ON THE SOUTH FORK.
The particulars of the disaster to Mr. Dide and what led up to it were
brief:
"I hooked a vewy big twout--he would have weighed ten pounds----"
"No, no, Mr. Dide----" interrupted the Major.
"Pon honah!"
"The speed with which you have become proficient as a fisherman is
something marvellous, Mr. Dide. Ten-pounders in this water are not
within the memory of the oldest inhabitant."
"Weally, he was twice as big as the one we hooked this mawning----"
"Then he must have weighed not quite three pounds, Mr. Dide. The only
sure way is to catch your fish and weigh him on the scales."
"Major! Major! think of the penalty provided against that sort of wit."
"It was not so intended, I assure you, my boy."
"But, weally, he must have weighed moah than thwee pounds, Majah, he
was so big and he smashed the pole, you know! I hooked him, and he
stwuggled violently for a gweat while, and when I sought to pull him
out the pole bwoke; he lay on the watah and I sought to secuah him by
going in myself and catching him in my hands; it was vewy cold, 'pon
honah; he moved away and I followed him into a hole, but he eluded me."
"My dear sir, you're quite as intrepid as Kit North. You will make an
angler, certainly."
"Thanks--vewy much delighted, I assuah you. I have been devising
another method of casting the fly, majah. I find it vewy difficult, and
it makes my ahms ache. I think I will take a piece of aldah and make a
pop-gun and pop the fly out. Did you evah twy it?"
"I never did; with the pop-gun and umbrella you will revolutionize the
science of angling."
"No? weally? But the umbwella was not my device, you know," Mr. Dide
modestly protested.
"Still, you made the project possible."
"Think so?"
"Do you shoot, Mr. Dide?"
"Aw, a little. I have pwacticed some with a Winchestah, at a tawget,
you know."
The Major deemed it advisable to admonish the gentleman that it would
be well for him to seek a change of clothing, or at least to wring out
his garments and hang them on the bushes to dry. The latter part of
the suggestion was rejected as impossible--"somebody might come, you
know"--notwithstanding the Major offered him the use of a rubber coat
during the emergency. Mr. Dide therefore trudged off toward the town,
leaving an impression, to one ignorant of the cause, that a miniature
sprinkler had just passed over the road. After his departure I informed
the Major that the gentleman had intimated a desire to accompany us
during the remainder of our trip.
"If you can stand it, I can, my boy."
We broke camp and passed through Meeker early the following morning.
The town--the site of the old military post--is pleasantly situated on
a level place in the valley, skirted on one side by low hills and on
the other by the river, from which rises a steep bluff; on the summit
of this stands the remains of an adobe signal station, profiled against
the background of sky. There is a square in the town, and surrounding
it the adobe buildings erected by the government, but now utilized by
the peaceful citizens as dwellings or stores. Indians are not presumed
capable of bombs, mortars or big guns, and, of course, in selecting a
military post with a view to their methods and capabilities a valley
with water is better than a hill-top without. The country is rich with
ripening grain, and every available acre is either being prepared for
cultivation or is actually under tillage. The mountains that border
all this valley are low and many covered with timber to their summits.
Between the gaps of the closer hills one may discover glades opulent in
pasturage.
Near noon we lunched at an excellent spring a little way from the forks
of the river. We were overtaken here by Mr. Dide on horseback, for whom
we had left, at the hotel, an invitation to join us. He had provided
himself with a new rod and a pair of blankets. What the settlers
thought of a man on horseback, with a glass in his eye and an umbrella
over his head, riding through the country, has not yet transpired. He
had experienced some difficulty at the start; the horse, objecting
to the extraordinary equipment of the rider, had endeavored to throw
him off, but failing in that, ran away. The dogs also had added to
his discomfiture by making frequent sorties, threatening his legs and
vociferously assailing the heels of his steed. Mr. Dide had, however,
survived all impediments and came up smiling.
The valley of the South Fork is somewhat narrower than that of the
main river through which we had come. The brush marks the course of
the stream on the left, and beyond it the mountains rise gradually
for perhaps two thousand feet, while to the right they reach about
the same altitude. The aspen groves are abundant, their lighter green
foliage being interspersed with the darker hue of the pines, clothing
the sloping hillsides from the base to the summit. The road is smooth
and we can trot the horses readily. At times we are close to the river
and again half a mile away. Coming to a great clump of bushes on the
left, a family of willow grouse was flushed from the grass near the
road-side; there were six in the flock, and the major potted four of
the young ones, they having alighted in the adjacent trees. We had
gathered up the birds and gone but a little way when Joshua cried out
excitedly:
"Look at her! look at her! right ahead there, in the road. Where's the
rifle--gimme the rifle!"
