The Log House by the Lake: A Tale of Canada

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  As the hut was close to the lake the skates were buckled on in thewarmth, and together the whole party issued forth, D'Arcy promising tocome across the next day in a sleigh he had built.

  During the brief period they had spent in the hut the wind had changed,and with it the weather. Thick clouds floated overhead low down,lightish in colour though dense; the air was sensibly warmer. Philiplooking at his younger brother said, "Charley, I have a great mind toleave you behind; it will be harder work than coming." But Charleyconsidered that his manliness was disparaged, and insisted on starting."Well, we may reach home before the snow falls," said Philip, shakingD'Arcy's hand, and adding, "We shall all be glad to see you."

  Away they went; but not two minutes had passed before snow-flakes beganto fall, a few only settling on their faces. They were the forerunnersof others; thicker and thicker they fell; now they rushed downhurriedly, covering the surface of the lake with a white sheet. Did thebrothers hear D'Arcy's voice joined with Terry's shouting to them tocome back? They had, however, got so far on their way that, even hadthey been certain of the fact, they would not have liked to do so. Onthey at all events went. Philip kept his eyes fixed on his own hill,but the outline soon became very dim. Thicker and thicker fell thesnow; still they were in their proper course, Philip thought.

  "Can you make out the hill, Harry?" he asked.

  "No, Phil; cannot you?" answered Harry: "what's to be done?"

  "Push on, of course; the snow may stop falling, and we may see our wayagain," said Philip.

  The snow, however, did not stop falling, but rather came down thickerand faster. Charley held out bravely, working on his way through thesnow. Skating was far greater labour than before. This should not havebeen: hard snow would have easily been pushed aside; a part of thismelted as it fell. Philip did not express his fears to his brothers,though he became very anxious. "What can we do?" he kept saying tohimself. "We must keep on; we may hit our home or some parts of theshore which we know, and from which we may reach it either walking overland, or by coasting along on skates." His greatest fear wasapproaching the commencement of the channel or river which communicatedwith Lake Huron, where, as the stream was rapid, the ice probably wasnot formed, and their destruction would be nearly inevitable. Thedangerous point was to the right of their course; he therefore naturallyinclined to the left. "I wish we were there," said Charley at length,in a doleful tone. On they went; the pace became slower and slower; theyoungest brother kept very close to Philip. "Really I think we might dobetter without our skates," observed Charley; but Philip judged rightlythat skates would still avail them most. They went on--on--on. Harrydeclared that they ought to have reached home long before this. Philipthought so likewise, but did not express his fears; it was important tokeep up his brothers' spirits. Had there been a strong wind he mighthave continued to keep on a straight course; but there was not a breath,and the snow came down from all directions, as Harry observed, "just asif a flock of geese were being plucked overhead." The flakes werealmost as big as feathers. In vain Philip looked out for a break in thethick woolly veil. Brave Charley kept up manfully; his legs weregetting very tired, though. He said nothing; but he could not helputtering low sighs as he worked on, and wishing that he had a pair ofwings to lift up his body. No one could speak except about their hopesor fears.

  At last Charley felt that his knees were failing under him. "O, Phil, Imust stop," he cried out.

  Philip took him by the hand and cheered him up. "Hold out a littlelonger, dear Charley; we must be near the shore," he exclaimed. Charleysaid he would try, and supported on each hand by his brothers went on.He was again nearly giving in, when Philip cried out, "Land a-head!--land a-head! High land with tall trees close down to the lake. It mustbe near home."

  They pushed on vigorously. In less than a minute they ran up against arock; the tall trees changed into low bushes, and the high land into aclump of trees in the middle of a small island. Bitter was theirdisappointment. A moment's consideration made Philip and Harry certainthat it was an island they had visited at the southern end of the lake,and three or four miles distant both from their own and D'Arcy'sclearings. On examining the bark of the trees, and the direction inwhich they bent, they were convinced that they had been making a circle,as they had landed exactly on the opposite side to that which they mighthave expected. From the time they had been moving on, they had probablymade more than one circle; if they started off again, how could theyexpect to steer a straighter course. It was evidently growing darker,and night would soon come on.

  The responsibility resting on Philip's shoulders was very great; notthat he felt very uneasy about his brothers and himself, but he was surethat the dear ones at home would be anxious about them. Had he beenalone he would have made another attempt to reach home; but Charleycould not go further, and Harry would very likely knock up. Hedetermined to remain on the island during the night, unless the weathershould clear up and they should be able to see their way across to themain shore. No time, however, was to be lost to prepare for the nightbefore daylight should altogether depart. Philip was too good abackwoodsman to have left home without his axe and match-box.

  "D'Arcy little thought how useful his fish would prove to us," saidPhilip, as he looked about for the best spot on which to put up a shed."We shall not starve; for that we should be thankful."

