^fc5--CAPT. FaRRAR 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
EROM LAKE TO LAKE; 
 
 A TRIP ACROSS COUNTRY. 
 
 A NAKEATITE OF THE WILDS OF 
 MAINE. 
 
 WITH THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS, DRAWN BY BEDEB, 
 OARRETT, REED, AND MYRICK. 
 
 BY 
 
 Capt. CHARLES A. J. FARRAR, 
 
 AUTHOR OP " THE LAKE AND FOREST SERIES," " CAMP LIFE IN THE 
 WILDERNESS," "THE ANDROSCOGGIN LAKES ILLUSTRATED," 
 "MOOSEHEAD LAKE AND THE NORTH MAINE WIL- 
 DERNESS ILLUSTRATED," ETC., ETC. 
 
 Jamaica Plain, Mass.: 
 JAMAICA PUBLISHING CO 
 
 1887. 
 
Copyright, 1887, 
 Capt. CHARLES A. J. FARRAR. 
 

 PEEF A O E. 
 
 r I IHE incidents that follow in these pages occurred 
 -*- during the year 1876, the first summer that a 
 steamboat was ever run on the Richardson 
 Lakes, and there have been marked improvements in 
 the business of that region, also many changes in 
 the places known to sportsmen and tourists at that 
 time, in the intervening years. 
 
 The story is founded on the events that occurred 
 during the author's first trip from the Richardsons to 
 Parmachenee Lake, and it is hoped will please the 
 general reader, as well as call to mind pleasant remi- 
 niscences to those more familiar with the country. 
 
 Should any of my readers ever make the trip from 
 Lake to Lake I sincerely hope that they may have 
 better luck and better weather than I did. 
 
 CHARLES A. J. FARRAR. 
 
 RocKviEw, Jamaica Plain, Feb. 1, 1887. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2007 witii funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 littp://www.arcliive.org/details/fromlaketolakeorOOfarrricli 
 
CONTEISTTS 
 
 • 
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I. — We make a Start 13 
 
 II. — A Rough Passage 24 
 
 III. — A Night in the Woods 43 
 
 IV. — Killing Time 69 
 
 V. — A Sail on the Diamond 81 
 
 VI. — A Successful Hunt 93 
 
 VII. — Up the River 103 
 
 VIII. — Out of the Storm 129 
 
 IX. — A Quiet Sunday 145 
 
 X. — We Retrace Our Course . . . . . 161 
 
 XI. — Bad News 181 
 
 XII. — The Wrecked Steamer 201 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOHS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 On Lake Molechunkamdnk Frontispiece 
 
 Jack tries the Trout . 15 
 
 aziscohos and observatory mountains .... 19 
 
 Whitney's Camp . 22 
 
 Lake Molechunkamunk 25 
 
 Lake Welokennebacook . 29 
 
 A Rough Passage 33 
 
 A Difficult Landing 37 
 
 Middle Dam Camp 41 
 
 A Diversity of Opinion 45 
 
 A Primitive Meal 49 
 
 Crossing the River 65 
 
 The Last Match 61 
 
 Duck-Shooting on Umbagog Lake 73 
 
 Through the Ice 79 
 
 A Lucky Shot 91 
 
 A Backwoods Residence 99 
 
 Crossing the Carry 105 
 
 A Cold Bite 113 
 
 In the Narrows 117 
 
 Through the Meadows 123 
 
 ''Arctic Boating" 127 
 
 A Welcome Sight 133 
 
 In Camp 143 
 
 Homeward Bound 163 
 
 A Caribou Chase 169 
 
 A Road Accident 187 
 
 The Steamer as we found heb 2(J5 
 
 Righted up 209 
 
 In Port 219 
 
FROM LAKE TO LAKE; 
 
 A TRIP ACROSS COUNTRY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " There is a time to play ! 'Tis when 
 Our toil is o'er." — Eddy. 
 
 WE MAKE A START. 
 
 ^^—H^ _ /^^UR season had ended, and the jaunty 
 7H||nK V^ little steamer " Welokennebacook," 
 ▼■HV which had done such excellent ser- 
 
 vice on the Kichardson Lakes during the summer, 
 was now securely moored at the mouth of the river, 
 with her bow toward the rapids, while two large 
 " driving " anchors from bow and stern held her in posi- 
 tion. To make assurance doubly sure we had run a 
 long, heavy cable from each side of the boat, amidship, 
 to trees on either point that formed the little cove in 
 which she lay. 
 
 After taking a last look around to satisfy ourselves 
 that nothing remained to be done, we pulled to the 
 landing, and drew the yawl carefully up on shore be- 
 
14 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 yond the reach of any sea, and turning it bottom up 
 covered it over with boards, that were held in position 
 by heavy stones. 
 
 As we left the lake shore we took one more look at 
 the gallant little craft floating at anchor, and a mo- 
 mentary feeling of sadness stole over me, as 1 thought 
 of the pleasant hours I had passed on her deck that 
 summer, and how seven long months must come and 
 go before I should see her again. 
 
 Her deserted appearance also touched me. The flag- 
 staffs had been taken down and housed, the smoke-stack 
 and exhaust-pipe no longer appeared above the engine- 
 room, and all the windows and doors had been covered 
 with boards, as protection against the wind and hail 
 and snow that were to buflet lier through the winter. 
 
 " She looks as if the life had all gone out of her," 
 remarked Jack, the engineer, who was with me. 
 
 " That is a fact," I replied. " Do you suppose she 
 will stay there safely through the winter ? " 
 
 "Why not? The ice won't freeze very thick there 
 on account of the current." 
 
 "I was not thinking of the ice, but of the wind. 
 There are such heavy blows here in winter." 
 
 " Oh, I guess she will be all right, Captain. But if 
 we are going to get to camp before dark, we had better 
 be moving." 
 
 Leaving the lake shore we struck into the road, and 
 went up to the Upper Dam Camp, where we were stop- 
 ping, and had our supper ; and, as we intended to make 
 
Jack Tries the Trout. 
 
WE MAKE A STAET. 17 
 
 an early start the next morning, we went to bed soon 
 after eating. We had put in a hard day's work and 
 we slept soundly. Indeed it seemed I had been in bed 
 but an hour or two when I was awakened by the cook 
 pounding on my door and telling me it was five o'clock. 
 
 Crushing the strong inclination I had to turn over 
 and take another nap I arose quickly and dressed, and 
 went out-doors to take a look at the weather. It bid 
 fair to be a pleasant day, and as I turned to go in I 
 descried Jack returning from the dam with a couple of 
 nice trout. I waited for him to come along. 
 
 " Thought you would want trout for your last break- 
 fast at the lakes, Captain, so I went down and snaked 
 out a couple." 
 
 " What beauties ! " I replied. " Where did you take 
 them?" 
 
 " Down to the Apron. The two will weigh about 
 seven pounds, I think." 
 
 We went into camp, took down the scales, and 
 weighed the fish. One weighed three pounds and a 
 half, the other four pounds. 
 
 The cook soon had them in the frying-pan, and at 
 six o'clock we sat down to breakfast. As we did not 
 expect to have anything more than a hasty lunch at 
 noon we ate heartily. 
 
 We had picked up all our things the night before, 
 and were ready to depart as soon as we arose from the 
 table. I charged McCard to look after the steamer, 
 and, bidding all the inmates of the camp good-by, we 
 
18 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 left just in time to escape an old shoe that the cook 
 threw after us for luck. 
 
 We crossed the dam and went over to the lower 
 landing, where we launched our boat and pulled down 
 to Mosquito Brook. 
 
 It was a lovely morning, warm for October, and the 
 lake was so smooth and calm that the foliage, with all 
 its delicate leaves and twigs, and its gorgeous array of 
 colors, was reflected with a mirror-like fidelity. The 
 shadowy outlines of old Aziscohos and Observatory, 
 two beautiful mountains that towered skyward north 
 of us, were also thrown on the smooth water, a long 
 distance from the shore. 
 
 " This is a jolly morning to start," said Jack, as our 
 powerful strokes sent the light craft spinning through 
 the water. 
 
 " It is simply perfect ; if we have such weather as 
 this all the way to Parmachenee our trip will be one 
 of the things to be remembered." 
 
 Just then two loons bobbed their heads above water, 
 not more than fifty feet behind us, and with taunting 
 cries challenged us to make a target of them. This 
 was too much for Jack, and he dropped his oar, seized 
 his gun, and blazed away at them. The shot made 
 the water boil all around them, but did no damage, and 
 the birds, rising in the water, gave themselves a shake, 
 and again sent forth their mocking notes, swimming 
 about as unconcernedly as if there was not a gun with- 
 in a thousand miles of them. Jack put in new charges 
 
-='^ 
 
 ^iOKTHEULY ViEVV FKOiM HeAD OF NARROWS. 
 
WE MAKE A START. 21 
 
 and fired again, but with no better result. His success 
 reminded me of the Irishman shooting the fox. Tell- 
 ing the story to a friend he said, "BedadI the first 
 toime I hit him I missed him ; and the second toime I 
 fired I hit him where I missed him before." 
 
 I remarked to Jack that we had better resume our 
 rowing, for I doubted if he had ammunition enough in 
 the boat to kill one loon, let alone two. We started 
 onward again, a cry of triumph from the loons ringing 
 in our ears. 
 
 " If we had not been in a hurry I would have fixed 
 them," growled Jack. 
 
 An incredulous smile lit up my face, and I resisted 
 the inclination to make game of my companion. He 
 was something like a firebrand ; it did not take much 
 to set him into a blaze, and I did not care to begin our 
 trip by stirring up ill-feeling. It is a very good thing 
 sometimes if you know when to hold your tongue. 
 
 Off the half-way point we passed a flock of black 
 ducks ; but, as we were anxious to get to Whitney's 
 Camp before Captain Cole went away, we did not stop 
 to take a shot. 
 
 We ran our boat into the mouth of the brook 
 and pulled it out on the sand, then went round to the 
 back door of the camp. We stepped into the kitchen 
 and found the captain just arising from the breakfast- 
 table. We exchanged greetings, and then stated our 
 business. 
 
 " Jack and I are going up to Parmachenee Lake by 
 
22 
 
 FROM LAIO: TO LAKE. 
 
 the way of Lake Umbagog and the Magalloway, and 
 we want you to go down to the Middle Dam with us 
 and bring the boat back, and leave it at the Upper 
 Dam. I will pay you for your trouble. Can you go ? " 
 
 Whitney's Camp. 
 
 "Yes, I guess so. Can we pull four oars in the 
 
 boat you came down in ? " 
 
 "No, she only has one set of rowlocks." 
 
 " Then hadn't we better take a boat from here, and 
 
 leave yours and to-morrow I will take it back to the 
 
 dam?" 
 
WE I^IAKB A STAET. 23 
 
 " Any way to suit yourself. Four oars are better 
 for a six-mile pull than two." 
 
 "Well," said Captain Cole, "we'll take Harvey's 
 boat then." 
 
 " She's an easy rowing boat," added Jack. 
 
 " So much the better," I said ; and we waited the 
 captain's pleasure. 
 
24 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 CHAPTEK n. 
 
 "The south wind blew, 
 And from its open mouth 
 
 Belched forth tremendous gusts 
 That waked the watei-s from their slumbers, 
 
 Dashing them into angry waves 
 That threatened all before them." 
 
 A ROUGH PASSAGE. 
 
 1^^^ rnriHE captain had arrived at an age where 
 )^^ JL he had just as lief take things leisurely 
 as to hurry, and it was fifteen minutes, 
 or more, before he had put up his lunch, and lit his 
 pipe, and then we went down to the boat-house and 
 launched the boat. It was larger than ours, and I 
 was glad to make the change, as it would not cramp 
 us so much in rowing. 
 
 Our "collateral," as some of the lumbermen term 
 their baggage, was transferred from the one we had 
 come in, and in a few moments more we were afloat. 
 Jack and I grasped the oars, a pair each, and the old 
 captain, seating himself in the stern, took the paddle to 
 steer with. 
 
 The lake was still smooth, and the rising sun had 
 
A EOUGH PASSAGE. 27 
 
 taken the sharpness out of the air, so that we soon 
 found it warm work rowing. After passing Ship 
 Island we took oiF our coats and vests, and settled 
 down to business. 
 
 Reaching Metalluo Point, we rested on our oars for a 
 few moments to catch a last glimpse of the lovely lake 
 that lay bathed in the beauty of an autumnal sunlight, 
 fringed with a border of reflected colors from the 
 magnificent forests that swept back from its shores. 
 Then, dipping a cup into the pure nectar on which we 
 floated, we appeased our thirst, and again bent to our 
 oars. 
 
 " I'd like ter have some o' them city fellers who come 
 down here fishin' see the lake this mornin'," puffed 
 Captain Cole between the whifls of his pipe ; " it's as 
 purty as a picter." 
 
 " You're right," chimed in Jack ; " it's a handsome 
 sight." 
 
 We passed swiftly through the Narrows, and as we 
 reached the lower end we beo^an to feel a fresheninsr 
 breeze. 
 
 " Guess there's a purty good south wind on the 
 lower lake," said Captain Cole, as he squinted in that 
 direction. 
 
 "Yes, and some sea with it," I replied, as our boat, 
 shooting around Portland Point, began to pitch into it, 
 and send the spray in a shower over the bow. 
 
 " I'll be hanged if the lake isn't white ! " exclaimed 
 Jack, as he took a look over his shoulder, and noticed 
 
28 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 the long rollers curling gracefully over, and sending a 
 sheet of white foam before them. 
 
 "Let me row now," said Captain Cole ; " I'm gettin' 
 a leetle stiff handling this ere paddle." 
 
 "Well, you can change with Jack," I suggested. 
 
 "No, sir," replied Jack; "I had rather row than 
 steer, and, besides, we need a good hand at the wheel, 
 — paddle, I mean, — for it will be confounded rough 
 before we get over to the Middle Dam." 
 
 I accordingly changed seats with Captain Cole, and 
 Spot followed me. Spot was a Scotch terrier who had 
 been at the lakes with me all summer, and who enjoyed 
 boating and tramping in the woods fully as well as his 
 master. 
 
 Jack pulled the bow oars, and he held the boat up to 
 the wind while the captain and I changed places, or 
 attempted to do so. 
 
 As 1 arose to my feet an enormous roller struck the 
 boat broadside on, and carried her up skyward. I 
 lost my balance, and as our craft swept down in the 
 trough of the sea I went out into the angry waters 
 of the lake in anything but a dignified manner. 
 
 I was not hurt any, although the boat drifted over 
 the hole I had made in the lake, but I was very disa- 
 greeably surprised. The first thought that occurred 
 to me, as the waters closed over my head, was the fact 
 that I could not swim a stroke, and I wondered how far 
 the boat would be from me when I arose to the surface. 
 
 Down, down, down I went, in my excited state I 
 
r:giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;i!iiiiii;iii!iiifiiiiii!i;ii!!ii;ii^ 
 
A EOUGH PASSAGE. 31 
 
 thought a mile or more ; but, with a due regard for 
 truth, I am willing to take off a few feet. Scientific 
 men may say that drowning is an easy death. I deny 
 it. I wonder if they were ever half-drowned before 
 they gave their opinion. The ringing in my ears, the 
 pressure on my head, and the choking sensation in my 
 throat before I thought of closing my mouth, were 
 perfectly awful. I never shall forget them while I 
 live. To add to this the water was as cold as ice, 
 and, with all my clothing on, I seemed to weigh a ton. 
 I cannot seem to remember when I began to rise, but 
 I opened my eyes just as my head came above water, 
 and saw the boat about ten feet from me. My cap 
 had gone adrift, and I shook my head to clear the 
 water from my eyes, and sang out "Boat ahoy!" to 
 the top of my voice, and then tried to swim. My ex- 
 periments in this line were decided failures, and I 
 should certainly have sank the second time had not 
 Jack and the captain been on the lookout for me, and 
 pulled toward me the moment my head appeared above 
 water. In spite of all my efforts I was gradually 
 going down again, when the bow of the boat came 
 within my reach, and, making a last desperate plunge, 
 I succeeded in grasping the gunwale of the boat in my 
 left hand. 
 
 The moment I had a good grip on the boat I was 
 as cool as a girl is to her lover when he is chanting 
 the praises of her rival. Telling the captain and Jack 
 to be careful that the boat did not upset, I worked my 
 
32 FKOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 way along to the stern, and then, with the captain's aid, 
 climbed in. 
 
 "By gracious. Captain!" exclaimed Jack, "you 
 gave me an awful shock I I knew you could not 
 swim, and I was afraid you would be drowned." 
 
 "A man who is born to be hanged, you know," I 
 replied, with a poor attempt at a joke ; but my teeth 
 chattered so that I could not finish the sentence, and I 
 settled back in the stern seat, and picked up the 
 paddle. 
 
 " Did ye s waller much water ? " queried Captain Cole. 
 
 " Enough to last me all winter ; and now give way, 
 for I shall freeze if I don't take some exercise." 
 
 I have never drank a drop of spirituous liquors in my 
 life, to my remembrance ; but if a flask of whiskey had 
 been among the " ship's stores " about the time that I 
 came out of the lake I believe I should have been 
 strongly tempted to have seen what virtue, if any, there 
 was in a good square drink. 
 
 As the captain and Jack gave way I dipped the 
 paddle into the water, and headed for the sand-beach 
 above the old Middle Dam Camp. 
 
 And now commenced a struggle with wind and wave 
 that was anything but child's play. The wind steadily 
 increased in power, and the waves in size, until it was 
 all we could do to make the least head-way. As the 
 huge rollers bore down upon us, threatening to engulf 
 us, I would luff a little so that the boat would ride the 
 wave quartering ; but still I could not prevent our 
 
A RonoH Passage. 
 
A ROUGH PASSAGE. 35 
 
 getting thoroughly drenched with spray, and quite a 
 body of water would occasionally come into the boat, 
 making bailing fully as important a business as steer- 
 ing. Between the two I had my hands full, and Spot, 
 who had received two or three duckings, crawled behind 
 my legs for protection. I was sorry to have my com- 
 panions get wet, but the showers of spray were noth- 
 ing to me after my bath in the lake. 
 
 " Well, this is a leetle rough'n I ever saw it on this 
 lake," bawled Captain Cole, for it was impossible to 
 make each other hear unless we yelled at the top of 
 our voices. 
 
 " It's as rough as I want to see it, and a good deal 
 wetter," howled Jack, as a big roller struck on the port 
 bow of the boat and deluged him with spray. 
 
 " W^e are right in the worst of it," I exclaimed, for 
 we were now opposite Jackson Point, which was on our 
 starboard quarter, and we were exposed to the full fury 
 of the wind as it swept up from the South Arm. 
 
 It was not a time for much talking, and I paddled 
 and bailed alternately for dear life, while my two com- 
 panions bent to the oars with a will. 
 
 " You're a good Samaritan, Captain," grinned Jack, 
 as he watched my efforts to free the boat of water. 
 
 " Why?" I questioned, not seeing the force of his 
 remark. 
 
 " Because you are going bail for us ; " and he winked 
 his left eye, and opened his mouth wide enough to have 
 swallowed a country flapjack. 
 
36 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " You ought to have six months for that," I asserted, 
 and then I let the boat fall off a little and catch a wave 
 just right to give him. a good ducking. 
 
 "Confound you!" roared Jack, spitting the water 
 from his mouth ; "you did that purposely." 
 
 I put on my most innocent look, and shook my head, 
 but I could see that Jack doubted me. 
 
 Little by little we gained on our landing. One 
 minute the boat high up on the top of a roller, the 
 next in the bottom of a gulf, with a wall of water on 
 each side that we could not see over. 
 
 I had crossed the lake a great many times, but never 
 had I seen a harder wind or rougher sea than this, and 
 I felt thankful when, after an hour's hard work, we had 
 got within a few rods of the shore. 
 
 We found the waves rolling up on the beach ahead 
 of us in a manner that threatened to capsize the boat 
 if we were not careful in makinof a landing:. 
 
 "What do you think of it. Captain?" asked Jack, 
 who had been inspecting the shore over his shoulder. 
 " I don't think we can be any wetter than we are now," 
 I replied ; " so let's go in on the top of a wave and the 
 moment the boat touches bottom jump over the side 
 and run her up out of the way of the surf before she 
 has time to fill, as she certainly will if we are not 
 quick." 
 
 We steadied the boat on the water a few fathoms 
 from shore, and in a moment there came a tremendous 
 roller, that lifted our craft and shot her ahead like an 
 
A EOUGH PASSAGE. 39 
 
 arrow. " In oars ! " I cried, and as I felt the first 
 touch of her keel I yelled "Jump ! " and, suiting the 
 action to the word, over we went, the dog following us, 
 and, catching hold of the boat by the gunwales, ran her 
 high and dry before a wave could break into her. 
 
 "That was a lively pull, that last two miles," said 
 Jack, as he picked up his gun, and emptied the water 
 out of the barrels. 
 
 " A little exciting," I returned ; " but suppose we take 
 our things up to camp." 
 
 Our luggage was light, as I had sent all my baggage 
 and better clothing out to Andover the week before. 
 We had with us a double-barrelled gun, a Smith & 
 Wesson seven-shooter, a supply of ammunition, a 
 drinking-cup, matches, a luncheon, a dull axe, a game- 
 bag, and our overcoats. 
 
 I had suggested to Jack the advisability of grinding 
 our axe before we left the Upper Dam, but he thought 
 we would not need to use it until we reached Upton, 
 and could do it there, — a neglect that caused us some 
 trouble that night. 
 
 We deposited our things on the piazza, and then 
 tried the different doors of the camp to see if anybody 
 was there. But the house was empty, and the doors 
 were all fastened. So we stripped without further 
 delay, rung the water out of our clothing, then put it 
 on, and ate our luncheon, or rather that part of it that 
 had not been destroyed by the water washing into the 
 boat. 
 
40 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " How do ye feel now , Cap'n ? Have ye got warmed 
 up?" queried Captain Cole, as lie joined us on the 
 piazza. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I am all right now, thank you, and none 
 the worse I hope for my bath." 
 
 "Wall, if yer don't get cold yer all right. But I 
 tell ye, I felt frightened when ye went; over into that 
 big sea ; I snum I did." 
 
 "Shall you go directly back, Captain Cole?" I 
 asked. 
 
 " Not while it blows the way it does now," he re- 
 turned, smiling, as he puffed away at his pipe ; " this 
 wind will go down some by three o'clock, and then I 
 can crawl out by the p'int, and get a little lee, then 
 head nearly straight up the lake. I tell you a boat 
 would make bad weather of it out there now ; " and the 
 captain glanced across the lake with eyes that were 
 open to its perils. 
 
 "Then we shall have to leave you, for it is quite a 
 tramp from here to Upton, and we want to get through 
 the woods before dark. Take this for your trouble," 
 and I handed him a bill. " I hope you will get back 
 all right." 
 
 "Don't worry about me. Good luck to you," he 
 said, as we shook hands and left him ; " hope you will 
 fetch Upton before dark.'* 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, 
 And study help for that which thou lament'st." — Shakspere. 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 
 
 S near as I could figure we were 
 about nine miles from our objective 
 point for the night, and, as the 
 greater part of the way lay through the 
 woods, over a road that had not been used much for 
 years, and was quite difficult to follow, it behooved us 
 not to loiter. An additional reason, if any were 
 needed, was the fact that neither Jack nor I had been 
 over the route we were to travel, and only knew about 
 it from hearsay. But as yet I did not apprehend 
 any difficulty or delay, although I knew we had to 
 cross the river. Taking our overcoats on our arm we 
 started on a brisk walk down the old carry road. 
 Jack was pulling at his pipe, and that reminded me 
 that I had some cigars in my overcoat. They were in 
 an inside pocket, and, fortunately, had not been wet. 
 In a moment I had applied the light of a match to 
 one of the weeds, and was puffing along beside him. 
 
44 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " Twelve o'clock," said Jack, as he looked at his 
 watch ; " how far is it to Upton ? " 
 
 "About ten miles, and, as we don't know the road 
 very well, we have no more time than we want." 
 
 We scared up several flocks of partridges on our 
 way, but did not get a shot at any of them. Just be- 
 yond Forest Lodge we stopped to get a drink, and 
 for the first time noticed that the sky was becoming 
 overcast. 
 
 " It looks as if we might get a storm to-night. Cap- 
 tain," said Jack, as he took a look around at the 
 clouds. 
 
 " Then let's be moving forward," I replied ; " we 
 don't wish to spend the night in the woods. Come, 
 Spot ; " and I started along. 
 
 " It would be a nice joke if we had to camp out to- 
 night. No grub and not a blanket between us, eh, 
 Captain ? " 
 
 " Yes, too much of a joke. But I expect to sleep at 
 Upton to-night, don't you ? " 
 
 " Of course. And if we don't we shall lose the 
 boat. You know to-morrow is Tuesday, and she will 
 go up the Magalloway." 
 
 " Yes, and if we miss Ler we shall have to stay at 
 Upton until Friday, for at this season of the year she 
 does not make that Magalloway trip but twice a 
 week." 
 
 " That is so," replied my companion, " and we must 
 reach Upton to-night." 
 
A Diversity of Opinion. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 47 
 
 About two o'clock we came to a point where the 
 road forked, and we could not agree which road to 
 follow. I wanted to take the left-hand one, and Jack 
 the right. I had been over the carry as far aa the 
 cedar stump several years before, and was quite sure 
 that the left-hand road was the one we should travel. 
 On the contrary, Jack insisted that we should follow 
 the one to the rio^ht, and, as I could not a^ee with 
 him, we did as juries do in similar cases, — agreed to 
 disagree. 
 
