near the shore, on one side or the other, we 
 got past with no great difficulty. 
 
 That night we camped in the fir woods, on the bank, at 
 the foot of "the meadows." Despite a large fire, we 
 again lay pretty cold. 
 
 The next morning, shortly after starting off, we saw and 
 fired at a moose that crossed the stream at some distance 
 ahead. The animal ran off at a great pace. AST- we saw
 
 SPENCER'S BILL. 285 
 
 no blood, we did not follow the trail. That day, too, we 
 saw a marten in a pine at a little distance from the stream 
 but it escaped us ; and we also saw either a large gray fox, 
 or else it was a wolf, cross the river about twenty rods in 
 advance of us. 
 
 That night \ve reached the head of Escohos Carry. Here 
 we camped. 
 
 We had a hard forenoon's job dragging our load over 
 the Carry Road next day. It was near eleven o'clock when 
 we passed " Spoff's " (Mr. Flint's). In consideration of 
 our long hair, 'coon-skin coats, moccasined feet, and gen- 
 erally dilapidated condition, we had hoped to keep out of 
 sight of Mrs. Flint. But I saw her at a window, laughing, 
 as we toiled past. 
 
 " Pete " came out and shook hands with us. We asked 
 if he remembered the " seventy-five cent." Plainly he 
 did. 
 
 It seemed good, and odd too, to get out among civilized 
 folks again, where there were houses. 
 
 Once more on the ice below the falls we slid on at a 
 good pace. At Spencer's we stopped to leave the axe 
 and settle for the pork, &c., we had taken from the log- 
 ging-camp. We told him what we had used. Spencer 
 said four dollars. This sum we promised to send him, 
 as soon as we should dispose of our fur ; and we did 
 so. 
 
 Hurrying on, we left the Magalloway, at its union with
 
 286 FRED GOES TO PORTLAND. 
 
 the Androscoggin, at about four o'clock. We had 
 expected to camp here, but finally concluded to push on 
 to Upton, twelve miles down the Umbagog. This was far 
 too much for us". We were fearfully tired when, at last, 
 we reached Godwin's, at about nine in the evening. We 
 had come rising twenty-seven miles that day, including 
 the "Carry Road." 
 
 They laughed well at our woodsey appearance at the 
 Lake House, most of all that black-eyed table-girl. But 
 we cared for none of these things. 
 
 From Upton to Bethel we hired our property drawn on 
 an ox-sled. Here w.e left the old bateau. 
 
 At Bethel we sold our fur, the whole of it, for a hundred 
 and twenty-six dollars. But, as there was here no market 
 for the gum and the fish, we freighted it to Portland by 
 rail ; and, making up as respectable an outfit as we could 
 from our united wardrobe, sent Fred on with it to dispose 
 of it. The rest of us were really unpresentable. 
 
 Fred was gone three days. We awaited his return with 
 considerable anxiety, passing the time at a relative of 
 Farr's living there, and keeping as much secluded as we 
 could. 
 
 On the third evening Fred came back. He had sold 
 the trout for seventeen cents per pound, three hundred 
 and thirteen pounds of it. And foi the five hundred and 
 seventy-six pounds of gum, he had got two hundred and 
 sixty-four dollars and ninety-six cents, about forty-six 
 cents per pound.
 
 A FAIR PROFIT. 287 
 
 We received, therefore, for 
 
 Fur $126 oo 
 
 Trout . . 53 21 
 
 Spruce Gum 264 96 
 
 Total $444 17 
 
 Expenses of the expedition . . 46 09 
 
 Profit $398 08 
 
 One quarter of this .... $99 52 
 
 Ninety-nine dollars apiece was about what we had, after 
 paying our bills. But we had immediately to buy some 
 clothes, before even going home ; so that the sum we 
 actually took home with us was but about eighty-seven 
 dollars. 
 
 But eighty-seven dollars went a good way with us in 
 those days. It paid our expenses for nearly three terms 
 at the academy. So, on the whole, we deemed the venture 
 a success. 
 
 The old " Cannuck " muskets and revolver we sold at 
 Bethel, for seventeen dollars for the lot. With this sum 
 the friend who had loaned us the little rifle expressed him- 
 self satisfied. 
 
 On arriving home, we found our people on the point of 
 sending off an expedition in search of us. It was long 
 before we outgrew the nickname of " The Young Moose- 
 hunters."
 
 288 WELL-EARNED SUCCESS. 
 
 Such were our fortunes. We would not confidently 
 recommend a similar trip to any youthful party. Yet our 
 well-earned success shows what perseverance will do with 
 necessity pinching hard.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 OL 
 
 LO-URI; 
 APR 12K 
 51982 
 
 82 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 JUOS ANGELAS
 
 PZ7 
 
 S83y Stephens - 
 The young 
 lioose hunters. 
 
 UCLA-Young Research Library 
 
 PZ7 .S83y 
 
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