Canadian Crusoes: A Tale of The Rice Lake Plains Part 3

"Well," said Catharine, "as you have told me such a nice story, Mister Hec, I shall forgive the affront about my curls."

"Well, then, to-morrow we are to try our luck at fis.h.i.+ng, and if we fail, we will make us bows and arrows to kill deer or small game; I fancy we shall not be over particular as to its of quality. Why should not we be able to find subsistence as well as the wild Indians?"

"True," said Hector, "the wild men of the wilderness, and the animals and birds, all are fed by the things that He provideth; then, wherefore should His white children fear?"

"I have often heard my father tell of the privations of the lumberers, when they have fallen short of provisions, and of the contrivances of himself and old Jacob Morelle, when they were lost for several days, nay, weeks I believe it was. Like the Indians, they made themselves bows and arrows, using the sinews of the deer, or fresh thongs of leather, for bow-strings; and when they could not get game to eat, they boiled the inner bark of the slippery elm to jelly, or birch bark, and drank the sap of the sugar maple when they could get no water but melted snow only, which is unwholesome; at last, they even boiled their own moca.s.sins."

"Indeed, Louis, that must have been a very unsavoury dish," said Catharine.

"That old buckskin vest would have made a famous pot of soup of itself,"

added Hector, "or the deer-skin hunting s.h.i.+rt." "Well, they might have been reduced even to that," said Louis, laughing, "but for the good fortune that befel them in the way of a half-roasted bear."

"Nonsense, cousin Louis, bears do not run about ready roasted in the forest, like the lambs in the old nursery tale."

"Well now, Kate, this was a fact; at least, it was told as one by old Jacob, and my father did not deny it; shall I tell you about it? After pa.s.sing several hungry days with no better food to keep them alive than the sc.r.a.pings of the inner bark of the poplars and elms, which was not very substantial for hearty men, they encamped one night in a thick dark swamp,--not the sort of place they would have chosen, but that they could not help themselves, having been enticed into it by the tracks of a deer or a moose,--and night came upon them unawares, so they set to work to kindle up a fire with s.p.u.n.k, and a flint and knife; rifle they had none, or maybe they would have had game to eat. Old Jacob fixed upon a huge hollow pine, that lay across their path, against which he soon piled a glorious heap of boughs and arms of trees, and whatever wood he could collect, and lighted up a fine fire. You know what a n.o.ble hand old Jacob used to be at making up a roaring fire; he thought, I suppose, if he could not have warmth within, he would have plenty of it without.

The wood was dry pine and cedar and birch, and it blazed away, and crackled and burnt like a pine-torch. By-and-by they heard a most awful growling close to them. 'That's a big bear, as I live,' said old Jacob, looking all about, thinking to see one come out from the thick bush; but Bruin was nearer to him than he thought, for presently a great black bear burst out from the but-end of the great burning log, and made towards Jacob; just then the wind blew the flame outward, and it caught the bear's thick coat, and he was all in a blaze in a moment. No doubt the heat of the fire had penetrated to the hollow of the log, where he had lain himself snugly up for the winter, and wakened him; but Jacob seeing the huge black brute all in a flame of fire, began to think it was Satan's own self come to carry him off, and he roared with fright, and the bear roared with pain and rage, and my father roared with laughing to see Jacob's terror; but he did not let the bear laugh at him, for he seized a thick pole that he had used for closing in the brands and logs, and soon demolished the bear, who was so blinded with the fire and smoke that he made no fight; and they feasted on roast bear's flesh for many days, and got a capital skin to cover them beside."

"What, Louis, after the fur was all singed?" said Catharine.

"Kate, you are too particular," said Louis; "a story never loses, you know."

Hector laughed heartily at the adventure, and enjoyed the dilemma of the bear in his winter quarter; but Catharine was somewhat shocked at the levity displayed by her cousin and brother, when recounting the terror of old Jacob and the sufferings of the poor bear.

"You boys are always so unfeeling," she said, gravely.

"Indeed, Kate," said her brother, "the day may come when the sight of a good piece of roast bear's flesh, will be no unwelcome sight. If we do not find our way back to Cold Springs before the winter sets in, we may be reduced to as bad a state as poor Jacob and my uncle were in the pine swamps, on the banks of the St. John."

"Ah!" said Catharine, trembling, "that would be too bad to happen."

"Courage, ma belle, let us not despair for the morrow. Let us see what to-morrow will do for us; meantime, we will not neglect the blessings we still possess; see, our partridge is ready, let us eat our supper, and be thankful; and for grace let us say, 'Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.'"