 It seemed a foolish thing to do, this parting com- 
 pany in the wilderness under the circumstances in 
 which we were placed ; but Jack was stubborn and was 
 bound to have his own way, and as I had the advan- 
 tage of having crossed the carry once, while this was 
 his first attempt, I could not conscientiously follow him. 
 I had an inward conviction that my choice of roads 
 was the right one, and did not care to put in several 
 miles of extra walking just to gratify his whim. Be- 
 fore we parted I made a last effort to coax him to ac- 
 company me, but it was only so much time wasted. 
 
 Each one now took the things that belonged to him, 
 and, wishing each other good luck and a pleasant jour- 
 ney, pursued our separate ways. 
 
 Whistling to Spot I started down the left-hand road, 
 and in a moment had lost sight of my companion. 
 A few minutes' walk satisfied me that I was right, as I 
 began to recognize objects along my way. 
 
 Shortly after leaving Jack the dog raised a flock 
 
48 FKOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 of partridges, and I was lucky enough to shoot one 
 with my revolver. Taking the bird by the legs I 
 carried it along, and after some fifteen minutes' walk 
 from the main road I reached the river landing known 
 as the Cedar Stump, and knew that I was all right 
 thus far. Then I fired three or four shots from my 
 revolver to let Jack know I had found the place, 
 a signal agreed on when we parted. 
 
 We had expected to find a boat here to cross the 
 river in ; but, to my surprise and alarm, nothing in the 
 shape of a boat was to be seen. Knowing that the 
 owners of boats in that section of the country some- 
 times hid them when not in use, I began a diligent 
 search along the bank of the river, both above and 
 below the building, in every hole or corner that oflfered 
 the slightest chance of concealment for a boat. But 
 in vain I searched. Not a water craft of any shape 
 was to be found, and, tired and discouraged, I returned 
 to the landing. 
 
 We are in a nice pickle now, I thought, — no boat, 
 and on the wrong side of the river. I see no way of 
 getting across unless we build a raft ; for the river 
 was deep and quite wide, with an angry current that 
 forbade swimming or fording. However I took the 
 matter easily, for I had been in the woods too much 
 to let any slight accident disconcert me^ I began to 
 feel hungry, so started a fire. 
 
 When it was well under way I took my partridge 
 and, after plucking it, cut it open, then went down to 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 51 
 
 the river and cleaned it. Then I took a long green 
 stick, and running it through the bird held it over the 
 fire until it was roasted, Spot sitting by and watching 
 the cooking with a watering mouth. 
 
 I had put a small paper of salt in my vest-pocket on 
 leaving camp in the morning, in anticipation of shoot- 
 ing a partridge, and drawing it forth I sprinkled some 
 on my "chicken," and made a hearty meal, throwing 
 the remains to the dog. 
 
 As I arose to get a drink of water I heard the report 
 of a gun some way below me, and, thinking it must be 
 Jack, answered it with my revolver. In about fifteen 
 minutes I heard another report, nearer this time, and 
 again I answered, and shortly after I descried Jack on 
 the bank of the river coming toward me. 
 
 I beoran now to look around to see what material we 
 could find for a raft ; but the prospect was not very en- 
 couraging. I found on the bank abo\'e me a couple of 
 dry cedars, about twenty feet long, and, rolling them 
 into the river, floated them down to the landing, and 
 pulled an end of each up on shore, so that they could 
 not float away. By this time Jack had reached the 
 landing; he looked tired and sheepish. He had a 
 couple of partridges with him that he had shot down 
 the river. 
 
 "Well, my boy," I said, "you have not been to 
 Upton yet." 
 
 " No ; the road I followed ended at the lake. Then 
 I struck ofl" through the woods to the left and found the 
 
52 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 river, and followed it up to this point. But let's go 
 across, the afternoon is slipping away fast." 
 
 " That is easier said than done," I replied ; " there is 
 no boat here." 
 
 " No boat ! " and my companion's eyes opened wide 
 with astonishment. 
 
 " No boat," I chuckled, for I had recovered from the 
 first feeling of alarm, and began to look upon our fix as 
 a good joke. 
 
 " I thought Godwin always kept one here." 
 
 " If he did they must have taken it away the day 
 they broke camp, for I have hunted high and low, and 
 can't even find the ghost of one." 
 
 "This is a nice scrape to be in," he replied, with a 
 tone of alarm : " perhaps you have overlooked it." 
 
 " Well, if you can find it you will do better than I 
 can ; and, as I suppose you will not be satisfied until 
 you look, you had better do so at once, and I will keep 
 at work raising the material for a raft." 
 
 " A raft ! " he exclaimed, contemptuously ; " how are 
 you going to make a raft without hammer, saw, or nails, 
 and an axe with a blade like a handsaw ? " 
 
 "That is the question," I replied; "but it has got 
 to be done all the same, and just bear in mind that 
 if you had listened to me we should have had a sharp 
 axe." 
 
 Jack turned away, unable to deny my assertion, and 
 beo^an huntinor throu<]:h the underbrush for the boat 
 that was not there, while I continued to get together 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 63 
 
 anytliihg and everything that would float, that I could 
 lay my hands on. 
 
 About the time he gave up hunting for the boat I had 
 completed my collection, and a queer-looking pile it 
 made. Small logs and poles, stumps, a few boards 
 and stray planks, and a couple of young spruces I had 
 managed to hack down with the axe. 
 
 Out of the boards and planks I had been fortunate 
 enough to get about twenty nails, and these, with some 
 green withes, and about thirty feet of strong marline, 
 were all we had to fasten our craft together. 
 
 As soon as Jack was convinced that there was no 
 boat to be found he took hold with alacrity to help me 
 build the raft. 
 
 We used our four largest and driest logs for the 
 bottom and nailed the two planks across them. Then 
 we put the three remaining logs on top of the planks, 
 and bound them down as securely as we could with the 
 marline and withes. We filled the spaces between the 
 logs with light, dry poles, taken from a deserted river- 
 driver's camp near us, and then nailed on our four 
 boards for an upper deck. On top of these we rolled 
 two or three dry pine stumps, getting them all together 
 in the middle, forming a place to stand on that was 
 about a foot above the floor of the raft. Then we 
 brought down a couple more of the longest and light- 
 est poles we could find around the river-driver's camp, 
 to propel our ungainly craft with. 
 
 "Now where shall we land on the other side?" 
 
54 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 asked Jack, who was scanning the opposite shore for a 
 desirable point. 
 
 "That little cove is just the place," I answered, 
 nodding toward a miniature bay a few rods below us, 
 on the other bank of the river. 
 
 " I am afraid the current will sweep us by it if we 
 start from here," and Jack calculated the distance. 
 
 I threw a stick into the river and watched it as it 
 floated down, and then felt sure his supposition was 
 correct. 
 
 "You are right, my boy ; we shall have to start from 
 higher up the stream ; but let's get the old craft into the 
 water, and see how she floats." 
 
 Carefully we launched the raft upon which so much 
 depended, and taking our poles stepped on, the dog 
 following us. The old craft settled down until the 
 water was even with the upper deck. 
 
 "By Jove I this is a pretty ticklish afl'air. Captain. 
 I don't believe we can cross on it and take our things 
 at the same time ; every pound will count." 
 
 " If there was any way of getting it back you might 
 go over alone," I returned. 
 
 " 1 think it would float you and I and the dog, if 
 we had nothing else, and I'll tell you what I think we 
 had better do. You take ofl" your coat and give it to 
 me ; with our overcoats, my gun and the ammunition, 
 game-bag, and those big rubber boots of yours, I will 
 try and get to the other side. If I succeed I will leave 
 the things and then come back for you and the dog." 
 
Crossing the Kivkr. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 57 
 
 "Spot can swim. You and I together will be all 
 the old craft will carry." 
 
 We accordingly put all the things on the raft, and I 
 kept it off the shore while Jack poled it up stream a 
 short distance. 
 
 "Now give her a push," he said, "and we will see 
 wliat she will do." 
 
 I gave him a send off and he began to float down 
 stream. 
 
 "If the old thing comes to pieces in the middle of 
 the river, throw me a life-preserver, will you?" and 
 Jack laughed. 
 
 "Two or three," I replied; "life-preservers are very 
 plenty about here." 
 
 He managed the clumsy craft well, and succeeded 
 in making the cove. He took off the things, pulled 
 off his coat and boots, and laid them on shore, and 
 then started to return. 
 
 "Head up stream pretty well, Jack," I yelled. 
 
 " All right," he answered, and plied his j^ole dili- 
 gently. 
 
 Spot and I watched him anxiously, but he reached 
 us in safety. 
 
 "Come on. Captain," he cried, "for the sooner we 
 are over the better ; it begins to grow colder and looks 
 more like a storm." 
 
 I did not need any urging. 
 
 As the raft struck the shore I jumped on, and took 
 my seat on a stump, Jack declaring he could manage 
 
58 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 the craft alone. The dog followed, and I was about 
 to pitch him into the river, when Jack interfered for 
 him, saying the raft would carry us all. It did, after a 
 fashion ; but I was not sorry when it grounded in the 
 little cove, and we sprung on shore. 
 
 We put on our boots and coats, and, taking the rest 
 of the things in the most convenient way we could 
 carry them, struck oiF down the river. 
 
 It was ^ye o'clock when we left the raft ; the sun 
 had been clouded in for a couple of hours, and it 
 began to feel like snow. But the exertion of walking 
 kept us warm, and we made our way along as fast as 
 possible. 
 
 It was the worst piece of country I had ever traveled 
 over. The ground was uneven and rocky, and in 
 some places we could scarcely force our way through 
 the underbrush. We often came to clumps of wind- 
 falls, piled up in such a manner as nearly to stop our 
 progress ; but, by climbing over some and crawling 
 under others, w^e managed to make slow headway. 
 Occasionally we struck a bayou that made in from the 
 river, and we were obliged to make long detours to 
 clear them. Finally, after an hour's hard work, we 
 reached the old Magalloway bridge piers just at 
 dusk. 
 
 From this point it was six miles to Upton by an old 
 road that had been discontinued many years, and con- 
 sequently was none too plain to follow, especially in 
 the night. We rested at this spot a few moments, and 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 69 
 
 I proposed that we camp where we were till morning. 
 There was plenty of dry wood in the vicinity, and by 
 cutting a few boughs we could have fixed up a camp 
 beside the pier, where we could have passed the night 
 quite comfortably. But Jack did not take kindly to 
 my proposition, saying we could reach Upton by ten 
 o'clock, and have a comfortable bed to sleep in, which 
 would be much better than camping out. For my 
 own part, however, I was disposed to let well enough 
 alone ; for neither of us had ever been over the road, 
 and only knew about it from the Upton guides, who 
 occasionally traveled it. Very foolishly I allowed 
 myself to be persuaded against my better judg- 
 ment, and leaviog the river we plunged into the 
 woods. 
 
 We found the road to be worse than our most vivid 
 fancy had painted. It was so indistinct that it would 
 have been a hard job to have followed it in the middle 
 of the day, and now it was so dark that one could 
 scarcely discern objects three feet away. To add to 
 our discomfort the road was badly grown up, and it 
 was actually easier to get along just outside of where 
 the road had been than try to follow the old track. 
 Windfalls were also numerous, and retarded our prog- 
 ress, and in turning aside to avoid these we frequently 
 lost all traces of the road, and would have to hunt 
 some time before we found it again. 
 
 Tired and panting we struggled on, and at eight 
 o'clock we had not made more than a mile, and further 
 
60 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 locomotion, except by groping our way, was impossible, 
 it had become so dark. 
 
 "Ready to camp yet. Jack? " I asked, as we stopped 
 a moment to rest. 
 
 " No, sir ; I am going to get to Upton to-night." 
 
 "Well, my boy, your pluck is good ; but, mark my 
 words, "you won't sleep in a hotel to-night." 
 
 "I'll make a try for it, any way," he said, as he 
 started forward once more. 
 
 For the next three hours we stumbled and scrambled 
 along; now falling flat over the decaying trunk of 
 some tree that lay across our path, then bumping our 
 noses against standing trees, obtaining the first intima- 
 tion of their proximity in this manner. 
 
 To vary the fun we occasionally barked our shins 
 over huge boulders, that we could feel but not see. 
 The night was intensely dark, — so dark you could 
 almost feel it, — and not a star to be seen. Indeed, 
 as we were in a thick growth, you could not see the 
 sky half the time when you looked up. 
 
 Struggling on with more courage than common-sense 
 we at last reached a swamp, and stopped and lit a 
 match, and then a piece of paper, to make out where 
 we were. By the light of the burning paper Jack 
 looked at his watch and found it was eleven o'clock. 
 Just beyond us, to the left, we saw a little knoll that 
 looked comparatively dry, and we made our way to it. 
 As we reached the middle of it Jack dropped his gun 
 and overcoat, and exclaimed : — 
 
The Last Match. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 63 
 
 " It is no use, Captain, I give it up ! " 
 
 " Then the sooner we make a fire the better," I re- 
 plied, with a quiet smile at his discomfiture. 
 
 Lighting a match and another piece of paper we 
 began searching for a dry stump or a white birch tree, 
 but, to our disgust, could find neither. 
 
 We appeared to be surrounded on all sides by a 
 thick growth of firs, the only other trees I saw being 
 two yellow birches, one about three, and the other about 
 eight, inches in diameter. 
 
 Feeling my way to the larger one, for my paper had 
 now burned out, I succeeded by the aid of my knife in 
 getting about two handfuls of yellow birch-bark, — poor 
 stuff for kindling a fire. 
 
 I put this in my hat, and feeling about under the 
 tree found a few dry leaves ; these I added to the bark, 
 then made my way back to Jack, who had managed in 
 spite of the darkness to get three or four rocks together 
 to build our fire on. 
 
 I emptied my hat of the bark and leaves, then went 
 through my pockets and produced all the paper I could 
 find about my clothing, while Jack gathered a few dead 
 limbs from a fir near us. 
 
 By this time it had grown very cold, and both of us 
 were shivering with the chill night air, and we really 
 needed a fire as much for its warmth as for the light 
 it would furnish. 
 
 Fumbling in my vest-pocket with my cold fingers, I 
 was vexed to find that I had only three matches left, 
 
64 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 and I knew that Jack had used all of his some time 
 before. I scratched the first match ; it sputtered a little, 
 then went out. The second one burned some better, 
 but went out before I could light the bark. Things 
 were getting desperate. Only one match and a cold 
 night before us. 
 
 " Only one match left, Jack," I said, as I threw the 
 second one away. 
 
 " What I " and there was a world of meaning in that 
 little word as he pronounced it. 
 
 " Just as I tell you. Now hold your hat near me. 
 If this match goes back on us we shall have to dance 
 to keep warm.' 
 
 Jack held liis hat in such a position that when I ig- 
 nited the match he sheltered the blaze from the wind, 
 and working carefully I succeeded in catching fire to 
 the paper and the light bark of the yellow birch. For 
 fear it would be blown out, for the wind had come up 
 quite strong in the last hour, we held our hats to wind- 
 ward of the flame until it had grown a little, and then 
 pushed the dry twigs from the fir over it. 
 
 While I attended to the fire Jack broke off some 
 more of the dead limbs from the fir, then taking the 
 axe managed to hack down the smallest of the yellow 
 birches, and cut it into lengths about two feet long. 
 Piling on a good half of this fiiel, we soon had a fair 
 fire blazing, and while Jack took a rest, for it was 
 warm work chopping with our sharp ( ?) axe, I cut down 
 a couple of good-sized firs, trimming the limbs all off, 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 65 
 
 and divided them into two piles. Those that were dead 
 or dry I threw toward the fire, and the live or green 
 ones I threw into a separate pile, to be used in building 
 a brush camp. 
 
 After that I cut up the trunks of the firs into fire- 
 wood, and then tackled the large yellow birch, hacking 
 about half-way through it. 
 
 By this time I was willing to turn the axe over to 
 my companion in misery, and while he finished felling 
 the birch I selected a place for our camp, and broke 
 off* some more fir boughs to use in its construction. 
 
 After the birch fell Jack hacked off* a lot of the 
 smaller limbs, and we piled them on the fire until we 
 had a glorious blaze, throwing a circle of light several 
 rods from us. This enabled us to take a good look 
 about us, and we found we were but a few steps from 
 the road, on a slight elevation of ground, a round knoll, 
 which sloped off" on all sides to a swamp. 
 
 But although we strained our eyes to catch a glimpse 
 of some white birches, or even another yellow^ birch, 
 they were not to be seen, the entire forest as far as our 
 light extended showing only firs, with a very few 
 cedars. 
 
 While Jack took care of the fire I went for some 
 small firs, and cut down about fifteen of them, then 
 dragged them up to the fire, and trimmed off" all the 
 boughs, and threw them on the pile with the others ; 
 then I cut the poles of an even length, about eight 
 feet, and sharpened five of them at one end. 
 
66 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 We were now ready to set up our camp, but before 
 commencing we cut up the balance of our yellow birch 
 into small pieces and threw some of them on the fire. 
 
 Selecting the five poles 1 had sharpened at the end, 
 we drove four of them into the ground, each two 
 crossed near the top, and about eight feet of space 
 between them. The fifth stake we drove down per- 
 pendicularly at the back of the camp, the bottom being 
 in the middle of the two crossed stakes at that end. 
 Then we took one of the other poles, and laid it into 
 the crotches formed by the four end poles, and that 
 made our ridge-pole. 
 
 We now had a skeleton frame, tent-shaped. To 
 enable us to cover it more easily we took six of the 
 other poles, and sharpening the larger ends set them 
 into the ground a little, on a line with the others, and 
 rested the tops against the ridge-pole. Then we began 
 to wattle on our fir boughs, and soon had both sides 
 covered. At the back end we stood up several small 
 thick firs, that effectually closed that part. The front 
 of our camp we left open, so as to obtain the heat from 
 the fire, which was about six feet from us. 
 
 When this was done we threw fresh fuel on the fire, 
 and by the additional light went and stripped all the 
 cedar trees we could find of their limbs, and brought 
 them to the camp and spread them on the ground to lie 
 on. 
 
 "Any pitch on your hands. Captain?" asked Jack, 
 as we rested a moment from our labor. 
 
A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. 67 
 
 " Only about half an inch thick. I think fir is the 
 meanest wood that grows." 
 
 " Poor stuff for firewood, any way, and the pitch is 
 making my hands sore ; but before we lay down we 
 shall have to cut two or three of those large firs, for 
 the birch won't last us till morning." 
 
 It was now one o'clock, and thinking that if we 
 intended to get any sleep at all, the sooner the wood 
 was cut the better, we went at it. 
 
 Relieving each other at short intervals we worked 
 steadily for about an hour, and procured quite a pile of 
 wood, such as it was. After throwing a lot of it on the 
 fire we spread Jack's coat over the cedar boughs, and 
 used mine, which was the heaviest, to cover us with. 
 We lay pretty snugly, the better to keep warm, and the 
 dog crawled up to us, and stretched out by my side. 
 It was now two o'clock, and a few stray snow-flakes 
 were finding their way to the ground ; but, overcome 
 with fatigue, and unmindful of the weather, we 
 dropped to sleep at once. 
 
 In about an hour I awoke feeling chilly, and I 
 turned out and piled the remainder of the wood on the 
 fire, calculating that it would last until daylight, which 
 would be between four and five o'clock. I found an inch 
 of snow had fallen, and that it was snowing vCry fast. 
 
 As I crawled back to our primitive couch Jack 
 awoke and wanted to know what the matter was. I 
 told him I had been replenishing the fire, and that 
 there was an inch of snow on the ground. 
 
68 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " I don't care if there's a foot," he replied, drowsily, 
 and turned over and went to sleep. 
 
 We slept without waking again until about half-past 
 four, when Jack roused up and awoke me. I felt stiff 
 and cold, and every bone in my body seemed to ache. 
 I was not at all sorry to get up. 
 
 "Come, Captain, let's leave this God-forsaken hole. 
 Daylight is just breaking, and we can follow the road 
 all right now. I think I took cold last night ; I feel as 
 if I had been pounded from head to foot." 
 
 We picked up our things, scattered the fire, for it 
 had stopped snowing, and after I had written on a card 
 " Camp Misery," and the date, and pinned it to a tree, 
 we headed for Upton. 
 
 About two inches of snow had fallen, loading the 
 trees and bushes, and we found it very disagreeable 
 traveling. We took it easy, however, and reached the 
 hotel about eight o'clock. 
 
KILLING TIME. 69 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "And seated round the blazing hearth, 
 In song and jest the time was spent." 
 
 KILLING TIME. 
 
 I HE eight of that house afforded us un- 
 speakable pleasure. Hungry and foot- 
 sore we took refuge in the office, where 
 we found a half-dozen sportsmen and guides, 
 who stared at us with open-mouthed wonder. 
 We dropped our things, pulled off our overcoats, and 
 had a wash, which, after the way we had passed the 
 night, was most refreshing. 
 
 Mr. Godwin, the landlord, soon came, in, and his 
 eyes opened when he saw us. I have no doubt we 
 looked like a couple of tramps. 
 
 " Where did you drop down from. Captain, at this time 
 in the morning ? I supposed you were at the Upper Dam." 
 "We left there yesterday morning, and, on account 
 of several little drawbacks, we had to stop in the woods 
 last night. But I wish you would start some breakfast 
 for us ; we have not had anything of any consequence 
 to eat since yesterday morning." 
 
70 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 "You don't say so ; well, I should think you would 
 be hungry ; " and he went off to order our breakfast. 
 
 When he returned I gave him the particulars of our 
 tramp, and he told us that they had taken all the boats 
 off the river the day they broke camp at the Middle 
 Dam. 
 
 " If I had known you were coming out this way I 
 should have left a boat for you. You are going over 
 to Andover, I suppose." 
 
 "Not now. We have started for Parmachenee. Did 
 the ' Diamond ' go up the Magalloway this morning ? " 
 
 " Yes, and she won't make another trip until Friday ; 
 so you can stop two or three days with me." 
 
 " I don't know about that. We ought to take a row- 
 boat and push on. But I will decide after breakfast." 
 
 That welcome meal was soon announced, and to say 
 that Jack and I did not do it justice would be doing 
 us an injustice. Hot biscuit, beefsteak, eggs, coffee, 
 and griddle-cakes disappeared with such celerity that 
 the girl who waited upon us began to turn pale, fancy- 
 ing, I suppose, that we should eat her if the food gave 
 out. 
 
 However all things must come to an end sometime, 
 and so did that delicious and ever-memorable break- 
 fast, after which we adjourned to the office, and had a 
 smoke. 
 
 There were two or three guests at the hotel, who 
 were staying there for a few days' shooting, and one of 
 them, a doctor from Brooklyn, New York, with whom 
 
KILLING TIME. 71 
 
 I was acquainted, urged me strongly to stop until 
 Friday, and then go as far as we could on the steamer. 
 
 " It's a cold, raw day," said he, "and you will find it 
 rough and disagreeable on the lake in a small boat. 
 You will find it more to your taste to sit around this 
 fire than to pull a boat twenty-five or thirty mile& in 
 the wind. See how pleasant the fire looks ! Just 
 keep quiet, and I'll tell a story, and you shall sing a 
 song." 
 
 " I don't doubt your ability for telling the story, but 
 would much prefer some one besides myself to sing the 
 song." 
 
 "Then we'll have the colonel sing the song," and 
 the doctor looked at his military friend and smiled. 
 
 " You never heard me sing, Doctor, or you would 
 not have made that remark." 
 
 The doctor laughed and winked at me, and then 
 said : — 
 
 " Just rest here contented, and to-morrow we will go 
 out after partridges." 
 
 Jack had gone out-doors, and I hunted him up and 
 asked him what he thought about stopping until Friday 
 where we were, and he said he was willing if I was. 
 
 I told him the doctor had said that partridges were 
 plenty, and the next day we would go out for some. 
 
 Accordingly we stopped at the hotel until Friday 
 morning. The weather was disagreeable most of the 
 time, being very cold and windy, with frequent snow- 
 squalls. 
 
72 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 After it was decided that we would wait to go on 
 Friday's boat we took the axe that had caused us so much 
 hard work, and ground it until it had a decent edge on 
 it once more. Jack declared, as he ran his finger along 
 the edge, that it would cut a hair. I laughed at his 
 remark, and told him that perhaps it would if he laid 
 the hair on a block. 
 
 We were promptly " on deck " when the dinner-bell 
 rang, and as we walked into the dining-room the 
 pretty table-girl looked surprised, evidently thinking 
 that we had eaten breakfast enough to last all day. 
 Her looks did not trouble us, however, and we found 
 the dinner as much to our liking as the breakfast had 
 been. As we arose from the table the girl asked Jack 
 if we were going to stop at the house a great while. 
 He told her, " Only a few days." She looked relieved 
 at his answer, and informed him that, if we thought 
 of stopping a great while, Godwin would have to hire 
 another table-girl, for it took all her time to wait on 
 us. We laughed ; but I thought her remarks a trifle 
 impertinent, as we had only met her for the first time 
 at the breakfast-table, and as Jack did not seem to 
 have a reply ready I determined to get even with her. 
 
 She was quite tall, but rather thin, although her 
 features were remarkably pretty, and a thought struck 
 me. 
 
 " Did you know," I asked her, assuming a serious 
 face, "that Mr. Godwin is not going to have you any 
 longer ? " 
 
KILLING TIME. 75 
 
 "Why not?" she asked, a shadow of alarm flitting 
 across her face. 
 
 " Because you are long enough already," I returned, 
 with a triumphant laugh, in which Jack joined, and we 
 left the room on the jump. 
 
 • Although it was a rough day we did not feel like 
 stopping in the house all the time, and soon after dinner 
 walked down to the river-bank, launched a row-boat, 
 and pulled down to the lake, a distance of two miles, 
 owing to the crooks in the river, while in an air-line it 
 was not more than half as far. 
 
 Near B Point we fell in with some black ducks, and 
 after chasing theni some distance around the shore Jack 
 obtained a good shot at them, just after they had left 
 the water, and brought down three. These we se- 
 cured, but the remainder of the flock flew to such a 
 distance that we did not think it worth while to follow 
 them, but pulled back to the house. The ducks I took 
 to the kitchen, and asked the cook to serve them for 
 breakfast the next morning. 
 
