Canadian Crusoes by Catherine Parr Traill

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This time Catharine adopted a new plan. Instead of cutting the meat in
strips, and drying it, (or jerking it, as the lumberers term it,) she
roasted it before the fire, and hung it up, wrapping it in thin sheets of
birch bark. The juices, instead of being dried up, were preserved, and the
meat was more palatable. Catharine found great store of wild plums in a
beautiful valley, not far from the shanty; these she dried for the winter
store, eating sparingly of them in their fresh state; she also found plenty
of wild black currants, and high-bush cranberries, on the banks of a
charming creek of bright water that flowed between a range of high pine
hills, and finally emptied itself into the lake.[Footnote: This little
stream flows through the green meadows of "Glenlynden," watering the
grounds of Mr. Alfred Hayward, whose picturesque cottage forms a most
attractive object to the eye of the traveller.] There were great quantities
of water-cresses in this pretty brook; they grew in bright round
cushion-like tufts at the bottom of the water, and were tender and
wholesome. These formed an agreeable addition to their diet, which had
hitherto been chiefly confined to animal food, for they could not always
meet with a supply of the bread-roots, as they grew chiefly in damp, swampy
thickets on the lake shore, which were sometimes very difficult of access;
however, they never missed any opportunity of increasing their stores, and
laying up for the winter such roots as they could procure.

As the cool weather and frosty nights drew on, the want of warm clothes and
bed-covering became more sensibly felt: those they had were beginning to
wear out. Catharine had managed to wash her clothes at the lake several
times, and thus preserved them clean and wholesome; but she was often
sorely puzzled how the want of her dress was to be supplied as time wore
on, and many were the consultations she held with the boys on the important
subject. With the aid of a needle she might be able to manufacture the
skins of the small animals into some sort of jacket, and the doe-skin
and deer-skin could be made into garments for the boys. Louis was always
suppling and rubbing the skins to make them soft. They had taken off the
hair by sprinkling it with wood ashes, and rolling it up with the hairy
side inwards. Out of one of these skins he made excellent mocassins,
piercing the holes with a sharpened bone bodkin, and passing the sinews of
the deer through, as he had seen his father do, by fixing a stout fish-bone
to the deer-sinew thread; thus he had an excellent substitute for a needle,
and with the aid of the old file he sharpened the point of the rusty nail,
so that he was enabled, with a little trouble, to drill a hole in a
bone needle, for his cousin Catharine's use. After several attempts, he
succeeded in making some of tolerable fineness, hardening them by exposure
to a slow steady degree of heat, till she was able to work with them, and
even mend her clothes with tolerable expertness. By degrees, Catharine
contrived to cover the whole outer surface of her homespun woollen frock
with squirrel and mink, musk-rat and woodchuck skins. A curious piece of
fur patchwork of many hues and textures it presented to the eye,--a coat of
many colours, it is true; but it kept the wearer warm, and Catharine was
not a little proud of her ingenuity and industry: every new patch that was
added was a source of fresh satisfaction, and the mocassins, that Louis
fitted so nicely to her feet, were great comforts. A fine skin that Hector
brought triumphantly in one day, the spoil from a fox that had been caught
in one of his deadfalls, was in due time converted into a dashing cap, the
brush remaining as an ornament to hang down on one shoulder. Catharine
might have passed for a small Diana, when she went out with her fur dress
and bow and arrows to hunt with Hector and Louis.

Whenever game of any kind was killed, it was carefully skinned and
stretched upon bent sticks, being first turned, so as to present the inner
part to the drying action of the air. The young hunters were most expert in
this work, having been accustomed for many years to assist their fathers in
preparing the furs which they disposed of to the fur traders, who visited
them from time to time, and gave them various articles in exchange for
their peltries; such as powder and shot, and cutlery of different kinds,
as knives, scissors, needles, and pins, with gay calicoes, and cotton
handkerchiefs for the women.

