“Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
The sun had risen in all the splendour of a Canadian summer morning,
when the sleepers arose from their leafy beds. In spite of the novelty
of their situation, they had slept as soundly and tranquilly as if they
had been under the protecting care of their beloved parents, on their
little paliasses of corn straw; but they had been cared for by Him who
neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, and they waked full of youthful hope,
and in fulness of faith in His mercy into whose hands they had commended
their souls and bodies before they retired to rest.
While the children slept in peace and safety, what terrors had filled
the minds of their distracted parents! what a night of anguish and
sorrow had they passed!
When night had closed in without bringing back the absent children, the
two fathers, lighting torches of fat pine, went forth in search of the
wanderers. How often did they raise their voices in hopes their loud
halloos might reach the hearing of the lost ones! How often did they
check their hurried steps to listen for some replying call! But the
sighing breeze in the pine tops, or sudden rustling of the leaves
caused by the flight of the birds, startled by the unusual glare of the
torches, and the echoes of their own voices, were the only sounds that
met their anxious ears. At daybreak they returned, sad and dispirited,
to their homes, to snatch a morsel of food, endeavour to cheer the
drooping hearts of the weeping mothers, and hurry off, taking different
directions. But, unfortunately, they had little clue to the route which
Hector and Louis had taken, there being many cattle paths through the
woods. Louis’s want of truthfulness had caused this uncertainty, as he
had left no intimation of the path he purposed taking when he quitted
his mother’s house: he had merely said he was going with Hector
in search of the cattle, giving no hint of his intention of asking
Catharine to accompany them: he had but told his sick sister, that
he would bring home strawberries and flowers, and that he would soon
return. Alas, poor thoughtless Louis, how little did you think of the
web of woe you were then weaving for yourself, and all those to whom you
and your giddy companions were so dear! Children, think twice, ere ye
deceive once! Catharine’s absence would have been quite unaccountable
but for the testimony of Duncan and Kenneth, who had received her
sisterly caresses before she joined Hector at the barn; and much her
mother marvelled what could have induced her good dutiful Catharine to
have left her work and forsaken her household duties to go rambling away
with the boys, for she never left the house when her mother was absent
from, it, without her express permission, and now she was gone--lost
to them, perhaps for ever. There stood the wheel she had been turning,
there hung the untwisted hanks of yarn, her morning task,--and there
they remained week after week and month after month, untouched, a
melancholy memorial to the hearts of the bereaved parents of their
beloved.
It were indeed a fruitless task to follow the agonized fathers in their
vain search for their children, or to paint the bitter anguish that
filled their hearts as day passed after day, and still no tidings of
the lost ones. As hope faded, a deep and settled gloom stole over the
sorrowing parents, and reigned throughout the once cheerful and gladsome
homes. At the end of a week the only idea that remained was, that one
of these three casualties had befallen the lost children:--death, a
lingering death by famine; death, cruel and horrible, by wolves or
bears; or yet more terrible, with tortures by the hands of the dreaded
Indians, who occasionally held their councils and hunting parties on the
hills about the Rice Lake, which was known only by the elder Perron
as the scene of many bloody encounters between the rival tribes of the
Mohawks and Chippewas: its localities were scarcely ever visited by
our settlers, lest haply they should fall into the hands of the bloody
Mohawks, whose merciless dispositions made them in those days a by-word
even to the less cruel Chippewas and other Indian nations.
It was not in the direction of the Rice Lake that Maxwell and his
brother-in-law sought their lost children; and even if they had done so,
among the deep glens and hill passes of what is now commonly called
the Plains, they would have stood little chance of discovering the poor
wanderers. After many days of fatigue of body and distress of mind, the
sorrowing parents sadly relinquished the search as utterly hopeless,
and mourned in bitterness of spirit over the disastrous fate of their
first-born and beloved children.--“There was a voice of woe, and
lamentation, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children,
and refusing to be comforted, because they were not.” The miserable
uncertainty that involved the fate of the lost ones was an aggravation
to the sufferings of the mourners: could they but have been certified of
the manner of their deaths, they fancied they should be more contented;
but, alas! this fearful satisfaction was withheld.
“Oh, were their tale of sorrow known,
‘Twere something to the breaking heart,
The pangs of doubt would then be gone,
And fancy’s endless dreams depart.”
But let us quit the now mournful settlement of the Cold Springs, and see
how it really fared with the young wanderers.
