Three Boys in the Wild North Land Part 6

To the boys there was not in these beautiful visions in the heavens anything that portended a storm, and they were somewhat disappointed when told that in all probability there would be but little hunting for perhaps some days. While this was not pleasant news, they willingly fell to work and did their share in removing to the place appointed.

They were very much interested to see how skillfully the Indians cut poles, and, taking the oilcloths from the canoes, improvised a watertight roof over a "lean-to," as they called it, against the storm that they said would soon be on them from a certain point indicated.

Large dry logs were cut and rolled into position to make a fire in the front of this improvised tent, under which they would have to find shelter. Kettles, food, and blankets were brought up to this camp, and then the canoes were carried to a sheltered spot and turned over and fastened down with heavy logs and stones.

Very busily were the men employed, and yet more rapid were the changes that were taking place in the heavens above and around them. One by one the circles with the mock suns disappeared. Dark clouds began to arise up in the north-west horizon, and rapidly they came up in the heavens.

Vivid flashes of lightning were seen and the rumbling thunder was heard from the rapidly darkening clouds all around. The birds that had been singing now seemed to fly off to dense coverts, and uttered only frightened cries. A dense, stuffy sensation seemed to be in the air, and there for a few moments every sound was hushed, and a calm, the most profound and ominous, seemed to fall upon the whole face of nature. Not a blade of gra.s.s or a tall reed in the marshy places near the sh.o.r.e made the slightest movement. Nature was absolutely still. It was the dead, weird quiet before the awful hurricane; the quietude of death before the elemental war.

Only for a short time did it last, and to judge by the feverish haste with which the Indians, under Mr Ross's stern orders, worked, it was evident they knew the danger of this ominous calm, and what would speedily follow. Large logs were piled up as a barrier behind the improvised tent, while every rope available was used to tie down the poles which held up the roof of canvas and oilcloth. Poles were lashed across the top, and tied down with the fis.h.i.+ng nets, which had to do as subst.i.tutes for something better. Guns were well wrapped up in the oilcloth covers, and, with the axes, were placed at a distance from the camp.

"Get under cover, and hold on to something fixed and strong!" shouted Mustagan, who had been on the lookout, and saw that the storm was close at hand.

And it _was_ a storm! A strange greenish appearance came into the north-west sky, and then suddenly there was heard and seen the oncoming tornado. The clouds that during the calm had apparently become motionless in the heavens for a time suddenly became strangely broken and twisted, and then, as though impelled by some irresistible impulse, started with a speed that seemed incredible on their wild career. There seemed to roll up before them the strange green colour in the sky, which now appeared like a great monster on the crest of the coming clouds.

Blacker, denser, and darker, on they came. Far away the sound of the storm could be heard, while now the forked lightnings and peals of thunder were almost incessant.

Crouching under the shelter was our party. Mr Ross and the three boys were in the centre, while the stalwart Indians took the outside positions, each man with a grip of iron upon the poles and canvas.

Very strange and very different were the sensations of the boys. "This is glorious!" said Alec, who had often, with his Highland friends, been caught in storms amid the hills of his beloved Scotland.

"Wait until it is over," said the other boys, "and then we will tell you whether it is 'glorious' or not."

"Hold on!" shouted Mr Ross. For, in almost an instant, a dark as like as midnight was on them, broken only by a vivid flash of lightning, while the very ground seemed to shake under the awful thunder. Then the storm in all its fury was upon them. How they escaped seemed a miracle.

Great trees all around them were bent and twisted and broken, and went down in scores, until the air seemed full of the falling trunks and branches. Large branches fell upon the frail roof under which they were sheltered, but fortunately, while some holes were made, none of them were large enough to break through or injure them, and those that did fall on them were really a benefit, as they helped to hold down the canvas over them.

Fortunately these tornadoes are not of long duration. With a speed of perhaps over a hundred miles an hour they sweep along with irresistible power in their wild career.

Their fury is soon spent, and years may pa.s.s ere they occur again. As a very heavy fall of rain immediately followed this hurricane or tornado, our party were obliged to remain under their frail tent, which, in spite of the fury of the winds, thanks to the strong arms of the Indians, skillfully directed by Mustagan, had been kept from being blown away.

However, some of the larger branches that had fallen upon it had pierced the roof in some places, and now, like out of a huge funnel, about a gallon of water suddenly struck Alec on the back of the neck, and caused him to change his position, while he fairly howled from the suddenness of the dousing.

"Is that sousing 'glorious,' Alec?" asked Frank, who was doing his best to dodge the little streams that through some other rents were trying to reach him.