As the evenings lengthened, the boys employed themselves with carving
wooden platters: knives and forks and spoons they fashioned out of the
larger bones of the deer, which they often found bleaching in the sun and
wind, where they had been left by their enemies the wolves; baskets too
they made, and birch dishes, which they could now finish so well, that they
held water, or any liquid; but their great want was some vessel that would
bear the heat of the fire. The tin pot was so small that it could be made
little use of in the cooking way. Catharine had made an attempt at making
tea, on a small scale, of the leaves of the sweet fern,--a graceful woody
fern, with a fine aromatic scent like nutmegs; this plant is highly
esteemed among the Canadians as a beverage, and also as a remedy against
the ague; it grows in great abundance on dry sandy lands and wastes, by
waysides.

"If we could but make some sort of earthen pot that would stand the heat of
the fire," said Louis, "we could get on nicely with cooking." But nothing
like the sort of clay used by potters had been seen, and they were obliged
to give up that thought, and content themselves with roasting or broiling
their food. Louis, however, who was fond of contrivances, made an oven, by
hollowing out a place near the hearth, and lining it with stones, filling
up the intervals with wood ashes and such clay as they could find, beaten
into a smooth mortar. Such cement answered very well, and the oven was
heated by filling it with hot embers; these were removed when it was
sufficiently heated, and the meat or roots placed within, the oven being
covered over with a flat stone previously heated before the fire, and
covered with live coals. This sort of oven had often been described by old
Jacob, as one in common use among some of the Indian tribes in the lower
province, in which they cook small animals, and make excellent meat of
them; they could bake bread also in this oven, if they had had flour
to use. [Footnote: This primitive oven is much like what voyagers have
described as in use among the natives of many of the South Sea islands.]

Since the finishing of the house and furnishing it, the young people were
more reconciled to their lonely life, and even entertained decided home
feelings for their little log cabin. They never ceased, it is true, to talk
of their parents, and brothers, and sisters, and wonder if all were well,
and whether they still hoped for their return, and to recall all their happy
days spent in the home which they now feared they were destined never again
to behold. About the same time they lost the anxious hope of meeting
some one from home in search of them at every turn when they went out.
Nevertheless they were becoming each day more cheerful and more active.
Ardently attached to each other, they seemed bound together by a yet more
sacred tie of brotherhood. They were now all the world to one another, and
no cloud of disunion came to mar their happiness. Hector's habitual gravity
and caution were tempered by Louis's lively vivacity and ardour of temper,
and they both loved Catharine, and strove to smoothe, as much as possible,
the hard life to which she was exposed, by the most affectionate
consideration for her comfort, and she in return endeavoured to repay
them by cheerfully enduring all privations, and making light of all their
trials, and taking a lively interest in all their plans and contrivances.

Louis had gone out to fish at the lake one autumn morning. During his
absence, a sudden squall of wind came on, accompanied with heavy rain.
As he stayed longer than usual, Hector began to feel uneasy, lest some
accident had befallen him, knowing his adventurous spirit, and that he had
for some days previous been busy constructing a raft of cedar logs,
which he had fastened together with wooden pins. This raft he had nearly
finished, and was even talking of adventuring over to the nearest island to
explore it, and see what game, and roots, and fruits it afforded.

Bidding Catharine stay quietly within-doors till his return, Hector ran
off, not without some misgivings of evil having befallen his rash cousin,
which fears he carefully concealed from his sister, as he did not wish
to make her needlessly anxious. When he reached the shore, his mind was
somewhat relieved by seeing the raft on the beach, just as it had been left
the night before, but neither Louis nor the axe was to be seen, nor the
fishing-rod and line.

"Perhaps," thought he, "Louis has gone further down to the mouth of the
little creek, in the flat east of this, where we caught our last fish: or
maybe he has gone up to the old place at Pine-tree Point."

While he yet stood hesitating within himself which way to turn, he heard
steps as of some one running, and perceived his cousin hurrying through the
bushes in the direction of the shanty. It was evident by his disordered
air, and the hurried glances that he cast over his shoulder from time to
time, that something unusual had occurred to disturb him.

"Halloo! Louis, is it bear, wolf, or catamount that is on your trail?"
cried Hector, almost amused by the speed with which his cousin hurried
onward. "Why, Louis, whither away?"

Louis now turned and held up his hand, as if to enjoin silence, till Hector
came up to him.

"Why, man, what ails you? what makes you run as if you were hunted down by
a pack of wolves?"

"It is not wolves, or bears either," said Louis, as soon as he could get
breath to speak, "but the Indians are all on Bare-hill, holding a war
council, I suppose, for there are several canoe-loads of them."

