"Ours the wild life the forest still to range,
From toil to rest, and joy in every change."
The low chirping of the wood-birds, the tiny barkings of the out-starting
squirrels, the hurrying footsteps of the night-prowling animals, on their
way to their coverts, on the land; and the leaping up of fish, the flapping
of the wings of ducks, and the far-heard, trumpet-toned cry of the great
northern diver, on the water, those unfailing concomitants of approaching
day, in the watered wilderness, early aroused the next morning our little
band of soundly-sleeping hunters from their woodsmen's feather beds,--the
soft, elastic boughs of the health-giving hemlock,--and put them on the
stir in building their fire, and making preparations for their breakfast.
The business of the day before them was the completion of their camp
building; which, being intended, as before mentioned, for their general
head-quarters and storehouse, required far more care and labor in the
construction than the ordinary structures that are made to serve for
shelters for the sojourners of the woods. And, as soon as they had
dispatched their morning repast, they rose and prepared themselves to
commence the task on hand. As the main part of the company were scattering
into the woods, with their hatchets, in search of straight poles to rib out
the sides and roof of their structure, which was the first thing in order
to be done, Phillips, without explaining his object, quietly intimated to
Codman a wish for company, in a short excursion with canoes up the river;
and, the latter complying with the intimation, and putting himself under
the hunter's lead, the two took to their canoes, with each another canoe in
tow, and commenced rowing up the stream; which, having run its rapid and
noisy race down to the foot of the mountains, a mile or two above, was
here, with gentle pace and seeming reverence, advancing to the lake with
its welcome tribute of crystal waters.
"Hillo, there, Mr. Hunter!" sung out the trapper to the other, now some
distance ahead, "what may be some of the whys and wherefores of this shine
we are cutting, stringing along here with canoes to our tails? What suppose
you should be telling, before a great while, lest this end of the fleet
might be missing?"
"Soon show you," replied the hunter, without turning his head. "I always
liked the Indian fashion of answering questions by deeds instead of words,
where the circumstances admit,--it is so much more significant and
satisfactory, besides the world of lying it often prevents."
After rowing a short distance farther, in silence, the hunter turned his
canoe in shore; and, after the other had followed his example, he said:
"Now, follow me a few rods back into this thicket, up here." And, leading
the way, he proceeded to what at first appeared to be an irregular pile of
brush, lying by the side of a large fallen tree, but which, when the top
brush was removed, and an under-layer of evergreen boughs brushed aside,
disclosed a large, compact collection of peeled spruce bark, cut in regular
lengths of six or seven feet, and in breadths of about one foot, of exact
uniformity, and made so straight and flat by solid packing that a rick of
sawed boards would have scarcely presented a more smooth and even
appearance.
"Well, I will give in, now, and acknowledge myself beat in wood-craft,"
said the trapper, comprehending, at once, by whom and for what purpose this
acceptable pile of covering material had been cut, and thus nicely cured
and stored away for use. "To have done this, you must have come here in
June, the peeling month; but how came you to think of this process of
preparing the bark, or come here at all to do it, so long beforehand, on
the uncertainty of its being needed, this fall, except perhaps by
yourself?"
"Well, happening to think, one day, how much better camps might be made
from bark peeled, cut, and pressed into the required lengths and shapes,
beforehand, as we prepare it for our Indian canoes, than by following our
usual bungling method, I concluded to put things in train for trying the
experiment this fall; and this fall especially, as I was then calculating,
unless you wished to join, to hunt only in company with the two Elwoods,
and I was desirous of getting up an extra good camp for them."
"You take an unusual interest in the affairs of this newly-come family, I
have noticed."
"If I do, I may have my reasons for it."
"Special reasons, doubtless."
"Ordinary reasons would be enough. In the first place, they are fine
people, the son and mother uncommonly so, and the father also I consider a
well-disposed man, but who may have some weak points; and this being so,
and the son being inexperienced in dealing with designing men, a neighbor,
like me, ought, I am sure, to be unwilling to see any advantage taken of
them."
"Yes, a fair reason enough for your course, if you had no other; but may be
you have other inducements, received, for instance, on your visit to the
seaside, the past summer."
"That is all guess-work, remember; but come, let us drop the subject, get
this bark into our canoes, and be off down the river with it to camp."