Long exposure to the air had sharpened their appet.i.tes--the hungry wanderers needed no further invitation, the scanty meal, equally divided, was soon despatched.

It is a common saying, but excellent to be remembered by any wanderers in our forest wilds, that those who travel by the sun travel in a circle, and usually find themselves at night in the same place from whence they started in the morning; so it was with our wanderers. At sunset, they found themselves once more in the ravine, beside the big stone, in which they had rested at noon. They had imagined themselves miles and miles distant from it; they were grievously disappointed. They had encouraged each other with the confident hope that they were drawing near to the end of their bewildering journey; they were as far from their home as ever, without the slightest clue to guide them to the right path. Despair is not a feeling which takes deep root in the youthful breast. The young are always hopeful; so confident in their own wisdom and skill in averting or conquering danger; so trusting; so willing to believe that there is a peculiar Providence watching over them. Poor children! they had indeed need of such a belief to strengthen their minds and encourage them to fresh exertions, for new trials were at hand.

The broad moonlight had already flooded the recesses of the glen with light, and all looked fresh and lovely in the dew, which glittered on tree and leaf, on herb and flower. Catharine, who, though weary with her fatiguing wanderings, could not sleep, left the little hut of boughs which her companions had put up near the granite rock in the valley for her accommodation, and ascended the western bank, where the last jutting spur of its steep side formed a lofty clifflike promontory, at the extreme verge of which the roots of one tall spreading oak formed a most inviting seat, from whence the traveller looked down into a level track, which stretched away to the edge of the lake. This flat had been the estuary of the mountain stream, which had once rushed down between the hills, forming a narrow gorge; but now, all was changed; the water had ceased to flow, the granite bed was overgrown, and carpeted with deer-gra.s.s and flowers of many hues, wild fruits and bushes, below; while majestic oaks and pines towered above. A sea of glittering foliage lay beneath Catharine's feet; in the distance the eye of the young girl rested on a belt of s.h.i.+ning waters, which girt in the sh.o.r.es like a silver zone; beyond, yet more remote to the northward, stretched the illimitable forest.

Never had Catharine looked upon a scene so still or so fair to the eye; a holy calm seemed to shed its influence over her young mind, and peaceful tears stole down her cheeks. Not a sound was there abroad, scarcely a leaf stirred; she could have stayed for hours there gazing on the calm beauty of nature, and communing with her own heart, when suddenly a stirring rustling sound caught her car; it came from a hollow channel on one side of the promontory, which was thickly overgrown with the shrubby dogwood, wild roses and bilberry bushes. Imagine the terror which seized the poor girl, on perceiving a grisly beast breaking through the covert of the bushes. With a scream and a bound, which the most deadly fear alone could have inspired, Catharine sprung from the supporting trunk of the oak, dashed, down the precipitous side of the ravine; now clinging to the bending sprays of the flexile dogwood--now to some fragile birch or poplar--now trusting to the yielding heads of the sweet-scented _ceanothus_, or filling her hands with sharp thorns from the roses that clothed the bank; flowers, gra.s.s, all were alike clutched at in her rapid and fearful descent. A loose fragment of granite on which she had unwittingly placed her foot rolled from under her; unable to regain her balance she fell forwards, and was precipitated through the bushes into the ravine below, conscious only of unspeakable terror and an agonising pain in one of her ancles, which rendered her quite powerless. The noise of the stones she had dislodged in her fall and her piteous cries, brought Louis and Hector to her side, and they bore her in their arms to the hut of boughs and laid her down upon her bed of leaves and gra.s.s and young pine boughs. When Catharine was able to speak, she related to Louis and Hector the cause of her fright. She was sure it must have been a wolf by his sharp teeth, long jaws, and grisly coat. The last glance she had had of him had filled her with terror, he was standing on a fallen tree with his eyes fixed upon her--she could tell them no more that happened, she never felt the ground she was on, so great was her fright.

Hector was half disposed to scold his sister for rambling over the hills alone, but Louis was full of tender compa.s.sion for _la belle cousine_, and would not suffer her to be chidden. Fortunately, no bones had been fractured, though the sinews of her ankle were severely sprained; but the pain was intense, and after a sleepless night, the boys found to their grief and dismay, that Catharine was unable to put her foot to the ground. This was an unlooked-for aggravation of their misfortunes; to pursue their wandering was for the present impossible; rest was their only remedy, excepting the application of such cooling medicaments as circ.u.mstances would supply them with. Cold water constantly applied to the swollen joint, was the first thing that was suggested; but, simple as was the lotion, it was not easy to obtain it in sufficient quant.i.ties. They were a full quarter of a mile from the lake sh.o.r.e, and the cold springs near it were yet further off; and then the only vessel they had was the tin-pot, which hardly contained a pint; at the same time the thirst of the fevered sufferer was intolerable, and had also to be provided for. Poor Catharine, what unexpected misery she now endured!