"Well, no, not exactly," was Alec's answer;--"this beats anything I ever saw or heard of in the Highlands; and now that the worst is over I would not have missed such a thing for a good deal."

"What do you think of it, Sam?" said Frank.

Sam had cuddled down between Mr Ross and Mustagan, and, at the advice of the latter, had taken the precaution to double up a blanket like a shawl and throw it over his head and shoulders. Very little wet had reached him, yet he had to confess that he had been terrified by this storm, which had excelled any dozen ever witnessed before in his life.

"Think of it!" said, he; "faith, I have just been thinking which is the worst, being chased by a fierce old bear or frightened out of a year's growth by a tornado. Next time, if I am to choose between the two, I'll tackle the bear."

This answer caused a hearty laugh, and even the Indians, who had remained so quiet, yet alert to watch for any change in the storm, smiled at it and exchanged significant glances, and said that the boy would yet redeem himself.

After a time the rain ceased, the blue sky appeared, and the sun shone out again. But what a change met their gaze as they came out from under their quickly improvised tent and wandered about! The beautiful forests seemed about ruined. In one direction, like as though a great reaper had gone through a splendid meadow, and cut clean to the ground a great swath of gra.s.s, so had this cyclone gone through the forest. In the centre of its path, not a tree had been left standing. Every one had gone down before this irresistible force. Fortunately it had swerved a little to the right as it pa.s.sed by our friends, or they would not have escaped so well. As it was, great trees had fallen all around, and it was a providential escape that had been theirs, and for this they were more than grateful as they saw by investigation more and more of the fury displayed by the effects of the tempest as it pa.s.sed. The spot where the canoes had been hid away was, of course, one of the first to which their steps were directed. A great tree had fallen across one of them, that had not been placed low enough in the hollow between the rocks, and it was so crushed and broken as to be absolutely worthless.

The others, however, had escaped, and were none the worse of the storm, although fallen trees were all around them.

Blankets, supplies, and other things were overhauled, and everything that had caught the rain was soon drying in the warm sun, which was now smiling serenely upon them. The mock suns, or "sun dogs," as they were commonly called, all disappeared with the storm of which they seemed to have been the harbinger. Beautiful as had been their appearance, the boys all agreed that if their coming was to be so speedily followed by such a storm they would gladly dispense with them in the future; nor did they see them again until when, in the depth of winter, they showed up in their weird splendour and heralded forth a blizzard storm which played its wild pranks upon the boys most thoroughly. But we must not antic.i.p.ate.

Mr Ross and the Indians quickly s.h.i.+fted the camp to a pleasant place.

A fire was kindled and a hot meal was cooked and eaten, and then there was a consultation as to the future. One canoe was destroyed; could the whole party go in the other two, or had they better return to Sagasta- weekee? Mr Ross was anxious to hear whether the cyclone had done any damage at home, although he had not much fear, for it had apparently come from another direction. However, it was eventually decided that three of the Indians should return home, and bring along with them another canoe, as well as news from the home. They were also to call at the camp to take home the bear's robe and meat, which had been cached in the ground as we have described. Very soon were they ready to start, and, to the surprise of Mr Ross, Alec asked to be permitted to go with them. This request was readily granted, and soon in one canoe, with their four paddles at work, they were speeding along at a great rate.

They pushed on without stopping, until they began to round the point of a narrow tongue of land, which would bring them into full view of their camp, although it was still some hundreds of yards away. The instant the point was turned and the distant camping place came into view the Indian in the front of the canoe suddenly ducked down his head and whispered a sharp, quick "Hist!" and at once arrested the forward movement of the boat. Noiselessly and quickly was the canoe paddled back out of sight.

"What is the matter?" said Alec, who was surprised by the suddenness of this quick retrograde movement and of the quiet, suppressed excitement of the Indians.

"Wolverine!" was the only word he heard, which was whispered from one Indian to the other. The utterance of this one word made Alec no wiser until one of the men, who understood a little English, said, "Wolverine find the camp; smell the meat; dig him up; carry him away; we kill him."