Not two hundred feet from us stood a magnificent doe, broadside on, and
an easy shot for the veriest tyro that ever pulled trigger. Instead of
bringing the rifle to bear or giving it to Mr. Miles, the Major waved
his hat and shouted. The beauty ceased staring at us and bounded away
gracefully toward the aspens on the right.
"What'n thunder!--Major! you do beat all, that's a fact. Did anybody
ever see such a pretty shot!" exclaimed Joshua regretfully and with an
expression of disgust.
"Mr. Miles, you should understand, as well as the rest of us, that it
is against the law to kill does at this time; it is the close season,
and I have no doubt she has a suckling fawn hid not a hundred yards
away. We'll have no law-breaking; if we need venison we will take one
with horns, not kill the mother and leave the babies to starve. Think
of it, man; think of the cruelty of it!"
"Hannup, Woman! ga'lang, Baby," was the only response from Joshua.
It came with vigor; disgust pervaded his entire system. We passed
the clump of willows, when Mr. Dide, who was trotting along behind,
exclaimed:
"Aw, Majah! look theah."
Turning, we saw a buck that had just made its way out of the cover,
running swiftly across the road and making for the mountain side.
Joshua brought down his whip upon the horses with his usual admonition
to them, but given in a tone that indicated a determination to
eschew venison or even the thought of it. The Major smiled with the
satisfaction of a man who realizes having made an impression. Reaching
the foot of a slight rise the horses were permitted to slacken their
pace, and silence reigning at the time, Joshua broke out with one of
his familiar hymns:
"Almost persuaded."
"I would rather you were fully persuaded, Mr. Miles," said the Major
when the singer had concluded the first stanza.
"All right--here she goes."
Joshua seemed to rise to his best effort, and was unexpectedly joined
by Mr. Dide in an excellent bass.
"Well!" said the Major, as the song was concluded, "our lines seem to
have fallen in pleasant places, sure enough. I was not aware of the
hymn, however."
"If all the hunters that come over here lived up to your way, Major,
we'd have to kill the deer in self-defence."
"You believe, however, that my way is the right way, don't you?"
"Yes, I do--hannup, Woman."
Later in the afternoon we came to what is known as the "Still Water."
A subsequent examination of this place in the stream impressed me as
being caused by the peculiar formation of the bed-rock. An idea of
it may be imparted by taking a dozen shingles and laying them on a
level, as you would upon a roof, with the butts lapping a couple of
inches only. Consider this the bed of a river with the water flowing
over it from the thin end of the shingles, the butts being from three
or four feet to ten in thickness. At each butt, or where the rock
breaks abruptly, there is a scarcely perceptible motion of the water;
immediately beneath is a deep hole, growing shallower as the next butt
is reached; then follows another hole; there are several miles of this
water in which the current is barely noticeable; the banks are four and
five feet from the surface, which is as smooth as glass. The willows
grow thickly on both sides of the stream, with breaks at intervals that
give one access to it.
Joshua, who was familiar with the vicinity, pronounced Still Water "a
dandy place to fish," but we did not stop, except to permit the Major
to possess himself of two more grouse, the birds being abundant. We
made camp before dark near the mouth of the cañon.
Immediately opposite is a perpendicular bluff of rocks two hundred
feet high, or more; slight projections here and there in the face
of it serve as footholds for a few hardy bushes, a cluster of wild
flowers, or a matted vine; nearer the summit are dwarfed pines. The
river sweeps along the foot of this wall; distilled from its near
mountain springs, it is as clear as crystal, and, dashing from the
shadows of the adjacent cañon, is, as Mr. Dide expresses it, "_vewy_
cold." On the side of the river where our camp lies the valley extends
very gradually up and back to the neighboring hills. The grass is
bountiful and rich, and we have a cluster of young pines under which
we may lounge in the heat of the day. Looking down the course of the
river the valley becomes wider, and we have an open view of mountains
and green slopes for miles. At our first night's camp in this secluded
spot, when the fire has burned low and casts fitful shadows against
the opposite cliff, we find ourselves with our feet due north as we
lie in our blankets. There is a peculiar charm in the bed of fragrant
twigs, with nothing to shut off our vision of the fretted roof. We may
gaze out of our shadowy environment into the faces of the bright gems
and hold hallowed communion with their mysteries. The liquid voices
of the Naiads in their revels sweep gleefully toward me and then away
again in softest cadence. The north star and the Dipper grow bright,
then indistinct, then revive and grow dim again, as the gentle sprites
brush my eyelids tenderly with their downy wings and soothe me into
sweet forgetfulness. Some time in the night I awoke; the Dipper had
moved, or rather we had moved, and the constellation was no longer in
sight. The silence was broken only by the heavy breathing of my nearest
companion, the Major, and the hymn from the river. As its notes rose
and fell its somnolent influence took me gently in charge again. The
"to-hoo--to-hoo" of an owl interrupted the spell for a moment; I saw
him in my mind's eye solemnly staring into the darkness, and I was gone
before he had concluded the second call.