When they awoke the valley was filled with a white creamy mist, that
arose from the bed of the stream, (now known as Cold Creek,) and gave an
indistinctness to the whole landscape, investing it with an appearance
perfectly different to that which it had worn by the bright, clear
light of the moon. No trace of their footsteps remained to guide them in
retracing their path; so hard and dry was the stony ground that it left
no impression on its surface. It was with some difficulty they found
the creek, which was concealed from sight by a lofty screen of gigantic
hawthorns, high-bush cranberries, poplars, and birch-trees. The hawthorn
was in blossom, and gave out a sweet perfume, not less fragrant than
the “May” which makes the lanes and hedgerows of “merrie old England” so
sweet and fair in May and June, as chanted in many a genuine pastoral
of our olden time; but when our simple Catharine drew down the flowery
branches to wreathe about her hat, she loved the flowers for their own
native sweetness and beauty, not because poets had sung of them;--but
young minds have a natural poetry in themselves, unfettered by rule or
rhyme.
At length their path began to grow more difficult. A tangled mass of
cedars, balsams, birch, black ash, alders, and _tamarack_ (Indian name
for the larch), with a dense thicket of bushes and shrubs, such as love
the cool, damp soil of marshy ground, warned our travellers that
they must quit the banks of the friendly stream, or they might become
entangled in a trackless swamp. Having taken copious and refreshing
draughts from the bright waters, and bathed their hands and faces, they
ascended the grassy bank, and again descending, found themselves in one
of those long valleys, enclosed between lofty sloping banks, clothed
with shrubs and oaks, with here and there a stately pine. Through this
second valley they pursued their way, till emerging into a wider space,
they came among those singularly picturesque groups of rounded gravel
hills, where the Cold Creek once more met their view, winding its way
towards a grove of evergreens, where it was again lost to the eye.
This lovely spot is now known as Sackville’s Mill-dike. The hand of
man has curbed the free course of the wild forest stream, and made it
subservient to his will, but could not destroy the natural beauties of
the scene. _[FN: This place was originally owned by a man of taste,
who resided for some time upon the spot, till finding it convenient to
return to his native country, the saw-mill passed into other hands. The
old log-house on the green bank above the mill-stream is still standing,
though deserted; the garden fence, broken and dilapidated, no longer
protects the enclosure, where the wild rose mingles with that of
Provence,--the Canadian creeper with the hop.]_
Fearing to entangle themselves in the swamp, they kept the hilly ground,
winding their way up to the summit of the lofty ridge of the oak hills,
the highest ground they had yet attained; and here it was that the
silver waters of the Rice Lake in all its beauty burst upon the eyes of
the wondering and delighted travellers. There it lay, a sheet of liquid
silver just emerging from the blue veil of mist that hung upon its
surface, and concealed its wooded shores on either side. All feeling of
dread and doubt and danger was lost, for the time, in one rapturous glow
of admiration at a scene so unexpected and so beautiful as that which
they now gazed upon from the elevation they had gained. From this ridge
they looked down the lake, and the eye could take in an extent of many
miles, with its verdant wooded islands, which stole into view one by one
as the rays of the morning sun drew up the moving curtain of mist
that enveloped them; and soon both northern and southern shores became
distinctly visible, with all their bays and capes and swelling oak and
pine-crowned hills.
And now arose the question, “Where are we? What lake is this? Can it be
the Ontario, or is it the Rice Lake? Can yonder shores be those of the
Americans, or are they the hunting-grounds of the dreaded Indians?”
Hector remembered having often heard his father say that the Ontario was
like an inland sea, and the opposite shores not visible unless in some
remarkable state of the atmosphere, when they had been occasionally
discerned by the naked eye, while here they could distinctly see objects
on the other side, the peculiar growth of the trees, and even flights of
wild fowl winging their way among the rice and low bushes on its margin.
The breadth of the lake from shore to shore could not, they thought,
exceed three or four miles; while its length, in an easterly direction,
seemed far greater beyond--what the eye could take in. _[FN: The
length of the Rice Lake, from its headwaters near Black’s Landing to the
mouth of the Trent, is said to be twenty-five miles; its breadth from
north to south varies from three to six.]_
They now quitted the lofty ridge, and bent their steps towards the lake.
Wearied with their walk, they seated themselves beneath the shade of
a beautiful feathery pine, on a high promontory that commanded a
magnificent view down the lake.
“How pleasant it would be to have a house on this delightful bank,
overlooking the lake,” said Louis; “only think of the fish we could
take, and the ducks and wild fowl we could shoot! and it would be no
very hard matter to hollow out a log canoe, such a one as I have heard
my father say he has rowed in across many a lake and broad river--below,
when he was lumbering.”
“Yes, it would, indeed, be a pleasant spot to live upon,” _[FN:
Now the site of a pleasant cottage, erected by an enterprising gentleman
from Devonshire, who has cleared and cultivated a considerable portion
of the ground described above; a spot almost unequalled in the plains
for its natural beauties and extent of prospect.]_ said Hector, “though
I am not quite sure that the land is as good just here as it is at Cold
Springs; but all these flats and rich valleys would make fine pastures,
and produce plenty of grain, too, if cultivated.”