  "And look here, we may have a plentiful dessert," cried Charley, comingup with his hands full of brilliant scarlet berries of a long oval form."See, I know that these are good to eat; Sophy was preserving some ofthem two days ago, and said so." The berries were the high bushcranberries which grow on a shrub about the height of the guelder rose.Charley had soon collected many more than he and his brothers couldpossibly eat, especially as they had no sugar to eat them with.

  "Come, Charley, as you are able to move about, set to work and collectwood, for we shall have to keep up a blazing fire all night," saidPhilip, as he began to chop away at some small trees to form the postsof his proposed shed. Harry meantime was getting lighter poles andbranches to form a roof. The spot selected by Philip for the hut was ina sheltered nook under some thickly matted cedars which would greatlyprotect it from the snow. The materials were soon brought together; andso expert had the brothers become in all handiwork, that they quicklymade it habitable. The roof they covered with birch-bark, picked upunder the trees from which it fell, as also the lower part of the sides,banking them up with snow. Boughs of spruce-fir formed no contemptiblecouches. In a very short time they had built a tolerably comfortablehut. Their fire was the next thing to be attended to. There was plentyof drift-wood just above the ice, and dead boughs sufficient to keep upa blazing fire all night: it was soon lighted. Two of the fish wereheld before it till they melted sufficiently to allow of being cleaned;Philip then having cut some forked sticks, forced them into the groundnot yet frozen far down, and with a slender rod spitted the fish, whichhe placed on the forked sticks before the fire. "I wish that we couldboil them Indian fashion," said Harry: "I saw an old squaw perform theoperation the other day, and yet she had only a wooden bucket. She gota heap of stones heated, and then putting some cold water into herbucket she dropped in her fish and began filling up the bucket with thehot stones; the water bubbled and hissed, and the fish were sooncooked."

  Their own fish did not take long roasting. They were pronouncedexcellent, especially seasoned with the cranberries.

  "I say, this is no bad fun after all," exclaimed Charley, who soonrecovered from his fatigue. "If it wasn't for those at home I wouldn'thave missed it on any account."

  "I begin to hope that they will not be breaking their hearts about us,"said Harry; "they must have seen the snow-storm coming on, and willthink that we remained with D'Arcy."

  Philip hoped the same, and enjoyed the adventure nearly as much as hisbrothers. Supper over and the fire made up, he told them both to liedown while he kept up the fire and watched
for any change in theweather. Still the snow continued to fall--not a break in the densemass of clouds overhead appeared. Philip sat with his feet close to thefire, and his back resting against the side of the hut. It wasnecessary to be very watchful, to prevent the flames catching thebranches on which his brothers lay. He had partially closed theentrance with boughs, but an aperture was required to let out the smoke,and he also had frequently to go out and get more fuel, and to watch forthe snow ceasing. Harry and Charley quickly fell asleep. Philip feltvery much inclined to do the same; he tried all sorts of expedients tokeep awake. The hut was not high enough or large enough to enable himto walk about. He would have gone out, but the fire absolutely requiredhis attendance; he did get up, and stood on one leg, then on the other,till he got tired, so he sat himself down again and raked and stirredthe fire as before. There was no want of warmth in the hut. At lasthis hand stopped, and all was silent; if he was not asleep he was verynearly so. Suddenly he was aware that there was something moving in ornear the hut. He looked up, and just at the entrance he saw a hugebrown monster, his eyes looking curiously in, while with its paws it hadabstracted one of the fish which had been hung up to the doorpost tokeep cool. The stick which Philip had used as a poker was in a flame,so, springing up, he dashed it into the face of the intruder--a bigbear--grasping his axe ready for action should the bear retaliate.Bruin gave a loud and angry growl at the unexpected attack, dropping hisbooty and preparing for action. The noise awoke Harry and Charley, whosprang to their feet. "Dash burning sticks in the fellow's face, whileI tackle him with my axe," cried Philip. It was fortunate that he wasnot alone. He gave one cut at Bruin's paws, but the next instant themonster would have seized the axe and hugged Philip, had not Harrydashed a stick into his eyes, the pain of which made him spring on oneside and tumble over on his back. Charley followed up the attack withanother fire-brand, and Philip with his axe dealt him a blow on the sideof his head which almost stunned him. Another such blow would havefinished the career of Bruin, but as Philip was lifting his weapon Harrycried out, "O dear, dear, the hut is on fire!" Philip, on this, for amoment turned his head, and the bear rolling round got up on his feet,and scrambled away over the snow as fast as he could move. Philip,instead of pursuing him, had to attend to the burning hut; and, what wasof still greater importance, to rescue the fish, which would have beennot only cooked, but over-cooked before they were wanted. Charley had,however, thoughtfully seized them, so that Philip and Harry could attendto the hut. In vain did they pull out the part which was alreadyblazing, the wood of the larger portion was so dry that it also caughtfire, and it was soon evident that they had no chance of saving theirmansion. "What a misfortune," cried Harry. "I will not say that,"observed Philip. "If the bear had not awoke me we might have been burntourselves; besides, it has just struck me, that this blaze, which islarger than we should have ventured to kindle, may be seen by those athome, or by D'Arcy, and it will give them assurance of our safety.However, let us set to work to repair damages while the flame lasts, forif we once get chilled, it will not be so easy to warm up again."