When I awoke again it was daylight and I raised on my elbow to take
in my fellows. Joshua lay rolled in his blankets under the cluster of
pines. Mr. Dide looked thin and singular without his eyeglass. His
nose had reached the peeling stage under the influence of the sun, and
was decorated with ragged bits of skin, as if it had been caught in a
shower of tattered tissue-paper. The Major, with his hat tied over his
head, bore marks of the out-door life and slept like a child. I turned
out quietly, as the sun crept over the hills, slanting its glad rays
against the opposite cliff, and when they touched the swirling water
at its foot, I put my rod together, with a coachman on the end of the
leader, and walked a dozen paces to a little gravel bar.
I had never before tried the denizens of our mountain streams at so
early an hour, and was doubtful of securing anything for breakfast.
I sent the coachman over into the swirl and hooked a trout at once;
landing him safely, I tried for the second and secured him. Just below
me a few rods the river made an abrupt bend, and a great boulder there
had accumulated a quantity of drift, under which was a promising pool.
I tried the pool with flattering success, landing three fish, either
of which would weigh half a pound. Another cast, a little nearer a
log that constituted the main support of the rubbish, and a beautiful
salmon-tinted trout rolled up to the fly and was caught. The water
was swift, and he caused me some uneasiness by making directly for
his lurking-place; if he ever reached the snags that had heretofore
afforded him shelter, or the line should foul in the vibrating branches
of some drift that swung in mid-stream between us, he was no longer
mine. To keep him from his hiding-place I took the risk of refusing
him line, merely dropping the point of the rod a little in his more
violent struggles; to avoid the nearer brush I went into the water
and succeeded in getting below that difficulty. I realized Mr. Dide's
conclusion of the temperature, and felt that his adverb was altogether
inadequate--a dead failure, in fact; it demanded adjectives in quantity
and force. The water reached my knees, and I feared if it rose any
higher I should be compelled to take to the bank; rubber boots afford
some protection in such emergencies and temper the chill. I had only
a light pair of old shoes devoted to camp use in dry weather. Having
attained an advantageous position, I succeeded in coaxing his troutship
completely away from danger into slower water, and learning that he was
securely fastened, I had no apprehension of the result. I allowed him
to fight until he was quite exhausted, and then drew him up to and upon
the small bar at the edge of which I had been standing. I must weigh
him, surely, then and there; and by the pocket scales he brings down
the indicator to two pounds and two ounces, and, for "a red feller," he
had offered more than ordinary resistance.
[Illustration: LAKE GEORGE.]
There was an abundance for breakfast, and twenty minutes had sufficed
to cover the time from my leaving the camp. I gathered up my spoils,
strung them on a willow twig and returned. The sleepers had not changed
their attitudes, and I gave them the benefit of a morning bell after
the manner of an Indian war-whoop. The Major merely opened his eyes,
Mr. Dide was startled, and Joshua took in the situation calmly.
"Arise, ye sluggards, and see the result of twenty-minutes' work on the
South Fork of the White!"
"I'll discount that before noon," said the major, throwing off his
blankets.
While the Major and Mr. Dide made their way to the water's edge with
soap and towel, Joshua appealed to me confidentially. He wanted to know
why the Major had brought "that Winchester."
I suggested that he might have intended it for bear.
"But see here, now, can't you persuade him to kill a deer, or to let me
have the rifle? I see that he keeps the ca'tridges fastened up in that
box of his, or stowed in his pockets."
Plainly the Major and Joshua understood each other upon the question of
game, but I consoled him by agreeing to comply with his wishes.