“You always look to the main chance, Hec,” said Louis, laughing; “well,
it was worth a few hours’ walking this morning to look upon so lovely a
sheet of water as this. I would spend two nights in a wigwam,--would not
you, ma belle?--to enjoy such a sight.”
“Yes, Louis,” replied his cousin, hesitating as she spoke; “it is very
pretty, and I did not mind sleeping in the little hut; but then I cannot
enjoy myself as much as I should have done had my father and mother been
aware of my intention of accompanying you. Ah, my dear, dear parents!”
she added, as the thought of the anguish the absence of her companions
and herself would cause at home came over her. “How I wish I had
remained at home! Selfish Catharine! foolish idle girl!”
Poor Louis was overwhelmed with grief at the sight of his cousin’s
tears, and as the kind-hearted but thoughtless boy bent over her to
soothe and console her, his own tears fell upon the fair locks of the
weeping girl, and bedewed the hand he held between his own.
“If you cry thus, cousin,” he whispered, “you will break poor Louis’s
heart, already sore enough with thinking of his foolish conduct.” “Be
not cast down, Catharine,” said her brother, cheeringly: “we may not be
so far from home as you think. As soon as you are rested we will set out
again, and we may find something to eat; there must be strawberries on
these sunny banks.”
Catharine soon yielded to the voice of her brother, and drying her eyes,
proceeded to descend the sides of the steep valley that lay to one side
of the high ground where they had been sitting.
Suddenly darting down the bank, she exclaimed, “Come, Hector; come,
Louis: here indeed is provision to keep us from starving:”--for her eye
had caught the bright red strawberries among the flowers and herbage on
the slope; large ripe strawberries, the very finest she had ever seen.
“There is indeed, ma belle,” said Louis, stooping as he spoke to gather
up, not the fruit, but a dozen fresh partridge eggs from the inner
shade of a thick tuft of grass and herbs that grew beside a fallen
tree. Catharine’s voice and sudden movements had startled the partridge
_[FN: The Canadian partridge is a species of grouse, larger than
the English or French partridge. We refer our young readers to the
finely arranged specimens in the British Museum, (open to the public,)
where they may discover “Louis’s partridge.”]_ from her nest, and the
eggs were soon transferred to Louis’s straw hat, while a stone flung
by the steady hand of Hector stunned the parent bird. The boys laughed
exultingly as they displayed their prizes to the astonished Catharine,
who, in spite of hunger, could not help regretting the death of the
mother bird. Girls and women rarely sympathise with men and boys in
their field sports, and Hector laughed at his sister’s doleful looks as
he handed over the bird to her.
“It was a lucky chance,” said he, “and the stone was well aimed, but it
is not the first partridge that I have killed in this way. They are so
stupid you may even run them down at times; I hope to get another before
the day is over. Well, there is no fear of starving to-day, at all
events,” he added, as he inspected the contents of his cousin’s hat;
“twelve nice fresh eggs, a bird, and plenty of fruit.”
“But how shall we cook the bird and the eggs? We have no means of
getting a fire made,” said Catharine.
“As to the eggs,” said Louis, “we can eat them raw; it is not for hungry
wanderers like us to be over nice about our food.”
“They would satisfy us much better were they boiled, or roasted in the
ashes,” observed Hector.
“True. Well, a fire, I think, can be got with a little trouble.”
“But how?” asked Hector. “Oh, there are many ways, but the readiest
would be a flint with the help of my knife.”
“A flint?”
“Yes, if we could get one--but I see nothing but granite, which crumbles
and shivers when struck--we could not get a spark. However, I think it’s
very likely that one of the round pebbles I see on the beach yonder may
be found hard enough for the purpose.”
To the shore they bent their steps as soon as the little basket had
been well filled with strawberries, and descending the precipitous bank,
fringed with young saplings, birch, ash, and poplars, they quickly found
themselves beside the bright waters of the lake. A flint was soon found
among the water-worn stones that lay thickly strewn upon the shore, and
a handful of dry sedge, almost as inflammable as tinder, was collected
without trouble; though Louis, with the recklessness of his nature, had
coolly proposed to tear a strip from his cousin’s apron as a substitute
for tinder,--a proposal that somewhat raised the indignation of the tidy
Catharine, whose ideas of economy and neatness were greatly outraged,
especially as she had no sewing implements to assist in mending the
rent. Louis thought nothing of that; it was a part of his character to
think only of the present, little of the past, and to let the future
provide for itself. Such was Louis’s great failing, which had proved a
fruitful source of trouble both to himself and others. In this respect
he bore a striking contrast to his more cautious companion, who
possessed much of the gravity of his father. Hector was as heedful and
steady in his decisions as Louis was rash and impetuous.