 We passed the evening in the office listening to fish- 
 ing stories from those present, who seemed to vie with 
 each other in telling the most monstrous yarns. I never 
 saw a fisherman yet who liked to be outdone by his 
 comrades in telling about his exploits in the fishing- 
 line ; but, although it is a scaly business, a fisherman 
 was never known to lie. 
 
 We went out Wednesday morning after partridges, 
 leaving the house at half-past eight. We carried a 
 
76 PROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 lunch with us, and made a day of it. We first fol- 
 lowed an old woods road back of the house nearly to 
 the lake, picking up five birds on the way. From the 
 " Hey wood Clearing " we struck through the woods to 
 the "Tyler Place," and then worked that vicinity thor- 
 oughly for two hours. By this time it was one o'clock, 
 and we were hungry. 
 
 The doctor called a rest ; and, sitting on a fallen tree, 
 we sampled our luncheons, and quaffed our thirst from a 
 spring a few feet away . The cold, sparkling spring-water 
 was good enough for me ; but, by the doctor's advice, 
 the others had a " stick " in their water, to keep it from 
 hurting them. Said stick was produced by the doctor, 
 and appeared in the shape of a wicker- bound flask, 
 which was passed around, each taking his turn. Then 
 wf had a smoke,, and after that made our way back by 
 a logging road, that ended near the hotel. 
 
 Although the weather had been against us, the day 
 being very cold, and cloudy most of the time, we had 
 met with excellent luck, and four of us succeeded in 
 bagging seventeen birds, and that night at supper we 
 tried their quality. 
 
 Thursday morning, after breakfast, we walked to the 
 stores, two miles away, and purchased a few things 
 that we thought would be necessary for the Parma- 
 chenee trip, but which we should have done without 
 had it not been for our unexpected wait. 
 
 Jack, who was developing an interest in the table- 
 girl, invested in peanuts and candy for her benefit, and 
 
KILLING TIME. 77 
 
 made the presentation at dinner-time, loitering for that 
 purpose until all had left the room but Clara and himself. 
 
 In the afternoon I went off down on the meadow 
 below the house with Mr. Godwin, to inspect some 
 traps he had set there, and we found three muskrats 
 and one otter in them. The otter was the largest I 
 had ever seen, and very handsome. When we re- 
 turned to the house we found Morse and Sargeant 
 there, two professional hunters who lived in the neigh- 
 borhood, and they said the skin was worth from eight 
 to twelve dollars. But fur was higher then than now. 
 
 " Killed any bears lately, Luman ? " inquired Jack 
 of one of the guides, winking at me, as he asked the 
 question, to attract my attention. 
 
 "Yes, yes," returned the gufde, earnestly; "found 
 one in my trap, over near C Pond, yesterday." 
 
 "Was he dead? " I inquired. 
 
 "No, no, not when T found him. But I put a 
 couple of bullets into him that settled his hash." 
 
 " How much did he weigh ? " queried Jack. 
 
 " Between three and four hundred, and he was as 
 fat as a hog." 
 
 " That is a * weigh ' they have," laughed Jack. But 
 Luman did not see the point of the joke. In fact, 
 he didn't "catch on." 
 
 "Are there many bears about this fall?" I asked, 
 hoping to start the old fellow on a bear story. 
 
 " Gorry, yes. Plenty of them. They've been kill- 
 ing sheep in Grafton all the fall." 
 
78 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " I should think the people would turn out and hunt 
 them," said one of the gentlemen present. 
 
 " Wall, they had orter," answered the hunter, who 
 somehow did not seem inclined to talk much, and soon 
 after he and his companion left the house. 
 
 In the evening I wrote some letters home, as it was 
 the best chance I should have for some time, while 
 Jack played cards with the three guests, and, much to 
 his chagrin, himself and his partner were badly beaten, 
 the game being whist. 
 
^^ ... ..,^-^^.....,..^^, ., . ...... .^., ^ ^ ^^^^^^^^sr-- _^^^ "J^^^SiiA 
 
 
 T!ni()L'(;ii TiiK Ice. 
 
A SALL ON THE "DIAMOND." 81 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "A fresher gale 
 Begins to wave the wood aud stir the lake." — Thomson. 
 
 A SAIL ON THE "dIAMCRSTD." 
 
 -J "TjlRIDAY morning we went down to 
 JBf^^^JJ the steamer, and found the river 
 II ^ was frozen over as far as we could 
 
 »jV.iTir gee, the ice being about one-fourth of 
 an inch thick. The sun was shining, 
 but there were a large number of clouds in the sky, 
 and it looked more like a storm than pleasant weather. 
 "We're all ridy to start. Captain," said Chris to me, 
 as we walked on board, and the engineer began work- 
 ing the engine back and forth to break up the ice around 
 us. 
 
 A few revolutions of the wheels accomplished this, 
 and, hauling in the lines, the captain rang to "go 
 ahead," and in a minute later we were ploughing our 
 way down the river, the boat scattering the ice in all 
 directions. As we neared the mouth of the river we 
 came to open water, and upon entering the lake found 
 it clear of ice, except in a few small coves. 
 
82 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 It wavS a very sharp morning, the wind coming out 
 quite strong, and we found it so cold on deck that we 
 were glad to take shelter in the engine-room, while the 
 old steamer puffed her way onward. 
 
 " Take a seat by the biler, Cap'n," called Chris, as 
 we entered. " I thought ye would foind it too cold 
 outside, while we are crossin' the lake. It won't be so 
 bad when we get into the river. And so ye are goin' 
 up to Parmachenee? Faith, I'd like to be goin' along 
 wid ye." 
 
 "I wish you were," said Jack. " We shall probably 
 have a good time." 
 
 "Were yoa ever up there?" I asked. 
 
 "No, but I've bin over on the Diamond, and I 
 always wanted to go to Parmachenee. I couldn't go 
 in better company, byes, and if I could lave the boat 
 I'd go in a minute. But yees see Jim couldn't get 
 back wid the steamer." 
 
 " I should say not," replied Jack. 
 
 "Is there much large game around Parmachenee?" 
 I inquired. 
 
 " I've heard fellers say there was who lumbered up 
 there. One of the river-drivers told me this spring 
 that he shot a moose up there last winter, and he said 
 caribou were plenty as foxes." 
 
 "How plenty were the foxes? "asked Jack, with a 
 wink at me. 
 
 " I didn't ax him," replied the engineer, with a grin ; 
 "but I will the next toime I see him." 
 
A SAIL ON THE "DIAMOND." 83 
 
 "We are nearly to the outlet, aren't we, Chris?" 
 inquired Jack, who had walked over to the port side of 
 the steamer, and was looking out of the window. 
 
 Chris glanced outside and then replied : — 
 
 " Yes, we're oflp against Moll's Rock now ; that's it, 
 that rocky p'int ye see, and we'll be out of the lake in 
 a few minutes. '* 
 
 "Why do they call it Moll's Rock?" queried Jack, 
 who was one of the most inquisitive fellows I ever met. 
 
 " Because an old Injun woman used to live there, 
 and her name was Molly Molasses. She was Metalluc's 
 squaw." 
 
 " She had a sweet name," said Jack, laughing. 
 
 " Probably the latter part of her name was suggested 
 by her color, rather than her disposition," I added, 
 laughing in sympathy. 
 
 " Ye may laugh all ye please, byes, but she certainly 
 lived there, and whin she wint up Magalloway she 
 used to carry her canoe across that narrow strip of 
 land there ; " and Chris pointed to the place. 
 
 Jack and I took a look in the direction indicated, 
 and I wondered how many times Molly had ever 
 crossed there. 
 
 " It is called * MolFs Carry,' " added the engineer, 
 "and ye'll get a good look at it as we go down 
 river. We've rin across that carry wid this boat at 
 high water." 
 
 After entering the Androscoggin River Jack and I 
 went out on deck again to watch for ducks. We saw 
 
84 FEOM lae:e to lake. 
 
 quite a number ; also two blue herons, and a magnifi- 
 cent bald eagle, but did not get near enough to shoot 
 any of them. 
 
 Chris came out in time to see the eagle, and, with a 
 twinkle in his eye, remarked, "Thim aigles can be 
 caught, Cap'n, if ye get near enough to put salt on 
 their tails." 
 
 " Oh, get out I " replied Jack, laughing ; "that tale is 
 too old. Give us something new." 
 
 " How much time shall we have at Errol, Chris ? " 
 
 "Fifteen or twenty minutes, perhaps more, Cap'n. 
 But if ye go ashore I'll whistle whin we're ridy to 
 leave." 
 
 " That's right," replied Jack. " Give us time to look 
 around a little. I never was in Errol before." 
 
 " Faith, and ye haven't missed much ; the house and 
 the dam is all there is for ye to see. But ye oughter 
 be here in the spring once, if ye wanter see miskeetors 
 and black flies. Errol bates all the places in the wurld 
 for them. We don't make very long stops here in the 
 spring whin we land, I tell ye." 
 
 "Are the mosquitoes as large as they are in New 
 Jersey ? " 
 
 "I don't know about that. Captain. But many of 
 thim here will weigh a pound." 
 
 " Out in New Jersey they have to house their cattle 
 every night during mosquito time to keep the mosqui- 
 toes from carrying them off." 
 
 Chris looked at me square in the eye for a second, 
 
A SAIL ON THE "DIAMOND." 85 
 
 and then walked away. He was silenced for the time 
 being. 
 
 After passing the mouth of the Magalloway we 
 found a little ice in the river ; but the steamer made her 
 way through it easily, and we reached Errol Dam all 
 right at half-past ten. 
 
 While the captain and engineer of the steamer were 
 unloading some freight Jack and I took a run on shore, 
 and Spot scared up a partridge which Jack shot. We 
 thought there might be more in the vicinity, and were 
 encouraging the dog to find them, when we heard the 
 hoarse whistle of the steamer, and knew that our time 
 was up. 
 
 We hurried down to the boat, and found the fasts 
 all cast oiF, and that they were only waiting for us. 
 We jumped on board, and the steamer started to re- 
 trace her course, the Magalloway, up which river we 
 were bound, emptying into the Androscoggin four miles 
 above Errol Dam. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! byes, ye came near gettin' left that toime," 
 said the good-natured Hibernian who had charge of the 
 engine. 
 
 " Why, Chris, you don't mean to say you were going 
 to run away from us ? " 
 
 " Faith, I warnt. Captain, but I whistled so as to 
 hurry yees a little. Got a shot at a partridge, didn't 
 
 r?" 
 
 " Yes, Jack shot it, and I shall have it for dinner." 
 " Will you ? " inquired Jack. " Where do I come in ? " 
 
86 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " Oh, you can come in at the door, or the window, 
 just as you please ! But if you shoot the partridge, 
 and I eat it, I am sure that is a fair division of labor." 
 
 "Yes, altogether too fair. You remind me of the 
 Irishman who had quarreled with his wife, and pro- 
 posed to her that they divide the house even, and told 
 her ' he'd be after kaping the inside, and she could 
 have the outside.'" 
 
 "And that did not suit her, I suppose," I replied, 
 with a laugh. " Women are so unreasonable." 
 
 "There comes a blue heron," cried Jack, pointing 
 to the bird, and with careful aim he fired, the only re- 
 sult being to make the heron swerve in his flight. 
 
 " Wait till we get into the Magalloway, and ye'll 
 get a shot at some ducks. We see lots of 'em every day 
 we go up there." 
 
 Half an hour after leaving the dam the boat made a 
 sharp turn to the left and entered the Magalloway. 
 From its mouth to the landing was eight miles by the 
 river but not more than half that in a straight line. 
 
 The river is one of the most beautiful in the world. 
 Narrow and crooked, it twists and turns to all points 
 of the compass. The banks are from three to six feet 
 high, and are thickly wooded on both sides. In some 
 places the large elms whose branches spread out over 
 the river nearly meet in an arch overhead, and the 
 forest is reflected from the quiet water as plainly as 
 from a mirror. Among the growth are many tall firs, 
 hoary with age, and draped and festooned with long, 
 
A SAIL OH THE "DIAMOND." 87 
 
 trailing, light-colored moss, that gives them a charming 
 and fantastic appearance, reminding one of Longfel- 
 low's lines : — 
 
 *' This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hem- 
 locks, 
 Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twi- 
 light. 
 Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic, 
 Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms." 
 
 There are quite a number of small ponds and 
 " logons " a short distance back from the river, scat- 
 tered along for many miles. This is true of both the 
 Lower and Upper Magalloway. These little bodies of 
 water are excellent feeding-places for wild fowl and 
 deer, as their borders, and sometimes their entire sur- 
 face, are covered with a peculiar kind of grass, also 
 water lilies and other aquatic plants. 
 
 On deck, near the bow. Jack and I took our station, 
 and were soon joined by the engineer. 
 
 Soon after turning a sharp bend of the river the 
 steamer passed Pulpit Rock, and Chris pointed it out 
 to them, saying it was a favorite spot for camping out. 
 
 A few rods beyond, the engineer discovered a fox 
 trotting along the starboard side of the river, and 
 called our attention to the animal. 
 
 "We will have a shot at it," I exclaimed, and we 
 watched Reynard anxiously ; he stopped occasionally 
 to investigate, and Chris said he was after mussels or 
 musk-rats, he did not know which. 
 
88 FKOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 Captain Tenny had now sighted the fox, and he 
 slanted the steamer toward him. 
 
 " There's a chance for you. Jack," he called out from 
 the wheel-house. " See if you can't get that fox. His 
 skin is worth a dollar and a half." 
 
 "I'll warm him, if we get near enough," answered 
 Jack, softly. 
 
 A moment or two more and the steamer was within 
 gunshot; but, just as we fired, Reynard turned and 
 saw us, and made tracks for the woods. He was out 
 of sight in a moment, and we never knew whether he 
 was struck or not. 
 
 "Better luck next time," cried the captain, as he 
 closed the window, for it was colder in the wheel-house 
 than it was down on deck. 
 
 "I am sorry we did not get that fox," said Jack, as 
 he put fresh charges in his gun. 
 
 " We may see another before we git to the landin'," 
 the engineer replied. " Some days we see two or three 
 of them on this trip." 
 
 Shortly after this the steamer came in sight of a 
 large brook on the left-hand side of the river. Chris 
 told us it was Bear Brook ; but nary a " b'ar " did we 
 see. 
 
 A few moments more brought us up to Bottle Brook, 
 also on the left side of the river, and here we saw the 
 first signs of civilization we had met with since leaving 
 Errol, in the shape of a small log-cabin. 
 
 The engineer, who seemed to be an encyclopaedia of 
 
89 
 
 the country, told us that an Indian squaw resided there, 
 and that she had a white husband. 
 
 " I don't admire his taste," declared Jack, con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 Two men now made their appearance from the 
 cabin, and, taking fishing-poles that stood against one 
 end of it, went down to the brook. They waved 
 their hats as the steamer swept by. 
 
 " Why do they call that stream Bottle Brook, 
 Chris?" 
 
 "Faix, Cap'n, ye have me there, for I don't know. 
 It's been called Bottle Brook iver since I came into 
 this country ; but I guess " — and he smiled — " it is 
 because there are so many bottles opened there by 
 fishermen." 
 
 " I suppose the first fellow who opened a bottle there 
 threw it into the stream and christened the brook," 
 added Jack. 
 
 " In a horn he did," I remarked. 
 
 " You mean he took a horn when he did," laughed 
 my companion. 
 
 Just beyond Bottle Brook the boat swept around a 
 sharp turn, and Chris told Jack to be ready. As we 
 turned the point we saw seven black ducks, and, as they 
 rose, Jack blazed away at them, and I gave them three 
 shots from my revolver. Three of them were knocked 
 over, and it has always been an open question between 
 Jack and I as to who killed the ducks. But of course 
 I know. 
 
90 FROM LAKE TO LAICE. 
 
 Chris Stopped the steamer, and he and Jack went out 
 in the small boat and picked them up. On their return 
 we steamed up river again. Although we saw several 
 flocks afterwards we did not get near enough to any 
 of them to shoot successfully. 
 
 We passed another house, which Chris said was 
 Chase's, and then turned around a long point, known 
 as " Sharp Shins." It was the sharpest turn we had 
 made on the river, and I thought the boat would not 
 make it; but the captain brought her around after 
 a while, but he had a narrow escape from running 
 aground. « 
 
 A little after twelve we arrived at Littlehale's land- 
 ing in Wentworth's Location, and were met by a team, 
 which took us all up to the Brown Farm, a mile and 
 three-quarters distant, where we took dinner at the 
 Berlin Mills House. We had our ducks and partridge 
 cooked, and found them decidedly toothsome. 
 
 Chris and Captain Tenny did not have much time 
 to spare, as they wished to get home before dark, and 
 they started to walk back immediately after dinner, 
 the team not going down. 
 
 We bade them " good-by " and shook hands with 
 them before they left, and told them we hoped to 
 meet them again, and have another ride on the 
 steamer. 
 
 They reciprocated our sentiments, and wished us 
 good luck, and then left at a rapid gait, for they were 
 already behind time. 
 
A Lucky Shot. 
 
A SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 93 
 
 ^^?; 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 'The stately stag", that seems so stout, 
 
 By yelping hounds at day is set; 
 The swiftest bii*d, that flies about, 
 
 Is caught at length in fowler's net; 
 The greatest fish, in deepest brook, 
 Is soon deceived by subtle hook." 
 
 A SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 
 
 PETE BARLEYCORN, who had 
 charge of the hotel, introduced us 
 after dinner to the agent of the 
 Berlin Mills Company, and from him we learned that 
 the steamer would only make two more trips up the 
 river that season, on the following Tuesday and Friday. 
 I told him we were going up to Parmachenee, and that 
 the length of our stay would depend entirely on the 
 weather. I asked him about a team to take us to the 
 Upper Magalloway settlement, six miles above, and 
 found we could procure one at the house. 
 
 He said partridges were thick in the vicinity, and 
 that we could have some good sport there that after- 
 noon if we would stop a few hours. He directed us 
 to a piece of hard-wood growth that began on a hill 
 
94 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 at the back of the house and ran down to Sturtevant*s 
 Pond. 
 
 As we had not intended going beyond the Upper 
 Settlement that day a delay of a few hours did not 
 matter much, and a partridge hunt seemed to offer an 
 advantageous manner of passing away the time. Be- 
 sides, there was a possibility of meeting with larger 
 game, as the country back of the Brown Farm was a 
 wilderness for miles. 
 
 Chris had told us, while coming up on the steamer, 
 of several deer being shot in the vicinity of Sturte- 
 vant's Pond in the last two years, and it might be our 
 good fortune to see one, even if we did not shoot it. I 
 concluded, therefore, to visit the pond and see what 
 luck Dame Fortune had in store for us. 
 
 Calling the dog. Jack and I started off for the 
 woods, and, reaching the forest, beat our way carefully 
 through it, until we stood on the shore of the pond. 
 Here we found signs of deer, and a moment later were 
 startled by a noise to the left, and, looking in that direc- 
 tion, saw a deer swimming across the pond. 
 
 Although Jack had nothing but bird-shot in his gun 
 he took careful aim at the deer and fired, while I blazed 
 away until my revolver was empty. 
 
 "If we only had a boat now we could overtake him," 
 cried Jack, in a wild state of excitement. 
 
 I run my eye along the shore in each direction, but 
 nothing in the shape of a boat was to be seen. Tak- 
 ing out a box of cartridges I reloaded my revolver, 
 
A SIJCCESSFUL HUNT. 95 
 
 and then proposed to Jack that we should make our 
 way around the shore of the pond, in hopes to get 
 another shot at the deer. Although my proposition 
 was doubtful, Jack accepted it, and we pushed our way 
 along as fast as possible, taking a glance at the deer 
 occasionally to see how fast he was getting along. 
 
 We soon found, however, that we stood no sight 
 for getting another shot at him, for, before we were 
 half-way around to the point for which he was heading, 
 he had reached the shore and disappeared in the woods. 
 As we knew it would be useless to follow him then 
 we turned toward the house. 
 
 " Confound the luck ! " cried Jack, in no very good 
 humor ; " we have lost that deer just because there was 
 no boat here. I should think Brown would keep one 
 in the pond." 
 
 " Don't cry for spilled milk," I returned cheerfully; 
 " if we have lost the deer that need not prevent our 
 losing the partridges. Find them. Spot I " I cried, and 
 the dosr wao:i]ccd his tail and started ahead. His short, 
 sharp bark soon announced that he had treed some- 
 thing, and upon reaching him we found seven par- 
 tridges on a young spruce, and killed five of them. 
 
 Picking up our game we moved on. All through 
 the vicinity the cover for partridges was excellent, 
 there being a plentiful sprinkling of young spruces 
 among the hard wood. 
 
 Suddenly Jack stopped and examined the ground 
 in an excited manner. I was a few feet behind him, 
 
96 FROM LAI03 TO LAKE. 
 
 and hurried up to see what had attracted his atten- 
 tion. 
 
 " Look here," cried Jack, who was down on his 
 knees, as I stood beside him; "do you see that?" 
 pointing to a track in the earth. 
 
 " Yes," I replied ; " what of it ? " 
 
 " It's a bear-track." 
 
 I looked at it with more interest. 
 
 " Are you sure of it?" I inquired. 
 
 " Of course I am. Don't you think I know a bear- 
 track when I sec one ? " 
 
 "That's a debatable question," I returned; "but 
 we'll mention it to Pete, so that he can look after 
 his sheep to-night." 
 
 "Suppose we try and follow him," suggg^ted Jack. 
 
 "Not much," I answered. "I think we shall be 
 more successful hunting partridges than we shall trail- 
 ing a bear that may be ten miles away from here now." 
 
 " I would like to kill one mighty well," asserted Jack. 
 
 " So would I ; but we need rifles if we are going 
 bear-hunting. I don't care to meet one while I have 
 only this little revolver to defend myself with. Let's 
 move along ; we have no time to spare ; " and I started 
 homewards. 
 
 Just before getting out of the woods we run upon 
 another flock of seven birds, out of which we shot four. 
 We tried to find the other three, but did not succeed, 
 and as it was four o'clock we gave up all idea of any 
 more shooting, and again started for the hotel, which 
 
• A SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 97 
 
 we reached after an absence of about four hours. As 
 soon as we arrived at the house one of the men har- 
 nessed a horse to a single buckboard, and we started 
 oiF, having given five of our birds to the hotel people. 
 
 Our ride up the valley would have been enjoyable 
 had it not been so cold, and verging on darkness. 
 We obtained a good idea of the country, however, and 
 the driver pointed out in succession Mount Dustan, 
 the Diamond Peaks, and Half-Moon Mountain, — all 
 of them standing on the opposite side of the road and 
 the river. 
 
 The swift Diamond empties into the Magalloway, 
 about a mile from the hotel, its waters rushing down 
 between Mount Dustan and the Diamond Peaks. It 
 drains a large extent of country, and is the outlet of 
 the Diamond Ponds. 
 
 The driver told us we would find good sport if we 
 went up on the Dead Diamond, a branch of the Swift, 
 and informed us that large game was very plenty up 
 there. 
 
 "I will take a look at that country some other time," 
 I replied. " I am not going to Parmachenee Lake es- 
 pecially for hunting, but more to see the country." 
 
 "We might go over on the Diamond next fall," 
 suggested Jack. 
 
 "Yes, we might. But next fall is too far ahead. 
 We may all be dead before that time." 
 
 The driver now called our attention to a rough-look- 
 ing log-house, on the side of which was stretched a bear- 
 
98 FROM LAKE TO LAKS. 
 
 skin, and told us that a great bear-hunter lived there, 
 and added that this was the third skin the man had 
 taken that fall. 
 
 " Does he shoot them ? " inquired Jack. 
 
 "No, he traps them. He caught the bear that hide 
 came off from up to the head of the falls." 
 
 "Do you mean Aziscohos Falls?" I asked. 
 
 "Yes. Bears are awful thick around there and on 
 the mountain." 
 
 " We shall have to keep our eyes open, when we 
 go up there," remarked Jack. 
 
 " You needn't be afeered ; the bears won't trouble 
 you as long as you let 'em alone. I have met three 
 in the woods at diiferent times, and never had one 
 show fight yet. They allers run as soon as they see 
 ye, or wind ye. Come, git up, er lang 1 " and he 
 brought the whip down on the horse's rump. 
 
 Three of us were rather too much load for the 
 horse, or else he was lazy; and we were crowded 
 in the most uncomfortable manner on the seat. It 
 was tiresome riding, especially so after it became dark, 
 with the landscape blotted out. 
 
 "I am getting about enough of this," declared Jack, 
 as the buckboard went over a rough place in the road, 
 shaking us up, and nearly throwing us out. " I guess 
 I'll walk the rest of the way." 
 
 "I wouldn't," said the driver; "we are most there, 
 and it is so dark you'll find it bad footing." 
 
 A drive of a little more than an hour brought us to 
 
A SUCCESSFUL HUNT. 101 
 
 the Upper Settlement, and as there was no hotel here 
 we had to skirmish around a little to find a place to 
 stop in. It really seemed like being out of the world, 
 to find a village without a public house. 
 
 After trying two or three houses we went to a 
 Mr. Pickett's, and he agreed to give us supper, lodg- 
 ing, and breakfast, if Jack and I would occupy the 
 same bed and room. He had some men stopping 
 with him that night who were thrashing grain in 
 the, vicinity, and that made the house crowded. As 
 it was " Hobson's choice," that or nothing, we agreed, 
 and the fellow who had brought us up river left our 
 things and drove back. We were ushered into the 
 kitchen, a fair-sized room, with a large brick fire- 
 place, in which a cheerful fire blazed, and we had 
 become so chilled during our ride that we were glad 
 to avail ourselves of its genial warmth. The table 
 was in the middle of the floor when we went in, 
 and, by the time we had become comfortably warm, 
 supper was ready, and we were hungry enough to 
 do it justice. 
 
