THROUGH CANADIAN WILDS 



301 



A FRENCH CANADIAN JOBBER 



ice gave way again and down I went. 

 On coming up I was so numb that I 

 took a turn of my tump line around my 

 body in case I should lose conscious- 

 ness. I did not know how I was ever 

 going to get out and was childishly an- 

 gry at not being able to, and at the 

 thought of having to drown. 



Twice my man had started out on the 

 ice after me but I had made him go 

 back, realizing that if he went in we 

 should both drown. I called to him to 

 cut a long, dry pole and to tie three 

 tump lines to it and slide it out to me. 

 I got hold of this and lying on my bag 

 and breaking the ice in front of me he 

 drew me to a point where the ice was 

 thick enough to crawl on. By now, 

 twenty-five minutes after my first 

 plunge, I was very numb and to cap the 

 climax when he came out to help me, 

 about fifteen feet from shore we both 

 went in again, but fortunately only up 

 to our chests. After getting out I com- 

 pletely lost consciousness but he told 

 me that I could walk and insisted on 

 going back to the camp where we had 

 spent the night before and he had to 

 forcibly drag me on shore. 



When I came to I was sitting naked 

 on a log in the snow being rubbed with 



a dish towel. He had some dry under- 

 wear in his duffle bag and this we put 

 on and as I had had all the matches 

 and they were of course wet, we 

 gnawed a piece of hard tack and both 

 crawled into his sleeping bag. At least 

 half a dozen times in the night he 

 waked me up, saying "for God's sake 

 let me turn over." 



When we woke in the morning our 

 clothes were frozen solid and my 

 breeches were standing up just as 

 though there was a man inside of them. 

 Having slept with the matches under 

 my armpit they were quite dry and we 

 soon had a good fire and some break- 

 fast, although as most of the provisions 

 were in my pack, we had to be satisfied 

 with corn meal mush and some bacon. 

 The night had been cold and the scene 

 of the accident was completely frozen 

 over and we cautiously cravv'ed out and 

 chopped out my sleeping bag and pack. 

 My ax and camera with all my pic- 

 tures had sunk. We crossed the bay 

 and finding the rest of the lake open 

 had to skirt the shore, reaching the de- 

 pot about three in the afternoon none 

 the worse for the adventure. 



