Jack the Young Canoeman: An Eastern Boy's Voyage in a Chinook Canoe

by George Bird Grinnell

  CHAPTER III

  A MYSTERIOUS WATER MONSTER

  It was still black night when Hugh and Jack arrived at Mr. James's,about four o'clock the next morning. He was waiting for them, and,seated on the floor near the stove in the dining-room where he hadbeen eating his breakfast, was an Indian, whom he introduced asSquawitch--"The Sturgeon," as Mr. James explained.

  By the time they had left the house the eastern sky had begun topale, and day was at hand. It promised to be a perfect one. The skywas cloudless and no fog obscured the view. In the east, above thejagged and broken summits of the Pitt River Mountains, the stars weredisappearing. The sky was beginning to grow gray and then to flush andglow, each instant becoming brighter. They walked at a brisk pace, atfirst climbing the hill and then passing along the level lands of theplateau. The three white men walked side by side in advance, and behindthem came the Indian, leading three splendid hounds, which from time totime tugged at their chains or whimpered as some scent from the forestmet their nostrils. The air was cool, fresh, and exhilarating. A gentlebreeze just moved the branches of the great trees, which were farlarger than any Hugh or Jack had ever seen.

  From the recesses of the tangled forests came the sweet balsamic odorsof firs and cedars, mingled with the faint damp smell of decayingvegetation, so characteristic of the forest in all climates. To Jackand Hugh all the trees and all the plants were new. They wondered atthe vast size and height of the tree trunks, admired the maples withtheir large leaves, the thick tangle of underbrush, and beneath allthe great ferns, higher than a man's head. They were passing betweenhigh walls of foliage, extending far above them on either side. Abovewas a narrow strip of blue sky and before them the yellow road.Multitudes of bright bits of color appeared along the roadside. Thefireweed, familiar everywhere in the mountains, shone like a tongue offlame against a background of green. Here and there, in wet springyplaces, the foxglove nodded its tall spikes of red or white blooms;and besides this there were many other flowers, all beautiful, butnot known by name to the travellers. One beautiful white low-growingflower attracted Jack's attention, and he dropped on his knees toexamine it, declaring that it must be some sort of dogwood, so closelydid it resemble--except in size--the ordinary white flowering dogwoodof the Eastern States. There were also berries of many colors, and ingreat abundance. Many of these Mr. James named for them as they passedalong; salmon berries, red or yellow, blackberries, green and red, andblueberries of several kinds; the purple salal, the velvet berry, thescarlet and as yet unripe panicles of the elder, and the brilliantfruit of the umbrella plant were all there, and were constantlyinviting them to stop and admire their beauties.

  To Mr. James, who had lived in the country for many years, these sightswere commonplace. To Hugh and Jack they were all remarkable and eachone seemed to demand an explanation. But there was no time for that.Mr. James and the Indian had set their hearts on getting a deer, and itwas necessary to step briskly to reach the hunting grounds before thesun had dried off the moisture and "killed" the scent. They walked sofast that there was little opportunity for conversation. Nevertheless,Jack found time to ask some questions.

  "I can see, Mr. James," Jack said, "by looking into this timber, howimpossible it would be to hunt here in the way in which we do in theEastern States or on the plains. In the first place, the underbrush isso thick that one could not see any distance; and, in the second place,it would be impossible to go along without making so much noise thatthe deer would hear one."

  "That's precisely the fact," said Mr. James, "and therefore, as Itold you last night, the only way in which we can get deer here is byputting dogs on the track. There are many places on the islands of theGulf, where the country is open enough so that one can hunt on footquietly, as we used to do where I lived back in Canada, with a goodprospect of getting an occasional shot, but that cannot be done here.Then, too, there are plenty of places along the coast where the deercome down from the mountains to feed on the grass near the edge of thesalt water, or to eat the dulse,--a sort of seaweed thrown up by thesea,--and where they can be shot from a canoe. The Indians kill a greatmany in this way; but, except in winter, when they are driven down fromthe mountains by the heavy snows, that is not a method that is verycertain."

  "If we make a canoe trip along the coast, as we were talking of doing,there might be a chance of getting deer along the shore, then?" queriedJack.

  "Yes, you are very likely to do that," said Mr. James, "and quitelikely, also, to see a bear in such a situation; for the bears oftencome down to the shore there, to feed on the seaweed, or to go alongthe beach hunting for fish or food of any kind that may have beenthrown up by the sea. Almost all the animals in this country, certainlyall carnivorous animals, depend more or less on the beach for theirliving; and often in the morning, if you go along the shore, you willsee the tracks of bears, foxes, wolves, deer, and perhaps two or threeother species of animals that have gone along during the night. Thebeach is a pretty good hunting ground; and if you make your proposedtrip you will find, all along, trails leading down from the hills tothe water."

