THE UNDINE FISHING PARTY UNDER FIRE. r,7 



and let in the light of the western sun upon the gloomy tamarack swamps and 

 the thickets of balsam, which had grown up in the impenetrable shade ; and how, 

 through the open vistas, the sheen of nameless lakes, whose existence had not 

 even been suspected, burst forth unexpectedly, here and there, like the glory of 

 new constellations. Innumerable streams leaped out of the secluded recesses with 

 joyous bounds, and crossed the surveyor's lines, sparkling in the sun. All the 

 waters seemed alive wfth fish anxious to be hooked, and even the timorous deer 

 waltzed forth into the unwonted sunshine and threw up their heels in the enjoy- 

 ment of a new sensation. Such an abundantly stocked preserve was never found 

 before. Such multitudes of deer roamed in the forests ! Such countless myriads 

 of trout filled the ice-cold streams ! Such monster muskalonge ploughed the 

 lacustrine depths like submarine torpedoes. Multitudes of moose paths were dis- 

 closed, and elaborate dams built by beavers, old Indian trails in use for centuries, 

 clandestine war paths long hidden by the bush, windfalls marking the tracks of 

 unrecorded cyclones, frames of abandoned tepees with the litter of former occu- 

 pation strewn about. 



Since then gun and axe have made much havoc. But enough game yet 

 remains for reasonable sport, and as many giant muskalonge are annually towed 

 out of the inky depths as there ever were. The black bass are just as sportive 

 and quite as numerous, and anglers who make this their favorite resort are seldom 

 persuaded to try elsewhere. As for bears and deer the fires I am to write about 

 routed out far more than were supposed to be in the covers. They appeared by 

 hundreds. 



August and September are the months preferred by anglers for lake fishing. 

 The blcom has then passed off, flies have gone and the fish bite better altogether. 

 Probably five hundred anglers were on the Wisconsin lakes when the memorable 

 conflagration culminated on September 1, wiping out expansive areas of forest 

 and licking up towns and villages like straw. In Minnesota the destruction was 

 fourfold greater than in Wisconsin, especially in respect to loss of life; neverthe- 

 less, fifty-four houses were burned at Shell Lake, the immense lumber plant at 

 Baronette Lake was entirely wiped out, and scores of mills and dwellings which 

 were scattered over the country were consumed. The beleaguered inhabitants 

 fought fire for a fortnight before the dread climax came, and when they could 

 hold out no longer relief trains came to their rescue, running the gauntlet of the 

 flames, and carried them to places of safety. Train No. 91 took 400 refugees from 

 Shell Lake to Spooner, and No. 61 made two trips through the fire to Rice Lake. 

 saving many. It was an awful experience. 



When the Undine five were put down at Bashaw Lake in the afternoon it 

 was not without misgivings that they saw the train depart. A vague foreboding 

 of evil oppressed them, and the tent poles were not set up with the hilarity which 

 usually attends the first steps of an outing. From above the dense umbrage 6t 

 pine forest lying toward the west a volume of blue and white smoke rose upright 

 into the air like a pillar of cloud, apparently not half a dozen miles away. Here 

 and there on the visible horizon other masses of rising smoke indicated where 

 smouldering or quiescent fires were insidiously eating their way into the precious 

 timber. The atmosphere was stifling and intensely hot; pungent with resinous 

 fumes. Numerous birds were flitting over the waters on uneasy wings, and such 

 f.mall creatures as were moving acted in an uncanny way. The meteorological 

 condition was little changed from the summer normal namely, a fixed calm, 

 with a leaden sky mottled with fleecy exhalations from the burning forests, through 



