THE MISHAPS OF RALSON. 271 



most work connected with the service. I was 

 glad to see him leave the service because, being 

 under my orders and not yet to man's estate, I 

 considered myself in a great measure responsi- 

 ble for his safety. 



I call to memory his having almost cut off 

 the index finger of his left hand, putting the 

 axe right thru the knuckle joint. This bled 

 profusely and he was on the sick list for a long 

 while. I think the next accident very shortly 

 after his hand healed, was to put the corner of 

 his axe into the cap of his knee. This was more 

 serious than the other and took weeks to get 

 well. On the whole he was very fortunate not 

 to have a stiff leg for the remainder of his life. 



Another time he undertook to look for a man 

 who was over-due at the post and was expected 

 to come by a trail near the lake shore. This 

 was a case of the biter being bitten, for the man 

 turned up all right and had to join a party to 

 limit liaison. As he told us afterwards he 

 thought to improve on the trail by cutting 

 curves. Dusk coming on he became hopelessly 

 lost himself, neither being able to find the trail 

 nor his way out of the forest. The search party 

 only found him the following afternoon, tat- 

 tered, hungry and generally woe-begone. A 

 picture of him taken as he entered the square 

 that day would have been interesting. 