  For some little time Hugh had been walking behind the others, by theside of the Indian, and trying to talk to him in sign language; but,though occasionally the Indian seemed to comprehend his gestures, itwas evident that he was not a sign talker. Presently Hugh spoke to Mr.James, and said: "I like these dogs you have here, Mr. James; theyremind me of the hounds we used to run foxes down in Kentucky when Iwas a boy. Two of them are as handsome hounds as I ever saw; and theother one, while not so good a hound, looks as if he were smart enoughto keep up his end of the running all the time."

  "You have hit it exactly, Mr. Johnson," said their owner. "Each ofthese dogs has its good points. Captain and Dinah are pretty nearlyperfect to look at. Captain has the best nose of any hound I eversaw, and a voice like a trumpet. Dinah's nose is not quite so good asCaptain's, but she is considerably faster. Wallace, as you say, doesnot look much like a hound, but he is fast and the very best fighter inthe lot, and he is smart enough to know a good part of the time whichway the deer is going, and to cut in ahead of the others and take thetrail; and often he catches the deer alone. He is a great fighter; andif he once gets hold of a deer, he will surely kill it. I had the dogsout on one of the inlets last year, and was in a canoe on the water,myself, and I saw Wallace overtake a deer, running along a narrow ledgeon the face of the cliff, sixty feet above the water. Wallace caught upwith the deer, grabbed him and threw him off the cliff. He didn't letgo, and the two fell into the water below. I have always thought thatWallace would have been killed if I had not been there in the canoe tocome up and kill the deer."

  "Well," said Hugh, "I suppose it's because I used to see so much ofthem when I was a youngster, but there's no sort of dog I like so wellas a hound. The long muzzle, and those great long flapping ears and sadeyes always go right to my heart. If I ever have a place of my own andcan afford it, I will surely have two or three good hounds; not to huntwith, but just for company."

  "Yes," said Mr. James, "they are mighty nice dogs, hounds are; but formyself, I like any kind of a dog. Just at present I have none exceptthese three. But I want to get a good bird dog; and I can tell you thatis something hard to get in this country."

  By this time the sun was up and the brisk walk was making all handswipe the perspiration from their brows. Presently they came to a littletrail off to the left of the road, and here they paused; while Mr.James said a few words in the Chinook jargon to the Indian, who, withthe dogs, disappeared in the forest.

  "Now," said Mr. James, "we are only a little way from the lake, and Ihave sent the Indian off to start the dogs. We may as well walk down towhere the canoe is and wait for him there."

  "Well, son," said Hugh, "you go on with Mr. James and kill that deerif you can. I reckon I'll walk on a little farther along this road,and look at these trees and flowers; and then I'll turn around and goback to the town. I don't care much about looking
on while you folkskill that deer. I'd rather look at this timber, and smell the scentsthat come out of it, and see these posies that seem to be growingeverywhere. If you don't strike me on the road on your way back, why,I'll be at the hotel when you get there."

  "Do just what you wish, Mr. Johnson," said Mr. James; "but I'd like tohave you come, if you feel like it. There's plenty of room for threein the canoe, and we can leave the Indian on shore, and do our ownpaddling."

  "No," said Hugh, "I guess I'll have more fun looking at all thesestrange things around me than I would have if I went in the canoe. Jackwill be safe with you, and we'll meet again later in the day."

  "Yes," said Mr. James, "of course we will. I want to have you come upand take dinner with me at noon; and then in the afternoon we will goover to Burrard Inlet and see Fannin. You will like him. He is one ofthe finest fellows in the world, and it will be a great thing for youif you can get him to go with you on your trip."

  "Oh! I hope we can!" cried Jack; while Hugh said: "I hope so too." Thenthey parted, and Mr. James and Jack plunged into the forest while Hughwalked briskly off along the road. A few minutes' walk brought them tothe border of a beautiful little lake in the woods, surrounded on allsides by the high forest. On its shores they sat down; and while Mr.James lit his pipe he talked and told Jack something about this sheetof water.

