Ungava Bob Part 4

"An' he took after ye without bein' provoked?"

"An' he did an' right smart."

"Well he _were_ a queer bear--a _queer_ un--th' _queerest_ I ever hear tell about. Awake in _winter_ an' takin' after folks without bein'

_provoked_. 'Tis th' first black bear _I_ ever heard tell about that done that. I knows bears pretty well an' they alus takes tother way about as fast as their legs 'll carry un."

"Now, if you wants me t' tell about this bear ye'll ha' t' stop interruptin'."

"No one said as they wanted ye to."

"Now I'm goin' t' tell un whatever."

"As I were sayin', th' bear he takes after me wi' his best licks an' I takes off an' tries t' load my gun as I runs. I drops in a han'ful o'

powder an' then finds I gone an' left my ball pouch at th' fire. It were pretty hard runnin' wi' my racquets sinkin' in th' snow, which were new an' soft an' I were losin' ground an' gettin' winded an'

'twere lookin' like un's goin' t' cotch me sure. All t' onct I see a place where the snow's drifted up three fathoms deep agin a ledge an'

even wi' th' top of un. I makes for un an' runs right over th' upper side an' th' bear he comes too, but he has no racquets and th' snow's soft, bein' fresh drift an' down he goes sinkin' most out o' sight an'

th' more un wallers th' worse off un is."

"An' what does you do?" asks Bob.

"What does I do? I stops an' laughs at un a bit. Then I lashes my sheath knife on th' end o' a pole spear-like, an' sticks th' bear back o' th' fore leg an' kills un, an' then I has bear's meat wi' my tea, an' in th' spring gets four dollars from th' company for the skin."

In twenty minutes they had the pelt removed from the bear and d.i.c.k generously insisted upon Bob taking it as the first-fruits of his inland hunt, saying: "Ye earned he wi' yer runnin'."

The best of the meat was cut from the carca.s.s, and that night thick, luscious steaks were broiled for supper, and the remainder packed for future use on the journey.

Fine weather had attended the voyageurs thus far but that night the sky clouded heavily and when they emerged from the tent the next morning a thick blanket of snow covered the earth and weighted down the branches of the spruce trees. The storm had spent itself in the night, however, and the day was clear and sparkling. Very beautiful the white world looked when the sun came to light it up; but the snow made tracking less easy, and warned the travellers that no time must be lost in reaching their destination, for it was a harbinger of the winter blasts and blizzards soon to blow.

Early that afternoon they came in view of the rus.h.i.+ng waters of the Gull Island Rapids, with their big foam crested waves angrily a.s.sailing the rocks that here and there raised their ominous heads above the torrent. The greater length of these rapids can be tracked, with some short portages around the worst places. Before entering them everything was lashed securely into the boat, as at the Porcupine Rapids, and the tracking line fastened a few inches back of the bow leaving enough loose end to run to the stern and this was tied securely there to relieve the unusual strain on the bow fastening. Ed took the position of steersman in the boat, while the other three were to haul upon the line.

When all was made ready and secure, they started forward, bringing the craft into the heavy water, which opposed its progress so vigorously that it seemed as though the rope must surely snap. Stronger and stronger became the strain and harder and harder pulled the men. All of Ed's skill was required to keep the boat straight in the treacherous cross current eddies where the water swept down past the half-hidden rocks in the river bed.

They were pus.h.i.+ng on tediously but surely when suddenly and without warning the fastening at the bow broke loose, the boat swung away into the foam, and in a moment was swallowed up beneath the waves. The rear fastening held however and the boat was thrown in against the bank.

But Ed had disappeared in the fearful flood of rus.h.i.+ng white water.

The other three stood appalled. It seemed to them that no power on earth could save him. He must certainly be dashed to death upon the rocks or smothered beneath the onrus.h.i.+ng foam.

For a moment all were inert, paralyzed. Then d.i.c.k, accustomed to act quickly in every emergency, slung the line around a boulder, took a half hitch to secure it and, without stopping to see whether it would hold or not, ran down stream at top speed with Bob and Bill at his heels.

V

THE TRAILS ARE REACHED

Ed had been cast away in rapids before, and when he found himself in the water, with the wilderness traveller's quick appreciation of the conditions, he lay limp, without a struggle. If he permitted the current to carry him in its own way on its course, he might be swept past the rocks uninjured to the still water below. If one struggle was made it might throw him out of the current's course against a boulder, where he would be pounded to death or rendered unconscious and surely drowned. He was swept on much more rapidly than his companions could run and quite hidden from them by the big foam-crested waves.

It seemed ages to the helpless man before he felt his speed slacken and finally found himself in the eddy where they had begun to track.