They did so; and, on reaching camp, agreeably surprised their companions
with the abundant supply of excellent material which they had brought for
covering the cabin, and for which, when the circumstances became known, all
were disposed to accord due credit to the provident hunter.
With the material thus obtained, the ribbing of the frame having by this
time been completed, all hands now commenced the work of laying on,
fitting, and confining the pliant and close-lying strips of bark to the
framework of the structure, both above and below. And with so much
assiduity and skill did they prosecute their labors, that before night
their camp was covered and inclosed on every side, and made to present to
the eye, a cabin neat and comely in appearance, and as tight, warm, and
secure against storms, as many a dwelling-house in the open country,
covered with boards and shingles.
After the company had completed the roof and walls of their camp,
constructed a rude door, and made what interior arrangements they deemed
necessary for sleeping and storing their provisions, they went out, for the
hour or two now remaining before sunset, and scattered for short excursions
in their canoes along the neighboring coves of the lake, for the various
purposes of fishing, shooting ducks, or inspecting the shores for
indications of beaver, otter, and other classes of the smaller fur-animals
of amphibious habits. All returning, however, at sunset, they proceeded to
cook and eat their suppers, much in the same manner as on the preceding
evening; after which, in compliance with the suggestions made by several of
the company during the day, they went into a general consultation for the
purpose of fixing on the different locations and ranges of river and
forest, which each, or each pair of them, should take for their hunting or
trapping during the season before them. They soon agreed, in the first
place, without any difficulty, in making the shores of the Oquossak, the
next lake above, and the last and perhaps largest of the four great lakes
forming the chief links of this singular chain of inland waters, the
base-line of their operations. Phillips and Codman, having procured a wide
strip of the outer bark of the white birch,--ever the woodman's substitute
for writing paper, when writing becomes necessary,--then proceeded to draw
a map, from personal recollection, of the strangely-irregular lake in
question. By this, when completed, it appeared that the main inlet, or the
uppermost portion of the Androscoggin river, coming down from the north
through a chain of lakelets, or ponds, and running parallel with the
eastern shore of the lake, and but a few miles distant from it, entered
into a deep, pointed bay, about a third of the way down the eastern shore;
where it was joined by another and scarcely lesser river, coming from or
through a different chain of these lakelets, scattered along far to the
east and northeast of the Oquossak; while a third considerable stream
entered the lake at its extreme northwestern termination. These three
inlets, that constituted all the rivers of any magnitude running into this
lake, would not only afford, it was readily seen, the most desirable
hunting-grounds in the sections through which they flowed, but give the
greater part of the hunters, if they encamped in pairs, and had their camps
at the mouths of these streams, as was expected, an opportunity of locating
in near vicinity; while two more of the remaining part of the company
would, at the mouth of the northwestern inlet, be less than five miles
distant. This arrangement would dispose of six of the company,--two of them
on the inlet last mentioned, and four on the two rivers that entered the
lake together,--and leave one to remain on the Megantic, to take charge of
the head-quarters, or store-camp there, and hunt anywhere he chose in its
vicinity. But who the one to be placed in this trust should be, was the
next question to be decided. Gaut Gurley, who had been secretly scheming
for this post ever since the arrangement which he saw must necessarily
create it was agreed on, and who had been insidiously making interest for
it, with all the company, except Phillips and Codman, now proposed that the
question should be decided by ballot, and without discussion. And, the
proposition being seconded by Tomah and assented to by all, each took a
small piece of birch bark, marked with a coal the name of the person he
would vote for, and deposited it in a hat placed on their stone table for
the purpose. After all had voted, the hat was turned and the votes
assorted; when it appeared that four votes had been thrown for Gaut Gurley
and three for Mark Elwood, making seven in all, and showing that all the
company had voted.
"Well, friend Elwood," said Gaut, with a well-assumed air of indifference,
when the result was seen, "shall _I_ resign in _your_ favor, or _you_ in
_mine_? This thing should be unanimous."
Elwood looked up inquiringly at Gaut, when he read something in the
countenance of the latter which gave him to understand what was expected of
him, and he accordingly responded: "I should suppose there could not be
much question which of the two, a minority or a majority candidate, should
ask the other to stand aside,--especially when, as in your case, the
majority candidate is clearly chosen. I voted, gentlemen, for Mr. Gurley,"
he added, turning to the rest of the company; "and I hope those who voted
for me will cheerfully acquiesce in the choice of the majority."