  "We call it Mirror Lake," said he, "and on a morning like this youcan easily see how well the name fits it, for everything is reflectedin the smooth water. It is always a good place to get a deer, forscarcely anybody hunts here. The Indians never by any chance go onit. They think that down under the water there lives what they calla selallicum--that means a supernatural monster. Just what sort of acreature this is the Indians do not seem to know; but it is some kindof an evil spirit that lives at the bottom of the lake; and whenanybody goes out on the water in a canoe this monster rises to thesurface, upsets the canoe, and swallows the people that are in it. Thebelief in this monster is held by all the Indians. They won't go out onthe lake. They won't even go near its margin when they are gatheringberries. They think that I am a fool for daring to go out on it; andthey say that some day the monster will rise and surely get me."Pausing a moment, the speaker continued:

  "One time, when I was hunting on the lake I was careless in the canoeand upset, and my gun sank to the bottom, and, of course, I never gotit again. The Indians hearing of this told me that the selallicum hadgiven me a warning not to come on the lake again, and that I had betterrespect this warning. There is only one Indian in the whole countrywho will go out on the lake, and that is Squawitch here. He is an oldfriend of mine, and has lots of confidence in me. But even he willnever enter a canoe except in my company. I don't know just how hereasons about the matter; whether he thinks that I have some strongmedicine which enables me to defy this monster or not; but he has beenhunting here with me many times and is always ready to go again. Thismorning, though, he told me that an Indian had seen the selallicum onthe lake within two or three weeks."

  Mr. James paused to refill his pipe, and as they sat there for a momentsilent, suddenly the faint cry of the hounds was heard in the distance,and Mr. James said: "There! hear that? That's Captain. Listen!"

  Presently the shriller cry of Dinah made itself heard, and as they satlistening to the cry of the hounds, which gradually grew more and morefaint, Squawitch parted the bushes near them, and, walking along a logtoward the water, drew from the low brush a canoe and two paddles. Hestepped into the canoe, pushed it ashore, and signing Mr. James andJack to step in, took his seat in the stern. Mr. James took the bowpaddle and Jack seated himself amidship. Then, with a stroke or two ofthe paddles, the canoe shot out of the little cove on to the unruffledsurface of Mirror Lake.

  Certainly it well deserved its name! Only a few hundred yards in widthand less than a mile long, it was surrounded on all sides by a superbforest of gigantic firs. Along its margin grew a narrow border of grassor low willows, separating the border from the dark forest; and beyondthat border a fringe of lily pads floated motionless on the surface ofthe water. The little strip of grass, the tall green trees, and theblue sky above were so perfectly reflected in the clear water that Jackcould hardly tell where the reflection ended and the vegetation began.Shut in on all sides by the vast untouched forests, the lake lay therelike a great eye that gazed steadfastly and unwinkingly at the skywhich it mirrored. The light breeze had fallen as the sun rose, andthere was now not the slightest motion on the water. The stillness wasunbroken for a time, and they sat listening for the cry of the hounds.

  The different inhabitants of the lake and forest, plying their usualvocations, soon began to reveal to the boy from the East glimpses oftheir life history.

  An old mother golden-eyed duck led her brood of half a dozen from amongsome low willows and began to teach them how to procure their food;calling to them now and then in low lisping tones, to which the littleones responded with soft peeping cries. At one side of the lake alittle pine squirrel was gathering his winter store of green fir cones,which he cut from the tree and dropped to the ground with a great dealof noise. So great in fact was the noise, that when it first beganJack was sorely tempted to ask Mr. James what it was; but by listeninghe made out the cause for himself, and so was glad that he had notinquired.

  Suddenly over the tops of the bordering trees a pair of superbwhite-headed eagles flew silently across the lake, the hindermostseeming to strive to overtake the one in advance. But when thishappened the foremost bird, without closing his wings, swung over onhis back, thrust out his talons threateningly toward his pursuer, andthen turned over again, flew onward and out of sight. A little latertwo loons settled in the water not far from the canoe and began to callon each other with loud mournful cries. It was useless now to listenfor the hounds, for the loons made so much noise that nothing elsecould be heard; but at length they took wing and disappeared.

  Now that silence had again fallen over the lake, the cry of houndscould be heard once more, though far off and very faint. At length thesound came nearer and nearer, passing the west end of the lake, andagain grew fainter and at last was lost.

  Mr. James had just said with an air of disappointment that he fearedthe deer had taken water in Burnaby Lake, when Jack heard the Indianspeak in suppressed but very emphatic tones to his companion. Followingthe direction of their eyes, Jack saw something slowly moving throughthe water at the other end of the lake. What it was he could not tell.Certainly it did not look like anything that he had ever seen before.As much as anything, however, it resembled a wooden box two or threefeet square, floating on the surface of the water; but, of course, abox would not be found in such a situation, and would not move. Jacktook it for granted that it was a deer, because he could not think ofany other living thing likely to be in that place at that time. Therewas one man in the canoe, however, who evidently did not think that itwas a deer, and was very much excited about it. That was the Indian.