After many futile attempts, and some skin knocked off their knuckles
through awkward handling of the knife and flint, a good fire was at last
kindled, as there was no lack of dry wood on the shore; Catharine then
triumphantly produced her tin pot, and the eggs were boiled, greatly
to the satisfaction of all parties, who were by this time sufficiently
hungry, having eaten nothing since the previous evening more substantial
than the strawberries they had taken during the time they were gathering
them in the morning.
Catharine had selected a pretty, cool, shady recess, a natural bower,
under the overhanging growth of cedars, poplars, and birch, which were
wreathed together by the flexile branches of the vine and bitter-sweet,
which climbed to a height of fifteen feet _[FN: Solatnum
dulcamara,--Bitter-sweet or Woody nightshade. This plant, like the
red-berried briony of England, is highly ornamental. It possesses
powerful properties as a medicine, and is in high reputation among the
Indians.]_ among the branches _[Illustration: THE FIRST BREAKFAST]_ of
the trees, which it covered as with a mantle. A pure spring of cold,
delicious water welled out from beneath the twisted roots of an old
hoary-barked cedar, and found its way among the shingles on the beach
to the lake, a humble but constant tributary to its waters. Some large
blocks of water-worn stone formed convenient seats and a natural table,
on which the little maiden arranged the forest fare; and never was a
meal made with greater appetite or taken with more thankfulness than
that which our wanderers ate that morning. The eggs (part of which they
reserved for another time) were declared to be better than those that
were daily produced from the little hen-house at Cold Springs. The
strawberries, set out in little pottles made with the shining leaves of
the oak, ingeniously pinned together by Catharine with the long spurs
of the hawthorn, _[FN: The long-spurred American hawthorn may be
observed by our young readers among that beautiful collection of the
hawthorn family and its affinities, which flourish on the north side
of Kensington Gardens.]_ were voted delicious, and the pure water most
refreshing, that they drank, for lack of better cups, from a large
mussel-shell which Catharine had picked up among the weeds and pebbles
on the beach.
Many children would have wandered about weeping and disconsolate,
lamenting their sad fate, or have embittered the time by useless
repining, or, perhaps, by venting their uneasiness in reviling the
principal author of their calamity--poor, thoughtless Louis; but such
were not the dispositions of our young Canadians. Early accustomed to
the hardships incidental to the lives of the settlers in the bush,
these young people had learned to bear with patience and cheerfulness
privations that would have crushed the spirits of children more
delicately nurtured. They had known every degree of hunger and
nakedness; during the first few years of their lives they had often
been compelled to subsist for days and weeks upon roots and herbs, wild
fruits, and game which their fathers had learned to entrap, to decoy,
and to shoot. Thus Louis and Hector had early been initiated into the
mysteries of the chase. They could make deadfalls, and pits, and traps,
and snares,--they were as expert as Indians in the use of the bow,--they
could pitch a stone, or fling a wooden dart at partridge, hare, and
squirrel, with almost unerring aim; and were as swift of foot as young
fawns. Now it was that they learned to value in its fullest extent
this useful and practical knowledge, which enabled them to face with
fortitude the privations of a life so precarious as that to which they
were now exposed.
It was one of the elder Maxwell’s maxims,--Never let difficulties
overcome you, but rather strive to conquer them; let the head direct the
hand, and the hand, like a well-disciplined soldier, obey the head
as chief. When his children expressed any doubts of not being able to
accomplish any work they had begun, he would say, “Have you not hands,
have you not a head, have you not eyes to see, and reason to guide
you? As for impossibilities, they do not belong to the trade of a
soldier,--he dare not see them.” Thus were energy and perseverance early
instilled into the minds of his children; they were now called upon
to give practical proofs of the precepts that had been taught them
in childhood. Hector trusted to his axe, and Louis to his
_couteau-de-chasse_ and pocket-knife; the latter was a present from an
old forest friend of his father’s, who had visited them the previous
winter, and which, by good luck, Louis had in his pocket--a capacious
pouch, in which were stored many precious things, such as coils of twine
and string, strips of leather, with odds and ends of various kinds;
nails, bits of iron, leather, and such miscellaneous articles as find
their way most mysteriously into boys’ pockets in general, and Louis
Perron’s in particular, who was a wonderful collector of such small
matters.
The children were not easily daunted by the prospect of passing a few
days abroad on so charming a spot, and at such a lovely season, where
fruits were so abundant; and when they had finished their morning
meal, so providentially placed within their reach, they gratefully
acknowledged the mercy of God in this thing.
