"Might kill something," I finished for him.
Then came George's rare laugh. It is like a baby's in that it
expresses such complete abandon of amusement.
Presently he asked: "When you were shooting at that bear the other
day, where did you aim?"
"Oh, any place," I replied; "just at the bear." Peals of
uncontrolled laughter greeted this announcement and cooking
operations were, for the time being, suspended. When they were
able to go on with the preparations for supper I could now and then
hear them laughing quietly to themselves.
Bed seemed specially good that night, for I was very tired. How
long I had been asleep I could not tell; but some time in the night
I was awakened by sounds outside my tent, as of someone or
something walking about. At first I thought it was one of the men;
but presently decided it was not, and became very wide awake. I
thought about the bear trail, but did not quite believe it was the
bear either. Presently something shook the branches of the tree my
tent was tied to, and they rattled fearfully on the tent close to
my head. I sprang up, and as I reached for my revolver remembered
that there were only two cartridges in it. Quickly filling the
empty chambers I waited, ready to give battle to whatever it might
be; but the sounds in my tent evidently alarmed the intruder, for
there was silence outside after that. I was a good deal disturbed
for a while, but growing calm again I finally went to sleep. In
the morning the men said it was probably a rabbit jumping through
the low branches of the spruce tree.
We made a mile and a half that day, and towards evening halted at
the edge of a pretty little expansion in the river; it was the most
charming camp we had yet found. There were a number of tiny
islands here, some with a few trees, and some just the bare rock
with fringes of fresh green marking the fissures. The water
slipped over ledges into pretty pools, and from our camp to the
other side there was a distinct downward slope. My tent was
pitched about four feet from the water's edge above a little fall,
and directly over an otter landing.
George warned me, "You will have to keep your boots on to-night.
That otter might come along and get hold of your toes, and drag you
into the river."
"Would an otter really harm me?" I asked.
"Perhaps it might be a bear instead of an otter," he replied,
evading my question. "They are all great fellows for any kind of
metal. If it's a bear he'll just get hold of that screw on your
bed and take it right off. You'd better put a bullet inside, and
then when he takes off the screw it will blow into his mouth.
He'll think a fly flew down his throat, and cough. Then you could
run." George's eyes were dancing with amusement at his own
pictures. Presently he went on: "I think - oh! you keep a rifle in
there though, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Don't you think you could handle salt a little better than a
rifle?"
This was insulting; but I was laughing too heartily to be properly
indignant, and he continued: "You might put a little salt on his
tail. Maybe you could put that otter out of business, too, if you
had enough salt."
A duck flew past, dropping into the water a little way above our
camp, and George sprang for a rifle. He shot, but missed, which I
assured him was only proper punishment for the slighting
insinuations he had made in regard to my shooting. Job, and Joe
went fishing after supper but got nothing. It was a fine evening
with a glorious sunset, beautiful evening sky, and a splendid moon.
George said: "Fine day and fine breeze to-morrow."
My sleep was not disturbed that night by either bear or otter, and
we were up and started on our way the next morning at 7.30. A
rough portage of three-quarters of a mile was completed some time
before noon, and beyond this the canoes were kept in the water most
of the day. At lunch Gilbert brought me a dandelion. I was
greatly pleased to get it, and later I saw several of them. I
found also blue and white violets, one of the blue ones a variety I
had never seen before.
Towards evening the hills had melted away. We had come up to the
top of those which, twenty miles back, had looked high, and now we
could look back and down to those which there had also seemed high.
A new thrill came with this being up among the hilltops, and I
began to feel like an explorer.
The tents were pitched near a pool of smooth water, deep and
darkened by shadows of the evergreens on either shore. On the
farther side of the river were low, wooded hills, and opposite our
camp a brook came tumbling through the wall of evergreens into the
river. Just above the brook a high, dead stub, with a big blaze on
it, showed where we were to leave the Wapustan to cross to Seal
Lake.
It was not until noon on Saturday, July 15th, that we left our
pretty camp, for it rained steadily in the meantime. Then we
started on our cross-country trip, working up to the north, from
which direction the brook flows. A two-mile carry brought us out
on Saturday evening to a lake at its head. After dinner on Sunday
we again went forward with a whole mile of paddling to cheer us on
our way. From the head of the lake another mile of good portaging
brought us at last to waters flowing to Seal Lake, and we were
again in the canoes to taste for a little the pleasures of going
with the tide.