Here he struck out for the river bank only a few yards distant, and, half drowned, succeeded in pulling himself ash.o.r.e. A few minutes later, when the others came running down, they found him, to their great relief, sitting on the bank quite safe, wringing the water from his clothing, and their fear that he was injured was quickly dispelled by his looking up as they approached and remarking, as though nothing unusual had occurred,

"Bathin's chilly this time o' year. Let's put on a fire an' boil th'kettle."

"I don't know as we got a kettle or anythin' else," said d.i.c.k, laughing at Ed's bedraggled appearance and matter-of-fact manner. "We better go back an' see. I hitched th' trackin' line to a rock, but I don't know's she's held."

"Well, let's look. I'm a bit damp, an' thinkin' _I_ wants a fire, whatever."

A cold northwest wind had sprung up in the afternoon and the snow was drifting unpleasantly and before the boat was reached Ed's wet garments were frozen stiff as a coat of mail and he was so chilled through that he could scarcely walk. The line had held and they found the boat in an eddy below a high big boulder. It was submerged, but quite safe, with everything, thanks to the careful las.h.i.+ngs, in its place, save a shoulder of bear's meat that had loosened and washed away.

"I thinks, lads, we'll be makin' camp here. Whilst I puts a fire on an' boils th' kettle t' warm Ed up, you pitch camp. 'Twill be nigh sun-down afore Ed gets dried out, an' too late t' go any farther,"

suggested d.i.c.k.

In a few minutes the fire was roaring and Ed thawing out and drinking hot tea as he basked in the blaze, while d.i.c.k chopped fire-wood and Bob and Bill unloaded the boat and put up the tent and made it snug for the night.

Heretofore they had found the outside camp-fire quite sufficient for their needs, and had not gone to the trouble of setting up the stove, but it was yet some time before dark, and as the wet clothing and outfit could be much more easily and quickly dried under the shelter of the heated tent than in the drifting snow by the open fire, it was decided to put the stove in use on this occasion. Bob selected a flat stone upon which to rest it, for without this protection the moss beneath, coming into contact with the hot metal, would have dried quickly and taken fire.

When everything was brought in and distributed in the best place to dry, Bob took some birch bark, thrust it into the stove and lighted it. Instantly it flared up as though it had been oil soaked. This made excellent kindling for the wood that was piled on top, and in an incredibly short time the tent was warm and snug as any house. Ed left the open fire and joined Bob and Bill, and in a few minutes d.i.c.k came in with an armful of wood.

"Well, un had a good wettin' an' a cold souse," said he, as he piled the wood neatly behind the stove, addressing himself to Ed, who, now quite recovered from his chill, stood with his back to the stove, puffing contentedly at his pipe, with the steam pouring out of his wet clothes.

"'Twere just a fine time wi' th' dip I had ten year ago th' winter comin'," said Ed, ruminatively. "'Twere _nothin'_ to that un."

"An' where were that?" asked d.i.c.k.

"I were out o' tea in March, an' handy to havin' no tobaccy, an' I says t' myself, 'Ed, ye can't stay in th' bush till th' break up wi'

nary a bit o' tea, and ye'd die wi'out tobaccy. Now ye got t' make th'

cruise t' th' Post.' Well, I fixes up my traps, an' packs grub for a week on my flat sled (toboggan) an' off I goes. 'Twere fair goin' wi'

good hard footin' an' I makes fine time. Below th' Gull Rapids, just above where I come ash.o.r.e th' day, I takes t' th' ice thinkin' un good, an' 'twere lucky I has my racquets lashed on th' flat sled an'

not walkin' wi' un, for I never could a swum wi' un on. Two fathoms from th' sh.o.r.e I steps on bad ice an' in I goes, head an' all, an' th'

current s.n.a.t.c.hes me off'n my feet an' carries me under th' ice, an'

afore I knows un I finds th' water carryin' me along as fast as a deer when he gets th' wind."

"An' how did un get out?" asked Bob in open-mouthed wonder.

"'Twere sure a hard fix _under_ th' ice," remarked Bill, equally interested.

"A wonderful hard fix, a _wonderful_ hard fix, _under_ th' ice, an' I were handy t' stayin' under un," said Ed, taking evident delight in keeping his auditors in suspense. "Aye, a _wonderful_ hard fix,"

continued he, while he hacked pieces from his tobacco plug and filled his pipe.

"An' where were I?" asked d.i.c.k, making a quick calculation of past events. "I were huntin' wi' un ten year ago, an' I don't mind ye're gettin' in th' ice."

"'Twere th' winter un were laid up wi' th' lame leg, an' poor Frank Morgan were huntin' along wi' me. Frank were lost th' same spring in th' Bay. Does un mind that?"

"'Twere only _nine_ year ago I were laid up an' Frank were huntin' my trail," said d.i.c.k.

"Well, maybe 'twere only nine year; 'twere _nine_ or _ten_ year ago,"

Ed continued, with some show of impatience at d.i.c.k's questioning.