Having refreshed themselves by bathing their hands and faces in the
lake, they cheerfully renewed their wanderings, though something both
to leave the cool shade and the spring for an untrodden path among the
hills and deep ravines that furrow the shores of the Rice Lake in so
remarkable a manner; and often did our weary wanderers pause to look
upon the wild glens and precipitous hills, where the fawn and the shy
deer found safe retreats, unharmed by the rifle of the hunter,--where
the osprey and white-headed eagle built their nests, unheeding and
unharmed. Twice that day, misled by following the track of the deer, had
they returned to the same spot,--a deep and lovely glen, which had once
been a water-course, but now a green and shady valley. This they named
the Valley of the Rock, from a remarkable block of red granite that
occupied a central position in the narrow defile; and here they prepared
to pass the second night on the Plains. A few boughs cut down and
interlaced with the shrubs round a small space cleared with Hector’s
axe, formed shelter, and leaves and grass, strewed on the ground, formed
a bed, though not so smooth, perhaps, as the bark and cedar-boughs that
the Indians spread within their summer wigwams for carpets and couches,
or the fresh heather that the Highlanders gather on the wild Scottish
hills.
While Hector and Louis were preparing the sleeping-chamber, Catharine
busied herself in preparing the partridge for their supper. Having
collected some thin peelings from the ragged bark of a birch-tree, that
grew on the side of the steep bank to which she gave the appropriate
name of the “Birken shaw,” she dried it in her bosom, and then beat it
fine upon a big stone, till it resembled the finest white paper. This
proved excellent tinder, the aromatic oil contained in the bark of the
birch being highly inflammable, Hector had prudently retained the flint
that they had used in the morning, and a fire was now lighted in front
of the rocky stone, and a forked stick, stuck in the ground, and bent
over the coals, served as a spit, on which, gipsy-fashion, the partridge
was suspended,--a scanty meal, but thankfully partaken of, though they
knew not how they should breakfast next morning, The children felt they
were pensioners on God’s providence not less than the wild denizens of
the wilderness around them.
When Hector--who by nature was less sanguine than his sister or
cousin--expressed some anxiety for their provisions for the morrow,
Catharine, who had early listened with trusting piety of heart to the
teaching of her father, when he read portions from the holy word of God,
gently laid her hand upon her brother’s head, which rested on her knees,
as he sat upon the grass beside her, and said, in a low and earnest
tone, “‘Consider the fowls of the air; they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are
ye not much better than they?’ Surely, my brother, God careth for us as
much as for the wild creatures, that have no sense to praise and glorify
his holy name. God cares for the creatures He has made, and supplies
them with knowledge where they shall find food when they hunger and
thirst. So I have heard my father say; and surely our father knows, for
is he not a wise man, Hector?”
“I remember,” said Louis, thoughtfully, “hearing my mother repeat the
words of a good old man she knew when she lived in Quebec;--‘When you
are in trouble, Mathilde,’ he used to say to her, ‘kneel down, and ask
God’s help, nothing doubting but that He has the power as well as the
will to serve you, if it be for your good; for He is able to bring all
things to pass. It is our own want of faith that prevents our prayers
from being heard. And, truly, I think the wise old man was right,” he
added.
It was strange to hear grave words like these from the lips of the giddy
Louis. Possibly they had the greater weight on that account. And Hector,
looking up with a serious air, replied, “Your mother’s friend was a good
man, Louis. Our want of trust in God’s power must displease Him. And
when we think of all the great and glorious things He has made,--that
blue sky, those sparkling stars, the beautiful moon that is now shining
down upon us, and the hills and waters, the mighty forest, and little
creeping plants and flowers that grow at our feet,--it must, indeed,
seem foolish in his eyes that we should doubt his power to help us, who
not only made all these things, but ourselves also.”
“True,” said Catharine; “but then, Hector, we are not as God made us;
for the wicked one cast bad seed in the field where God had sown the
good.”
“Let us, however, consider what we shall do for food; for, you know,
God helps those that help themselves,” said Louis. “Let us consider a
little. There must be plenty of fish in the lake, both small and great.”
“But how are we to get them out of it?” rejoined Catharine. “I doubt the
fish will swim at their ease there, while we go hungry.”