 After supper I asked Mrs. Fickett if she would cook 
 our partridges for breakfast, and she promised to. 
 Then we drew up to the fire and smoked, and listened 
 to bear stories. 
 
 From the talk of the men it appeared that bears were 
 very thick there that fall, and had killed quite a num- 
 ber of sheep in the settlement. 
 
 "These fellows can tell bare lies as well as bear 
 
102 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 stories," whispered Jack to me with a smile, during 
 a lull in the conversation. 
 
 "Yes, that little fellow, smoking the short-stemmed 
 pipe, is very proficient at drawing the long bow. He 
 would make a good soap manufacturer." 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 " Because there is so much lie in him. But I have 
 heard enough of it," and I arose to my feet. 
 
 Feeling quite tired after our day's racket we went 
 to bed early, and obtained a good night's rest. 
 
UP THE RIVER. 103 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 ' Out of the bosom of the air, 
 
 Out of the cloud-folds of her p^arments shaken, 
 Over the woodlands bi-own and bare, 
 Over the harvest-fields foi-saken. 
 Silent, and soft, and slow 
 Descends the snow." — Longfellov7. 
 
 
 I 
 
 UP THE RIVER. 
 
 WAS the first to awaken in the morn- 
 ing, and, jumping out of bed, I pulled 
 up the curtain to get a look out-doors, 
 and to my surprise found the ground 
 covered with snow, and the air filled with 
 the fast-falling flakes. 
 
 "How is the weather out?" asked Jack, who had 
 been awakened by my noise. 
 
 " Bad. It is snowing as hard as I ever saw it, and 
 there are already about three inches on the ground." 
 " I suppose you'll give up going, then." 
 " Not much. It will take more than a little snow 
 to frighten me." 
 
 " But it will be no fool of a joke to get snowed up in 
 the woods." 
 
104 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " I don't intend to get snowed up ; but I started for 
 Parmachenee Lake, and, by the * great horn spoon,' I 
 am going there before I return home, if I go alone." 
 
 "If you go. Captain, I shall. But it will be any- 
 thing but a pleasant trip." 
 
 " Can't help it ; we must take the weather as it 
 comes, and do the best we can ; " and I finished dressing 
 and went out to the kitchen. 
 
 Jack soon joined me, and again attempted to per- 
 suade me to give up the trip. But, although he was 
 heartily seconded by Mr. Fickett, who thought there 
 would be a heavy storm, I would not give up the idea. 
 
 Having lived nearly all my life in Boston and New 
 York, it did not seem possible to me that we could have 
 much of a snow-storm the second week in October. I 
 did not know the ways of the weather clerk in that 
 Northern climate then as well as I do now, or I 
 should have had no doubts on the subject at all. 
 
 I have heard some of the people who live along the 
 Magalloway river, in speaking of the weather, say that 
 " they had nine months winter and three months late in 
 the fall." And, although that statement is something 
 of an exaggeration, it is a pretty fair average descrip- 
 tion of the weather. 
 
 As I had been hard at work all summer, looking 
 forward to this trip with a great deal of pleasure, I 
 hated to give it up, and determined to push on until I 
 reached the lake, regardless of consequences. 
 
 As it turned out I had more pleasure in the antici- 
 
UP THE EIVER. 107 
 
 pation than the realization of my wish ; but, then, that 
 is the way with many others in this world. We chase 
 phantoms from childhood to the grave, and never catch 
 them on this side of the Styx. Perhaps in the un- 
 known world toward which we are all drifting we shall 
 be more fortunate. 
 
 We had a splendid breakfast, our partridges being 
 nicely cooked, and those, with excellent coffee, good 
 biscuit, and baked potatoes, made a meal fit for a king. 
 
 After breakfast I had Mrs. Fickett put us up a 
 large firkin of cooked food, as we would have no chance 
 to get anything more to eat until we reached Sunday 
 Pond Camp, and we did not expect to get there until 
 late at night. 
 
 At eight o'clock we left the house, and tramped up 
 the road a short distance, then turned ofip into a past- 
 ure, and, striking the road that led to the head of 
 Aziscohos Falls, trudged steadily onward. It was 
 three miles to the head of the Falls, and the walking 
 was horrible, — snow, slush, and mud, and the damp 
 snow wet our clothing as quickly as if it had been 
 rain. However we made the best of it, and laughed 
 and joked as we plodded our way along. 
 
 We called the firkin our commissary department, and, 
 as it was rather heavy to " sack," took turns in carry- 
 ing it. 
 
 " By Jove ! Captain, we ought to have tried to hire 
 Fickett to carry us to the head of the Falls with his 
 team. This is the worst walking I ever experienced." 
 
108 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " It is nothing after you get used to it. It will give 
 you a good appetite for dinner, Jack." 
 
 Just then Jack slipped, and came down in the slush ; 
 as he rose to his feet he let off a string of verbal fire- 
 works that would have made a missionary turn pale, 
 and to save my life I could not help laughing. 
 
 He glared at me a moment as if he would like to eat 
 me, and then renewed his struggle with the elements. 
 
 " Come, old fellow," I said, when I thought he had 
 recovered his temper a little, " carry the firkin awhile, 
 for I am tired." 
 
 He took it willingly, and we jogged along in silence 
 for a spell, ruminating over the delightful ( ?) time we 
 were having. After making another laborious half 
 mile, Jack broke out with : — 
 
 " It seems to me. Captain, that this grub is con- 
 founded heavy." 
 
 " I hope not," I replied, laughing ; " at least I hope 
 the bread is light." 
 
 The words had scarcely left my mouth when I caught 
 my toe under a root, and down I went into the mud 
 and snow. I felt less like joking than I had a minute 
 before. 
 
 " How do you like it? " queried Jack, laughing, as I 
 scrambled to my feet, feeling, and no doubt looking, 
 disgusted. 
 
 "Don't like it a bit," I replied, savagely, as I 
 brushed the slush from my clothing. "How far do 
 you suppose we have come ? " 
 
UP THE EIVER. 109 
 
 " I don't believe we are more than half-way over, 
 Captam, and I shall be almighty glad when we get 
 there. I had rather row a boat in this storm all day 
 than travel over such an infernal road. I don't be- 
 lieve the people ever work on it." 
 
 " Well, it is time they did, but I suppose it is not a 
 county road." 
 
 The dog was having about as hard a time as we 
 were, for in some places the mud was so soft, and with 
 the snow so deep, that he could scarcely wallow through 
 it, and he stopped frequently to rest. 
 
 By this time the trees were getting badly loaded with 
 the fast-falling flakes, and, as we occasionally brushed 
 by them, we found this another disagreeable feature. 
 Several times a lot of snow went into my neck, and 
 before I could get it off it would melt, and run down 
 my back, adding to my discomfort. 
 
 Once a large fir limb, completely loaded with snow, 
 struck Jack fair in the face, and brushed off his cap. 
 This was followed by another exhibition of verbal fire- 
 works. I suppose I did wrong to laugh at such times, 
 but I could not help it. 
 
 To make amends I relieved him of the " commissary 
 department," and that had a soothing effect. 
 
 Just as we began to wonder if we had not lost our 
 way we heard the roaring of water, and concluded that 
 we could not be a great way from the river. 
 
 We reached the landing at the head of the Falls at 
 half-past nine, and found more snow there than we had 
 
110 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 seen before. It was quite evident that the storm was 
 coming from the direction in which we were going. 
 
 It was a wild-looking place where the carry road 
 ended, just beyond the commencement of the swift 
 water ; straggling trees of various kinds overhung the 
 dark current below us. The river falls about two hun- 
 dred feet in a distance of two miles ; there are several 
 heavy pitches, and one of these bad places, known as 
 the " Big Pitch," is a terror to the river divers, several 
 having been drowned there. 
 
 At the time of which I am writing there was no dam 
 at the head of the Falls, but since then one has been 
 built by the enterprising ( ?) lumbermen who operate 
 on the river above. 
 
 These gentlemen are the Goths and Vandals of 
 Northern New England. Every beautiful stream, every 
 pond and lake, every picturesque piece of scenery, is 
 doomed to ruin if there is any lumber in the vicinity. 
 
 If the Legislature of Maine was awake to the best 
 interests of the State it would secure a large tract of 
 these wild lands for a public park, before it is too late, 
 and keep them in their original state. 
 
 The amount of money left in Maine during a year 
 by the people who visit it for sport and pleasure is 
 largely in excess of that received from the lumbering 
 business. In other words, the sporting and pleasure 
 travel is worth more to the State than its lumbering 
 operations, and some means should be taken to encour- 
 age and foster this travel, which is only in its infancy. 
 
UP THE EIVER. Ill 
 
 Damming the streams, ponds, and lakes, cutting 
 down the forests, and otherwise disfiguring the natural 
 scenery, is a poor way to do it, and a pine or a spruce 
 standing is sometimes worth more * than after it has 
 been run through a mill. 
 
 And not only the scenery and the forests, but the , 
 game has to suffer from lumbering operations. Take 
 a crew composed of from forty to sixty men, many of 
 whom spend their Sundays in hunting, this being the 
 favorite amusement of a large proportion of the men in 
 every camp, and the number of large animals they will 
 kill during the winter would surprise the Fish and 
 Game Commissioners of the State if they knew it. 
 And a large part of this game is killed in the close 
 season, when the snows are so deep that it is difficult 
 for a moose, deer, or caribou to escape the hunter, who 
 always travels on snow-shoes. 
 
 The interest I feel in my subject, and which I am 
 sure a majority of my readers share, has made me 
 digress from my story, and, without further argument, 
 I return to it, only adding that what I have said of 
 Maine is just as applicable to New Hampshire. 
 
 At the Berlin Mills House Mr. Brown had told us 
 that the Company had four boats at the landing, and 
 that we could take either one of them, and described 
 them to me carefully. 
 
 We found six or seven boats at the landing, but they 
 were all heavy but one. Some of them also were de- 
 ficient in oars and rowlocks, and when I fortunately 
 
112 FBOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 stumbled upon a light " Graves " boat, of the Adh'on- 
 dack pattern, I told Jack that he need not spend 
 any more time looking over the boats, for that was the 
 craft for us, and the oars and paddle that belonged to 
 it we found all right underneath. It laid bottom up, 
 and, righting it, we launched it and stowed our things 
 away in it. As Fickett had told me that Mr. Flint 
 owned the boat, and as we were going to his camp 
 and expected to see him up there, I had no hesitation 
 in taking it, although it is a poor plan, generally speak- 
 ing, to use a boat without permission of the owner. 
 
 We were soon afloat, and with Jack at the oars, and 
 I at the paddle, the boat sped up the river rapidly. 
 As we wished to know how long it would take us 
 from the Falls to Flint's Camp, I looked at my watch 
 as we left the landing, and it was just ten o'clock. 
 
 To make all the progress possible we agreed to 
 spell each other at the oars every hour. The boat shot 
 swiftly along, the snow fell as fast as ever, the air lit- 
 erally being white with the falling flakes so thickly did 
 they come ; and, although they were not as large as 
 clam-shells, they were the largest snow-flakes that I 
 had ever seen. 
 
 The air was quite mild, and the snow that fell upon 
 us and into the boat melted about as fast as it struck. 
 As I looked ahead up the river everything was a sheet 
 of snowy white but the dark water over which we were 
 gliding, and the air was so thick with the snow that I 
 could see but a short distance. 
 
UP THE EIVER. 115 
 
 At eleven o'clock we reversed places, and I took the 
 oars, and Jack the paddle. Soon after we had changed 
 we passed old Bennet, one of the best guides in the 
 country, and two of his boys, who were camped on the 
 right bank. They hailed us as we went by, and inquired 
 where we were going. 
 
 I told them " To Parmachenee," and the old man 
 advised us to turn back, saying that winter had com- 
 menced, and that we would get snowed in. 
 
 I replied, with a laugh, that I would risk it, and we 
 kept on. 
 
 With each mile of our advance, however, we noticed 
 the snow deeper on the banks of the river. It re- 
 minded me of Longfellow's lines : — 
 
 "Ever deeper, deeper, deeper, 
 Fell the snow o'er all the landscape, — 
 Eell the covering snow, and drifted 
 Through the forest, round the village." 
 
 When we stopped at noon, and went on shore to take 
 our lunch, we found nearly a foot on the ground, and 
 everything completely soaked. Under the circumstances 
 it was hardly worth while making a fire, so we squatted 
 down in the snow, ate a couple of cold biscuits and a 
 piece of meat each, smoked a few moments, and then 
 were ready to go on. Before we started we turned our 
 boat over and emptied out several inches of water that 
 had made from the melting snow. 
 
 Jack took the oars, and again we were heading up 
 
116 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 the river. I told him not to pull too hard for the pres- 
 ent, as we ought to reach the Narrows before his hour 
 was up, and, as the current is very strong there, he 
 would need all his streng-th. 
 
 Nothing could be more disagreeable than such a storm 
 as we were now encountering. The great flakes of 
 snow, swept in our face by little gusts of wind, melted 
 about as soon as they struck, and our clothing was thor- 
 oughly soaked, as much so as if it had rained all the 
 time. We did not feel very pleasant, but we obtained 
 a little consolation from watching the trees nearest us 
 as we swept along. Fairly loaded with feathery flakes 
 of dazzling whiteness, they presented a most beautiful 
 appearance. 
 
 "I wish it would clear up," growled Jack, after a 
 silence that became unbearable. 
 
 " So do I ; but you need not look for the sun to- 
 day." 
 
 About quarter of one we reached the foot of the Nar- 
 rows, and stopped a moment to take a look at the water. 
 The river contracts at this point to a few yards in width, 
 running between two ledges. Some people in ascend- 
 ing the river haul their boats up this rapid water by a 
 long rope, one staying in the boat to keep it clear of 
 the rocks, while the others walk alono^ the hinrh bank 
 and tow the boat. This is much the easiest way ; but, 
 as we had no rope, we had either to overcome the cur- 
 rent, or carry around the swift water, a job we did not 
 like with a foot of snow on the ground. 
 
In the Narrows. 
 
UP THE EIVEK. 119 
 
 " What do you think of it, Jack?" I asked, as he 
 sat watching the current over his shoulder. 
 
 " I think it is pretty quick water, as the Indians say, 
 but I guess we are good for it ; say when you are 
 ready." 
 
 We backed the boat down a rod or two, to give 
 us a chance to get some speed before we struck the 
 swift part of the current, and then started up again. 
 Oars and paddle were plied with a will ; but, as we 
 struck the bottom of the swift water, our speed 
 began to slacken, until, as we neared the upper 
 end, we entirely lost our headway, and in a moment 
 were going down stream like an arrow shot from a 
 bow. We kept the boat straight, however, and, 
 quicker than I can write, w^e were back to our start- 
 ing-point. 
 
 " By Jove I " cried Jack, as our boat swung around 
 in the eddy at the foot of the rapid, " we won't give it 
 up that way. Let's try it again." 
 
 "All right ! But, instead of taking long strokes as 
 you did before, try short, sharp ones. I think they 
 are better in quick water." 
 
 Backing down again we put on steam in starting, and 
 as the boat's bow struck the quick water we changed 
 our long stroke to short and sharp ones, with a percep- 
 tibly better effect. Inch by inch we gained on the 
 current. Now we reached the middle of the passage, 
 and, although the boat had lost some speed, she moved 
 considerably faster than the first time. 
 
120 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 "Put her through," cried Jack; "we shall fetch it 
 this time." 
 
 And in fact we did, for in a few moments more we 
 had struck the head of the Narrows, and swept on up 
 the river where the stream was wider, and the current 
 not more than one-fourth as strong. 
 
 A half mile or so above the Narrows we stopped for 
 ^ve minutes' rest and smoke, and Jack, and I changed 
 places. . From this point up, the river was much more 
 shallow than below the Narrows, and we came to oc- 
 casional rips, where we had to push with the oars, the 
 water being too low to row in. We should have made 
 better headway in these places with a setting-pole, but 
 there was none in the boat. 
 
 When we reached the Lower Metalluc Pond I had 
 half a mind to stop, and camp overnight, in the hope 
 that we might have better weather the next day. 
 
 I proposed it to Jack, but he did not receive it favor- 
 ably, saying we would be much better off in a good 
 log-camp like Flint's than in any shelter we could 
 build in such a storm. 
 
 There are some very pleasant camping spots around 
 this pond, and its outlet is a good place for trout. It 
 is also a favorite resort for ducks, and many are shot 
 there during the fall of each year. Jack suggested 
 that we stop there a day or two, on our return, if the 
 weather was favorable ; and, with this understanding, 
 we continued on our way. 
 
 About three o'clock we had to go on shore and turn 
 
UP THE RIVER. 121 
 
 the water and slush out of the boat again, for the snow 
 was falling as fast as ever. In going through the 
 meadows we were surprised to see a number of robins, 
 and hear them singing as gaily as they would in May. 
 Some of the old guides and hunters, familiar with this 
 part of the country, say that the robins stop around the 
 meadows all winter, and feed on the round wood and 
 other berries that grow in the vicinity. 
 
 Along these meadows are some very fine elm-trees, 
 that would be worth a large sum of money for shade- 
 trees, if they grew anywhere near a city. The river 
 through this meadow-land is also very crooked, and as 
 you sweep around some of the sharp turns you obtain, 
 on a clear day, beautiful views of the mountains in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 The Upper Metalluc Pond lies a short distance back 
 from the right-hand side of the river, about half-way 
 through the meadows, and is a shoal, marshy pond of 
 several acres in extent. This is also a good place for 
 ducks in the fall, and a favorite resort for parties who 
 visit this wilderness to camp out. 
 
 A spotted line runs three miles east to Lincoln Pond, 
 the largest pond contiguous to the Magalloway, into 
 which it empties by means of Lincoln Pond Brook. 
 This sheet of water is about two miles long, surrounded 
 by a dense forest, and offers splendid trout-fishing in 
 the proper season. Small trout are plentiful in it, and 
 we have heard of cases where they were taken weigh- 
 ing from two to six pounds each. 
 
122 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 Daylight hung* on better than we expected, but 
 everything being covered with a mantle of white we 
 did not look for a very dark night. After leaving the 
 meadows we struck the fir woods again, and the trees 
 were so loaded with snow that you could hardly see a 
 limb. About five o'clock we reached the foot of the 
 Big Rips, and tried to row up them, but we could not 
 do it. Twice we tried it, and twice the current bore 
 us down. 
 
 Thinking, however, that we were about as wet as 
 we could be, I told Jack that we would try it once 
 more, and as soon as the boat began to stop we would 
 both jump into the river and wade up the rest of the 
 way. At this time he was rowing and I was using the 
 paddle. 
 
 We backed off from the foot of the rapids a short 
 distance, and then started ahead. We plied oars and 
 paddle valiantly, and shot the boat half-way up the 
 incline before she began to waver. As soon as her 
 head- way slackened I went out over the stern, and lit 
 in three feet of water. So rapid was the current that I 
 had to dig my feet into the gravel in order to keep 
 from being swept down. The rocks and pebbles on 
 the bottom were as slippery as glass, and that did not 
 improve our footing much. 
 
 Jack struck the water about as soon as I did, and 
 Spot, like a good sailor, followed us ; but the current 
 was too much for him, and he was swept down to the 
 foot of the rapids, where he took to the shore, and. 
 
UP THE EIVEE. 125 
 
 wallowing through the snow, joined us at the head of 
 the Rips. 
 
 "How do you like it, Jack?" I cried, as we worked 
 our way slowly up the rapids. 
 
 " I have seen warmer water than this," he answered, 
 as he tugged away at the painter, and then muttered to 
 himself somethincf about " Arctic boatinj^." 
 
 A moment after this the water suddenly deepened, 
 and in one step Jack went nearlj^ to his arms. This 
 was too much of a good thing, and while I was laugh- 
 ing at the way he went down he climbed into the 
 boat. 
 
 Taking: the oars he held the boat aojainst the current 
 while I tumbled in, and hauled in the dog, who had 
 swam out to us. Then we went on again, and soon 
 passed the mouth of the little Magalloway, which 
 empties into the main river from the left. This stream 
 was nearly filled up with snow, and it really began to 
 look as if winter was upon us. 
 
 A short distance above the Forks we run our boat 
 into a little logon on the left, and, hauling her out, 
 turned her bottom up. Everything was so covered 
 with snow, and it was so dark, that we could not find 
 the ren^ular landing;. 
 
 Before making a start I sat down on the boat and 
 pulled off my rubber boots, which had extra long legs, 
 coming clear to my hips. I turned the water out of 
 them which I had taken in while climbing up the Big 
 Rips, and Jack laughed at me while I was thus 
 
126 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 engaged. By wearing these boots I had hoped to keep 
 my feet and legs dry, but one or two unlucky slips, 
 while walking the boat up the rapid, had ruined 
 my precaution, and I laughed in concert with my 
 companion. 
 
Arctic Boating. 
 
OUT OF THE STOEM. 129 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " Who, when great trials come, 
 Noi* seeks nor shuns them, but doth calmly stay. 
 Till he the thing and the example weigh." — Herbert. 
 
 OUT OF THE STOEM. 
 
 ^^j# * ^ TTOW far is it to Sunday Pond 
 F^ln^^t^ JLI Camp, Captain?" asked Jack. 
 " The snow is two feet deep 
 here, and I hope we shall not have to travel in it 
 very far to-night." 
 
 " It is about a mile, but the first thing is to find 
 the road." 
 
 As Jack had said, the snow was really two feet 
 deep, and it was not a very easy matter getting 
 around in it. We groped our way through the trees 
 for a short distance, then came into a small clearing, 
 and, after hunting around this for fifteen minutes, found 
 the road, and with a gladsome cry struck out for the 
 camp. 
 
 As the snow had increased with every mile of our 
 advance northward I judged the storm had swept 
 down from Canada, and wondered how much snow 
 
130 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 they were getting the other side of the boundary. I 
 learned from the papers after my return home that 
 nearly three feet on a level fell in Quebec during this 
 storm, although it all went off again before winter 
 finally set in. 
 
 " How is this for a young winter, Jack ? " I screamed, 
 as we wallowed along. 
 
 " I call it a pretty good beginning," he replied, and 
 then added, crossly, " If you had taken my advice we 
 shouldn't have been here." 
 
 Locomotion was so difficult that much conversation 
 was out of the question. 
 
 Our exertions made us puff and pant, and in spite 
 of our best efforts we progressed at a snail's pace. 
 Indeed, we could only go a few rods without stopping 
 to take breath. Our work on the river had been 
 child's play compared with what we were now doing. 
 
 We were hungry, wet, and cold, and to add to our 
 discomfort the wind had increased to a gale, and the 
 snow was swept into our faces with a force that nearly 
 blinded us. Indeed we were in great danger of losing 
 the road, or passing the camp without seeing it, and I 
 encouraged the dog to keep ahead, knowing that he 
 would bark if he came within sight or smell of a house. 
 
 For half an hour or more we struggled on, now 
 crawling under some large windfall, then climbing over 
 smaller ones, until we were about used up, and we 
 were just thinking of taking our chances where we 
 were, and camping until morning, when in a lull of the 
 
OUT OF THE STORM. 131 
 
 wind we heard the dog bark a short distance ahead of us, 
 and, gazing sharply in the direction of the sound, caught 
 the twinkle of a liofht throuo^h the trees. 
 
 At that moment our feelings were better imagined 
 than described. We were like the storm-tossed mari- 
 ner on the mighty ocean, wdio, after fighting with the 
 storm for hours, and feeling that in a few minutes more 
 his vessel must be a wreck, suddenly discerns the wel- 
 come beacon that guides him safely to a harbor. 
 
 One long, loud "Hurrah ! there's a light ; it must be 
 the camp," and the next moment we were pressing for- 
 ward reo^ardless of wind or snow. The knowledfi^e that 
 we were so near shelter gave us new life and strength, 
 and nerved us up for increased effort. But fortunate 
 it was for us that the distance was so short, for we 
 could not have traveled another mile had our lives de- 
 pended upon it. A few moments more and we had 
 reached the building, and were sheltered beneath its 
 hospitable roof. 
 
 We found two hunters there who had been setting a 
 line of traps .between Parmachenee and Connecticut 
 Lakes, and who were stopping in the camp until the 
 storm was over. One of them, whose name was Mor- 
 ton, told us that Flint had gone to Bethel, and would 
 not be back for two weeks, so that we should not see 
 him. This was a disappointment ; but it was in keep- 
 ing with the luck that had followed us from the start. 
 
 Morton asked me if we were hungry, and I told him 
 we had only had a lunch since breakfast. 
 
132 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " And it is seven o'clock now," he said ; " get off 
 your wet things, and I will get you some supper while 
 you dry your clothes." 
 
 The other fellow, whom I will call Dick, went out 
 and brought in two or three armfuls of wood, and in a 
 short time the large stove in the kitchen was red-hot, 
 and Jack and I, who stood as near to it as the heat 
 would allow, were enveloped in clouds of steam sent 
 forth from our wet garments. 
 
 In about half an hour Morton announced that supper 
 was ready, and we sat down to the table, on which we 
 found hot biscuit, fried trout and pork, potatoes, cold 
 corned beef (canned) , and some currant jelly. We 
 were as hungry as sharks, and I thought we should 
 never get done eating; but finally, with an effort, I 
 tore myself away from the table, and told Jack I had 
 my opinion of any man who could eat longer than 
 myself. 
 
 " You can't shame me any," replied Jack, with a 
 laugh, scooping in the one remaining biscuit; "after 
 what we've been through to-day I intend to eat until 
 I get filled up." 
 
 "That's right," declared Norton. "Don't let the 
 captain bluff you. Have another cup of tea. Jack ? " 
 
 "Thanks; don't care if I do, seeing it's you;" 
 and the unblushing fellow passed his empty cup to be 
 filled for the third time. 
 
