276 CANADIAN WILDS. 



his strength. His youthful vitality soon as- 

 serted itself and after he was propped up and 

 made comfortable he managed to feed himself 

 with some of the shredded meat. 



After partaking of this food and drink the 

 boot was cut off, the poor swollen foot bathed 

 and bound up and then they carried him on an 

 improvised stretcher very carefully and ten- 

 derly out to the canoe. Excepting two short 

 portages it was all water way to the post at 

 which place they arrived just at dusk. Souder, 

 our cook, when he saw them helping Ralson out 

 of the canoe said, "Mein Gott ! Vich end of Ral- 

 son is sick dis time? Can't you tole me, eh?" 

 and it was pretty hard to tell from his limp ap- 

 pearance. 



After he had recovered sufficiently to be 

 questioned as to how he got into the trap he 

 said he had reached into the back of the house 

 to affix the bait and forgot the trap and stepped 

 into it. The meat that he had cut up was, of 

 course, spoiled, but the skin after being washed 

 and scraped, proved to have sustained no 

 damage. 



Ralson had no further mishaps in this coun- 

 try for when his foot was healed he took his dis- 

 charge and returned to a well-off mother in 

 London who could afford to have a keeper to 

 care for him if so inclined. This happened 