“Do not interrupt me, ma chere. Then, we see the track of deer, and the
holes of the wood-chuck; we hear the cry of squirrels and chipmunks, and
there are plenty of partridges, and ducks, and quails, and snipes; of
course, we have to contrive some way to kill them. Fruits there are in
abundance, and plenty of nuts of different kinds. At present we have
plenty of fine strawberries, and huckleberries will be ripe soon in
profusion, and bilberries too, and you know how pleasant they are; as
for raspberries, I see none; but by-and-by there will be
May-apples--I see great quantities of them in the low grounds, grapes,
high-bush-cranberries, haws as large as cherries, and sweet too;
squaw-berries, wild plums, choke-cherries, and bird-cherries. As
to sweet acorns, there will be bushels and bushels of them for the
roasting, as good as chestnuts, to my taste; and butter-nuts, and
hickory-nuts,--with many other good things.” And here Louis stopped for
want of breath to continue his catalogue of forest dainties.
“Yes; and there are bears, and wolves, and racoons, too, that will eat
us for want of better food,” interrupted Hector, slyly. “Nay, Katty,
do not shudder, as if you were already in the clutches of a big bear.
Neither bear nor wolf shall make mincemeat of thee, my girl, while Louis
and thy brother are near, to wield an axe or a knife in thy defence.”
“Nor catamount spring upon thee, ma belle cousine,” added Louis,
gallantly, “while thy bold cousin Louis can scare him away.”
“Well, now that we know our resources, the next thing is to consider
how we are to obtain them, my dears,” said Catharine. “For fishing,
you know, we must have a hook and line, a rod, or a net. Now, where are
these to be met with?”
Louis nodded his head sagaciously. “The line I think I can provide; the
hook is more difficult, but I do not despair even of that. As to the
rod, it can be cut from any slender sapling on the shore. A net, ma
chere, I could make with very little trouble, if I had but a piece of
cloth to sew over a hoop.”
Catharine laughed. “You are very ingenious, no doubt, Monsieur Louis,
but where are you to get the cloth and the hoop, and the means of sewing
it on?”
Lords took up the corner of his cousin’s apron with a provoking look.
“My apron, sir, is not to be appropriated for any such purpose. You seem
to covet it for everything.”
“Indeed, ma petite, I think it very unbecoming and very ugly, and never
could see any good reason why you and Mamma and Mathilde should wear
such frightful things.”
“It is to keep our gowns clean, Louis, when we are milking and
scrubbing, and doing all sorts of household duties,” said Catharine.
“Well, ma belle, you have neither cows to milk, nor house to clean,”
replied the annoying boy; “so there can be little want of the apron. I
could turn it to fifty useful purposes.”
“Pooh, nonsense,” said Hector, impatiently, “let the child alone, and do
not tease her about her apron.”
“Well, then, there is another good thing I did not think of before,
water mussels. I have heard my father and old Jacob the lumberer say,
that, roasted in their shells in the ashes, with a seasoning of salt and
pepper, they are good eating when nothing better is to be got.”
“No doubt, if the seasoning can be procured,” said Hector, “but, alas
for the salt and the pepper!”
“Well, we can eat them with the best of all sauces--hunger; and then,
no doubt, there are crayfish in the gravel under the stones, but we must
not mind a pinch to our fingers in taking them.”
“To-morrow then let us breakfast on fish,” said Hector. “You and I will
try our luck, while Kate gathers strawberries; and if our line should
break, we can easily cut those long locks from Catharine’s head, and
twist them into lines,”--and Hector laid his hands upon the long fair
hair that hung in shining curls about his sister’s neck.
“Cut my curls! This is even worse than cousin Louis’s proposal of making
tinder and fishing-nets of my apron,” said Catharine, shaking back the
bright tresses, which, escaping from the snood that bound them, fell in
golden waves over her shoulders.
“In truth, Hec, it were a sin and a shame to cut her pretty curls, that
become her so well,” said Louis. “But we have no scissors, ma belle, so
you need fear no injury to your precious locks.”
“For the matter of that, Louis, we could cut them with your
_couteau-de-chasse_. I could tell you a story that my father told me,
not long since, of Charles Stuart, the second king of that name in
England. You know he was the grand-uncle of the young Chevalier Charles
Edward, that my father talks of, and loves so much.”
“I know all about him,” said Catharine, nodding sagaciously; “let us
hear the story of his grand-uncle. But I should like to know what my
hair and Louis’s knife can have to do with King Charles.”
“Wait a bit, Kate, and you shall hear, that is, if you have patience,”
said her brother. “Well then, you must know, that after some great
battle, the name of which I forget, _[FN: Battle of Worcester.]_ in
which the King and his handful of brave soldiers were defeated by the
forces of the Parliament, (the Roundheads, as they were called,) the
poor young king was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains; a large
price was set on his head, to be given to any traitor who should slay
him, or bring him prisoner to Oliver Cromwell. He was obliged to
dress himself in all sorts of queer clothes, and hide in all manner of
strange, out of the way places, and keep company with rude and humble
men, the better to hide his real rank from the cruel enemies that sought
his life. Once he hid along with a gallant gentleman, _[FN: Colonel
Careless.]_ one of his own brave officers, in the branches of a great
oak. Once he was hid in a mill; and another time he was in the house of
one Pendril, a woodman. The soldiers of the Parliament, who were always
prowling about, and popping in unawares wherever they suspected the
poor king to be hidden, were, at one time, in the very room where he was
standing beside the fire.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Catharine, “that was frightful. And did they take him
prisoner?”