 "Great Jerusalem, Jack! I hope I shall not have 
 to sleep witli you to-night. Unless your digestion is 
 
A Wklcomk Sight. 
 
OUT OF THE STORM. 135 
 
 better than most people's, you will be dreaming of 
 panthers and bob-cats, and kick me out of bed." 
 
 " Don't worry. Cap," laughed Dick ; "you can each 
 have a bed to yourself. " 
 
 After we had appeased our hunger we gathered 
 around the stove, and Jack and I finished the drying- 
 ofF process. We sat and smoked and talked until about 
 ten o'clock, Morton and his partner, and Jack and I 
 exchanged experiences, and we passed a very pleasant 
 evening. Morton thought we had made the quickest 
 time on record, in coming from the Magalloway settle- 
 ment to Sunday Pond in ten hours. 
 
 " We did not hurry much," I told him, " and I 
 think we could beat our time of to-day in pleasant 
 weather." 
 
 " You would have to ' hump her ' some to do it," re- 
 marked Dick. 
 
 " We'll make better time going down, see if we 
 don't," said Jack. 
 
 " Have you seen any moose about here, Morton ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 " Not yet ; but we saw the tracks of a thundering big 
 one yesterday. We intended to have gone out for him 
 to-day, but this snow spoiled our sport, — covered his 
 trail up. But we intend to shoot one before we 
 leave." 
 
 " I would give five dollars to get a shot at one," de- 
 clared Jack, his eyes sparkling with excitement. 
 
 " You can go out with us some day," said Morton. 
 
136 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 "I know about where to look for them, and we can 
 track them easily now, there is so much snow." 
 
 " But a fellow would need snow-shoes," returned 
 Jack. " There would not be much fun in hunting only 
 in boots, with two or three feet of snow on the 
 ground." 
 
 " There are plenty of snow-shoes here. Did you 
 ever use them? " Morton asked this question with a 
 smile. 
 
 "Many a time," replied Jack. "I have done a 
 good deal of snow-shoeing around the Richardson 
 Lakes. I chased a deer last winter over a mountain 
 at the lower end of Lake Welokennebacook, and 
 shot him about three miles from where I first dis- 
 covered him. The crust was not heavy enough to 
 hold him or he would have given me the lurch. He 
 was a very large buck, and weighed a hundred and 
 fifty pounds." 
 
 " That is a pretty large deer," said Morton. " By 
 the way we'll give you some venison for breakfast. 
 We have one hind quarter left of a buck we shot last 
 week over at the foot of Bose-Buck Mountain. How 
 long do you think you will stay up here. Captain? " 
 
 " That depends upon circumstances," I replied. 
 " But we shall have to get back to the Brown Farm by 
 next Friday noon at the latest, as the steamer makes 
 her last trip on that day for the season." 
 
 " We could hire a boat at the Brown Farm and row 
 down to Upton," suggested Jack. 
 
OUT OF THE STOEM. 137 
 
 " Yes ; but bow would we get tbe boat back ? " I re- 
 turned. 
 
 " I did not think of that." 
 
 "We could walk from the Brown Farm down to 
 Errol, and then get a team to take us to Upton by the 
 way of Cambridge ; but it would not pay for us to take 
 that trouble and expense unless we are going to strike 
 pretty good hunting up here." 
 
 " There's always plenty of* hunting up here," re- 
 marked Dick, smiling at me ; "but the amount of game 
 you find is another thing." 
 
 " Well, there's fun in hunting, whether you shoot 
 anything or not," returned Jack. 
 
 I asked Morton what he thought about the weather, 
 and he said his opinion was that it would clear off cold, 
 and that we would not see bare ground again until next 
 spring. Dick thought also that winter had set in, and 
 " reckoned " that the rivers would freeze up as soon as 
 it was through snowing. 
 
 I was sorry to hear these men talk in the way they 
 did, because, if their predictions were to be verified, it 
 was evident to me that the sooner Jack and I left for the 
 settlement, the better, without stopping for any sport. 
 
 We were not prepared to stay in the woods during 
 winter weather, and had counted on the next two or 
 three weeks being warm and pleasant, when we started 
 on our trip. Neither did we care to break ice on the 
 river if it froze up, and we were in duty bound to re- 
 turn the boat we had come up in to the place where we 
 
138 FBOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 had taken it from. Therefore I went to bed feeling 
 rather blue, and laid awake for some time thinking 
 what was best to be done, but finally fell off into a 
 doze without coming to any conclusion. 
 
 I had slept but a short time when I was awakened 
 by a tremendous crash, and a trembling of the camp ; 
 it seemed to me as if the building was coming down 
 around our ears. Every one was on his feet in a 
 moment, anxiously inquiring what was the trouble. 
 Morton lit a lantern and I opened the door, and we 
 all peered out. We found that a large spruce that 
 stood near the camp had been blown down, and in 
 its fall had just grazed the corner of the camp, knock- 
 ing off some of the shingles, but not doing any further 
 damage. 
 
 Before we closed the door we heard another fright- 
 ful crash but a short distance away, marking the death 
 of another forest monarch. The wind had hauled 
 around to the north-west, and was blowing with a fury 
 that I never saw surpassed. It was only one o'clock, 
 but not knowing what might happen, for there were a 
 number of large spruces standing near the building, 
 we all dressed, and laid down on the outside of the 
 bed, so as to be able to leave in a moment if necessary. 
 
 After dressing I lay awake about an hour, listening 
 to the roar of the wind as it howled through the 
 forest, and the crashing of trees as they fell to the 
 ground, some of them, as we found next day, being 
 torn up by the roots. I finally sank into a troubled 
 
OUT OF THE STOEM. 139 
 
 sleep, during which I dreamed that the steamer 
 had broken from her moorings and had gone 
 ashore. It was seven o'clock when I awoke, and I 
 could hear the voices of the others in the kitchen. 
 
 I jumped up and pulled on my boots, then went 
 out and washed. I found Dick and Jack getting 
 breakfast, and the savory smell of broiled venison filled 
 the kitchen. About eight o'clock we sat down to the 
 table. After breakfast Morton and I washed up the 
 dishes and cleared away ; then we all sat down for a 
 smoke and a chat. 
 
 The wind had entirely ceased, and the snow had 
 stopped falling, but as yet it did not look anything 
 like clearing oiF. 
 
 "Is it not unusual," I asked of Morton, "to have 
 such a big storm as this so early in the season ? " 
 
 " I don't know as I ever saw quite as much snow as 
 this the second week in October. But we generally 
 get snow-squalls here by the last of September, and 
 more or less after that until the following June." 
 
 "I should hate to live in this country then, fori 
 despise snow." 
 
 "If you wish to hate yourself," said Dick, "you 
 orter live in a loggin' camp up here one winter. I've 
 seen it snow every day for a month." 
 
 "Oh, get out!" I replied, laughing; "a person 
 could not get around in such a storm." 
 
 "I don't mean that it snowed hard every day, but 
 that there wasn't a day for a month but what it snowed. 
 
140 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 Some days there wouldn't be a quarter of an inch f\ill, 
 and some days it would spit snow all day while the sun 
 was shining." 
 
 " How long do you fellows intend to stop here ? " 
 queried Jack. 
 
 " We shall leave here as soon as the storm is over, 
 and go back to Connecticut Lake," replied Morton, 
 " and shall probably stay there until January. But it 
 will depend some on the weather and our luck in 
 trapping." 
 
 " Have you a good camp at Connecticut Lake ? " I 
 inquired. 
 
 "First-rate," said Dick, "you had better go over 
 there with us. " 
 
 " If this snow had not come I had intended to go 
 over there and stay one or two nights, but, as it is, I 
 think I am far enough from the settlements," 
 
 " I wish you could have gone over. Captain," re- 
 marked Morton. " I have the head of a moose and a 
 caribou's head set up at the camp, and I should like to 
 have had you seen them." 
 
 "I have no doubt they are worth looking at, but I 
 am not likely to get a look at them this trip." 
 
 " Was the moose a large one? " questioned Jack. 
 
 "I should think he'd weigh a thousand pounds," de- 
 clared Dick. " It was a bull moose, and we put five 
 bullets into him before we killed him." 
 
 " Where did you shoot him ? " I asked. 
 
 " Between Second and Third Lakes," replied Morton. 
 
OUT OF THE STOEM. 141 
 
 " Is there any reading-matter around this shanty ? " 
 I inquired, looking at the two hunters. 
 
 "You may find some old papers," said Morton, and 
 then, with a laugh, added, "They haven't started a 
 public library in this country yet. Captain." 
 
 " I suppose not. But I should want them to if I 
 had to stay here. I wouldn't live here through the 
 winter for a thousand dollars a month, unless I could 
 have plenty of books and cigars ; " and I took the old 
 papers that Dick had found and began looking them 
 over. 
 
 Jack, not caring to read, borrowed a fishing-rod from 
 Morton, and went down to the pond, a few rods away, 
 to see if he could capture a trout. 
 
 I smiled when I saw him go out, for it was so cold 
 and blustering I knew he would not stay long. 
 
 In half an hour or so he came back, declaring that 
 he was half frozen, and without a single fish. He 
 drew up to the stove, pulled off his boots, and placed 
 his feet in the oven, and began growling about the 
 trout not biting. 
 
 " That is all right," remarked Dick, laughing. "It's 
 Sunday. Fish don't bite up in this country Sundays." 
 
 "Nor week days either, such weather as this," 
 returned Jack. 
 
 " I'll go fishing with you to-morrow, and take you 
 where you can get some trout." 
 
 "I don't believe you will unless the weather changes. 
 If it holds on like this we'll be sliding down river to- 
 
142 FROM LAKE TO LAI{:E. 
 
 morrow ; " and Jack looked to me to corroborate his 
 assertion. 
 
 "I think that will be the wisest plan, for we can't 
 have any fun here as things are now." 
 
 Just then Jack gave a howl, and pushed back from 
 the stove with such violence that his chair upset, and 
 over he went. He was on his feet in a moment, and 
 gave the chair a kick that sent it spinning across the 
 room, and then began rubbing his left foot. 
 
 As soon as we could stop laughing, for his whole 
 action was exceedingly comical, Morton asked him 
 what the matter was. 
 
 "Burned my foot ; and it's nothing to laugh at," he 
 added savagely. 
 
 As he was evidently not in a mood for joking I 
 returned to my reading, and Morton and Dick went 
 out for water and wood, and we let Jack alone until he 
 recovered his temper, which had been sadly marred by 
 his accident. 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 145 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 "This brings a tale into my mind, 
 Which, if you are not disinclined 
 To listen, I will now relate." — Longfellow. 
 
 M" 
 
 A QUIET SUNDAY. 
 
 ISERY likes company, and about ten 
 o'clock who should walk into the 
 camp but Fred Parker ! We were 
 glad to see him. He stared with astonish- 
 ment when he saw Jack and I, and wanted 
 to know where we came from. I told him, 
 and asked him what he was doing. He 
 said he was trapping with John Canforth, and that 
 they had a camp up at the outlet of Parmachenee, and 
 wanted Jack and I to be sure to come and see them 
 before we went down river, which we promised to do. 
 Fred stopped until nearly noon, and then went off to 
 his own camp. 
 
 After dinner I asked Jack if he was going to 
 church. 
 
 "To church? Well, I declare, it is Sunday, isn't it? 
 I had forgot all about it. If we go to any church I 
 
14G FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 guess it will be Mr. Woods'. Suppose we take a 
 walk up to the lake." 
 
 I was agreeable ; so, patting on our overcoats, for 
 it was much colder than the day before, we went out 
 and struck for the lake. 
 
 We found it slow, tiresome walking, and we were 
 an hour and a half in covering the three miles between 
 the camp and the lake. On every side we saw the 
 effects of the terrible tempest of the night before. 
 Large and tall spruces, huge yellow birches, and 
 other trees lay prostrate in every direction ; some 
 twisted up by the roots, others broken off five or six 
 feet from the ground, and I felt thankful that we had 
 passed through the night safely. 
 
 The clouds were so low that all the hills and moun- 
 tains about the lake were enveloped in mist, and after 
 watching the water break up on the shore a short 
 time we followed the lake around to the outlet, and 
 went down to the dam, near which was Canforth's 
 Camp. We wallowed through the snow to the camp 
 and went in, and found both Fred aiid John at home. 
 
 We stopped there awhile spinning yarns, and talked 
 with them about their trapping. They were discour- 
 aged with the heavy fall of snow, as they had a line 
 of traps set about twenty miles long, and they would 
 have a nice job visiting them and digging them out. 
 
 Fred wanted" to know how long we were going to 
 stay, and I informed him that unless it cleared up that 
 night we should go down river the next day, for there 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 147 
 
 was no fun stopping where we were with two feet of 
 snow on the ground; and, besides, if the river froze 
 up it would be bad for us to get the boat back. 
 
 "Have you taken much fur, John?" inquired Jack. 
 
 " Not a great deal. We have about a dozen skias. 
 We haven't fairly begun business yet, and this storm 
 has upset some of our calculations." 
 
 "How long are you going to stay, Fred?"! in- 
 quired. 
 
 " Until the first of January, if the pork and beans 
 hold out." 
 
 "How about the venison, Fred? " said Jack. 
 
 " Oh, there's plenty of that around here on the hoof. 
 We intend to sample some before long." 
 
 " I should like to stay here a month," asserted Jack, 
 "and see if I could not kill a moose." 
 
 " So should I ; but it don't look as if we would this 
 trip ; " and I glanced out at the dark and sullen sky. 
 
 " Where did you leave your boat. Captain ? " inquired 
 Fred. 
 
 "At the mouth of the river below the Upper Dam," 
 I returned. "Do you think it is a good place? " 
 
 "First-rate," he replied. " The water never freezes 
 there, — the current is too strong." 
 
 "Have you any gum around the camp, Fred?" in- 
 quired Jack. 
 
 " Not a bit. We haven't been gumming yet, but 
 intend to get a lot to take down with us before we 
 leave." 
 
148 FEOM JjAke to lake. 
 
 "Never mind," replied Jack, with a smile, as he took 
 a chew of tobacco ; " this is better." 
 
 We stopped with the hunters until nearly dark, and 
 then we returned to our camp. We had a good sup- 
 per, and then gathered around the fire, and listened 
 to stories from our two companions, who seemed to 
 have passed through many exciting experiences by field 
 and flood. One of the stories that Dick related I quote 
 in his own words as near as possible. 
 
 " Three years ago," began Dick, as he settled himself 
 comfortably in his chair, and took an extra pull at his 
 pipe, " I came over here about the first of November, 
 from Pittsburg, on a hunting trip. I had about sixty 
 pounds of traps, twenty-five of grub, and my rifle, 
 besides a frying-pan, pair of blankets, and a tin teapot. 
 
 " The next morning after my arrival here 1 met an 
 explorer who had been looking out loggm' chances, and 
 who had come across the country from the Seven 
 Ponds. He told me game was very thick over there, 
 and that there were two families of beaver in the vicinity, 
 and said I could do a big fall's business trapping in that 
 vicinity. 
 
 " As I had never been farther east than Parmachenee 
 Lake I asked him a good many questions about the 
 country, and whether it would be hard getting there. 
 
 " He assured me that an experienced woodsman 
 would have no trouble in making the trip, and, as I 
 always carried a compass in the woods, I obtained some 
 points from him to travel by. 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 149 
 
 " His account of the country pleased me so much 
 that I determined to try it, for if I could bring back a 
 good pack of beaver-skins it would pay me well for 
 my trouble, and I started eastward that very afternoon, 
 and camped that night on the bank of the Cupsuptic 
 River. 
 
 "It was a beautiful day when 1 started, — a little 
 cool, but clear and bright sunshine, and no snow had as 
 yet fallen to lay on the ground more than a few hours. 
 
 " I built a rough bough camp for shelter during the 
 night, and then cutting a small pole I hitched on a 
 fishing-line, and going up the river a few rods caught 
 half-a-dozen small trout. These, with a slice of pork, 
 a couple of slap-jacks that I cooked in the spider, and a 
 pot of hot tea, made a supper good enough for any 
 woodsman, or a city fellow either, if he was as hungry 
 as I. 
 
 " After my supper I cut up a huge pile of wood, 
 and made a rousing fire in front of the camp ; then 
 spreading some cedar boughs that I had cut when I built 
 the camp, I lay down on them, feet to the fire, pulled 
 my blankets over me, and soon fell asleep. 
 
 "It must have been well along towards morning 
 when I awoke, with a stream of water pouring into my 
 face. I sat up for a moment rather bewildered, but 
 soon gathered enough of my wits to see that the rain 
 was pouring in torrents ; that my fire was about out, 
 and that the roof of my camp, which had not been 
 built for wet weather, was leaking in fifty places. It 
 
150 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 was darker than a stack of black cats, and as I arose 
 to my feet I could not see two yards away from me. 
 
 "I had camped near several large white birches, and 
 to them I now groped my way, and with my hunting- 
 knife cut off an armful of bark, and then got back to 
 the camp and threw this on the fire with what fuel I 
 had left. 
 
 " This soon blazed up, and I could see a short dis- 
 tance around me. I had covered up my flour, which 
 was the only article of food I had with me, that the rain 
 would spoil, the night before, and, examining it, found 
 it to be dry. Recovering it I took my axe, and cut off 
 several large slabs from an old "down" pine near me, 
 which was dry inside, and threw on the fire ; then, as I 
 could do nothing more, I sat down near the fire, pulled 
 my blankets over my head, and waited for daylight. 
 
 " It came slowly enough, and after light I anxiously 
 looked at the sky for some signs of fair weather ; but it 
 seemed a hopeless case. My blankets by this time 
 were wet through, and I spread them on top of the 
 camp in the hope that they would keep a little of the 
 water out of it. 
 
 " There was not a breath of wind, and the weather 
 had moderated a good deal, it being much warmer than 
 the day before. 
 
 "While getting my breakfast I came to the sensible 
 conclusion of staying where I was until the rain stopped, 
 and, after I had eaten, I walked up the bank of the river 
 a short distance, and finding signs of game went back 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 151 
 
 to camp for a couple of traps, and these I set in hopes 
 of getting a fisher or an otter. Deer-tracks were also 
 plenty along the river, and, while I had not caught 
 sight of any, I was in hopes to during the day, and kept 
 my rifle loaded and under cover ready for immediate 
 use. 
 
 " At noon it rained as hard as ever, and after dinner 
 I cut up a lot of white birch, and about half of the old 
 dead pine, and 'sacked 'it to camp. Then I lit my 
 pipe, took my rifle, and went down river about a mile. 
 On my way back I started up two partridges, and shot 
 one of them. I hunted for the other, but could not find 
 it. The one I shot, however, made me a good supper, 
 and I felt thankful for that. 
 
 " By dark the river had risen over four feet, and was 
 now a raging torrent. But as there was a narrow place 
 in it just above my camp, where I could bridge it by 
 falling a sapling pine, I did not borrow any trouble on 
 that account. 
 
 " At seven o'clock the rain was falling as hard as 
 ever, and I began to entertain thoughts of another flood, 
 and wondered if I hadn't better build an ark. I was 
 wet through to my skin, with no present prospect of 
 getting dry, and I concluded to sit up all night rather 
 than lie down so wet. I thought best to stir around 
 once in a while, as I had no liquor with me, and in 
 fact I never use it." 
 
 " You're a sensible man," I remarked. 
 
 He smiled, and continued : " About nine o'clock the 
 
152 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 rain stopped as suddenly as it commenced. The fire 
 ceased sputtering, and sent out a generous blaze, and 
 I made an effort to dry my clothing, in which I partially 
 succeeded, and at midnight I turned in, after putting a 
 lot of wood on the fire. 
 
 " It was six o'clock when I woke, and I was all of a 
 shiver. The wind was beginning to blow a little, and 
 it was very much colder. I stirred around briskly, and 
 after eating my breakfast I went to my traps and 
 found a fisher in one of them. I killed him and carried 
 him and the traps to camp. Then I took off his pelt 
 and stretched it, and then, putting more fuel on the fire, 
 spread my blankets and made a business of drying 
 them. 
 
 " By ten o'clock they were dry, and, packing up, I 
 etarted on. The sun had been shining for an hour or 
 two, but was covered by clouds when I broke camp, 
 and that was the last I saw of it for several days. I 
 crossed the river on a bridge of my own making, and 
 then, taking out my compass, struck out on a north- 
 east course. 
 
 " At noon I stopped and built a fire, had dinner, with 
 some hot tea, and then took up my line of march again. 
 Although I had been plenty warm traveling, I found 
 it awful cold when I stopped for dinner, and made up 
 my mind that ice would make that night. 
 
 " During the afternoon I put my best foot forward 
 as the saying is, until three o'clock, when I halted and 
 built a camp. It was still cloudy, and looked like 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 153 
 
 snow, and I paid more attention to the construction of 
 this camp than I did to the former one, and made it 
 warmer and tighter. 
 
 "After finishing the camp, and cutting a pile of 
 wood for the night, I had my supper, puffed away at 
 my pipe for a while, and then bunked down early. 
 
 " I was very tired and dropped asleep in a few 
 moments, and when I awoke it was daylight, and a 
 foot of snow covered the ground, and it was coming 
 down as fast as I ever saw it in my life. I thought 
 this was hard luck, for I had hoped to reach the ponds, 
 and get a good log-camp built before getting much 
 enow. But this was evidently going to be a big storm, 
 and I had got to make the best of it. 
 
 " The wind blew quite hard, and had drifted a lot of 
 snow into the camp, and the first thing I did was to 
 remove this, and then fix the front of the camp so it 
 would keep the most of the snow out, and by the aid 
 of one of my blankets I succeeded in doing it. Then 
 I cooked my breakfast and melted some snow for water, 
 for there was no stream near me. While eating I 
 thought if I was going to get * snowed in' I had better 
 have plenty of fuel on hand, and I cut wood until the 
 cravino^s of huno:er warned me that it must be dinner- 
 time, and, looking at my watch, I found it was one 
 o'clock. I was not over a hundred feet from camp, 
 and it did not take me long to return and get my dinner. 
 
 " In the afternoon I brought the wood to camp and 
 piled it near. While I was cooking my supper I heard 
 
154 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 a noise just behind the carap, and, catching up my rifle, 
 I wallowed toward the sound, for the snow was now 
 three feet deep , and caught sight of a deer as he passed 
 across a glimmer of my camp-fire. 
 
 "I shot quick, but took careful aim, and the deer, 
 after a jump or two, fell. When I reached him he was 
 dead, and I found that it was an old buck, that would 
 weigh a hundred and fifty or sixty pounds. I cut his 
 throat, and, dragging him up to camp, hung him to a 
 tree and let him bleed." 
 
 " That was a lucky shot," said Jack. 
 
 "Yes, in more ways than one ; for, if I was obliged 
 to travel in three or four feet of snow, I would need 
 show- shoes, and I had brought none with me. The 
 deer's flesh would furnish me with an abundance of 
 fresh meat, and his hide with material for my snow- 
 shoes, the frames of which I could make from some 
 hard- wood tree. 
 
 " I thought a fresh venison steak would not be bad 
 for supper, and more to my liking than salt pork, of 
 which I had only a pound or two, and, suspending my 
 cooking, I took the hide off" the deer, cut him open, 
 removed his entrails, and hung up the four quarters, 
 after cutting two generous slices from one of the hind 
 ones. 
 
 " In spite of the blinding snow-storm that still con- 
 tinued I did not fret, for I now felt that I was pretty 
 well fixed, and after a comfortable smoke I turned in, 
 hoping that the snow would stop during the night. I 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 155 
 
 am a sound sleeper, and I had, probably, lost all con- 
 sciousness before I had laid down fifteen minutes. 
 
 " When I awoke I found myself lying on my face, 
 my hands thrown behind me over my back, and I felt 
 a heavy pressure on my body. I thought at first I 
 was not really awake, but was the victim of nightmare. 
 This idea soon passed away when I heard noises of 
 grunts and hard breathing, and realized that some one 
 had bound my hands, and was engaged in tying my 
 feet." 
 
 "That must have been a pleasant awakening," I sug- 
 gested. 
 
 " Very," he replied, in a slightly sarcastic tone, and 
 then resumed his story. 
 
 " I had no idea, of course, who the men were, or 
 what they were treating me in such a manner for, but 
 I did not propose to lay still and take it, and I began 
 to struggle, and tried to kick. But before I could 
 accomplish anything I received a clout over the head 
 that made me unconscious. 
 
 " When I returned to my senses it was daylight, and 
 I could see, outside, my two captors, who, from their 
 talk and appearance, I soon found were Canadian 
 Indians. They talked mostly in French, which I did 
 not understand, and were cooking some of my deer- 
 meat. 
 
 "I hailed them, but beyond looking at me once they 
 paid me na further attention. After they were through 
 eating, the largest one, a very powerful fellow, came 
 
156 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 in and examined my bonds. I asked him for some 
 breakfast, but he did not let on that he heard me. 
 
 " They began to busy themselves about something at 
 once, and after a while I could see that they were mak- 
 ing snow-shoes. They had cut up the deer's hide into 
 thongs, and had obtained some wood for frames near 
 the camp, which they were fashioning into shape. 
 
 " They worked very rapidly, and about eleven o'clock 
 had finished the two pair, and then prepared to depart. 
 They paid me a farewell visit before they left, and 
 robbed me of my watch, pocket compass, matches, and in 
 fact everything I had about me. They could not have 
 cleaned me out more thoroughly if they had been city 
 footpads. It is needless, perhaps, to tell you that my 
 rifle, frying-pan, blankets, and everything else went 
 with them, and I cursed them savagely, and only 
 wished that I could shoot them ; and I would have done 
 it with as little compunction as I would have shot 
 a rat." 
 
 " Served them right," echoed Jack. 
 
 " It strikes me that you were in a bad plight," I re- 
 marked. 
 