The valley and its neighbouring hills abounded in strawberries; they were now ripening in abundance; the ground was scarlet in places with this delicious fruit; they proved a blessed relief to the poor sufferer's burning thirst. Hector and Louis were unwearied in supplying her with them.

Louis, ever fertile in expedients, crushed the cooling fruit and applied them to the sprained foot; rendering the application still more grateful by spreading them upon the large smooth leaves of the sapling oak; these he bound on with strips of the leathery bark of the moose-wood, _[FN: "_Dirca pal.u.s.tris_,"--Moose-wood. American mezereon, leather-wood. From the Greek, _dirka_, a fountain or wet place, its usual place of growth.]_ which he had found growing in great abundance near the entrance of the ravine. Hector, in the meantime, was not idle.

After having collected a good supply of ripe strawberries, he climbed the hills in search of birds' eggs and small game. About noon he returned with the good news of having discovered a spring of fine water in an adjoining ravine, beneath a clump of ba.s.s-wood and black cherry-trees; he had also been so fortunate as to kill a woodchuck, having met with many of their burrows in the gravelly sides of the hills. The woodchuck seems to be a link between the rabbit and badger; its colour is that of a leveret; it climbs like the rac.o.o.n and burrows like the rabbit; its eyes are large, full, and dark, the lip cleft, the soles of the feet naked, claws sharp, ears short; it feeds on gra.s.ses, grain, fruit, and berries. The flesh is white, oily, and, in the summer, rank, but is eaten in the fall by the Indians and woodsmen; the skin is not much valued. They are easily killed by dogs, though, being expert climbers, they often baffle their enemies, clinging to the bark beyond their reach; a stone or stick well-aimed soon kills them, but they often bite sharply.

The woodchuck proved a providential supply, and Hector cheered his companions with the a.s.surance that they could not starve, as there were plenty of these creatures to be found. They had seen one or two about the Cold Springs, but they are less common in the deep forest lands than on the drier, more open plains.

"It is a great pity we have no larger vessel to bring our water from the spring in," said Hector, looking at the tin-pot, "one is so apt to stumble among stones and tangled underwood. If we had only one of our old bark dishes we could get a good supply at once."

"There is a fallen birch not far from this," said Louis; "I have here my trusty knife; what is there to hinder us from manufacturing a vessel capable of holding water, a gallon if you like?"

"How can you sew it together, cousin?" asked Catharine; "you have neither deer sinews, nor war-tap." _[The Indian name for the flexible roots of the tamarack, or swamp larch, which they make use of in manufacturing the birch baskets and canoes.]_ "I have a subst.i.tute at hand, ma belle," and Louis pointed to the strips of leatherwood that he had collected for binding the dressings on his cousin's foot.

When an idea once struck Louis, he never rested till he worked it out in some way. In a few minutes he was busily employed, stripping sheets of the ever-useful birch-bark from the trunk that had fallen at the foot of the "Wolf's Crag," for so the children had named the memorable spot where poor Catharine's accident had occurred.

The rough outside coatings of the bark, which are of silvery whiteness, but are ragged from exposure to the action of the weather in the larger and older trees, he peeled off, and then cutting the bark so that the sides lapped well over, and the corners were secured from cracks, he proceeded to pierce holes opposite to each other, and with some trouble managed to st.i.tch them tightly together, by drawing strips of the moose or leather-wood through and through. The first attempt, of course, was but rude and ill-shaped, but it answered the purpose, and only leaked a little at the corners for want of a sort of flap, which he had forgotten to allow in cutting out the bark; this flap in the Indian baskets and dishes turns up, and keeps all tight and close. The defect he remedied in his subsequent attempts. In spite of its deficiencies, Louis's water-jar was looked upon with great admiration, and highly commended by Catharine, who almost forgot her sufferings--while watching her cousin's proceedings.