This was no easy matter, as the wolverine is, without exception, the most cunning animal in the woods. He far outstrips in this respect the fox or wolf or bear. What these Indians were going to do must be done quickly. The first thing was to see that their guns were well-loaded with bullets. The next was to find out if his quick eyes had seen them when for the few seconds they must have been visible when they rounded the point. The wind was in their favour, as it was blowing from him to them. The oldest of the crew was appointed the leader, the rest were to follow his directions. First of all he quietly went ash.o.r.e, and, noiselessly crawling through the underbrush across the point, he was able to see that the wolverine was still at work. It was evident that he had not the slightest suspicion that his enemies, the hunters, were near him. Returning to the canoe from this inspection, the leader gave orders that they were to paddle back into the deep bay so that there would be a possibility of their landing and getting in behind him, as their old camp which he was robbing was close to the sh.o.r.e.

Very noiselessly and yet rapidly did they hurry back, and then as quietly as possible they landed at a suitable spot. It was here decided that three of them, with their guns, should try and get into the rear of the camp, while Alec, who had not yet the ability to travel with the speed and quietness here essential to success, was to take his place just across the neck of land where, with his gun, he could command the sh.o.r.e if the wolverine, disturbed by those in the rear, should attempt to escape over the rocks in that direction. Before leaving, the leader said to Alec:

"Do not fire until you see the whites of his eyes, and then hit him, if possible, between them; or, if it is a side shot, strike him behind the foreshoulders."

Alec was excited, but he soon conquered his nervousness, and prepared to play his part as well as possible. His instructions were to wait for a few minutes ere he began to crawl to his a.s.signed position. He thus had an opportunity of witnessing the cleverness and alertness of the three Indians starting on their critical work. Making a deep detour, they were soon out of sight in the forest, without making as much noise as the breaking of a single twig beneath their moccasined feet. More like phantoms they seemed, as so quietly they flitted away. When he thought it was time for him to move he began, Indian-like, to advance to his a.s.signed position, imitating as far as possible the movements he had witnessed in the Indians. To his great satisfaction, he reached the designated spot without any trouble.

Carefully looking over the rocks and through some underbrush, he was able to see, through a pocket telescope which he fortunately had with him, the busy wolverine still at work. Very interesting it was to watch him, even if it meant the destruction of all the meat. The wolverine is about as large as a first-cla.s.s retriever dog. His legs, though short, are exceedingly muscular, and he has quite a bushy tail. These animals are very powerful, and in breaking into an Indian's "cache" can remove logs and stones much larger and heavier than one man can lift. They are very destructive when they find a "cache" of this description. They not only have an enormous capacity for devouring the meat cached by the Indians, but they will carry away, and cunningly hide, large quant.i.ties.

Over the whole they emit an odour so pungent and so disagreeable, that neither hungry Indians nor starving dogs will touch it. The Indians simply detest the wolverine on account of its thievish propensities and its great cunning. There is always great rejoicing when one is killed.

As Alec, through his telescope, watched the mischievous, busy animal he became very much interested in his movements. He was amazed at the strength which enabled him to dig out from the ground a hindquarter of the bear and easily carry it away to another place, where he cunningly hid it. His next effort, which much amused Alec, was to take the bear's skin in his mouth and attempt to climb up into a tree that he might hide it among the branches. It was laughable to see the skin slipping under his feet, and thus causing him to lose his grip, so that, with it, he fell heavily to the ground. Failure, however, was not in his vocabulary. Again and again he seized the robe in his mouth, and endeavoured to carry the awkward thing up that tree. But, alas for him, his very determination proved his destruction. So absorbed had he become in his efforts to succeed that he was, for once in his life, caught off his guard. The three Indians had succeeded in getting behind him, and had thus cut off his retreat into the forest. The first consciousness he had of his enemies was when three simultaneous shouts, from different parts of the forest behind him, told him of his danger.

Cunning as he was, the Indians had clearly outwitted him. They knew that the loud shouts from different parts at the same time was about the only way by which he could be puzzled, and this plan they had successfully adopted.

For an instant only he waited, and then, as rapidly as possible, he started along the only route that seemed open to him, which was the one from which no sound had come. This was the way that led him exactly in the direction where Alec was waiting for him. This was what the Indians were antic.i.p.ating. Their hope was that Alec would make the successful shot; then, even if he failed, so narrow was the tongue of land on which the wolverine was running that they felt that by spreading out they had him so securely hedged in that it would be impossible for him to escape.

In the meantime Alec had been watching him through his gla.s.s, until there fell upon his ears the shouts of the Indians. When he saw the effect upon the wolverine he was amused at the sudden change. While busy robbing the "cache" he seemed the monarch of all he surveyed, by his saucy appearance. Now he looked and acted as a craven coward, whose one thought was in reference to his escape. Alec, watching him, saw him spring upon a fallen log, and for an instant look in different directions toward the deep forest. The prospect did not seem to satisfy him, for, springing down, he at once began his journey directly toward where Alec was in hiding. When Alec saw this movement, he quickly put up his telescope, and, seizing his gun, prepared for his opportunity.