 "Bad! I should say so. As soon as the villains 
 were out of hearing I began to try and loosen my 
 hands. Fortunately for me they had bound me with 
 some of the thongs of the deer-skin, and, as it was very 
 pliable, I succeeded, after half an hour's work, in free- 
 ing my hands, and after that soon had the bands off 
 my feet. When I stood upright I came near falling 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 157 
 
 down I was so stiff and numb, but after a step or two 
 my blood began to circulate, and I found I could get 
 around all right. 
 
 " I was as hungry as a wolf, and T found one of the 
 fore-quarters of the deer hanging where I had left it. 
 The rest they had taken with them, and only left this, 
 I suppose, because they could not carry it. They had 
 played me another mean trick by putting out the fire, 
 but luckily I found a few matches in an inner pocket 
 of my hunting-shirt, and, although they were damp, I 
 succeeded in lighting one after spoiling about half of 
 tliem. I soon had a fire going, and tearing off a piece 
 of the deer-mieat by means of a stick, for I had no 
 knife to cut it, I pushed a small maple limb through 
 it, and held it over the fire until it was roasted. I had 
 to eat it without salt, as the villains had taken every 
 crumb I had brought. 
 
 "While eating I finally came to the determination of 
 making my way back to Parmachenee Lake in the least 
 possible time. Several different projects suggested 
 themselves to me, but I cast them aside one by one as 
 impracticable, and as soon as I had appeased my hun- 
 ger I took a look at the sun, which was now shining 
 brightly, and grasping the remains of my venison, which 
 was all the scoundrels had left me to take away, I 
 struck a bee-line for the west, in hopes of reaching 
 some of the lumber camps on the Magalloway, above 
 Parmachenee. 
 
 " I found it wearisome work wallowin^c throuojh the 
 
158 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 snow, which varied in depth from three to four feet, 
 but as I had no load but my venison, to which I clung 
 with an energy that would have made a spectator laugh, 
 I made very fair progress. I stopped for the night in 
 a group -of windfalls, made a fire, supped on my ven- 
 ison, but could not sleep on account of the cold, and 
 amused myself by keeping up the fire. 
 
 " With the first streak of dawn I cooked some 
 more of the venison, ate it, and continued my tramp. 
 About noon, as near as I could judge by the sun, I 
 reached the Cupsuptic once more, and found a favor- 
 able place to cross, the water being but a few inches 
 deep, the freshet having subsided. When I had 
 crossed the river I started a fire, and roasted what was 
 left of the venison. I was not very particular about 
 the cooking, for daylight was valuable, and I ate the 
 meat pretty rare. Then I took a drink from the river 
 and pushed on for the Magalloway. 
 
 " I was in hopes to reach it that night ; but I never 
 should have done it if luck had not been on my side. 
 About half an hour before dark I heard the blows of 
 an axe resounding through the woods, and, heading for 
 the sound, came upon a chopper who had just finished 
 his day's work, and was starting for the camp. I told 
 him my story in as few words as possible, and in his 
 company soon reached a sled-road, and, following this, 
 a half-hour brought us to camp. In the crew were 
 some men that I was acquainted with, and they gave 
 me a warm welcome, and after supper, which tasted 
 
A QUIET SUNDAY. 159 
 
 particularly good that night, I saw the boss and en- 
 gaged myself to him for the winter, and chopped, in- 
 stead of trapping." 
 
 " That was a rough adv^enture," remarked Jack, as 
 he knocked the ashes out of his pipe. 
 
 "You bet it was," added Dick. 
 
 " And did you never see the thieves since?" I asked, 
 as I arose, preparatory to going to bed. 
 
 " Not a sign of them. I would like to meet them by 
 daylight with a rifle in my hand, and I would put my 
 mark on them." 
 
 " I declare it is eleven o'clock," I said, looking at my 
 watch. " I must go to bed." 
 
 " I guess we had better follow suit," chimed in Mor- 
 ton, as he began putting out the lights. 
 
 The interest I had taken in Dick's narrative had kept 
 me wide awake while he was talking, but as I began 
 undressing I realized that I was outrageously sleepy, 
 and I had no sooner struck the bed than I became 
 oblivious to all my surroundings. 
 
 Whether I had eaten something for supper that night 
 that caused rebellion in my stomach I did not know, 
 but of one thing I was certain, and that was that I did 
 not sleep well, for in a short time — I judged about an 
 hour — I awoke trembling in every limb, and my body 
 bathed in perspiration. 
 
 I had been dreaming of the steamer, and thought 
 that she had sunk while I was in the cabin, and my 
 extraordinary struggles to free myself, that I might 
 
160 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 rise to the surface of the lake, and make some effort to 
 reach the shore, were probably the cause of my sweating 
 and trembling. 
 
 I sat up in bed a few moments to collect my thoughts, 
 but the air in the house was so chilly that I was glad 
 to crawl under the bedclothes again in a very few 
 seconds. 
 
 I thought to myself this is the second time I have 
 dreamed of the steamer being wrecked ; I do hope that 
 she rode out the gale in safety. 
 
 I lay awake for some time worrying over the boat, 
 but finally dropped to sleep again ; but I awoke several 
 times before daylight, and always with the impression 
 that the steamer was in trouble. 
 
WE RETRACE OUR COURSE. 161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 "It may be that these fragments owe alone 
 To the fair setting of their circumstances — 
 The associations of time, scene, and audience — 
 Their place amid the pictures which fill up 
 The chambers of my memory." — Whittier. 
 
 WE RETRACE OUR COURSE. 
 
 WE arose the next morning, hoping to 
 find it warm and pleasant, but the day- 
 presented the same appearance as its 
 predecessor, — fog thick and low, with but 
 slight change in the temperature. 
 Fred came down to the camp in the middle of the 
 forenoon, and said he believed we should have more 
 snow, and advised us to go home unless we were pre- 
 pared to stay three or four weeks. 
 
 With the present state of the weather I had no in- 
 tention of doing that ; if the sun had been shining 
 bright and clear, with some prospect of the snow going 
 off, we should have stopped ; but two feet of snow in 
 October was all I wanted to see, and we put every- 
 thing in readiness for a start. 
 
 "I declare," said Morton, as we sat smoking, "I 
 
162 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 hate to have you go. If you could hold on two or 
 three days longer you might carry home some venison." 
 
 "That is a great temptation," I acknowledged ; "but 
 yet I don't think I will venture to stay ; first, on ac- 
 count of the weather, and, secondly, on account of the 
 steamer." 
 
 " I won't deny that the weather is doubtful ; but I 
 don't believe the gale injured your boat any, secured as 
 you say she was." 
 
 "It may be foolish on my part, but I can't help 
 thinking she was damaged in that gale. I dreamed again 
 last night that she sank." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense ! " cried Jack, sending forth several 
 upward curling rings of smoke from his mouth. " The 
 fact is. Captain, you are thinking about the boat all the 
 time. If you did not let your mind run on it so much 
 you would not be troubled by so many doubts and mis- 
 givings. Likely enough the gale didn't reach down 
 there at all." 
 
 " I know better," I replied ; " such a gale of wind as 
 that, a north-wester too, would surely have reached 
 that distance. Why, it is not more than twenty miles 
 in an air-line." 
 
 "It might have partially blown itself out before it 
 reached there," suggested Morton. " Perhaps it did not 
 blow more than half as hard there as it did here." 
 
 My companions tried to discourage my blue feelings, 
 but did not succeed ; but, as the subject was not a 
 pleasant one, I did not pursue it any farther. 
 
jroMEWARD Bound. 
 
WE RETRACE OUR COURSE. 165 
 
 We had an early dinner, and bidding good-by to our 
 friends, made our way to where we had left our boat. 
 We found her well buried in snow, but soon had her 
 all right and in the water. We put in our things, and 
 between twelve and one started down the river. I 
 gave a turn or two of the paddle, and we had reached 
 the middle of the stream, and with the current in our 
 favor we made good head-way. We soon passed the 
 little Magalloway, now so buried in snow that you 
 could scarcely tell where it was, and a few minutes 
 later were shooting the Big Rips, which we found an 
 easier job than forcing our way up. 
 
 " It's a little more like fun to come down these 
 rapids," said Jack. " I tell you what. Captain, I shall 
 never forget the chill that water gave me when I struck 
 it. Great snakes ! wasn't it cold ! " 
 
 " Decidedly chilly. Jack ; but how would you have 
 liked taking a bath in it?" and I looked at my com- 
 panion with a smile. 
 
 " Do you mean naked ? " 
 
 " Certainly, in Father Adam's original costume, ex- 
 cepting the fig-leaves." 
 
 " None of it for me. Do you take me for a Lap or 
 a Greenlander? " 
 
 " I have read of people cutting holes through the ice 
 in winter, and plunging naked into the water for fun. 
 They thought it a nice way of taking a bath." 
 
 " Didn't they freeze ? " queried Jack, looking at me 
 as if I had been spinning a tough yarn. 
 
166 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 "Not a bit of it." 
 
 "It's a pity they hadn't," cried Jack, with disgust. 
 
 The country presented a strange appearance as we 
 made our way rapidly along : the dark lane of water 
 before us, the white shores on either side, and, over- 
 head, a gray blanket of mist, which was not more than 
 ten or twelve feet above us. The tops of ordinary trees 
 were lost in it, and it seemed as if some immense scythe 
 had levelled the forest to a regular height. There was 
 no wind, so we did not get the beautiful pictures that 
 one sometimes gets when the fog is rapidly dissolved 
 by a steady blow. 
 
 Once or twice we passed small birds, that gave voice 
 to a few sweet notes as we floated by, as if astonished 
 to meet a human biped at such a time. Jack said they 
 were snow-birds, and said they had good courage to be 
 out in such weather. 
 
 "Let me row now. Jack," I said, after my compan- 
 ion had pulled several miles ; " I don't want you to row 
 all the way down river." 
 
 "Keep your seat, Captain ; I am doing well. I am 
 not tired a bit. Pulling down river and pulling up 
 are two very different things. Jiist watch the banks 
 and see how we slide along ! " 
 
 "I have noticed several times that we are making 
 good head-way. But you need not do all the rowing 
 on that account." 
 
 "Don't fret. Captain, as long as I don't kick. I am not 
 80 bashful but what I will let you know when I am tired." 
 
WE EETRACE OUR COURSE. 1G7 
 
 Just then we turned one of the sharp curves of the 
 river, and I saw a blue heron standing on one leg, on 
 the rigi»t-hand bank of the river, close to the water's 
 edge. 
 
 "Look at that blue heron, Jack," I whispered, 
 " standing on one foot. I believe he is warming the 
 other one." 
 
 Jack ceased rowing, and, turning, took a look at 
 the bird. 
 
 " I guess the old fellow is asleep," said Jack, softly. 
 "I'll wake him up." 
 
 He reached for his gun, which I handed him; but, 
 just as he was bringing it to his shoulder, the heron 
 gave a startled cry, and, flapping his huge wings, sailed 
 away into the fog. 
 
 "By gracious!" cried Jack, with a laugh, as he 
 passed me back his gun, " he'll get lost if he doesn't 
 carry a compass." 
 
 The conceit was an odd one, and I joined my com- 
 panion in his laughter. This aroused Spot from a 
 comfortable nap he had been taking between my legs, 
 and, thinking he must make his share of the noise, he 
 began barking. 
 
 "Keep quiet. Spot! Don't let him bark, Captain. 
 We may possibly see a deer along here somewhere." 
 
 I quieted the dog, and began to watch the banks of 
 the river more closely. If there were any deer in the 
 neighborhood I was anxious to get a look at them, if 
 nothing more ; and, as it was now the open season for 
 
168 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 large game, we could carry the venison home if we 
 could only get it. Always " catch your eel before you 
 skin it," you know. -^ 
 
 " Do you suppose deer travel about much, Jack, when 
 the ground is covered with nearly two feet of snow ? " 
 
 " Do I ? Of course. This snow isn't deep enough to 
 trouble them any, and they have to forage for their 
 living anyhow. Later on, when the snow is four or 
 five feet deep, they get together in * yards,' if the crust 
 is not stron": enous^h to hold them." 
 
 " Did you ever run across a deer-yard ? " 
 
 " No ; but I know a fellow who worked in the woods 
 two winters ago, and he told me that he and three of 
 the crew were out one Sunday toward spring, and they 
 came across a yard where there were nine deer, and 
 they killed the whole of them, and they had fresh meat 
 in camp for a couple of weeks." 
 
 " But that was slaughter. Jack. Those fellows ought 
 to have been horsewhipped. It was in the close season, 
 too." 
 
 " What do you suppose a logging crew care about 
 close or open season ? All they wanted was the fresh 
 meat, and they didn't care how they got it." 
 
 A little while before reaching the head of the mead- 
 ows, as we turned a sharp bend, I was startled by see- 
 ing a caribou crossing the river, about twenty rods in 
 advance of us. 
 
 "Jack," I cried, "there is a caribou crossing the 
 river just ahead of us." 
 
WE KETRACE OUK COUESE. 171 
 
 My companion dropped his oars, which swung in to 
 the side of the boat, and, turning his head, took a glance 
 at the animal. 
 
 "Here, take your gun," I urged, passing him the 
 weapon, " and shoot quick ! " 
 
 Jack grabbed his gun and blazed away at him, and 
 I let drive with my revolver, but, instead of dropping, 
 he bounded off into the woods as if a pack of wolves 
 were after him. 
 
 " We didn't hit him," said Jack ; " and if I had it 
 wouldn't have done much damage, for I had duck-shot 
 in both barrels." 
 
 "Great Christmas!" I exclaimed, thoroughly mad 
 for a moment. " Why didn't you load one barrel, at 
 least, with buck-shot?" 
 
 " I don't know why I didn't," answered my compan- 
 ion, looking disgusted at our poor success. " I guess 
 it was absence of mind." 
 
 " We will not stop to argue the matter now. Take 
 to the oars and let's get on shore ; " and I turned the 
 boat toward the left side of the river. 
 
 " Perhaps he won't run far," suggested Jack, as he 
 grasped the oars. 
 
 " So far that we shall not get another squint at 
 him, I am afraid." 
 
 We ran the boat in on the bank, landing where the 
 caribou took to the woods, and followed his trail for 
 some distance. 
 
 We saw several spots of blood along the way, which 
 
172 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 showed that we must have hit him, and probably the 
 bullet from my revolver pierced his skin. At any rate 
 I claimed the honor of having wounded him, and, for a 
 wonder, Jack for once "acknowledged the coin." 
 
 Jack, who had loaded his gun with buck-shot, as we 
 followed on the trail of the caribou, was very anxious 
 to get another sight of the animal ; but, when we had 
 wallowed through the snow for half a mile without 
 coming in sight of the game, became reconciled to giv- 
 ing up the chase, and the print of his hoofs in the snow 
 was the last we saw of Mr. Caribou. Reluctantly we 
 tramped back to the boat, and when we reached the 
 bank of the river found that, through excitement or 
 carelessness, we had not pulled our boat far enough out 
 of the water, and that she had gone adrift in our 
 absence. 
 
 With muttered imprecations on our ill luck we 
 turned down river, and waded through the snow along 
 the bank, looking with eager eyes for the boat. 
 
 Every little while we would trip over some old log 
 or windfall, which, covered by the snow, made a trap 
 for the unwary, and, losing our balance, we would gen- 
 erally get a snow-bath before we could recover our 
 equilibrium. 
 
 This unexpected tramp, with our chase after the 
 caribou, began to tire us, and we hoped each minute 
 would brin^ us in siMit of the boat. 
 
 We walked, however, fully half a mile before we 
 found it, and then, to our dismay, saw it on the opposite 
 
WE KETEACE OUR COUESE. 173 
 
 side of the river, where its farther progress had been 
 checked by a tree which had fallen into the river, but 
 whose roots were still fastened to the bank. 
 
 We looked at the boat, and then looked at each 
 other. The question was, how to cross the river. 
 
 I broke down a small dead fir, five or six feet long, 
 and, stepping to the water's edge, sounded with it as 
 far out as I could reach, and could not touch bottom. 
 It was very evident we could not get over where we 
 were. 
 
 "If I only had the axe," said Jack, "I would cut 
 one of those large spruces," — nodding toward a group 
 of trees, ten or a dozen feet away, — "and bridge 
 the river." 
 
 "As you don't happen to have it," I returned, cheer- 
 fully, " I shall have to go back to that last set of rips 
 we passed, and try and cross there. I don't think the 
 water is over a foot deep there. You walk down to that 
 point just ahead of you, and I will bring the boat 
 down there and take you in." 
 
 "All right. Captain; but be careful you don't get 
 a ducking." 
 
 I returned no answer to his speech, for I realized 
 that we were losing valuable time, but immediately re- 
 traced my steps along the trail we had made, until I 
 reached the rips, and then I started into the river. Spot 
 following me. 
 
 Where I first stepped into the water it was only six 
 inches deep, but as I crossed it became deeper, until I 
 
174 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 stood within about six feet of the opposite bank ; the 
 water was clear to the top of my long-legged boots, 
 and I saw that another step forward would fill them. 
 
 I did not wish to get wet if I could help it, and I 
 waded up river about a rod, and then down a short 
 distance ; but I seemed to have struck a deep channel 
 of some length. As several reasons forbade mc spend- 
 ing the rest of the day in dancing up and down the 
 river I made a plunge forward, and reached for a 
 small white birch that grew near the water. 
 
 As I stepped forward, the water rose nearly to my 
 shoulders, but I succeeded in seizing hold of the tree, 
 and, after several trials, drew myself out, and then 
 turned to aid the dog, who was making desperate, but 
 unsuccessful, efforts to get on shore himself. 
 
 Reaching down, I caught Spot by the collar, and 
 drew him up in the snow beside me. His first per- 
 formance was to give himself a shake, that spattered my 
 face plentifully with water, and the next to start on a 
 frolic in the snow. 
 
 " You rascal ! " I exclaimed, " is that the way you 
 pay your master for fishing you out of the river ? " 
 
 He gave five or six quick, sharp barks, and then 
 jumped up on me, and kissed me, knocking me over 
 as he did so, for I was just pulling off my boots to 
 empty the water out of them. 
 
 I picked myself up, and threw a snowball at him, 
 and then, telling him to keep out of the way, succeeded 
 in getting a gallon or two of ice-water out of my boots, 
 
WE RETRACE OUR COURSE. 175 
 
 and wrung the bottoms of my pants as dry as I could 
 get them. Then I pulled my coat off, and wrung the 
 water out of that as well as I could. 
 
 Just as I started for the boat I heard the hoot of an 
 owl floating through the air. Jack had become im- 
 patient, and was trying to signal me. I answered him, 
 and kept on. 
 
 Ten minutes' walk brought me to the boat, but I 
 could not reach her from the shore. I crept carefully 
 out on the tree, however, and managed to get into her 
 without getting wet again. Spot followed me. I 
 pushed the boat clear of the tree, and, taking my seat 
 at the oars, was soon down to the point where Jack 
 was standing, and took him on board. 
 
 "Did you get tired of waiting? " I inquired, as he 
 pushed the boat off, and jumped in. 
 
 "Yes," he replied, "I thought you never would 
 come. "Don't you want me to row?" 
 
 " Not much. I am wet nearly to my neck, and wish 
 to row to keep warm. I feel half-frozen." 
 
 " Did you fall down in the riv^r ? " queried Jack, as 
 he made his way to the stern of the boat and took the 
 paddle. 
 
 " No ; but the water was ^ve feet deep on the other 
 side of the river, and I shall be lucky if I do not take 
 cold from that bath." 
 
 " It is too bad you found such deep water ; but you 
 will get warm rowing." 
 
 As I started the boat fairly on her course again my 
 
176 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 teeth began to chatter, and I was seized with a shiver- 
 ing jSt. But, after half an hour's rowing, my blood 
 became warmed up, and I felt more comfortable. 
 
 We passed a bald eagle sitting on an immense yellow 
 birch that overhung the river, and Jack blazed away 
 at him. The first charge cut away a small limb over 
 the eagle's head into more than a dozen pieces, and 
 the second furrowed the large limb on which the bird 
 sat. He left the limb between the two discharges, and 
 just saved himself " by the skin of his teeth." It was 
 the closest miss I ever saw, and the terrified shriek that 
 the eagle gave when he took to flight showed how badly 
 he was frightened. 
 
 We saw quite a number of ducks later on, but did 
 not get a shot at them. 
 
 When we reached the lower Metalluc Pond the mist 
 began to clear some, and we caught occasional glimpses 
 of the mountains about us. After runnino^ throuo:h 
 the Narrows, however, it became thicker, and when we 
 were about five miles from the landing it commenced to 
 snow. 
 
 " We started in a snow-storm and shall get back in 
 one," said Jack, disgustedly. 
 
 "It does not astonish me any," I replied. " Of all 
 the unlucky trips I ever took this has been the worst. 
 If we get back to Andover alive I shall think we are 
 fortunate." 
 
 " This comes of starting on Friday," growled Jack, 
 with a shade of superstition. 
 
WE RETEACE OUR COUESE. 177 
 
 " But we did not start on Friday, my boy. Our trip 
 began the morning we left the Upper Dam, and that 
 was Monday." 
 
 " But we left Upton Friday." 
 
 " True. But our luck was no better before that 
 event than it has been since. If our plans had not 
 miscarried we should not have missed the steamer on 
 Tuesday." 
 
 " That's so," replied Jack. " I had forgotten that 
 for the moment ; " and he relapsed into silence again. 
 
 We found less and less snow the farther down river 
 we went, and when we reached the boat-landing there 
 was not more than half as much as we had left at the 
 lake. The snow that came down now melted as fast 
 as it struck us, and we made haste to get the boat out 
 and take care of her as soon as possible, for we were 
 fast getting wet through. 
 
 " Thank God we are so far on our way ! " exclaimed 
 Jack, when we had properly cared for the boat. 
 
 "Amen!" I added, and pulled on my heavy over- 
 coat, which I thought I could carry easier on my back 
 than in any other way. 
 
 Jack picked up the bucket, and put it on the butt of 
 his gun, which he threw over his shoulder. "Let 
 me carry the bucket, Jack," I cried. 
 
 "No, I'll take it. I can carry it easy in this way ; 
 you have rowed so far you must be tired." 
 
 "A lantern would not be a bad thing to have," I 
 suggested, as I glanced around. 
 
178 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " I should say not, and if I ever start on another trip 
 like this I will carry one. You need it as much as you 
 do an axe." 
 
 It must have been half-past six when we started 
 down the carry, and only for the snow it would have 
 been darker than coal-tar. That relieved the black- 
 ness a little. The wind that had been blowing gently 
 for the last two hours increased its force rapidly, and, 
 as it was in our faces the most of the time, the walk 
 was anything but pleasant. Through the woods the 
 mud was fearful, and I was thankful when we came 
 out in the open pasture, where the walking was a little 
 better. 
 
 " Oh for a haven of rest ! " I exclaimed, as we 
 trudged wearily along, facing the thickening storm. 
 
 "We'll soon reach one if our legs hold out," 
 returned Jack, cheerfully. "But, by gracious, Cap- 
 tain, if we ever go to Parmachenee Lake again I hope 
 we shall have better weather than we have had this 
 time." 
 
 "I should hope we would. But I bet five dollars, 
 Jack, that after I get back to Boston you will have 
 nice weather down here for two or three weeks." 
 
 "I don't kuow about that. Any way it does not 
 look much like it now." 
 
 " One thing I do know ; it will not take me long 
 to find the bed after I eat my supper and get dry." 
 
 "I'm with you there. Captain," said my companion. 
 
 We arrived at Mr. Fickett's at eight o'clock, and his 
 
WE RETRACE OUR COURSE. 179 
 
 wife gave us a nice, hot supper, which we thoroughly 
 appreciated. After drying our clotliing we pleaded 
 fatigue to Mr. Fickett, and went to bed, the snow still 
 falling. Our worthy landlord and his wife had been 
 anxious to hear the whole of our story, but I told him 
 I would finish it the next day. 
 
 Sometime during the night the wind changed, and 
 the snow stopped its work of powdering mother earth, 
 and when we went out-doors in the morning to have a 
 look at the weather we found we could see the sky, 
 although it was somewhat cloudy and much colder. 
 
 After breakfast Mr. Fickett took us down to the 
 Brown Farm, and we amused ourselves there until din- 
 ner-time, relating our adventures to a small, but admir- 
 ing audience. Just as we sat down to dinner we heard 
 the whistle of the steamer, and knew we were all right 
 for our passage down to Upton. 
 
 As we arose from the table Capt. Tenney and Chris 
 came in, and, after they had eaten, we all rode down 
 to the boat. Chris told us it was cold and raw out on 
 the lake, and we found it so when the steamer had left 
 the river. 
 
 Chris told us there had been a fearful storm during 
 our absence, and asked me where we were the night it 
 blew so. I told him we were in Sunday Pond Camp, 
 and that it had a narrow escape from destruction by a 
 tree falling on it. Jack gave him a history of our trip 
 from the time we had left the steamer until we re- 
 turned to it, and he was greatly amused, declaring that 
 
180 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 we had experienced hard luck ; in which I fully agreed 
 with him. 
 
 As we sat around the open fire in the office of the 
 hotel at Upton that evening, and listened to the accounts 
 of the storm, I again began to feel worried about the 
 safety of our steamer, and told Jack that the boat must 
 have been damaged in that gale. 
 
 He tried to laugh the idea out of my head, but it 
 stuck, in spite of his and my own eflforts to drive it 
 away. 
 
BAD NEWS. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "Who can all sense of others' ills escape 
 Is but a brute at best in human shape." — Tate. 
 
 ^ 
 
 BAD NEWS. 
 
 > A FTER breakfast the next niorn- 
 r\ ing, as we could not get any 
 team to take us over, we 
 started to walk to Andover, a distance of seventeen 
 miles. We bade the people in the hotel " good-by," 
 and, shouldering our " collateral," started off at a brisk 
 pace. As we began climbing the long hill that leads 
 to the upper village we were forced to slacken our 
 speed that we might breathe easily. 
 