“No; for the wise woodman and his brothers, fearing lest the soldiers
should discover that he was a cavalier and a gentleman, by the
long curls that the king’s men all wore in those days, and called
_lovelocks_, begged of his majesty to let his hair be cropped close to
his head.”
“That was very hard, to lose his nice curls.”
“I dare say the voting king thought so too, but it was better to lose
his hair than his head. So, I suppose, the men told him, for he suffered
them to cut it all close to his head, laying down his head on a rough
deal table, or a chopping-block, while his faithful friends with a large
knife trimmed off the curls.”
“I wonder if the young king thought at that minute of his poor father,
who, you know, was forced by wicked men to lay down his head upon a
block to have it cut from his shoulders, because Cromwell, and others as
hard-hearted as himself, willed that he should die.” “Poor king!”
said Catharine, sighing, “I see that it is better to be poor children,
wandering on these plains under God’s own care, than to be kings and
princes at the mercy of bad and sinful men.”
“Who told your father all these things, Hec?” said Louis.
“It was the son of his brave colonel, who knew a great deal about
the history of the Stuart kings, for our colonel had been with Prince
Charles, the young chevalier, and fought by his side when he was in
Scotland; he loved him dearly, and, after the battle of Culloden, where
the Prince lost all, and was driven from place to place, and had not
where to lay his head, he went abroad in hopes of better times; (but
those times did not come for the poor Prince; and our colonel) after a
while, through the friendship of General Wolfe, got a commission in the
army that was embarking for Quebec, and, at last, commanded the regiment
to which my father belonged. He was a kind man, and my father loved both
him and his son, and grieved not a little when he parted from him.”
“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 fishing, 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
mocassins.”
“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 shirt.” “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
passing several hungry days with no better food to keep them alive than
the scrapings 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 spunk, 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 noble 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 appetites--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-grass 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 shining waters, which girt in the shores 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, grass, 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 grass 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 compassion 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
circumstances 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
quantities. They were a full quarter of a mile from the lake shore, 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 palustris_,”--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 bass-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 racoon 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 grasses,
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 assurance 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 substitute 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 stitch 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 assurance, 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 grass. 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, cushioned 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 coarse 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 shore
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 hoard 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!” “God 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 grass, 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 grass 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 hoarder 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 fishing-rod, and thus equipped they proceeded
to the lake shore, 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
shingly 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 amusement of fishing 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 shore, innumerable swarms of the
flying grasshopper 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
fashion, 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,
“God 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 gratitude to that beneficent Being who suffereth not even a sparrow
to fall unheeded.
Upon Catharine, in particular, these things made a deep impression, and
there as she sat in the green shade, soothed by the lulling sound of the
flowing waters, and the soft murmuring of the many-coloured insects that
hovered among the fragrant leaves which thatched her sylvan bower,
her young heart was raised in humble and holy aspirations to the great
Creator of all things living. A peaceful calm diffused itself over her
mind, as with hands meekly folded across her breast, the young girl
prayed with the guileless fervour of a trusting and faithful heart.
The sun was just sinking in a flood of glory behind the dark pine-woods
at the head of the lake, when Hector and Louis, who had been carefully
providing fish for the morrow, (which was the Sabbath,) came loaded
with their finny prey carefully strung upon a willow wand, and found
Catharine sleeping in her bower. Louis was loth to break her tranquil
slumbers, but her careful brother reminded him of the danger to which
she was exposed, sleeping in the dew by the water side; “Moreover,” he
added, “we have some distance to go, and we have left the precious axe
and the birch-bark vessel in the valley.”
These things were too valuable to be lost, and so they roused the
sleeper, and slowly recommenced their toilsome way, following the same
path that they had made in the morning. Fortunately, Hector had taken
the precaution to bend down the flexile branches of the dogwood and
break the tops of the young trees that they had passed between on their
route to the lake, and by this clue they were enabled with tolerable
certainty to retrace their way, nothing doubting of arriving in time at
the wigwam of boughs by the rock in the valley.
