LOON-SHOOTING IN A THUNDER-STORM. 103 



the otlicr, — " John, we shall have a tough day 

 of it." 



" Yes/' said he, pausing a moment in his eating to 

 listen, and holding on with one hand to the tail of 

 a fish, of which the front half was already beyond 

 human sight ; " there goes some thunder now "; and 

 even as he spoke a jar shook the earth unjder us, 

 and a heavy roar rolled up sullenly out of the west. 



We finished our meal, and then, lighting our 

 pipes, seated ourselves on the shore of the lake, in 

 counsel. The air was heavy, thick, and oppressive ; 

 not a sound broke the, stillness. Had the heavens 

 above us been the roof of a cavern a thousand 

 fathoms under earth, the breathless quiet could not 

 have been deeper. The colloquy ran something in 

 this wise : — 



" How long is the next carry, John ? " 



" Three miles, if we go to Bottle Pond ; a mile 

 and a half, if we go to Salmon Lake," was the 

 answer. 



" How is the carry to Bottle Pond ? " I asked. 



" A mere trapper's line," said John ; " it is n't 

 cut out ; two miles and a half by blazed trees, and 

 half a mile of slough." 



" That 's delightful ! " I exclaimed ; " how is it by 

 way of Salmon Lake ? " 



"It 's a mile and a half to Salmon," was the 

 response ; " not cut out ; crossed only in winter by 

 hunters ; half a mile of swamp." 



