THE THREE SMOKE SIGNALS.
Cuthbert was delighted when he heard the Canadian lad's voice, for he
realized that it was one of rare sweetness as well as power; and being
fond of singing, and knowing scores of college songs, he promised
himself he would in good time teach them to Owen, for their voices would
blend admirably, while Eli's had a certain harshness about it that
rather swamped his own baritone.
And he was also aware that the _voyageurs_ of the Canadian wilds have
numerous French boating songs of their own, that are wonderfully adapted
to the rhythm and swing of the paddle; possibly Owen would know some
such, and might be induced to sing them on occasion, all of which would
add to the delight of their advance over the waters, onward into further
depths of the wilderness where mystery brooded and the unknown abounded,
for them, at least.
They had managed to make a few miles, but the current was mighty
difficult to buck up against, and when finally Cuthbert suggested that
they take advantage of an alluring point where the trees hung over the
water and the situation seemed especially adapted for a campfire, Eli
greeted the proposal with a grunt of unaffected delight, while even the
well seasoned Owen felt that something to eat would not come in amiss.
To most of us the time to eat is ever a welcome one, especially when we
know there are good things in the larder; and with boys this thing of
appetite is an ever present reality, and the point of sufficiency seldom
reached.
Soon a cheery fire had been started, and Owen persisted in taking charge
of the preparations for lunch, giving them a species of flapjack that
neither had ever seen before, and which they pronounced fine.
Owen's eyes alone told that he appreciated their praise, for he uttered
no word to betray the fact. He was a singularly quiet lad, and Cuthbert,
who made it something of a fad to study human nature wherever he found
it, felt certain that his past life had been mixed up with considerable
of sorrow.
All that morning they had not met a solitary human being upon the river,
and when Eli commented upon this, their new comrade assured them that it
was no unusual thing to go for several days thus, especially at this
time of year, when the Indians and halfbreeds who trapped for the fur
company were hunting back in the forests, laying in venison to be
"jerked" or dried for consumption during the winter months, when
attending to their traps far up the small branches of the Saskatchewan,
or the Athabasca.
In the spring the posts of the Hudson Bay Company are busy places, with
these various companies of _voyageurs_ and trappers coming in with their
loads, for which they are paid, partly in cash and the balance in store
goods. It is then that the resident factor has to exercise his wisdom in
handling so varied an assortment of characters, and keeping them from
getting into fierce fights, since they are bound to get hold of more or
less liquor, and the closing of a successful season, with a period of
rest before them, is apt to make them hilarious.
Cuthbert asked many questions along this line, being sincerely desirous
of obtaining information at first hands; but while Owen answered readily
enough, and explained any point that seemed a bit hazy to his listeners,
it might have been noted that he did not offer to launch out into a
voluntary description of life as it was to be seen at one of these
posts--Cuthbert even fancied that the subject was not wholly pleasing to
the lad, and came to the conclusion that whatever of trouble Owen might
have met with recently, it must have had some connection with one of
these posts.
They were delayed for some time after eating, for Cuthbert was desirous
of attending to some little thing that needed fixing about the canoe;
and Owen, who had never set eyes on a cedar boat of this delicate
character, willingly lent a hand to the accomplishment of the task,
satisfied to just handle such a dainty wizard craft, which in his eyes,
accustomed to canoes of birch, or even dugouts, and others made of
animal skins, assumed the character of something almost too pretty to be
touched.
They paddled for just about three hours that afternoon, and met one
Indian in a birch bark canoe, shooting downstream.
Both Cuthbert and Eli greeted him heartily; but they noticed that he
looked at their new companion in something of a strange manner, though
not saying a word to Owen, who seemed to pay no attention to the
copper-skinned voyager.
If the scowl upon the face of the lone paddler was any indication of his
feelings, there could not possibly be any love lost between them; and
noticing that one of the fellow's eyes seemed swollen, the idea thrust
itself into Cuthbert's mind, ridiculous as it might seem, that possibly
Owen might have had something to do with that catastrophe.
Cuthbert had kept his eyes on the alert for a good spot where they could
pass the next night, and it lacked half an hour to sunset when he gave
utterance to a shout, and pointed with his paddle at the shore ahead.
"There's the very place, boys, and it's no use going any further. Just
an ideal spot to pitch the tent, and the background will make a dandy
picture when I get my camera in focus on it in the morning, for the sun
must rise, let's see, over across the river, and shine right on the
front of the tent. I've been baffled so often in trying for that same
effect that I don't mean to miss this opportunity if I can help it. So
here's looking at you, and we'll head in, if you please."
Owen opened his mouth as if tempted to say something, but caught himself
in time, and silently acquiesced, sending his boat shoreward with
vigorous dips of the paddle that told how little his energy had been
exhausted by the day's work.