  The fire afforded light enough to enable the three brothers to cut downa fresh supply of poles and boughs, and well accustomed to the sort ofwork, they soon again had a hut raised of sufficient size to afford themall shelter. The younger brothers were, however, not inclined to sleep,and they intreated Philip to rest, which he promised to do if they wouldundertake to keep awake. At present there seemed no chance of theirgetting away. As soon as Philip had lain down, Harry and Charley armedthemselves with long burning sticks with which to receive the bearshould he return, taking care to hang their fish up inside, out of hisway. He was, however, not likely to come back again, after the warmreception he had received.

  "I thought bears always shut themselves up in winter, and lived bysucking their paws," observed Charley. "As to sucking their paws, Idon't know," said Harry; "but I fancy that the brown bear of this partof the world shuts himself up for the greater part of the winter, andonly occasionally comes out on a mild day to forage for food. Iconclude that our friend had his nest somewhere near and was disturbedby the fire, and his olfactories excited by the smell of the broiledfish. I wish that we had caught him, we might have taken home somethingworth having."

  "Do you think that he has left the island?" asked Charley. "Couldn't wehunt him up?"

  "Without consulting Philip! and I should not like to awake him," saidHarry. "But, I will tell you what, we will make some spears in the meantime, and harden their points in the fire, and if we can find him we'lltake him, dead or alive."

  There were some tough young saplings growing just outside of sufficientlength for the proposed object; three of these were quickly cut, andbeing pointed were hardened in the fire, and then again scraped, tillthey became rather formidable weapons.

  "Don't you think Phil has slept long enough?" said Charley, who wasanxious to make trial of his spear. "I am afraid Master Bruin will besneaking off, and leaving us to whistle for him."

  "Very uncivil not to stop and be killed," said Harry; "but we need be inno hurry; if he didn't go off at first he is safe enough somewhere nearhere, depend on it."

  The snow continued to fall, but it could not have fallen so thickly asat first, or it would have covered the ground with a thicker coat thanit appeared to have done. Daylight dawned at last, and Philip woke up.He was amused by the preparations for a combat made by his brothers, forhe did not believe that the bear would be found. Before going out allthree knelt down and offered up their prayers and thanksgiving for theprotection afforded them. Under no circumstances did they ever omitthat duty. Philip then advised that they should take some breakfast,that they might be ready for any emergency. Another fish wasaccordingly cooked, of which Charley, in spite of his eagerness, wasready enough to partake. He was hoping all the time that Bruin wouldsmell the savoury morsel, and would be tempted to return. Probably,however, he had already had quite enough of their company and mode ofproceeding to wish again to encounter them.

  It snowed still, but not the dry, hard snow of the previous evening, andPhilip felt more than ever anxious on account of the warmth of theweather. Before the sun could have quite risen, rain came, mixed withthe snow, and gradually there was more rain and less snow, till the raincame down so fast that they were glad to get into their hut for shelter.They well knew that nothing so rapidly causes ice to become rotten asdoes rain. They might be prisoners, therefore, till it had sufficientlymelted to allow of a boat being pushed through it. "But it cannot berotten yet," said Harry. "Let us look out for the shore, and, if we cansee it, push across to the nearest point; never mind the rain."

  "Agreed."

  They crept out of their hut, and worked their way to the shore of thelittle island. The land round them across the water was very faint;still, as they fancied that they could distinguish their own home, andD'Arcy's clearing, and the settlement, they determined to try to reachone or the other. The settlement was the nearest, and if they reachedthat they might easily find their way home. There was a nominal road,though scarcely passable, except when covered with snow in winter. Theywere debating whether it would be better to attempt to skate or to walkacross the ice.

  "We can but pull our skates off if we do not make good progress," saidPhilip; so they were sitting down to put them on when Charley exclaimedthat he must have a look for the bear; if he was there he would find himout. Off he ran with his spear. He had not been absent half a minutewhen he came running back, crying out, "Here he is, sure enough, inamong the roots of an old tree under the bank. Come, Phil; come, Harry,come; we shall have him, sure enough, for he does not seem inclined tomove. I suspect the tap you gave him, Phil, with your axe, hurt himmore than we fancied."