"How came you to see them?"

"I must tell you that when I parted from you and Cathy, instead of going
down to my raft, as I thought at first I would do, I followed the deer path
through the little ravine, and then ascending the side of the valley, I
crossed the birch grove, and kept down the slope within sight of the creek.
While I was looking out upon the lake, and thinking how pretty the islands
were, rising so green from the blue water, I was surprised by seeing
several dark spots dotting the lake. At first, you may be sure, I thought
they must be a herd of deer, only they kept too far apart, so I sat down on
a log to watch, thinking if they turned out to be deer, I would race off
for you and Wolfe, and the bows and arrows, that we might try our chance
for some venison; but as the black specks came nearer and nearer, I
perceived they were canoes with Indians in them, three in each. They made
for the mouth of the creek, and ran ashore among the thick bushes. I
watched them with a beating heart, and lay down flat, lest they should spy
me out; for those fellows have eyes like catamounts, so keen and wild--they
see everything without seeming to cast a glance on it. Well, I saw them
wind up the ridge till they reached the Bare-hill. [Footnote: Supposed to
be a council hill. It is known by the name of Bare-hill, from the singular
want of verdure on its surface. It is one of the steepest on the ridge
above the little creek, being a picturesque object, with its fine
pine-trees, seen from Mr. Hayward's grounds, and forms, I believe, a part
of his property.] You remember that spot; we called it so from its barren
appearance. In a few minutes a column of smoke rose and curled among the
pine-trees, and then another and another, till I counted five fires burning
brightly; and, as I stood on the high ground, I could distinguish the
figures of many naked savages moving about, running to and fro like a
parcel of black ants on a cedar log; and by-and-by I heard them raise a
yell like a pack of ravenous wolves on a deer track. It made my heart leap
up in my breast. I forgot all the schemes that had just got into my wise
head, of slipping quietly down, and taking off one of the empty birch
canoes, which you must own would have been a glorious thing for us; but
when I heard the noise these wild wretches raised. I darted off, and ran
as if the whole set were at my heels. I think I just saved my scalp." And
Louis put his hand to his head, and tugged his thick black curls, as if to
ascertain that they were still safe from the scalping knives of his Indian
enemies.

"And now, Hec, what is to be done? We must hide ourselves from the Indians;
they will kill us, or take us away with them if they find us."

"Let us go home and talk over our plans with Cathy."

"Yes; for I have heard my father say two heads are better than one, and so
three of course must be still better than two."

"Why," said Hector, laughing, "it depends upon the stock of practical
wisdom in the heads, for two fools, you know, Louis, will hardly form one
rational plan."

Various were the schemes devised for their security. Hector proposed
pulling down the shanty, and dispersing the logs, so as to leave no trace
of the little dwelling; but to this neither his cousin nor his sister would
agree. To pull down the new house that had cost them so much labour, and
which had proved such a comfort to them, they could not endure even in
idea.

"Let us put out the fire, and hide ourselves in the big ravine below Mount
Ararat, dig a cave in one of the hills, and convey our house-hold goods
thither." Such was Louis's plan.

"The ravines would be searched directly," suggested Hector; "besides, the
Indians know they are famous coverts for deer and game of all sorts; they
might chance to pop upon us, and catch us like woodchucks in a burrow."

"Yes, and burn us," said Catharine, with a shudder. "I know the path that
leads direct to the 'Happy Valley,' (the name she had given to the low
flat, now known as the 'lower Race-course,') and it is not far from here,
only ten minutes' walk in a straight line. We can conceal ourselves below
the steep bank that we descended the other day; and there are several
springs of fresh water, and plenty of nuts and berries; and the trees,
though few, are so thickly covered with close spreading branches that touch
the very ground, that we might hide ourselves from a hundred eyes were they
ever so cunning and prying."

Catharine's counsel was deemed the most prudent, and the boys immediately
busied themselves with hiding under the broken branches of a prostrate tree
such articles as they could not conveniently carry away, leaving the rest
to chance; with the most valuable they loaded themselves, and guided by
Catharine, who, with her dear old dog, marched forward along the narrow
footpath that had been made by some wild animals, probably deer, in their
passage from the lake to their feeding-place, or favorite covert, on the
low sheltered plain; where, being quite open, and almost, in parts, free
from trees, the grass and herbage were sweeter and more abundant, and the
springs of water fresh and cool.