"I am a comparative stranger to you all," remarked Carvil, "and, though I
voted for Mr. Elwood, I will yet very willingly agree to the selection you
have made."
Gaut, knowing well enough who had thrown their votes against him, now
glanced at Phillips and Codman; but gathering from their silence and demure
and downcast looks that no approving expression was likely to be drawn from
either of them, he interrupted the pause that followed Carvil's remarks, by
saying:
"Perhaps, then, I ought to accept the post thus assigned me; and on some
accounts it will come right all round. I should be compelled, any way, to
return once or twice to the settlements during our campaign, on business,
and I can attend to that, and procure the fresh supplies of bread and other
things we shall need, all under one head. And, besides that, I had already
made up my mind I should select this stream, and the coves on this lake,
for my trapping and hunting for beaver and other water animals, which I
once knew how to take, in preference to going any farther. So I will accept
the post, warrant the safe-keeping of the common property, and see what I
can do towards contributing my share to the stock of furs."
This point being thus regarded by the company as settled, they next
proceeded to the discussion of the more particular duties which should
devolve on their chosen camp-keeper; which, at length, resulted in the
arrangement that he should go up with his canoe into the Oquossak, once a
week, make the circuit of the lake so far as to visit the nearest or
lake-shore camps of each or each pair of his companions, bring them fresh
provisions, and take back to head-quarters all the furs each had caught in
the interim, and be held responsible for the good condition and
safe-keeping of all the peltries, and other common property of the company,
thus placed in his charge.
After this matter (which was destined to have an important bearing on the
fate and fortunes of more than one of the leading personages of our story)
was thus disposed of, they then, in conclusion of the business of the
evening, proceeded, by mutual agreement, to apportion the different
locations for hunting on the upper lake, already fixed on, among the three
pairs of hunters the company would now make; decide what individuals should
join to form each pair; and what general plan of operations they should
adopt, after they had got settled in their respective places. By the
amicable arrangement thus made, Phillips and Claud Elwood were to form one
of these pairs, and fix their lake-camp at the mouth of the river already
named as coming in from the east; Carvil and Mark Elwood to constitute
another pair, and encamp at the mouth of the great inlet entering at the
same place; while Codman and the young Indian, Tomah, who, from their
mutual challenges in beaver-catching, had by this time become friends, and
willing to hunt from the same starting-point, were to have their camp at
the mouth of the river coming in at the northwest end of the lake. By the
plan now adopted, also, each of these three hunting parties, after they had
reached their respective destinations and built their camps, were to
explore the rivers ten or fifteen miles upward through the forest, and to
some suitable and convenient terminus of their proposed trapping and
hunting range; there build a camp, in which to lodge on their outward
jaunts; and mark off, on their return, by blazing the trees, lines for
setting log-traps for sable, marten, stoat, or ermine,--for, whatever may
be said to the contrary, the noted ermine of Europe is a native of our
northern forests. These marked lines were to diverge from the upper camps
along the ridges on each side of the river; sometimes running many miles
apart, then turning down to the stream, where indications of beaver and
otter had been discovered, so as to afford a chance for setting and tending
steel-traps for those animals; then running back again on to the high hills
and ridges; but finally converging in, and meeting at the lake camp. And,
these preliminary steps being taken, everything would then be in readiness
for setting the traps, and for entering on the hopeful business of their
expedition.
All these arrangements being now definitely settled and understood, the
consultation was broken up, and the company betook themselves once more to
their sylvan couches, calculating on an early start the next day for their
several destinations on the Oquossak, the nearest of which was at least a
dozen miles distant.
Accordingly, with the first crack of dawn the next morning, the loud and
startling gallinaceous cachinnation of the droll and wide-awake trapper
aroused the woodsmen from their slumbers, and warned them to be up and
doing. And soon the whole company were in motion, the kindled fire was
crackling and flashing up amidst the dry pine faggots, thrown, on to feed
and start it into the steadier blaze and heat of more solid fuel, and the
process of cooking was going busily forward. In a short time they were
again gathered, in high spirits, round their stone table, unconsciously
partaking, as the event proved, the last meal they were ever all to enjoy
together in the woods. But let us not anticipate.
