Far Past the Frontier

by James A. Braden

  CHAPTER XV.

  A Maple Sugar Camp in the Wilderness.

  Selecting a stout limb for his purpose, Ree set to work to cut and trimit, making a short, heavy club. He believed that if he should jumpsuddenly down among the wolves, their surprise would be so great as tokeep them away for perhaps a second--long enough to permit him to seizehis rifle, and again fight his way into the tree. As he trimmed the thickbranch, however, an increasing danger presented itself. The unusualhowling of the pack and the scent of blood were attracting other wolvesto the spot. Before his club was ready, he had counted seven newcomersgalloping through the snow to join their blood-thirsty brothers.

  To put his life in peril by jumping down among so many of the fiercecreatures was to run a greater risk than Ree thought wise; but hisfertile brain presented a new plan. He partially split one end of hisclub and securely bound the handle of the knife in the opening thus made,with strips of buckskin cut from his clothing. In this way he made astrong but cumbersome spear, and holding to the lowest branch of thetree, he leaned far down and stabbed and slashed at every wolf withinreach.

  Several were wounded and their yelps of pain and rage were added to thehideous, hungry cries of the others. Again and again the bold boy cut andthrust as the wolves kept coming within his reach. The snow was dyed withblood. For half an hour the battle was carried on.

  At last by a lucky stroke Ree gave one of the howling mass beneath him sodeep a cut across the neck, that it sprang but a few yards away and felldead, its head half cut off. At once the others pounced upon the wolf'sbody, tearing it to pieces, scrambling and fighting in a most horriblemanner.

  Now was Ree's chance. He leaped quickly to the ground and seized hisblood-stained rifle; in another moment he would have been safe. But hewas so chilled--so stiff from the cold, that he missed his hold whenfirst he sprang to catch the lowest branch, and before he could tryagain, a monstrous gray wolf dashed toward him. With a hungry howl, itsjaws dripping blood, it launched itself through the air, straight forRee's throat.

  With wonderful nerve the boy stood his ground. He did not falter, norhesitate. He met the hot-mouthed, vicious brute, his rude spear claspedin both hands, and drove the blade deep in its shaggy shoulder. With analmost human shriek and ferocity the wolf sprang sidewise under theimpulse of the steel's sharp thrust, and the spear quivering in itsflesh, was jerked from the boys' hands.

  Ree's first impulse was to run in pursuit, as the wolf dashed into thewoods, to recover his knife; but in an instant the whole pack was uponhim again, having made short work of their cannibal-like feast, and onlyby the greatest dexterity was he able again to seize his rifle and climbto safety, ere they reached him.

  "Now some of you will smart!" the half-frozen boy exclaimed, and heclenched his teeth in righteous anger. Shot after shot he poured into theblood-thirsty brutes, and watched with horror as those remaining alivepounced upon the dying ones. Four wolves he killed and two he wounded,then sat still awhile to catch his breath and scrutinize the dozenanimals remaining, to see whether the one in whose body his knife hadbeen carried off, was there. He did not see it, though the twilight gloomwas now dispelled by bright moonlight. So, soon he resumed the terribleexecution he had wrought among the pack, and was firing as fast as hecould load, when he heard John's familiar whistle.

  "Watch out, John! There are still eight of the fiercest wolves you eversaw here!" he called in warning, but almost simultaneously his chum'srifle sounded, and but seven wolves remained. Another and another wentdown to death and the five which were left, taking fright at last, spedaway among the timber, howling dismally.

  "You had me scared into fits, almost," John cried, as Ree climbed down."Why, how cold you are!" he exclaimed, grasping his friend's hand. "Andyour teeth are chattering! How did it happen any way? Come along home!"

  "I'll tell you about it; but we'd better skin the wolves that have notbeen half eaten, first. Bloody as a battle field, isn't it?"

  "Skin nothing! Come along! It is most terribly cold and you are halffrozen. We can get the skins in the morning if there is any thing left ofthem."

  For once Ree yielded and when he had recovered his snow-shoes Johnmarched him off at a pace which soon put his blood in circulation.