Catharine cast many a fearful glance through the brushwood as they moved
onward, but saw no living thing, excepting a family of chipmunks gaily
chasing each other along a fallen branch, and a covey of quails, that
were feeding quietly on the red berries of the _Mitchella repens,_ or
twinberry, [Footnote: Also partridge-berry and checker-berry, a lovely
creeping winter-green, with white fragrant flowers, and double scarlet
berry.] as it is commonly called, of which the partridges and quails
are extremely fond; for Nature, with liberal hand, has spread abroad her
bounties for the small denizens, furred or feathered, that haunt the Rice
Lake and its flowery shores.

After a continued but gentle ascent through the oak opening, they halted at
the foot of a majestic pine, and looked round them. It was a lovely spot
as any they had seen; from west to east, the lake, bending like a silver
crescent, lay between the boundary hills of forest trees; in front, the
long lines of undulating wood-covered heights faded away into mist, and
blended with the horizon. To the east, a deep and fertile valley lay
between the high lands, on which they rested, and the far ridge of oak
hills. From their vantage height, they could distinguish the outline of the
Bare-hill, made more distinct by its flickering fires and the smoke wreaths
that hung like a pearly-tinted robe among the dark pines that grew upon its
crest. Not long tarrying did our fugitives make, though perfectly safe from
detection by the distance and their shaded position, for many a winding
vale and wood-crowned height lay between them and the encampment.

But fear is not subject to the control of reason, and in the present
instance it invested the dreaded Indians with superhuman powers of sight
and of motion. A few minutes' hasty flight brought our travellers to the
brow of a precipitous bank, nearly a hundred feet above the level open
plain which they sought. Here, then, they felt comparatively safe: they
were out of sight of the camp fires, the spot they had chosen was open,
and flight, in case of the approach of the Indians, not difficult, while
hiding-places were easy of access. They found a deep, sheltered hollow
in the bank, where two mighty pines had beep torn up by the roots, and
prostrated headlong down the steep, forming a regular cave, roofed by the
earth and fibres that had been uplifted in their fall. Pendent from these
roots hung a luxuriant curtain of wild grapevines and other creepers, which
formed a leafy screen, through which the most curious eye could scarcely
penetrate. This friendly vegetable veil seemed as if provided for their
concealment, and they carefully abstained from disturbing the pendent
foliage, lest they should, by so doing, betray their hiding-place to their
enemies. They found plenty of long grass, and abundance of long soft green
moss and ferns near a small grove of poplars, which surrounded a spring of
fine water. They ate some dried fruit and smoked fish, and drank some of
the clear spring; and after they had said their evening prayers, they
laid down to sleep, Catharine's head pillowed on the neck of her faithful
guardian, Wolfe. In the middle of the night a startling sound, as of some
heavy body falling, wakened them all simultaneously. The night was so
dark they could see nothing, and terror-struck, they sat gazing into the
impenetrable darkness of their cave, not even daring to speak to each
other, hardly even to breathe. Wolfe gave a low grumbling bark, and resumed
his couchant posture as if nothing worthy of his attention was near to
cause the disturbance. Catharine trembled and wept, and prayed for safety
against the Indians and beasts of prey, and Hector and Louis listened, till
they fell asleep in spite of their fears. In the morning, it seemed as if
they had dreamed some terrible dream, so vague were their recollections of
the fright they had had, but the cause was soon perceived. A large stone
that had been heaved up with the clay that adhered to the roots and fibres,
had been loosened, and had fallen on the ground, close to the spot where
Catharine lay. So ponderous was the mass, that had it struck her, death
must have been the consequence of the blow; and Hector and Louis beheld it
with fear and amazement, while Catharine regarded it as a proof of Divine
mercy and protection from Him in whose hand her safety lay. The boys,
warned by this accident, carefully removed several large stones from the
roof, and tried the safety of their clay walls with a stout staff, to
ascertain that all was secure, before they again ventured to sleep beneath
this rugged canopy.

CHAPTER V.

"The soul of the wicked desireth evil; his neighbour findeth no favour in
his eyes."--_Proverbs_.