Louis was elated by his own successful ingenuity, and was for running off directly to the spring. "Catharine shall now have cold water to bathe her poor ancle with, and to quench her thirst," he said, joyfully springing to his feet, ready for a start up the steep bank: but Hector quietly restrained his lively cousin, by suggesting the possibility of his not finding the "fountain in the wilderness," as Louis termed the spring, or losing himself altogether.

"Let us both go together, then." cried Louis. Catharine cast on her cousin an imploring glance.

"Do not leave me, dear Louis; Hector, do not let me be left alone." Her sorrowful appeal stayed the steps of the volatile Louis.

"Go you, Hector, as you know the way: I will not leave you, Kate, since I was the cause of all you have suffered; I will abide by you in joy or in sorrow till I see you once more safe in your own dear mother's arms."

Comforted by this a.s.surance, Catharine quickly dashed away the gathering tears from her checks, and chid her own foolish fears.

"But you know, dear cousin," she said, "I am so helpless, and then the dread of that horrible wolf makes a coward of me."

After some little time had elapsed, Hector returned; the bark vessel had done its duty to admiration, it only wanted a very little improvement to make it complete. The water was cold and pure. Hector had spent a little time in deepening the mouth of the spring, and placing some stones about it. He described the ravine as being much deeper and wider, and more gloomy than the one they occupied. The sides and bottom were clothed with magnificent oaks. It was a grand sight, he said, to stand on the jutting spurs of this great ravine, and look down upon the tops of the trees that lay below, tossing their rounded heads like the waves of a big sea. There were many lovely flowers, vetches of several kinds, blue, white, and pencilled, twining among the gra.s.s. A beautiful white-belled flower, that was like the "Morning glory," (_Convolvulus major,_) and scarlet-cups _[FN: _Erichroma,_ or painted cup]_ in abundance, with roses in profusion. The bottom of this ravine was strewed in places with huge blocks of black granite, cus.h.i.+oned with thick green moss; it opened out into a wide flat, similar to the one at the mouth of the valley of the Big Stone. _[FN: The mouth of this ravine is now under the plough, and waving fields of golden grain and verdant pastures have taken place of the wild shrubs and flowers that formerly adorned it. The lot belongs to G. Ley, Esq.]_

These children were not insensible to the beauties of nature, and both Hector and his sister had insensibly imbibed a love of the grand and the picturesque, by listening with untiring interest to their father's animated and enthusiastic descriptions of his Highland home, and the wild mountainous scenery that surrounded it. Though brought up in solitude and uneducated, yet there was nothing vulgar or rude in the minds or manners of these young people. Simple and untaught they were, but they were guileless, earnest, and unsophisticated; and if they lacked the knowledge that is learned from books, they possessed much that was useful and practical, which had been taught by experience and observation in the school of necessity.

For several days the pain and fever arising from her sprain rendered any attempt at removing Catharine from the valley of the "Big Stone"

impracticable. The ripe fruit began to grow less abundant in their immediate vicinity, and neither woodchuck, partridge, nor squirrel had been killed; and our poor wanderers now endured the agonising pains of hunger. Continual exposure to the air by night and by day contributed not a little to increase the desire for food. It is true, there was the yet untried lake, "bright, boundless, and free," gleaming in silvery splendour, but in practice they knew nothing of the fisher's craft, though, as a matter of report, they were well acquainted with all the mysteries of it, and had often listened with delight to the feats performed by their respective fathers in the art of angling, spearing and netting.

"I have heard my father say, that so bold and numerous were the fish in the lakes and rivers he was used to fish in, that they could be taken by the hand, with a crooked pin and coa.r.s.e thread, or wooden spear; but that was in the lower province; and oh, what glorious tales I have heard him tell of spearing fish by torchlight!"

"The fish may be wiser or not so numerous in this lake," said Hector; "however, if Kate can bear to be moved, we will go down to the sh.o.r.e and try our luck; but what can we do? we have neither hook nor line provided."

Louis nodded his head, and sitting down on a projecting root of a scrub oak, produced from the depths of his capacious pocket a bit of tin, which he carefully selected from among a miscellaneous h.o.a.rd of treasures. "Here." said he, holding it up to the view as he spoke; "here is the slide of an old powder-flask, which I picked up from among some rubbish that my sister had thrown out the other day."

"I fear you will make nothing of that," said Hector, "a bit of bone would be better. If you had a file now you might do something."

"Stay a moment, Monsieur Hec., what do you call this?" and Louis triumphantly handed out of his pocket the very instrument in question, a few inches of a broken, rusty file; very rusty, indeed, it was, but still it might be made to answer in such ingenious hands as those of our young French Canadian. "I well remember, Katty, how you and Mathilde laughed at me for treasuring up this old thing months ago. Ah, Louis.