  If ever the young pioneers appreciated the rude comforts of their cabin,they did that night. It was sweet to feel snug and warm and safe, as Reetold the story of his adventure more fully than at first; to stretchtheir weary legs toward the crackling fire and lean back in the furcovered seat they had constructed. It was pleasant to eat a lunch of nutssecured from the Indians, and venison steaks cut thin and broiled crisp.It was comfortable to creep into bed and lie awake and talk of theirplans; of their friends in far away Connecticut; of incidents of theirtrip; of the strange absence of Tom Fish; of the sad story of ArthurBridges--of many, many things.

  And it was pleasant to watch with half closed eyes, the firelight dancingon the rough cabin walls, shining in the little looking glass near thedoor, showing the rifles within easy reach in the corner near the bed;the two sets of pistols in their hostlers on the table they had made; thegleaming blades of their axes, beside the fire-place; the books Ree lovedso well, arranged on a board from the old cart, which did duty as amantel, and John's fife beside them; the frying-pan and their few disheson and in a little cupboard in the corner. It was sweet, too, to fallasleep at last and dream of the present, past and future--enjoying theperfect rest which the fatigue of honest, hard work by those possessed ofhonest hearts must ever bring.

  The boys were very tired this night, partly from the unusual exercise ofwalking so far on snow-shoes, no doubt. But they slept soundly and wereearly awake. Directly after breakfast they visited the scene of the fightwith the wolves. They little expected to find anything left of theirvictims, excepting bones, but they greatly desired to find the knifewhich had been Capt. Bowen's present.

  Bones they did find--but nothing else. There was every evidence of aghastly feast having been eaten by the wolves and other animals duringthe night. Even the skeletons of those which had been slaughtered, weretorn to pieces, and for rods around the snow was dyed crimson.

  To cry over spilled milk was no part of Ree's disposition, and though hedeeply regretted the loss of his knife, he did not allow himself to bedispirited, though little he thought how important a part in theiradventures the knife was yet to play.

  In their walks about the woods at different times, Ree and John hadobserved that there were many sugar maples near their cabin and hadagreed that they must make some sugar when spring came. That veryafternoon, therefore, they began preparations.

  Blocks of wood, cut into lengths of about two feet, they hollowed outwith their axes, making troughs in which to catch the sap of maples. Thework was tedious and many a trough was split and spoiled when all butcompleted, before they caught the knack of avoiding this by strikingcurved strokes with their axes, and not letting the blades cut in deeply,in line with the grain of the wood.

  This work, and the making of spouts by punching the pith out of sumacbranches occupied several days. Not all their time could be given to it,however, as traps must be visited and Indians given attention; for nowthat the weather was becoming warm the savages came frequently, oftenwith many furs secured during winter hunting expeditions.

  "We have made a pretty good living and a nice sum of money for each ofus, when our furs shall have been marketed, and have also made ourselvesa home," said Ree one day, as they were estimating the probable value oftheir stores. "After deducting for all losses, we will still have donesplendidly if we are fortunate in getting the skins to Pittsburg orDetroit and working a fair bargain with the buyers."

  "We better get a good canoe Ree, and learn to use it; then we can takethe furs from here to Detroit by water, traveling along the shore of LakeErie," John suggested. "Capt. Pipe has a couple of fine, big canoes ofhis own, buried for the winter. I believe he would sell us one."

  "We will go and have a talk with him about it soon," Ree answe
red. But itwas not for many days that the lads found time to do this.

  Fine weather came sooner than they expected. The spring of 1791 was oneof the earliest known to the section which is now Northern Ohio. Even inFebruary the sun came out bright and warm and the cold windsdisappeared.

  John and Ree awoke one morning after a rainy night to find the water highin the river, the ice gone and the air as mild as on a day in May.

  "Hooray! I've a mind to take a swim!" John shouted, looking withenthusiasm at the high water.

  "I wish we had our canoe now," Ree joined in; "but I'll tell you, oldchap, we must get our maples tapped, if we are to get any sugar."