 As we climbed upward we cast an occasional glance 
 back to catch the fine views of the lake presented in the 
 morning sunlight ; for the sun had at last condescended 
 to shine once more. There was very little snow on the 
 ground, none to impede our progress but the rough and 
 frozen ground offered poor footing, and I made up my 
 mind that we should be pretty well tired out by the time 
 we reached Andover. As there were no hotels on the 
 
182 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 way, and we did not intend hurrying, we took a light 
 lunch with us. 
 
 When we had reached the top of the hill, and gained 
 a spot which commanded an outlook over the greater 
 part of the lake, we stopped for a moment to admire 
 the beautiful sheet of water below us, now glistening 
 like silver in the sunshine. All the mountains to the 
 northward were covered with snow, and beyond the 
 lake the country had more the appearance of winter 
 than the locality where we were. Having gazed at the 
 beautiful picture before us until we began to feel chilly 
 from standing still we resumed our march. 
 
 Just as we passed the road that turned off on the 
 right to Bethel we met one of the Upton guides > who 
 was out with dog and gun on a partridge-hunt. 
 
 "Hallo, Captain ! " he said ; " where are you bound? 
 You haven't started to walk to Boston, I hope." 
 
 " Hardly," I replied, laughing. " We are going to 
 Andover, if our courage holds out." 
 
 " Did you have any luck up at Parmachenee Lake, 
 hunting?" he asked my companion, with whom he was 
 also acquainted. 
 
 " No," replied Jack ; " it snowed all the time. 
 We shot at a caribou coming down river, but missed 
 it." 
 
 " That's too bad. Caribou is the best meat there is 
 in the woods. Anybody up there now?" 
 
 " Three or four when we left. Which way are you 
 going?" 
 
BAD NEWS. 183 
 
 "Down toward Grafton, and I must be moving 
 along:. Good-mornino^." 
 
 We returned his salutation, and continued our course 
 over the hills. 
 
 From the road where we were now travelinir we had 
 a fine view oiFto the south of Saddleback and Speckled 
 Mountains, the two attendant peaks of Grafton Notch. 
 Each of them was covered with a white cap, but 
 toward their base the snow was very light. 
 
 "I don't believe we shall find any snow at Ando- 
 ver," said Jack. "It often snows around Umbafrosf 
 when we have none over our way, and it seems to 
 me it is getting thinner the farther we get from the 
 lake." 
 
 "I don't care to see any more," I returned ; " I have 
 had enough to last me for a while." 
 
 When we were most down the hill, and near the bridge 
 that crosses the swift Cambrido^e, Jack saw a hedjrehosr 
 crossing the road, and fired both barrels at it, killing it 
 as dead as Julius Ciesar. 
 
 "Here's something for your dinner. Captain," he 
 cried, as we came up to the animal. 
 
 "Thank you ; I don't wish to rob you. Jack. Take 
 the game along with you, and you can have some fresh 
 pork." 
 
 "I guess not, Captain. That isn't my kind. But I 
 don't suppose I ought to leave it in the middle of the 
 road." 
 
 " Of course not. Pitch it into the river. Let me 
 
184 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 pull out a few of the quills first ; I want some to carry 
 home with me.''' 
 
 "Help yourself." 
 
 I took all I wanted, and then, picking Mr. Por- 
 cupine up by one of his forepaws, carried him out on 
 the bridge, and dropped him off the lower side. His 
 body struck the water with a splash, and floated down 
 stream till it lod<xed a^i^ainst a rock. 
 
 " That fellow will make good fish-bait," said Jack, 
 watching the dead animal. 
 
 " The trout that tries to make a meal on him will get 
 his mouth pricked," I added. 
 
 " I don't see what porcupines are good for," remarked 
 Jack, as we began climbing a hill before us about a 
 mile long. 
 
 " Years ago the Indians used to take their quills and 
 color them, and use them for ornamenting some parts 
 of their dress ; but I don't know of any use they can be 
 put to nowadays, unless the quills might be sold for 
 toothpicks." 
 
 " I wonder if they are good to eat. Captain." 
 
 " I am sure I don't know. I never knew of anybody 
 eating them ; but if I was starving in the woods, and 
 ran across one, I should certainly find out how he 
 tasted. I could not see any sense in your shooting the 
 animal, as he was of no use to us." 
 
 " There was no need of shooting him," replied Jack ; 
 "but then, you know, it is natural when a fellow has a 
 gun to shoot at everything he sees." 
 
BAD NEWS. 185 
 
 " That is a fact ! Man is naturally a most destruc- 
 tive animal." 
 
 When we had climbed about half-way up-hill we 
 saw a horse and wagon ahead of us, coming down. It 
 contained two people, a man and woman, but was so 
 far away that we could not tell whether they were old 
 or young ; but the horse, even at the distance from 
 which we first sighted the turn-out, seemed skinny and 
 gaunt, and the wagon wabbled along from side to side, 
 with a motion that suggested weak or broken wheels. 
 
 We watched the party as they approached us, won- 
 dering who they could be, and, as the vehicle came 
 nearer, saw it was about the worst-looking wagon we 
 had ever run across, while the most proper use I could 
 think of for the horse was to tie him up in a corn:field 
 as a scarecrow. 
 
 When they had approached sufficiently near for us to 
 trace their faces we saw that the man was old and 
 wrinkled, with huge bushy whiskers, and hair so long 
 that it reached below his coat-collar. His companion 
 was a young girl about eighteen, and decidedly pretty. 
 A slight resemblance in features made me think them 
 father and daughter, and this proved to be the case. 
 
 " What a thundering old plug that horse is ! " whis- 
 pered Jack, as we swung to the right, off the road, to be 
 out of the way. 
 
 Just as I was about to answer, the horse and the 
 forward wheels became detached from the rest of the 
 wagon, the front end of which dropped down. The 
 
186 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 hill was so steep in the spot where the accident hap- 
 pened that the hind wheels made a few revolutions, 
 sufficient to land the wagon in the gutter on the left 
 side of the road, while the old man and the girl were 
 pitched out head-first. 
 
 As the old fellow went out he turned over, and 
 landed flat on his back, while the girl came down upon 
 him, her head striking his stomach, and then she rolled 
 off all in a heap. It was one of the funniest sights I 
 ever saw, and I could scarcely help laughing, in spite 
 of the possibility of their being badly injured. 
 
 The whole affair was over in a couple of seconds, — 
 much quicker than I could tell it, — and Jack and I, 
 dropping our things, rushed to the help of the unfor- 
 tunates. The horse had gone a few steps and stopped, 
 evidently too tired or lazy to continue farther without 
 urGrinor. 
 
 Recalling to mind that well-worn aphorism, "Age 
 before beauty," I knelt down by the old man, although 
 I acknowledge that I should have preferred to tender 
 my services to the young lady, and took a look 
 at him, for as yet he had not moved. I felt of his 
 pulse, and found it to beat fairly strong, and just then 
 he opened his eyes, and made an effort to start up, 
 and with my assistance he gained his feet ; but he ap- 
 peared a little dazed, as if he did not know what he 
 was up to. He seemed able to stand, and I turned 
 to Jack's assistance, who had just called to me, saying 
 the girl had fainted. 
 
BAD NEWS. 189 
 
 "Chafe and rub hef hands then," I replied, and, 
 having a drinking-cup in my pocket, I filled it with 
 water from a sparkling stream beside the road, and 
 began to sprinkle her face. 
 
 Noticing the lower part of her clothing was some- 
 what disarranged, exposing to our view rather more 
 of a symmetrical pair of lower limbs than her modesty 
 would have allowed had she been in possession of 
 her senses, I told Jack to pull down her dress, which 
 he did just before she came out of her faint, undoubt- 
 edly sparing her some blushes. 
 
 As she opened her eyes a look of alarm and surprise 
 flitted across her face, until she noticed the old man 
 standing near, and then it changed to wonderment. 
 
 " What is the matter? " she asked, trying to rise. 
 
 "You have met with an accident," I explained, as 
 Jack and I helped her to stand up. 
 
 The old man now found voice for the first time. 
 
 " Blast my pictur, if this aint a purty piece o' busi- 
 ness ! " and he gazed from the wagon to the old horse 
 as if it was too much for him to fathom. 
 
 " Do you feel all right, sir, now? " I inquired, turn- 
 ing to him. 
 
 "' I dunno. I feel kinder shook up in my j'ints ;" 
 and then he thought of his daughter, and, looking at 
 her, said, " Are ye hurt any, Bessie?" 
 
 "I guess not, father; but how shall we get home? 
 I suppose the wagon is broke." 
 
 "I will investigate," I remarked, for as yet none of 
 
190 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 US knew the cause of the accident. It had not been 
 the horse, for he was traveling at a snail's pace when 
 the wagon went down. 
 
 I went to the body of the wagon and examined the 
 forward part of it, and found that the bolt that secured 
 it to the forward wheels had broken short off, it having 
 been nearly worn out. I was surprised that it had held 
 for any distance at all, in the condition that it was in 
 when they started. 
 
 " How far have you traveled this morning ? " I asked 
 the old man. 
 
 " I came from Blue's, down in the Sarplus ; six or 
 seven miles from Andover." 
 
 " I don't see how that bolt ever held to draw the 
 wagon up that long hill. It was worn down to a 
 quarter of an inch." 
 
 " We walked up all the hills," said Miss Bessie, in 
 explanation. 
 
 " Did you ? I am surprised that it held even to draw 
 up the empty wagon." 
 
 " How am I goin' to fix the durned thing ? " inquired 
 the old man. " I live in Colebrook, and wanter git hum 
 to-day." 
 
 " The only thing I see for you to do is to go back to 
 the first house, and try and get a piece of iron of some 
 kind, that will answer for a bolt for a short time, and 
 when you get to Upton Village you can get a new bolt 
 made in a few moments, as the road passes a black- 
 smith's shop there." 
 
BAD NEWS. 191 
 
 " Nobuddy lives in the fust house," replied the old 
 man. 
 
 "Try the first inhabited house, then," I replied, 
 laughing. " Any old bolt, or piece of iron rod, that is 
 not too large for the hole, will answer your purpose, if 
 you are careful, until you reach the blacksmith's, and 
 then he can repair the damage properly." 
 
 "Which way ye travelin'?" queried the old man, 
 looking from Jack to me. 
 
 " We are going to Andover." 
 
 " Couldn't ye help me fix this thing ? I dunno as I 
 can do it alone." , 
 
 " I suppose we might ; " and I looked at Jack for his 
 opinion. 
 
 " Yes, we'll help you," said Jack. "But we need a 
 hammer, and something for a bolt." 
 
 " I'll go over and see what I can find at some of 
 the houses beyond, and you can stay here and pre- 
 vent the horse from running away ; " and I winked at 
 Jack. 
 
 The old man, who took my remark in earnest, said 
 the horse would not run away, and that he could take 
 care of him. 
 
 "All right, I'll leave Jack to help you, then," and I 
 left them. 
 
 It was nearly a mile to the second house, the first one, 
 as the old man had said, being empty. I found the 
 farmer who lived on the place out to the barn, and 
 explained to him the nature of my errand. 
 
192 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 After submitting me to a cross-examination he 
 remarked that he didn't know whether he had any- 
 thing suitable or not, but he would look. 
 
 He led me from the barn to a small shed, and there 
 he found a box of old iron. We picked this over, and 
 I found a brace that had once done duty on a cart- 
 body, which I told him would answer, and asked him 
 if he would donate it to the cause of suffering 
 humanity. 
 
 He stared at me as if he did not exactly comprehend, 
 but finally said: "Yas, you can hev that, mister. 
 What d'ye say the old feller's name was ? " 
 
 " I didn't say," I replied. " His name may be 
 Smith, Brown, Jones, or Thompson ; but as I don't 
 know I can't tell you. Now can you lend me a ham- 
 mer?" 
 
 " Sartainly. The hammer's in the house." 
 
 He went in and brought it out, and I thanked him 
 for the iron, and told him I would leave the hammer as 
 I came along, and hurried away before he could ques- 
 tion me further. 
 
 I returned as quickly as possible, as I did not like 
 the delay we were being subjected to. 
 
 When I reached the scene of the accident Jack took 
 the hammer, and after some difficulty succeeded in 
 getting out the upper paVt of the bolt from the wagon- 
 body. Then, laying our axe on a large flat boulder 
 near at hand, we made it serve as an anvil, and by 
 means of the hammer succeeded in " putting a head " 
 
BAD NEWS. 193 
 
 on the old rod I had brouo^ht from the farm. Then 
 we hammered the other end down a little, and, trying 
 it on the wagon, found it would work very well. 
 
 The old man now backed the horse and forward 
 wheels up to the other part of the vehicle, and we 
 made a connection. With the reins in his hand he 
 walked the horse into the middle of the road, and then 
 told his daughter to "jump in," — a rather difficult feat 
 to execute literally. 
 
 Jack helped the young lady into the wagon, and the 
 old man, addressing me, said, " What's the damage? " 
 
 "What do you mean? " I inquired. 
 
 "Why, what do ye tax me fur your trouble, and 
 fixin' the wagon ? " 
 
 "Oh !" I exclaimed, comprehending him now, and 
 smiling, I assured him that we had not entered into the 
 speculation from a monetary point of view, but simply 
 to help him out of his scrape. 
 
 Jack, with an eye on Miss Bessie, reechoed my 
 sentiments. 
 
 "Wall," remarked the old man, "you're durned ac- 
 commodatin' young fellers, an' if ye ever cum to Cole- 
 brook cum an' see me. I live 'bout a mile this side of 
 the village." 
 
 We both accepted the invitation. Passing the reins 
 to his daughter, the old man fished under the seat and 
 drew out a half-gallon stone jug, and, giving it a shake, 
 said : — 
 
 " I suppose you fellers take a leetle sumthin' once in 
 
194 FKOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 a while, and we'll take a drink all round before we 
 leave." 
 
 I caught a pained expression flitting across Misa 
 Bessie's face, and saw that she looked troubled, and 
 like a streak of lightning the idea passed through my 
 brain that she did not want her father to drink. As 
 for me I had never drank intoxicating liquors, and did 
 not propose to begin then. I determined to play a trick 
 on the old fellow, that I felt would have the sympathy 
 of the young lady in the wagon. Taking the jug, I 
 remarked, " I suppose this is the real stuff; here's to 
 our better acquaintance." 
 
 I turned the jug up to my mouth ; but, just before 
 the liquor reached my lips, my foot slipped on a little 
 piece of ice in the road, and down went the jug, 
 striking against a rock, and was completely demol- 
 ished. 
 
 I cast a swift glance at Miss Bessie, and saw a re- 
 lieved smile light up her features, and then I ex- 
 claimed : — 
 
 " Great Scott ! But that was too bad. How could 
 I be so careless ! My foot slipped on that ice, and, 
 confound it ! I'm dry as a fish. I guess I shall have to 
 try brook water now ; " and I looked as solemn as the 
 circumstances warranted. 
 
 " Wall, don't feel so bad about it ; I don't see how 
 you could help it. I was a leetle dry myself, and I 
 can't git anything now till I git to Russell's, and the 
 stuff he keeps is enough to pizen a man." 
 
BAD NEWS. 195 
 
 Don't lay this up against me," I urged, as the old 
 man climbed into the wagon, and took the reins. 
 
 " Sartinly not. I don't see how ye could help it. 
 But I must be gittin' along. Good-by to ye." 
 
 We shook hands with the old man, as a reasonable 
 excuse for shaking hands with his daughter, and, bid- 
 ding them farewell, we picked up our things, including 
 the borrowed hammer. 
 
 As the old fellow drove off he took one last sniff of 
 the fumes that arose from the demoralized jug, and 
 cast a mournful look at its fragments. 
 
 We watched them a few moments, and saw that the 
 wagon was running all right, and then began our up- 
 ward climb. When we reached a turn of the road, 
 nearly at the top of the hill, which would take us out 
 of their sight, we halted a moment and looked after 
 them. 
 
 There was nearly half a mile of space between us, 
 but I saw a white speck fluttering in the air, which I 
 judged to be the young lady's handkerchief, and Jack 
 and I waved our hats in token of recognition. The 
 next moment the white speck had vanished, and Jack 
 and I turned the curve of the road, and that was the 
 last we saw of our chance acquaintances. 
 
 We stopped at the house where I had borrowed the 
 hammer, and returned that useful implement. The 
 farmer invited us to stop and have some dinner, saying 
 that it would be ready in half an hour ; but as we had 
 already lost nearly two hours, through our unexpected 
 
196 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 adventure, we declined with thanks, and continued our 
 way. 
 
 " That was rather a mean trick of yours, Captain," 
 remarked Jack, with a laugh, — " smashing the old fel- 
 low's jug of opedildoc." 
 
 "He is better off without it," I returned. 
 
 At noon we had passed the last of the houses on East 
 B Hill, and would not see another for the next three 
 miles, this distance being all through thick woods. 
 
 On the last upward hill that we had to climb before 
 reaching the Surplus, we stopped a few moments by a 
 little wayside brook, and partook of our luncheon, which 
 we washed down with the sparkling spring- water. 
 
 Near the top of this hill we came upon three par- 
 tridges in the middle of the road, and Jack shot two of 
 them. The cover in the vicinity was very favorable for 
 this fine bird, and if we could have stopped an hour or 
 two we would probably have made a good bag. 
 
 I was glad when we had passed the height of land, 
 and began the descent of the lono^ hill that brouorht us 
 in sight of the Surplus settlement, for we both began to 
 feel tired. As Jack had remarked, the road was nothing 
 but down-hill, and up-hill, and long hills at that. And 
 the miles were like the hills. 
 
 An old fellow once told me that the way they meas- 
 used the miles in that part of the country was to start 
 a fox-hound out at some given point, run him until he 
 dropped dead, and then call it a mile. I give this story 
 for what it is worth, and will not swear to its accuracy. 
 
BAD NEWS. 197 
 
 " Hurrah ! " cried Jack, as we swung around the last 
 bend in the hill ; "I can see the houses." 
 
 When we had reached Dunn's Notch, about seven 
 miles from the village, we met some Andover men, 
 who told us that they had heard the day before that 
 our boat was sunk. A lumberman who had come out 
 from the lakes had brought the news. 
 
 Startled and alarmed we asked for particulars, but 
 they could furnish us but a meagre account, adding, 
 however, that the steamer was entirely ruined, and 
 would not be worth the raising. 
 
 I did not take much stock in any such report as that, 
 for I knew the boat was thoroughly and substantially 
 built, and would stand a great deal of pounding before 
 being utterly ruined, and telling Jack that we had bet- 
 ter get to Andover in the quickest possible time we 
 started at a gait that would have given even a profes- 
 sional pedestrian some trouble to have kept up with 
 us. 
 
 "Stories of that kind always grow as they travel," 
 remarked Jack. " I don't believe more than half of it." 
 
 " Nor I either. But the sooner we get to the Upper 
 Dam the better, for, no matter what shape the boat is 
 in, she has laid just that way ever since the storm, and 
 we must get her out of the water, if possible, before 
 we have bad weather again." 
 
 "I think we shall have two or three good days 
 now," said my companion, glancing upward ; " the sky 
 looks hard." 
 
198 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 " Present indications are favorable, I acknowledge ; 
 but the weather in this country at this time of year 
 is * mighty onsartin,' as the darky said." 
 
 Talking became difficult while we were walking so 
 fast, and we strode on, each amusing himself by his 
 own thoughts, and mine anything but pleasant. 
 
 We reached Andover about four o'clock, and found 
 the report verified to a certain extent. We inquired 
 of the landlord of the hotel where we would be likely 
 to find the help we needed, and then went around the 
 village and engaged a crew of men to start with us for 
 the Upper Dam the next morning. 
 
 Some people seem to take a malicious pleasure in 
 throwing a man's misfortune in his face, and making 
 it out much worse than it really is. Several of the 
 people whom we met laughed at the idea of our ever 
 getting the steamer afloat again, and told me I had 
 better go home, as it would only be lost time to go to 
 the lake. They were sure that we could do nothing, 
 and seemed bound to make me believe it, if that were 
 possible. 
 
 I assured these " wise men of the east " that I should 
 not return to Boston until after I had visited the lakes, 
 and had no idea but what I could get the steamer 
 afloat again, and repair her in such a manner that she 
 would be as good as she was before. 
 
 When I thoucj^ht of what 1 had seen done to damao^ed 
 and wrecked vessels at home I almost laughed at the 
 view these fellows took of the accident. I knew, of 
 
BAD NEWS. 199 
 
 course, that there were no such facilities for doing the 
 work as there would have been in Boston harbor, but 
 I intended to make brains supply all other deficien- 
 cies. 
 
 I slept but very little that night, lying awake most 
 of the time, and thinking and planning how to raise the 
 boat and haul her out ; but I did not mind the loss of 
 sleep, for excitement took its place, and with the ap- 
 pearance of the first streaks of dawn Thursday morn- 
 ing I arose and went downstairs, and Jack soon fol- 
 lowed me. 
 
 When I entered the office I found one of the "char- 
 acters " of the village whom I had not seen the day 
 before. He accosted me with : — 
 
 " Good-morning, Cap'n. YouVe had hard luck with 
 your boat." 
 
 "Yes, but I am going up this morning and take her 
 out of the lake." 
 
 " Think ye can git her out ? " 
 
 "I know I can. 
 
 " Wall, some of the people 'round here said she was 
 entirely sp'ilt; but I knew better, an' told 'em so." 
 
 " There are a great many wise people in this town," 
 I rejoined. 
 
 "Yes, wise in their own conceit," remarked the old 
 man, laughing, and then added, "Jack go'in' up with 
 ye?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I should like ter go with ye, too, if I wan't eo old ; 
 
200 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 but you'll get her out if 1 du stay ter hum ; " and the 
 old man chuckled again. 
 
 " Of course we shall." 
 
 " Who's goin ter boss the job ?" 
 
 "I am. But I shall be willing to take advice." 
 
 "Shall ye, shall ye? Then ye'U git plenty of it. 
 Every man ye hire'U be loaded with it." 
 
 " So much the better, if it's the right kind," I an- 
 swered. 
 
 "Don't ye hav' too many bosses," shaking his head 
 from side to side as he spoke, and holding up the fore- 
 finger of his right hand by way of emphasis. " Too 
 many bosses spiles things." 
 
 The old man was becoming tiresome, and I was on 
 the point of taking French leave of him, when the break- 
 fast-bell rang, which gave me an excuse for getting out 
 of the room, and I gladly availed myself of it. 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 "Down came the stonn, and smote amain 
 The vessel in its strength; 
 She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed, 
 Then leaped her cable's length." — Longfellow. 
 
 THE WRECKED STEAMER. 
 
 WnrXTE had an early breakfast, and the 
 V V men we had hired all put in an 
 appearance at the hotel while we 
 were eating. We were obliged to go to 
 one place and another to pick up tools which I thought 
 would be needed, and it was eight o'clock before we 
 finally gained the lake road and started on our expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 On the way to the South Arm various measures were 
 proposed for raising the boat ; but, as no one in the 
 party had seen it since the accident, we finally con- 
 cluded that it was useless to try and make plans until 
 we knew the steamer's condition. 
 
 We beguiled the time during our ride with jokes and 
 stories, at some of which I laughed as heartily as any 
 one of the party, for hope had taken the place of fear 
 
202 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 in my heart, and I thought there was no use in crying 
 for spilled milk. 
 
 The road, owing to the recent storm, and the sum- 
 mer's teaming over it, was not in the best condition, 
 and when a wheel would occasionally drop into a mud 
 slough and spatter some unlucky wight it was a signal 
 for merriment. The unfortunate victim received no 
 sympathy whatever. 
 
 Occasionally one of the wheels thumped a stone that 
 might easily have been avoided, throwing us out of our 
 seats, and, in one case, nearly throwing us off the buck- 
 board, and then we would blackguard the driver, who 
 only laughed. 
 
 Our team was ahead, which gave the driver of the 
 buckboard behind us a chance to chaff our driver when- 
 ever he felt inclined, and his calls to our whip "to get 
 out of the road," or "to give him half the road," and "to 
 get out of the way, or he'd run over us," were frequent. 
 
 Our driver was abundantly able, however, to keep 
 up his end of the conversation, and the verbal sparring 
 between the two Jehus was quite amusing. Once in 
 a while he would start his horses on a trot, always 
 selecting the roughest part of the road, and his rival 
 was not slow to follow. 
 
 " I believe they mean to kill us before we get in 
 there," exclaimed Jack, who sat on the seat beside me. 
 
 " I guess we can stand it if they can," I replied," and, 
 besides, it will give us a good appetite for dinner." 
 
 We reached the lake at noon, and, after eating our 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 203 
 
 dinner, launched two boats, and headed for the Upper 
 Dam. The drivers wished us good luck as we left the 
 landing, and, bending to our oars, we were soon out of 
 sight of the teams. 
 
 The boats were well manned, and by spelling each 
 other frequently at the oars, we made rapid progress. 
 We raced all the way up the lower lake, sometimes 
 one boat leading, and then the other. The crews were 
 very equally matched, and it was impossible for either 
 boat to keep the lead all the time. This kind of row- 
 ing was tiresome, however, and when we reached the 
 lower end of the Narrows the racing stopped, and the 
 boats were pulled along near enough together to allow 
 conversing between the crews. 
 
 The lake was very low, and some of the rocks near 
 the channel were out of water. They were well known 
 to Jack and me, for the steamer had been aground on 
 about all of them at different times during the summer, 
 and some of them we had named. 
 
 Once or twice we had been out all night, having 
 stuck on a rock on our afternoon trip up, and not get- 
 ting off till the next day. Our boat was the first 
 steamer that had ever run on the lakes, and drew 
 nearly six feet of water, and this rocky place in the 
 Narrows — the " hop-bed " we sometimes called it — 
 had been a nuisance to us. 
 
