206 DAYS IN THE OPEN 



Accordingly, when Sault Ste. Marie was reached, 

 the devotee of rod and reel turned his face towards 

 the north, while the wife and children took steamer 

 for Chicago. The trip into the woods was not 

 undertaken alone, for a fisherman friend who shall 

 be known as Jim, one of the best of comrades, was 

 waiting at the Canadian " Soo " to bear us com- 

 pany on the visit to the Algoma woods. What 

 name, if any, the railroad bears which runs from 

 the " Soo " sixty miles northeast, we do not know. 

 The company does not depend upon passenger 

 traffic for revenue, for that would mean bank- 

 ruptcy. The road is used for hauling out logs, with 

 the suggestion now and then made that some day it 

 will be extended to Hudson's Bay. The day before 

 we were to go up the line, a trestle had been par- 

 tially burned, and the train crept fearfully over 

 the half-repaired structure. We were probably 

 some five or six hours running the sixty miles 

 which brought us to Trout Lake and the shack 

 where we were to stop. 



Through the kind offices of the Superintendent 

 of the Algoma Railroad we had been able to secure 

 accommodations with a forest ranger, who had a 

 comfortable cabin and was an excellent cook. It 

 was the only building for many miles around, and 

 Edwards, the ranger, must know some lonely 

 hours, especially during the long winters. Lest 

 others may share the delusion of a friend who 

 said that he wondered we did not starve at such 