Their progress was, however, slow, burdened with the care of the lame
girl, and heavily laden with the fish. The purple shades of twilight
soon clouded the scene, deepened by the heavy masses of foliage, which
cast a greater degree of obscurity upon their narrow path; for they had
now left the oak-flat and entered the gorge of the valley. The utter
loneliness of the path, the grotesque shadows of the trees, that
stretched in long array across the steep banks on either side, taking,
now this, now that wild and fanciful shape, awakened strange feelings
of dread in the mind of these poor forlorn wanderers; like most persons
bred up in solitude, their imaginations were strongly tinctured with
superstitious fears. Here then, in the lonely wilderness, far from their
beloved parents and social hearth, with no visible arm to protect them
from danger, none to encourage or to cheer them, can it be matter of
surprise if they started with terror-blanched cheeks at every fitful
breeze that rustled the leaves or waved the branches above them? The gay
and lively Louis, blithe as any wild bird in the bright sunlight, was
the most easily oppressed by this strange superstitious fear, when
the shades of evening were closing round, and he would start with
ill-disguised terror at every sound or shape that met his ear or eye,
though the next minute he was the first to laugh at his own weakness. In
Hector, the feeling was of a graver, more solemn cast, recalling to his
mind all the wild and wondrous tales with which his father was wont to
entertain the children, as they crouched round the huge log-fire of an
evening. It is strange the charm these marvellous tales possess for the
youthful mind, no matter how improbable, or how often told; year after
year they will be listened to with the same ardour, with an interest
that appears to grow with repetition. And still, as they slowly wandered
along, Hector would repeat to his breathless auditors those Highland
legends that were as familiar to their ears as household words, and
still they listened with fear and wonder, and deep awe, till at each
pause he made, the deep-drawn breath and half-repressed shudder might
be heard. And now the little party paused irresolutely, fearing to
proceed,--they had omitted to notice some land-mark in their progress;
the moon had not long been up, and her light was as yet indistinct; so
they sat them down on a little grassy spot on the bank, and rested till
the moon should lighten their path.
Louis was confident they were not far from “the bigstone,” but careful
Hector had his doubts, and Catharine was weary. The children had already
conceived a sort of home feeling for the valley and the mass of stone
that had sheltered them for so many nights, and soon the dark mass came
in sight, as the broad full light of the now risen moon fell upon its
rugged sides; they were nearer to it than they had imagined. “Forward
for ‘the big stone’ and the wigwam,” cried Louis.
“Hush!” said Catharine, “look there,” raising her hand with a warning
gesture.
“Where? what?”
“The wolf! the wolf!” gasped out the terrified girl. There indeed, upon
the summit of the block, in the attitude of a sentinel or watcher, stood
the gaunt-figured animal, and as she spoke, a long wild cry, the sound
of which seemed as if it came midway between the earth and the tops of
the tall pines on the lofty ridge above them, struck terror into their
hearts, as with speechless horror they gazed upon the dark outline
of the terrible beast. There it stood, with its head raised, its neck
stretched outward, and ears erect, as if to catch the echo that gave
back those dismal sounds; another minute and he was gone, and the
crushing of branches and the rush of many feet on the high bank above,
was followed by the prolonged cry of some poor fugitive animal,--a doe,
or fawn, perhaps,--in the very climax of mortal agony; and then the
lonely recesses of the forest took up that fearful death-cry, the
far-off shores of the lake and the distant islands prolonged it, and the
terrified children clung together in fear and trembling.
A few minutes over, and all was still. The chase had turned across the
hills to some distant ravine; the wolves were all gone--not even the
watcher was left, and the little valley lay once more in silence, with
all its dewy roses and sweet blossoms glittering in the moonlight;
but though around them all was peace and loveliness, it was long
ere confidence was restored to the hearts of the panic-stricken and
trembling children. They beheld a savage enemy in every mass of leafy
shade, and every rustling bough struck fresh terrors into their excited
minds. They might have exclaimed with the patriarch Jacob, “How dreadful
is this place!”
With hand clasped in hand, they sat them down among the thick covert of
the bushes, for now they feared to move forward, lest the wolves should
return; sleep was long a stranger to their watchful eyes, each fearing
to be the only one left awake, and long and painful was their vigil. Yet
nature, overtasked, at length gave way, and sleep came down upon their
eyelids; deep, unbroken sleep, which lasted till the broad sunlight
breaking through the leafy curtains of their forest-bed, and the sound
of waving boughs and twittering birds, once more wakened them to life
and light; recalling them from happy dreams of home and friends, to an
aching sense of loneliness and desolation. This day they did not wander
far from the valley, but took the precaution, as evening drew on, to
light a large fire, the blaze of which they thought would keep away any
beast of prey. They had no want of food, as the fish they had caught the
day before proved an ample supply. The huckle-berries were ripening too,
and soon afforded them a never-failing source of food; there were also
an abundance of bilberries, the sweet rich berries of which proved a
great treat, besides being very nourishing.