  John turned away from watching the swift, deep current with a sigh.Somehow he did not feel like working; but under Ree's influence he soonforgot his "spring fever" feeling, and with a small auger bored holes inthe trees. Into these holes Ree drove the spouts, placing a troughbeneath each one, to catch the sap which at once began to flow.

  As all the trees were near the cabin the boys might have carried the sapto their fire-place for boiling, but as this would necessitate thecarrying of a great deal of wood, they hung their largest kettle on apole laid across two forked sticks driven in the ground for that purpose,just at the top of the hill near the edge of the clearing.

  By noon enough sap was collected in the troughs to make it necessary tobegin the boiling, and from then on through all that day and the next,one of the boys was constantly busy, keeping the fire blazing hot andgathering sap to keep the kettle well filled, as the water was boiledaway, leaving only its sweetness. At last they added no fresh sap butallowed the syrup in the kettle to boil down thicker and thicker makingin the end, most delicious molasses.

  The boys finished the boiling in the cabin that night, and when the syruphad become thick enough, they were able by stirring and cooling it, tomake an excellent quality of sugar. And it had been so long since eitherof them had tasted sweets, that the maple's fine product was indeed atreat. The prospect that they would be able to make enough sugar to lastthem until another spring, was highly agreeable, and they were willingenough to work hard during many days which followed.

  One regret the boys had, was that they possessed but two kettles, neitherof which was very large; but they boiled sap in both and found that bygreasing the upper edges of the vessels that they could keep them quitefull and still the sap would not boil over.

  They also tried the very primitive method used by the Indians before theyhad kettles in which to make sugar. Several large, nearly round stoneswere washed clean, then heated very hot in the fire. With improvisedtongs they were then lifted into a large keg of cold sap. As thisoperation was constantly repeated, the sap was heated and slowlyevaporated.

  The process proved so very slow and laborious, however, that the boyssoon abandoned it. But while the experiment was being tried, somethingoccurred which made John laugh until he held his sides. The keg of saphad been heated to almost a boiling point, and putting a couple of large,hot stones in it both boys left the camp, John to gather more sap and Reeto chop some wood.

  As John was returning, he discovered a young bear prowling about thecamp. The animal evidently had not been long out of its winter quartersand was hungry. It sniffed the sweet odor which came from the evaporatingmaple water, and ambled up to the keg.

  Quietly John ran and called Ree, and they both hurried softly back justas the bear put its nose deep into the hot sap. A squeal of painfollowed, and the poor cub nearly turned a backward somersault, with suchsudden energy did it take its nose out of the keg. Wild with the smartingburns the creature rushed blindly about, almost burying its head in thecool leaves and earth, and missing its footing, somehow, as it approacheda steep part of the hill, fell and rolled to the bottom, squealing andgrowling woefully. Before John could check his laughter, the bear hadpicked itself up and trotted swiftly away, and Ree was willing to let itgo unharmed, though he could have shot it.

  This incident set the boys to thinking. Bruin evidently knew the smell ofhoney better than of sap. All bears delight in sweet things, and Ree saidhe had no doubt there were bee trees in the neighborhood. At any rate,the lads decided, it would be well worth while to be on the lookout forthem as they were about the woods during the spring and summer.

  Continued fine weather put an end to the maple season. In a fortnight thebuds began to open on the trees and the flow of sap ceased. About thistime, too, the Portage trail, not far away, was constantly traversed byredskins, many of them strangers, and there were daily calls at the cabinof the young Palefaces. So there was much to do; the spring crops must beplanted, the pile of furs must be taken to market and fences must becompleted to keep deer and other animals out of the cornfield theyproposed having.

  There was another thing needing early attention, and that was thesecuring of land at the junction of the Portage trail and the river. Forthe boys could not but see how advantageous that place would be as atrading point, and they wished to build a new and larger cabin there.Moreover, as the country was opened up and settled, the land about sofavorable a site for a town would probably become very valuable.

  "We will go to see Capt. Pipe to-morrow, and bargain with him for acanoe, and for some land where the trail and the river meet," said Reeone warm March night as they sat on the doorstep of their cabin, in themoonlight.