gfrue Afloat 



N the spring of 1898 I was ordered by the gen- 

 eral superintendent of government telegraphs 

 to clear the way and reconstruct forty-seven miles 

 of telegraph line bet wen Portneuf and Bersimis. 

 This last place I reached on the 1st of April. A 

 friend of mine, Mr. A. Lausier, was the operator 

 in charge of the repeating office. As I had to 

 remain there a few days, hiring men and pur- 

 chasing suplies, I availed myself of Mr. Lau- 

 sier's kind offer to stay with him. He and his 

 family, consisting of five persons and a servant, 

 occupied a fair sized wooden house, formerly the 

 property of the Bersimis Lumber Company. It 

 was a two story building with a lean-to addition 

 which served as a storehouse. The ground floor 

 was divided into three apartments, a sitting and 

 dining-room combined, one bedroom and the tele- 

 graph office. The second floor was divided into 

 four bedrooms, one of which in the northern cor- 

 ner of the house, was assigned to me. The en- 

 trance to my room was just at the head of the 

 stairs. These faced the front door, which was 

 reached by a short passage. A light door closed 

 the stairs at the foot. Being somewhat tired 

 after my long day's walk I retired early and was 

 soon asleep. About eleven o'clock I was awak- 