FOR several days, they abstained from lighting a fire, lest the smoke
should be seen; but this, the great height of the bank would have
effectually prevented. They suffered much cold at night from the copious
dews, which, even on sultry summer's evenings, is productive of much
chilling. They could not account for the fact that the air, at night, was
much warmer on the high hills than in the low valleys; they were even
sensible of a rush of heat as they ascended to the higher ground. These
simple children had not been taught that it is the nature of the heated air
to ascend, and its place to be supplied by the colder and denser particles.
They noticed the effects, but understood nothing of the causes that ruled
them.

The following days they procured several partridges, but feared to cook
them; however, they plucked them, split them open, and dried the flesh for
a future day. A fox or racoon attracted by the smell of the birds, came one
night, and carried them off, for in the morning they were gone. They saw
several herd of deer crossing the plain, and one day Wolfe tracked a
wounded doe to a covert under the poplars, near a hidden spring, where she
had lain herself down to die in peace, far from the haunts of her fellows.
The arrow was in her throat; it was of white flint, and had evidently been
sent from an Indian bow. It was almost with fear and trembling that they
availed themselves of the venison thus providentially thrown in their way,
lest the Indians should track the blood of the doe, and take vengeance on
them for appropriating it for their own use. Not having seen anything of
the Indians, who seemed to confine themselves to the neighbourhood of the
lake, after many days had passed, they began to take courage, and even
lighted an evening fire, at which they cooked as much venison as would last
them for several days, and hung the remaining portions above the smoke to
preserve it from injury.

One morning, Hector proclaimed his intention of ascending the hills, in the
direction of the Indian camp. "I am tired of remaining shut up in this
dull place, where we can see nothing but this dead flat, bounded by those
melancholy pines in the distance that seem to shut us in." Little did
Hector know that beyond that dark ridge of pine hills lay the home of their
childhood, and but a few miles of forest intervened to hide it from their
sight. Had he known it how eagerly would his feet have pressed onward in
the direction of that dark barrier of evergreens!

Thus is it often in this life: we wander on, sad and perplexed, our path
beset with thorns and briars. We cannot see our way clear; doubts and
apprehensions assail us. We know not how near we are to the fulfilment of
our wishes: we see only the insurmountable barriers, the dark thickets and
thorns of our way; and we know not how near we are to our Father's home.
where he is waiting to welcome the wanderers of the flock back to the
everlasting home, the fold of the Good Shepherd.

Hector became impatient of the restraint that the dread of the Indians
imposed upon his movements; he wanted to see the lake again and to roam
abroad free and uncontrolled.

"After all," said he; "we never met with any ill treatment from the Indians
that used to visit us at Cold Springs; we may even find old friends and
acquaintances among them."

"The thing is possible, but not very likely," replied Louis. "Nevertheless,
Hector, I would not willingly put myself in their power. The Indian has his
own notion of things, and might think himself quite justified in killing
us, if he found us on his hunting-grounds. [Footnote: George Copway, an
intelligent Rice Lake Indian, says the Indian hunting-grounds are parcelled
out, and secured by right of law and custom among themselves, no one being
allowed to hunt upon another's grounds uninvited. If any one belonging to
another family or tribe is found trespassing, all his goods are taken from
him; a handful of powder and shot, as much as he would need to shoot game
for his sustenance in returning straight home, and his gun, knife, and
tomahawk only are left, but all his game and furs are taken from him: a
message is sent to his chief, and if he transgresses a third time, he
is banished and outlawed.--_Life of G. Copway, Missionary, written by
himself._] I have heard my father say,--and he knows a great deal about
these people,--that their chiefs are very strict in punishing any strangers
that they find killing game on their bounds uninvited. They are both
merciless and treacherous when angered, and we could not even speak to them
in their own language, to explain by what chance we came here."

This was very prudent of Louis, uncommonly so, for one who was naturally
rash and headstrong, but unfortunately Hector was inflexible and wilful:
when once he had made up his mind upon any point, he had too good an
opinion of his own judgment to give it up. At last, he declared his
intention, rather than remain a slave to such cowardly fears as he now
deemed them, to go forth boldly, and endeavour to ascertain what the
Indians were about, how many there were of them, and what real danger was
to be apprehended from facing them.

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