It was a fine spot, too, and Eli was loud in his delight; though,
knowing his capacity for stowing away food from long experience,
Cuthbert was secretly of the opinion that much of his enthusiasm sprang
from the fact that a halt just then brought dinner closer, rather than
an artistic appreciation of the surroundings.
That had always been the "fly in the ointment" with those two strangely
assorted companions--one of them was of a romantic disposition, and
inclined to seeing the elements in a glorious sunset that appealed to
his soul, while with Eli, it only meant that the following day would, in
all likelihood, be a fine one.
And that was one of the reasons why Cuthbert welcomed the coming of
Owen, for somehow he fancied that the young Canadian might be built
along his own lines, and able to sympathize with him as the good-hearted
but crude Eli never could, since it was not in his nature to go beyond
the substantial and matter-of-fact.
Nevertheless, he was a "bully good fellow," as Cuthbert was wont to
declare, and in time of stress and difficulty could be depended on to
the utmost, being honest, willing and obliging, three necessary elements
in a camping comrade that go far to make amends for any little shortage
in artistic temperament.
The whole three of the cruisers were soon busily engaged, for there is
always plenty for all hands to do when pitching camp, what with the
raising of the tent, the making of a fireplace upon which coffee pot
and frying pan will rest cozily, the digging of a ditch on the higher
ground back of the shelter, if there seems the slightest possible chance
of rain before morning--well, every one who has been there knows how the
opportunities for doing something open up to a willing campmate, so
there is hardly any use in enumerating them here.
When darkness finally fell upon them all these things had been taken
care of, and they were in fine fettle for the stay, whether it be of
long or short duration, even to a pile of firewood close at hand.
Supper was next in order, but that was a pleasure in which all insisted
in taking a share in preparing as well as demolishing; and it was
wonderful how speedily things were managed with so many cooks eager to
assist the chef.
During their afternoon trip upstream they had trolled with a couple of
lines back of the boat, and fortune had smiled upon them sufficiently to
provide them with fish for the evening meal, which Owen cooked in the
manner most favored in this region, where trout may be looked on as a
common, everyday article of food, and not in the line of luxury.
Of course, there is no necessity to tell how perfectly delicious that
dinner turned out to be, for every one knows that fish are at their best
when eaten in the very spot they are taken from their native element;
and that being placed on the ice for hours or days takes their delicate
flavor away, and renders the flesh soft and crumbly and next to
tasteless.
And Owen confessed that the cup of Ceylon tea which he drank was the
first he had tasted for a year; and he also gave his companions to
understand that he had been brought up by a Scotch mother to look upon
tea as nectar fit for the gods.
After the feast they lay back and took life easy, all of them being
actually too surfeited to think of such a thing as cleaning up the pots
and pans for the time being, that little task being left until later,
when they would possess more energy and ambition.
Eli apparently had something on his mind, and as he filled his pipe,
preparatory to enjoying his customary after-dinner smoke, he opened the
subject by remarking:
"I say, boys, did either of you notice that line of smoke down the
river, just at the time we were heading for the shore? I was going to
call your attention to it, but something that was said about the spot
for this camp drew my attention, and I clean forgot it till now."
"I didn't notice anything--in fact, I was so much taken up with looking
for a jolly place to bunk tonight that I reckon I never once glanced
back. How about you, Owen?" asked Cuthbert, turning to the new comrade.
He knew the other had seen the smoke even before Owen spoke, because
something like a flash spread over his swarthy face, though his eyes
looked straight at Cuthbert without a sign of flinching.
"Yes, I saw it--in fact, I had turned my head a dozen times in the last
half-hour, expecting something of the sort," he remarked, composedly.
"It wasn't a forest fire--not near dense enough for that; and yet it
looked queer for a campfire--as near as I could make out there were
several of 'em, all in a row, and climbing straight up like columns,"
declared Eli, wagging his head mysteriously.
"Just three," added Owen, gloomily, and yet with a gritting of his teeth
that excited Cuthbert's curiosity more than a little.
"Three smokes in a row--I declare, that sounds like a signal; the
Indians down in Florida always communicate in that way, and have a
regular code, so that they can send long messages across the swamps and
pine forests," he remarked.
"That's just what it was, a smoke signal; and the Cree Indian we met on
the river sent it to others of his race upstream," observed the young
Canadian.
Cuthbert immediately remembered that he had seen the lone paddler turn a
look that was a mingling of surprise and displeasure upon Owen when the
canoes passed in midstream, and his former thought that these two had
met before, and that the husky lad might even have had to do with the
mournful black eye of the aborigine, came back with added force just
now; still, he was not the one to ask questions, and unless the other
chose to take his new friends fully into his confidence, whatever the
mystery that lay in his past must always remain so.
"Yes," went on Owen, bitterly, "it was meant to give notice to one who
is interested in my movements that I had apparently changed my mind, and
did not intend to leave the neighborhood as speedily as had been
expected--that's all."