 There was no chart of either of the lakes over which 
 we had run, and the knowledge the guides possessed as 
 to rocks, sand-bars, and shoals was nearly superficial. 
 
204 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 It might do for row-boats, but would not answer for a 
 steamboat. At the close of the season Jack or I, who 
 knew where the rocks were by actual experience, was 
 probably a better pilot than the oldest guide who visited 
 the lakes. The rise and fall of water caused by open- 
 ing and shutting the gates at the middle dam had also 
 troubled us greatly. 
 
 It was a splendid day for our work. The water was 
 as smooth as glass, not a breath of wind stirring, and 
 the air was as mild as in summer. How different from 
 the few days we had passed at Parmachenee ! 
 
 All of the men were disposed to do their best, and 
 about four o'clock we passed Camp Bellevue, and, skirt- 
 ing the shore, soon came in sight of the steamer, which, 
 instead of being sunk out of sight, as I had supposed 
 from the accounts received about the wreck, lay ca- 
 reened on her port side, in about six feet of water. 
 She had been thrown up quite near the shore on the 
 north side of the river. 
 
 The situation was so much better than I had expected 
 that I involuntarily cheered, as I beheld the steamer's 
 position. 
 
 Rowing up to her, we climbed over her starboard 
 side, which was all out of water, and began a general 
 survey. The standing-room, engine-room, and cabin 
 were partly filled with water, and we soon discovered 
 that there were two holes in her, but neither of them 
 very large. 
 
 "This is not so bad as it might be, Captain," said 
 
The Steamer as we Found Hek. 
 
THE WEEOKED STEAJklER. 207 
 
 Jack, who was closely inspecting the boat from bow to 
 stern. 
 
 "That is a fact. I am glad, to find matters no 
 worse." 
 
 The lower part of the rudder was unshipped, and 
 had been injured some by pounding against the rocks ; 
 but, so far as my observation went, she was not mate- 
 rially damaged, and I felt confident that, if the weather 
 held calm for the next twenty-four hours, I should have 
 her high and dry on land, where she would be safe for 
 the winter, and where by good rights she should have 
 been left in the first place. 
 
 The hull of the steamer was very heavily timbered 
 for a boat of her tonnage, and she was planked with 
 southern hard-pine, and thoroughly fastened, and I 
 saw from the way she lay that she could not have been 
 strained much. 
 
 Against my better judgment I had been persuaded to 
 leave the boat in the water, the persons who had ad- 
 vised me saying that the steamer would be better off in 
 the water than on shore during the winter, and that the 
 lake never froze where we had anchored the boat. So 
 far as ice was concerned this was all right ; but my 
 advisers had not taken into consideration the violent 
 squalls that, rushing down from between the mountains, 
 sweep the lake with terrible force, raising a sea that 
 would be no discredit to a body of salt water. These 
 thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, and I in- 
 wardlv vowed that this would be the last fall that I 
 
208 FEOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 would ever leave the steamer in the lake, a prey to the 
 violent winter gales, which are more severe than those 
 of the summer. 
 
 Taking Jack with me, I started up the tote road for 
 the Upper Dam Camp, first telling the men to employ 
 themselves to the best advantage they could during our 
 absence. 
 
 I found my friend McCard feeling very badly about 
 the accident, and willing to assist me in any way in his 
 power to rescue the steamer from her perilous situa- 
 tion. 
 
 He informed me that the gale had been terrible at 
 the Upper Dam, and described the sea as something 
 frightful on the day the steamer went ashore. He said 
 that he had gone down to the lake with some men, but 
 the waves rolled up on the shore so high that they 
 could do nothing. It had been the worst storm around 
 that vicinity that he had experienced for many years. 
 
 We spent but a few moments in talking, however, 
 and as soon as the oxen had been yoked to the cart, 
 and blocks, rigging, cant-dogs, axes, pails, and other 
 articles which I thought necessary for the work had 
 been loaded, we started at once for the mouth of the 
 river, where the steamer was lying. 
 
 As we bumped along over the road in the ox-cart I 
 laid out my plans, and jis soon as we had reached the 
 shore was ready to proceed with the work. 
 
 A large hawser was passed over the bow of the 
 steamer, and the bight was worked along under the 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 211 
 
 keel, until both ends of the line were opposite the en- 
 gine-room, and they were then tied together. 
 
 The blocks were now carried to a position opposite 
 the engine-room, and one was fastened to a large pine, 
 while the other was made fast to the hawser on the 
 steamer. 
 
 The running end of the rigging was next made fast 
 to the ring on the yoke of the oxen, and at a word from 
 me the teamster spoke encouragingly to his oxen, and, 
 bending their heads for the pull, the faithful animals 
 started. As they walked away the rope ran swiftly 
 through the blocks, growing tighter each moment, and 
 soon there was a perceptible strain on the steamer. 
 The driver " Ha Star-ed ! " and " Gee Buck-ed ! " to his 
 heart's content, the oxen pulled like elephants, and in 
 a few minutes the steamer was brought to an upright 
 position, with her main deck about a foot above 
 water. 
 
 Some shores were now set up under her on the star- 
 board side to prevent her careening in shore, and the 
 running line of the blocks was untied from the ox 
 yoke, and made fast to a tree, to prevent the boat going 
 back to her old position. 
 
 " Hurrah for our side ! " shouted Jack. " That is the 
 way to do it." 
 
 "Yes, sir," added Henry W. "We have her now 
 where she can't go back on us." 
 
 " We'll have her high and dry by to-morrow," said 
 George R. 
 
212 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 "All hands to the pump," sang out Will B. ; " let's 
 get the water out of her." 
 
 " I wouldn't begin to pump just yet," remarked Mr. 
 Somes, sarcastically ; " I don't think we have crew 
 enough to bail out the lake." 
 
 " Who said anything about bailing out the lake ? " 
 retorted Will. ^ 
 
 " The water will run into her as fast as we can 
 all throw it out, until the leaks are stopped ; " and 
 Mr. Somes looked at Will with an exasperating 
 smile. 
 
 " I did not think of that," added Will, and a laugh 
 was raised at his expense. 
 
 Two of the men now stripped and, going into the 
 hold and cabin of the boat, plugged the holes as well as 
 they could under the circumstances. All hands now 
 began bailing, and in an hour's time had relieved the 
 steamer of water to such an extent that she floated, and 
 we were able to get boards and canvas nailed over the 
 holes so tightly as to nearly stop the leaks in those 
 places. 
 
 Then we began bailing again, and kept at it until 
 there were only about ten inches of water in the hold, 
 which did not amount to anything. 
 
 " By gracious. Captain ! if this isn't a back-breaking 
 job then I don't know anything," remarked Jack, who 
 was bailinsc alono^side of me. 
 
 " It is tiresome work, and no mistake," I returned, 
 as I straightened up to rest my back. 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 213 
 
 " We have had mighty good luck with the work so 
 far ; this water is lowering fast." 
 
 "Yes, it is. The only thing that troubles me now 
 is the weather. If to-night and to-morrow are still 
 we shall finish this job all right." 
 
 " There is enough of the hard-pine planking left at 
 the Arm to fix those holes, Captain, and I think there 
 were boat-nails enough left also." 
 
 " I am glad of it. That part of the job will not be 
 very expensive, as it will not take a man a great while 
 to fit those pieces of plank in." 
 
 By this time it was so dark that we could not see to 
 work without lanterns, and as the weather yet had a 
 favorable look we stopped our labors for the night, 
 and went up to the camp, and soon, over a good supper, 
 were congratulating each other on the success already 
 attained. 
 
 Many were the hopes expressed that evening that 
 the next day would be calm, for if we could have the 
 lake still until noon by that time we hoped to have the 
 boat out of the water. The last thing I did before 
 retiring was to go out and take a look at the sky, and 
 at ten o'clock the indications were for a still morning, 
 if not a pleasant one. 
 
 At seven o'clock Friday morning we were at the 
 lake shore, and dividing the men into two crews ; the 
 largest one began work on the ways, under the direc- 
 tion of McCard, while the rest of the men and myself 
 went on board of the steamer. 
 
214 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 We found she had only made about four inches of 
 water during the night, which was encouraging, and 
 in a couple of hours' time we had her bailed dry, and 
 then cleaned out some of the ashes and dirt, which had 
 floated through every part of the boat while she lay 
 under water. 
 
 " The paint is about spoiled," said Jack, when we 
 had cleaned out the thickest of the dirt. " We can 
 give it a thorough cleaning after we get it out on the 
 ways, and next spring she will need about three coats 
 of paint inside." 
 
 " Yes, she'll need thorough painting, and after she is 
 repaired and painted nobody would ever know she was 
 wrecked. She won't show it any when she goes into 
 the water again." 
 
 " I wish we had a long chain cable to put around 
 her for the oxen to hitch to. I am afraid our rope 
 will break. There is going to be a fearful strain on it. 
 This boat is awful heavy." 
 
 "If it breaks we shall have to mend it and try 
 again." 
 
 As the ways on which we were to pull her out were 
 not yet finished, we joined forces with the other crew, 
 and by ten o'clock we had them entirely done. 
 
 We had selected the most favorable spot on the 
 shore for the ways, where the land made the most even 
 elope to the water. The ways were built of spruce and 
 fir logs, and were about sixty feet long, extending into 
 the water about eight feet. In construction the logs 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 215 
 
 had been placed about six feet apart ; across these ties 
 nearly a foot through were laid, and let into the long 
 logs, or side timbers, to which they were fastened 
 securely with two-inch pins. On top of these ties the 
 bilge timbers were placed. These were the sticks the 
 boat would slide on in coming out of the water, and 
 rest on during the winter, and they had to be hewed 
 very smooth. We had placed poles across the lower 
 ends of the timbers in the water, and weighted them 
 with stones to make the steamer rise easier on the 
 bilge timbers when she left the water. 
 
 A large cable was now passed completely around the 
 steamer, going under the wheel and forward of the 
 rudder at the stern, and the two ends were fastened 
 at the bow. 
 
 The boat was towed around to the ways, which 
 extended far enough into the water to give a depth of 
 six feet at the outer end. Two poles had been pinned 
 on the centre of the ways to guide the keel, and these 
 ran parallel with the bilge timbers. If we could have 
 built a cradle it would have been much easier, but as 
 we did not have time for that we did the best we could 
 under the circumstances. 
 
 The blocks and rigging were now attached to the 
 hawser around the steamer, and, all things being in 
 readiness, the oxen gave a pull. The boat came out of 
 the water thirty feet at the first trial, and this brought 
 the blocks together. 
 
 " By gracious, Tom ! — that was a good pull," sang 
 
216 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 out Will B. as the blocks struck. "It won't take 
 many more like that." 
 
 " You're right, it was. I tell you that's a good pair 
 of cattle. But this pull is the easiest. We shall get 
 more dead weight the second pull, and it'll be a 
 miracle if some of the rigging don't break." 
 
 "It looks as if the wind was going to blow this 
 afternoon, Captain," remarked George R. to me, and 
 pointing off to the north-west, where the clouds were 
 floating up from behind the mountains. 
 
 " Let it blow," I returned. " In an hour it will not 
 trouble us any. This boat will be high and dry in a 
 short time." 
 
 " Yes, we'll soon have her out now ; we've had mighty 
 good luck over the job, and I'm glad of it." 
 
 The oxen were then backed up, and the blocks over- 
 hauled for another pull. The second trial was not as 
 successful as the first, for, after the whole weight of the 
 steamer came upon the rigging, the hawser was cut in 
 two by the block hook, and we had to repair damages 
 and try it again. 
 
 Before they tried another pull, I climbed on board the 
 steamer and found some old pieces of canvas. These I 
 brought out and wound around the hawser where the 
 hook caught hold of it, so as to prevent it cutting 
 again. 
 
 " That is just the thing, Captain," said the teamster ; 
 "it will be a great help to the rigging." 
 
 Jack had taken the slush-kettle and was putting 
 
THE WRECKED STEAJ^IER. 217 
 
 more grease on the bilge timbers, so the boat would 
 run easier. 
 
 " That is what will make her run easy," remarked 
 Henry W. ; " put on plenty of it, Jack.'' 
 
 " You come here, and I'll put some on you, and see 
 if it will make you run easy ; " and Jack laughed, as he 
 continued with his labor. 
 
 " You can't spare any ; you'll need it all for the 
 steamer," retorted Henry. 
 
 After three more trials the boat had been hauled out 
 far enough to be safe from ice in the winter, and the 
 high water in the spring, and it was just noon, and 
 consequently' dinner-time, when w^e knocked off work 
 and started for the camp, after giving three rousing 
 cheers for the successful accomplishment of our work. 
 As we were turning away, one of the men descried 
 somethinof swimmino^ across the lake. 
 
 We all stopped to see what the animal was. It was 
 heading toward the shore about quarter of a mile above 
 us, and was within perhaps three-quarters of a mile 
 from land when Mr. Somes first saw it. 
 
 "It's a loon," laughed Ned R. 
 
 " So is your granny a loon," returned Jack, scorn- 
 fully. " It's not a bird, it's an animal ; I should think 
 you could see that if you had any eyes." 
 
 " It's a deer," said Horace, who, with his hands 
 doubled up, had been looking at the object through 
 them carefully. 
 
 "It's a squirrel, I guess," suggested George R. with 
 
218 FKOM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 a wink at me. As the animal, whatever it might be, 
 was rapidly decreasing the distance between us, we 
 should soon be able to tell more about it. 
 
 We watched it for a few moments longer, keeping 
 up a running fire of remarks all the time, and then Mr. 
 Somes electrified us all by shouting, " It's a bear ! 
 it's a bear ! — that's what it is, and I say let's go for 
 him, and hurry up, before he gets ashore." 
 
 Dinner was no longer an object of interest for 
 us, and all our thoughts centred on the bear. 
 There were no fire-arms among us ; but hastily seizing 
 the axes, cant-dogs, and other available weapons, we 
 started for the point where the bear was heading, 
 keeping far enough back in the woods to be out of 
 sight of Bruin, who was making good head-way. 
 
 A slight westerly wind had sprung up within the 
 last hour, and this was in our favor, as it blew from 
 the bear toward us, and he would not be so likely to 
 scent us. 
 
 It was a go-as-you-please race, and running, jump- 
 ing, scrambling over large boulders, and forcing our 
 way through a thick growth, we persevered until we 
 were opposite of where the bear was coming out of 
 the water. 
 
 We were just in time, and met him at the edge of 
 the woods. It was an old fellow, a he-bear, and one 
 of the largest black bears that I have ever seen. I 
 had only a pick-pole with me, as the other men had 
 taken all the axes and cant-dogs. The bear did not 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 221 
 
 seem to be particularly afraid of the crowd, but stood 
 on all four legs, watching us narrowly. 
 
 " Stir him up with your pick-pole," shouted Jack, 
 with a laugh. 
 
 Thus advised, I made a jab at his nose, but did not 
 hit him, for the reason that witli one blow of his paw 
 he sent my weapon spinning a dozen feet away, and I 
 did not dare to recover it. Then Ned R. made a pass 
 at him with a cant-dog, but Bruin served him exactly 
 as he had me, and knocked it out of his hands. Then 
 he started into the woo(^s. 
 
 This was a bad move on Bruin's part, for the crowd 
 was so near hiin that, as he turned tail to us, the men 
 closed in on him, and gave him some ugly wounds 
 from the rear. With an angry growl he turned and 
 faced us, and, making a sweeping blow with one of his 
 fore-paws, he spoiled Henry W.'s breeches, besides 
 scratching his leg badly. It was funny the way Henry 
 took to the rear ; he did not need any help. 
 
 " What's your hurry, Henry?" shouted Horace. 
 
 " Wait till I tell you," growled Henry. 
 
 "Don't you want some pins, Henry?" called Jack, 
 laughing. 
 
 " You'll have to go to the tailor's for repairs, 
 Henry," added Ned R. 
 
 " I guess I shall need a needle and thread as soon 
 as I get to camp," replied Henry, ruefully, with a 
 glance at his dilapidated pants. 
 
 " You had all better let Henry alone," advised Mr. 
 
222 FROM LAKE TO LAKE. 
 
 Somes, " and keep a sharp eye on the bear, or some 
 of you may come out of this fight with something 
 worse than a scratched leg." ♦ 
 
 "I wish I had a rifle," said Jack. 
 
 " Go up to the camp, and get Tom's," suggested 
 Horace. 
 
 Bruin now stood up on his hind-legs, and showed his 
 teeth in a manner that suggested business, while Ned 
 and I recovered our weapons. 
 
 "Try him with the pick-pole again. Captain," sug- 
 gested Will B. 
 
 " Make an attack on him in front, and I will punch 
 him from behind," I answered. 
 
 "We will take up his attention," said George R. 
 and the crowd shouted and threw sticks and stones 
 at him, while I crept carefully behind him. Once in 
 position, I lowered my pick-pole, and made a lunge at 
 him with all my strength, and drove the pick into him 
 a couple of inches. He did not like that fun, however, 
 and he turned towards me, breaking the pole in halves, 
 and made a rush for me. I did not wait to cultivate 
 his acquaintance, and left with all the speed I was 
 capable of making. 
 
 Lucky for me, especially in this instance, that I 
 was blessed with long legs, and they were of the kind 
 that would not stand quietly still and see my body 
 abused. In my reckless haste, however, I did not 
 notice much where I was going, and I struck a pros- 
 trate tree, that made me go over about as quick as 
 
THE WRECKED STEAMER. 223 
 
 ever I did in my life, and when I picked myself up I 
 had a lump on my forehead about the size of a hen's 
 
 A shout of laughter arose from the rest of the party, 
 as they noticed my undignified fall, and three or four 
 jokes were hurled at me, that I felt in no humor to 
 answer. 
 
 " Confound the bear ! " I muttered, feeling of the 
 bunch on my forehead ; " I wish he was on the other 
 side of the lake." 
 
 As Bruin turned toward me the crowd pressed in 
 on him and attacked him from behind, and this time 
 the fellows disabled him before he could turn back on 
 them. As Bruin fell to the ground Horace succeeded 
 in striking him in the head with an axe, and after that 
 the men soon killed him. Then some of them cut 
 down a young maple, and Jack ran back to the steamer 
 and found some small rope. 
 
 When he returned the bear's legs were tied together, 
 and, running the pole between them lengthway of his 
 body, we took turns in carrying him up to camp. As 
 soon as we reached the house we weighed him, and he 
 pulled down three hundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 Before Tom announced his weight there had been 
 a good deal of guessing over it, and the cook had pro- 
 posed that we make a pool, everybody putting in ten 
 cents, and the one who guessed nearest right to take 
 the money. 
 
 A few hesitated at this ; but the force of example 
 
224 FROM LAICE TO LAKE. 
 
 was 80 strong that all hands finally came in but Tom, 
 who did the weighing, and the contributions amounted 
 to one dollar and fifty cents. 
 
 I was quite certain that I should not be the one to 
 take the pool, for I was unaccustomed to guessing at 
 the weight of animals, and in fact my guess was the 
 wildest of any one in the party with but one exception. 
 
 Henry W. was the lucky fellow, who guessed three 
 hundred and forty-eight pounds, and took the money. 
 
 Then all hands took hold and helped to skin and 
 dress the carcass, and Tom cut him up. We had bear- 
 steaks for dinner, supper, and breakfast, for we did not 
 leave until the next morning. 
 
 I had ordered the teams to come in after us the 
 second day, and about eight o'clock we started for the 
 Arm, which we reached at half-past eleven, and at four 
 o'clock were in Andover. 
 
 I saw Mr. French that night, and arranged to have 
 him go up that winter and repair the steamer, which 
 he did in a most thorough manner, and the next morn- 
 ing I left for Boston. And thus ended my trip from 
 Lake to Lake. 
 
SPECIAL NOTICES. 34;j 
 
 NEW ILLUSTEATKD SERIES. 
 
 THE "LAKE AND FOREST SERIES," 
 
 By Capt. Charles A. J. Farrar, author of " Camp 
 Life in the Wilderness," " Moosehead Lake and the 
 North Maine Wilderness, Illustrated," "The Andro- 
 scoggin Lakes, Illustrated," etc., etc. 
 
 The first volume of this fascinating series of Forest 
 and Lake Adventures, entitled "EASTWARD HO! 
 or, ADVENTURES AT RANGELEY LAKES," is 
 now in its second edition. Published by Lee & 
 Shepard, Boston; Chas. T. Dillingham, New York, 
 and can be procured from any bookseller in the 
 United States or Canada, or will be sent by mail 
 
 post paid, by addressing Jamaica Publishing Com- 
 pany, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Price, $1.25. 
 
 The second volume, entitled "WILD WOODS 
 LIFE ; or, A TRIP TO PARMACHENEE," uniform 
 in size and style with "Eastward Ho!" is selling 
 equally well. Price, $1.25. 
 
 The third volume, entitled "DOWN THE WEST 
 BRANCH; or, CAMPS AND TRAMPS AROUND 
 KATAHDIN," uniform in size and style with the 
 others, is now ready. Price, $1.25. 
 
SPECIAL NOTICES. 
 
 Second Edition. 
 CAMP LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 A story of sporting and adventures at the Rangeley Lakes, by 
 Charles A. J. Farrar. 224 pages, paper cover, 12 illustrations. 
 Price, 60 cents. Cloth, $1.00. 
 
 Tliis is a delightful story of life in the woods, and has all the 
 breezy freshness of an out-door narrative. The author is per- 
 fectly familiar with all the places and incidents mentioned in the 
 book, and a twelve years* experience in the Lake Country gives an 
 additional interest to Mr. Farrar's writings. A few notices of the 
 Press are appended below : — 
 
 " Mr. Farrar has been a frequent contributor to the Forest 
 and Stream, and our readers are already familiar with his pleas- 
 ant style of narrating woodland adventures. The pages will 
 recall to those visiting the Rangeley Lakes many pleasant days 
 spent there, and those who contemplate visiting the wilds will 
 find in Mr. Farrar's book much practical and useful informa- 
 tion."— Forg5< aw-ci Stream, Feb. 13, 1879. 
 
 " * Camp Life in the Wilderness ' gives a lively and entertain- 
 ing description of a visit of eight gentlemen, of whom the author 
 was one, to the region of the lakes, and it preaches just the kind 
 of sermon which every tired, overworked man should read as 
 the summer months advance." — Attlehoro' (Mass.) Advocate, May 
 3, 1879. 
 
 *' This is a very pleasing recital of the experiences and adven- 
 tures of a trip from Boston to the Richardson Lakes. It will 
 please every one familiar with the localities described to find 
 them so faithfully reproduced, while all those who contemplate 
 a visit to that beautiful resort should by all means before starting 
 out gain possession of the hints on camp life and kindred topics 
 which the book contains." — Portland Eastern Argus, May 5, 1879. 
 
 " The book takes the form of a narrative, describing the actual 
 experiences of a party of pleasure-seekers, with numerous illus- 
 trations — sure to whet the appetite for the text. The Richard- 
 son Lakes region is fast becoming popular as a wilderness resort 
 — and has all the advantages of the Adirondacks, with the added 
 one of being much more accessible." — Springfield Daily Union, 
 May 7, 1879. 
 
 *' 'Camp Life in the Wilderness' relates the experiences of a 
 party of Boston gentlemen during a summer vacation in the Range- 
 ley Lake Region. The author tells these pleasantly in what he 
 terms a ' story.' The book will interest more those familiar with 
 its scenes, of which it gives a good description." — Boston Sat- 
 urday Evening Gazette, May 3, 1879. 
 
 Can be obtained at any bookstore, or will be sent by mail, post- 
 paid, on receipt of price, by Jamaica Publishing Company, 
 Jamaica Plain, Mass. 
 
354 SPECIAL NOTICES. 
 
 Paper, 60 cents. Cloth, $1.00. 
 
 FARRAR'S 
 
 Illustrated Guide 
 
 RAKGELEY 
 
 Richardson Lakes, 
 
 CONNECTICUT, 
 
 PARMACHENEE AND KENNEBAGO LAKES, 
 
 AMD THX HXADWATXKS Or THX 
 
 Conneclicut, Maplloway & Androscogp Rivers, 
 
 DIXVILLE NOTCH, 
 
 AND 
 
 ANDOVER, MAINE, AND VICINITY. 
 
 With 60 fuU-page Illustrations, and the best map of the L»ke Region 
 ever made. Handsomely bound in illuminated paper covers. 
 
 May be obtained at any Bookstore, or will be sent by mail, postage paid on 
 receipt of price, by 
 
 Jamaica Publishing Company, 
 
 JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. 
 
SPECIAL NOTICES. 355 
 
 Paper Edition, 50 Cents. Cloth Edition, $1.00. 
 
 FARRAR'S 
 
 TO 
 
 MOOSEHEAD LAKE 
 
 AND THB 
 
 North Maine Wilderness, 
 
 ALSO, THE 
 
 KATAHDIH IROK-WORKS AND THE 
 
 GUIxF, THE MOHSOK PONDS, 
 
 IxAKE CNAWAY, SEBEC 
 
 LAKE, &G. 
 
 A thorough and exhaustive guide to the sporting resorts of 
 Northern Maine. The country around GreenviUe, and Moose- 
 head, and Sebec Lakes, Katahdin Iron-Works, the tours of the 
 
 KENNEBEC, PENOBSCOT, and ST. JOHN RIVERS, 
 
 Ascent of Katahdin, etc., are plainly treated. Contains the latest 
 revised Game and Fish Laws of Maine, besides a large amount 
 of other valuable information, and a large and correct map of 
 the northern half of Maine, comprising about all of the wild 
 lands. 
 
 256 pages. 36 illustrations. 
 
 May be obtained at any bookstore, or will be sent by mail, 
 postage paid, on receipt of price, by 
 
 JAMAICA PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 Jamaica Plain, Mass. 
 
CDtlBBSSlD 
 
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