Louis, you little knew the use it was to be put to then," he added thoughtfully, apostrophising himself; "how little do we know what is to befall us in our young days!" "G.o.d knows it all," said Hector, gravely, "we are under His good guidance."

"You are right, Hec., let us trust in His mercy and He will take good care of us. Come, let us go to the lake," Catharine added, and sprung to her feet, but as quickly sunk down upon the gra.s.s, and regarded her companions with a piteous look, saying, "I cannot walk one step; alas, alas! what is to become of me; I am only a useless burden to you. If you leave me here, I shall fall a prey to some savage beast, and you cannot carry me with you in your search for food."

"Dry your tears, sweet cousin, you shall go with us. Do you think that Hector or Louis would abandon you in your helpless state, to die of hunger or thirst, or to be torn by wolves or bears? We will carry you by turns; the distance to the lake is nothing, and you are not so very heavy, ma belle cousine; see, I could dance with you in my arms, you are so light a burden,"--and Louis gaily caught the suffering girl up in his arms, and with rapid steps struck into the deer path that wound through the ravine towards the lake, but when they reached a pretty rounded knoll, (where Wolf Tower _[FN: See account of the "Wolf Tower," in the Appendix.]_ now stands,) Louis was fain to place his cousin on a flat stone beneath a big oak that grew beside the bank, and fling himself on the flowery ground at her feet, while he drew a long breath, and gathered the fruit that grew among the long gra.s.s to refresh himself after his fatigue; and then, while resting on the "Elfin Knowe," as Catharine called the hill, he employed himself with manufacturing a rude sort of fish-hook with the aid of his knife, the bit of tin, and the rusty file; a bit of twine was next produced,--boys have always a bit of string in their pockets, and Louis, as I have before hinted, was a provident h.o.a.rder of such small matters. The string was soon attached to the hook, and Hector was not long in cutting a sapling that answered well the purpose of a fis.h.i.+ng-rod, and thus equipped they proceeded to the lake sh.o.r.e, Hector and Louis carrying the crippled Catharine by turns. When there, they selected a sheltered spot beneath a grove of over-hanging cedars and birches, festooned with wild vines, which, closely woven, formed a natural bower, quite impervious to the rays of the sun. A clear spring flowing from the upper part of the bank among the hanging network of loose fibres and twisted roots, fell tinkling over a mossy log at her feet, and quietly spread itself among the round s.h.i.+ngly pebbles that formed the beach of the lake. Beneath this pleasant bower Catharine could repose, and watch her companions at their novel employment, or bathe her feet and infirm ancle in the cool streamlet that rippled in tiny wavelets over its stony bed.

If the amus.e.m.e.nt of fis.h.i.+ng prove pleasant and exciting when pursued for pastime only, it may readily be conceived that its interest must be greatly heightened when its object is satisfying a craving degree of hunger. Among the sunny spots on the sh.o.r.e, innumerable swarms of the flying gra.s.shopper or field crickets were sporting, and one of these proved an attractive bait. The line was no sooner cast into the water, than the hook was seized, and many were the brilliant specimens of sun-fish that our eager fishermen cast at Catharine's feet, all gleaming with gold and azure scales. Nor was there any lack of perch, or that delicate fish commonly known in these waters as the pink roach.

Tired at last with their easy sport, the hungry boys next proceeded to the grateful task of scaling and dressing their fish, and this they did very expeditiously, as soon as the more difficult part, that of kindling up a fire on the beach, had been accomplished with the help of the flint, knife, and dried rushes. The fish were then suspended, Indian fas.h.i.+on, on forked sticks stuck in the ground and inclined at a suitable angle towards the glowing embers,--a few minutes sufficed to cook them.

"Truly," said Catharine, when the plentiful repast was set before her, "G.o.d hath, indeed, spread a table for us here in the wilderness;" so miraculous did this ample supply of delicious food seem in the eyes of this simple child of nature.

They had often heard tell of the facility with which the fish could be caught, but they had known nothing of it from their own experience, as the streams and creeks about Cold Springs afforded them but little opportunity for exercising their skill as anglers; so that, with the rude implements with which they were furnished, the result of their morning success seemed little short of divine interference in their behalf. Happy and contented in the belief that they were not forgotten by their heavenly Father, these poor "children in the wood" looked up with grat.i.tude to that beneficent Being who suffereth not even a sparrow to fall unheeded.