  The latter remarks were uttered as the three brothers, with their spearsready for action, hurried towards the spot Charley had indicated.There, indeed, was a brown heap, from out of which a set of sharp teethand a pair of twinkling eyes appeared. "
There, what do you think ofthat?" asked Charley. The bear lay in a sort of root-formed cavern,under the bank. Some snow had drifted into it, which had been protectedfrom the rain; on the snow were wide stains of blood. His wound wouldcertainly make the bear more savage, and might not have much weakenedhim. Still, forgetting the risk they were running, they all three madea rush at him with their spears. He attempted to get up, seizingCharley's spear from his grasp, and biting furiously at it, but Philip'sand Harry's pinned him to the bank. Still his strength was great, andit was not till Philip was able to get a blow at his head with his axethat his struggles ceased.

  "Hurrah, hurrah! now we may live here for a week, like Robinson Crusoe,"shouted Charley, highly delighted with their success.

  "And leave those at home to believe that we are lost," said Philip.

  "No, no, I don't mean that; only if we were obliged to stop we mightcontrive to be very jolly," said Charley.

  They had no little trouble in dragging the bear up the bank, and it thenbecame a question what they should do with him. They could not carryhim away, that was very certain. Cutting him up was not a pleasantoperation, yet they could not hang him up whole.

  "We will secure his tongue, and we must come back for him as soon as wecan," said Phil.

  They had been so busy that they had not observed that the rain hadceased, and that instead of it a thick fog had sprung up again,completely obscuring the shores. It was so warm that there could be nodoubt that the ice must be rapidly melting. Had this happened at theend of winter it would not have signified, as it would have requiredmany days then to weaken the ice materially. Still, if it had not beenfor the fog they could have pushed across without fear at once.

  "Why did we come without a compass?" cried Philip, not for the firsttime. "Remember, you fellows, never to leave home without one. You donot know when you may require it in this country." After sitting downon the bank for some time, Philip started up, exclaiming, "They will bebreaking their hearts with anxiety about us. I must go. You two haveplenty of food, and if you will promise me that you will not stir fromthe island till a boat comes for you, or till the weather clears and theice hardens thoroughly, I will go across to the settlement and send onhome overland. I know that I can hit it, as there is a breeze blowing,and I took the bearings before the rain came on." Harry and Charleywere very unwilling to let their brother go, but at length, when he hadpersuaded them that there was no danger to himself, they agreed to obeyhis wishes.

  Having disencumbered himself of his axe and an overcoat, as well as ofthe remainder of D'Arcy's fish, which he left for his brothers, Philipbuckled on his skates, and taking one of the spears in his hand, away heglided; his brothers, standing on the shore, watched him--his figuregrowing less and less distinct, till he disappeared in the thick mistwhich hung over the lake. "I wish that we had not let him go," criedCharley. "Suppose any accident should happen to him, how dreadful.Couldn't we call him back? He would hear us if we shouted."

  "No, that would annoy him, as we have no reason for calling him back.We must let him go," said Harry. "Well, at all events, we can pray forhim," exclaimed Charley, in a tone which showed that the thought wasconsolatory. They did so immediately, and felt far greater confidencethan before. For themselves, they had no cause to fear. They had foodenough for a month or more, should the frost return, and they had themeans of building a hut, in which they could be perfectly sheltered fromthe weather. They had abundance of fuel, and the bear's skin would keepthem warm at night. There were the cranberries, and probably some otherberries, and they knew of several roots which they thought they shouldfind. "Really, we are very well off," said Charley, after they hadreviewed their resources. "I don't think there is another part of theworld where, in a little island like this, we could find such amplemeans of support. I shouldn't mind spending a month here at all."

  "Ah! but we could not expect always to find a bear in such a place asthis; and as for the fish, we brought them with us," said Harry, by wayof argument.

  "But I daresay, if we were to hunt about, we should find some racoons;and if the ice melted we should catch plenty of fish--or we might make ahole in the ice and fish through it," argued Charley. "By the by, Ihave got some hooks and a line in my pocket; I vote we try."

  No sooner was the proposal made than executed; two fishing lines werefitted--with their spears a hole was made in the easily yielding ice--the bear furnished bait. Scarcely was a line in than a tug was felt,and a small fish was hauled up. They did not know the name, but as itsappearance was prepossessing, they had no doubt that it was fit forfood. Another and another followed; they were delighted with theirsport, and even Harry felt that he should be sorry to have to go away."If we had but some bread and some tea, with a pot to boil it in, weshould do capitally," he observed.

  "We may dig dandelion roots for coffee, we can boil water with hotstones in a wooden jug, which we can make, and there are roots whichwill serve us for bread," said Charley. "If we could but get a fewheads of Indian corn, we might thrive just as we are."

  "We might live, certainly," said Harry; "but I doubt if we could domore."