As soon as they had dispatched their breakfast, the band about to depart
loaded their canoes with traps, guns, camp-kettles, and the provisions
needed for immediate use; and, wishing Gaut Gurley a happy and successful
time at his solitary station, pushed merrily away into the broad lake,
turned their course northward, and sped on their voyage. A few miles rowing
brought them to the great inlet, which, like the principal inlets to the
lakes below, was another reach of the Androscoggin, flowing directly from
the east through a channel, still nearly a hundred yards in width and
nearly three miles in length, from its entrance into one lake to the point
where it debouches from the other. After a row of an hour up this channel,
made interesting and impressive by the magnificent colonnades of princely
pines, that, as far as the eye could reach, stood towering away in
lessening perspective along its banks, they suddenly emerged into the
bright and far-stretching waters of the unmapped Oquossak, which lay
nestling and inflected among the dark green cliffs of the boldly
intersecting mountains, like some rough, unshapen gem, gleaming out from
the rubbish of a mine. And laying their course northeasterly, for the
distant bay receiving the waters of the confluent streams before described,
they now pulled away through the lake, in as direct a line as its irregular
form, would permit. And now, skirting long reaches of its deeply-wooded
shores, from which the old forest, never broken by the axe, and rarely ever
trod by the foot of the white man, was seen, stretching away back, lift
after lift, in pristine grandeur, to the tall summits of the amphitheatric
mountains,--now shooting athwart, under some dark headland that stood out
boldly disputing the empire with the water, and now threading their way
among the clustering green islands that studded the bright and beautiful
expanse,--they rowed steadily onward for hours, and at length were
gladdened by the sight of the dim but well-remembered outlines of the
pointed bay, whose farthest shore was to be the home and haven for most of
their number, during their present sojourn in this wild and remote fastness
of the wilderness.
To row in, disembark their luggage, select sites for camps, to build those
camps, so far as to make them serve for shelters for the night, and to
prepare and eat their suppers, occupied the company, who had all decided to
remain there that night through the remainder of the day till bed-time. The
next morning, after an early breakfast, Codman and Tomah took leave of
their companions, and proceeded on further up the lake to their allotted
station; leaving the two Elwoods, and their respective hunting companions,
to complete their camps, which were situated in near vicinity, get all in
readiness, and the next day enter in earnest on the main business of the
campaign.
But it is not our intention to follow either of these pairs, or now
distinct parties, of adventurous woodsmen, in the general routine of their
camp life,--in their solitary and almost daily marches among the tangled
wilds, from their inner to outer camps; their toils and fatigues on the
way; their pleasant meetings at the ends of their ranges at night, to
recount the adventures of the day, and lodge together; their heats and
their colds, their dark hours and their bright ones, their curious
experiences and startling encounters with wild animals; and finally their
varying success in realizing the objects of their expedition, through the
successive scenes of the next nine or ten weeks, where
--"rifle flashed,
The grim bear hushed its savage howl,
In blood and foam, the panther gnashed
Its fangs with dying howl;
The fleet deer ceased its flying bound,
Its snarling wolf-foe bit the ground,
And, with its moaning cry,
The beaver sank beneath the wound,
Its pond-built Venice by."
Suffice it to say, that they were all blest with uninterrupted health and
increasing vigor, in realization of the favorite theory of Carvil, in
relation to the invigorating and fattening principle of the super-abounding
oxygen of the woods. They all highly enjoyed their wild life, and were,
even beyond their most sanguine expectations, successful in their aggregate
acquisitions of peltries and all kinds of game. Gaut Gurley, whose
unremitted attention and apparent faithfulness in the duties of his post
soon disarmed the distrusting, came round punctually, every week, supplied
them with all they needed, and, while reporting his own good success, in
his short ranges in the vicinity of his head-quarters encampment, seemed
greatly gratified at the continued successes of all the rest, and
exultingly bore off their furs for curing and safe storage with the rich
and rapidly-increasing collection at his camp; setting the mark of their
collected value, the last time he came round, at upwards of a thousand
dollars, and encouraging them with the hope that, probably, before any
change would occur in the weather which would compel them to relinquish the
business and return to the settlement, a much larger sum would be realized
from their exertions. And, in view of this gratifying condition of their
affairs, the company at large--as winter at the farthest could not be very
distant--now began to anticipate, with much satisfaction, the time when
they should return to their families, to gladden them with their welcome
presence, and, from the fruits of their enterprise, make such unlooked-for
pecuniary additions to the means of domestic comfort and happiness.