It was fortunate that the distance over which the wolverine had to travel was considerable, as it enabled Alec to get his nerves steady and his hands firm. When the wolverine had come about half the distance his cunning suspiciousness seemed to return, and, fearing some danger ahead, he stopped and acted as though he would like to retrace his steps and try some other plan. Fortunately for Alec, the wind was still blowing toward him, and so the wolverine had not caught his scent. While thus halting and undecided about his movements he was startled by another shout, which told him that his retreat was cut off, and so he quickly resumed his journey. Knowing the cleverness of these animals, Alec had taken his position behind a rock, and there, with trigger drawn back, he awaited his oncoming.

"Wait until you can see the white of his eyes," had been his instructions, and faithfully did he obey.

With his strange, slouching gait, along came the treacherous, cunning brute until he reached a point where he stood fairly exposed on the lower one of some steplike rocks. With eye keen and nerve firm, Alec stepped out from behind his cover, and ere the animal could get over the start of his sudden appearance the report of the gun rang out and the wolverine fell dead, struck by the bullet fairly and squarely between the eyes.

Alec's shout of triumph brought the Indians to him on the run, and they, in their quiet way, congratulated him on doing what but few white hunters have ever done--he had had the honour of shooting one of the largest wolverines that had been killed in the country for a long time.

While one of the Indians hurried across the tongue of land for the canoe and paddles it around to the camp, the rest of the party dragged the dead wolverine back to the scene of his depredations. Here they had an opportunity of seeing the destructiveness of this animal. Every pound of meat had been removed from the "cache," and so cunningly hid away that not one piece could be found except the one which Alec had seen him hide as he watched him through his telescope, and this piece was so permeated by the offensive odour that it was worthless. Fortunately, the bearskin was none the worse for its overhauling. While waiting for the coming of the canoe the men set to work and speedily skinned the wolverine. The fur is not very valuable, but, to encourage the Indians to do all they can to destroy them, as they are so destructive on hunters' traps as well as supplies, the Hudson Bay Company always gives a good price for their pelts.

A few hours' paddling brought them to Sagasta-weekee. Here they found all well. Fortunately, the cyclone had pa.s.sed some miles to the west of them, and so they had escaped its fury. Hunters, however, had come in who had been exposed to its power, and had some exciting tales to tell of narrow escapes and strange adventures.

Mrs Ross had become alarmed when, from some Indians, she had learned that the march of the cyclone, was in the direction, in which Mr Ross and his party had gone. She was pleased and delighted to welcome Alec, and to hear from him and the Indians the story of their deliverance and escape from accidents during the great storm.

The skins of the bear and wolverine were opened out and much admired, and then handed over to some clever Indian women to carefully dress for their home-going. The story of Sam's race from the bear very much amused them all. Nothing, however, so much delighted the Indian hunters who gathered in as the destruction of that old wolverine. It seems that same fellow had haunted that region of country for some years, destroying traps, robbing fish scaffolds and meat "caches," and playing with all the steel traps that the cleverest hunters could set for him.

Now, however, his reign was over, and here was his hide--and a big one it was. Alec was the hero, and, although he modestly disclaimed all the honour except the first-cla.s.s shot, the Indians were very proud of him, and showed it in various expressive ways.

Three Boys in the Wild North Land--by Egerton Ryerson Young

CHAPTER NINE.

MONTREAL POINT--THE GOVERNOR AND THE IROQUOIS--THE HERD OF DEER--OMINOUS SOUNDS--PACKS OF WOLVES--THE FIERCE BATTLE--WELCOME REINFORCEMENTS--THE VICTORY--PLAYING "POSSUM".

As Mr Ross was anxious to get news from Sagasta-weekee and hear how his family and home had fared during the cyclone, Alec and the Indians started on their return trip early the next morning, taking with them a new canoe to replace the one that had been destroyed by a falling tree.

They tarried not on the way, except to shoot a few ducks that were directly in their route. The result was they arrived early in the forenoon at the Old Fort, and were glad to bring the good news that all were well at Sagasta-weekee, and that the storm had pa.s.sed by several miles away from them.

Of course the story of the destruction of the cache by the wolverine, and then his being killed, had to be told, much to the delight of Frank and Sam, as well as to the satisfaction of the older members of the party, who all rejoiced that at length that cunning fellow, that had so long been a terror and a nuisance, had been destroyed.