CHAPTER X 

 THE WISDOM OF THE CROW 



"For raging wind blows up incessant showers, 

 And when the rage allays, the rain begins." 



HENRY VI. 



THE day following the Crichton Lake fiasco Henry 

 decided that we should explore a long and famous dead- 

 water of the southwest branch of the Miramichi River, 

 a dead-water with many turnings, many rocky rifts and 

 many wide, smooth expanses. 



We had not gone more than a couple of miles down 

 the stream before a wind sprang up, blowing directly 

 from us. This, of course, would be fatal to our chances 

 for game, and, therefore, a halt was made in a sheltered 

 cove. There I had a good rest of an hour from the 

 fierce exertions of the previous day. 



The wind did not subside, as we had expected, and 

 we turned back. In places where our canoe had shot 

 like a duck through bits of quick water on the down 

 trip, it was now necessary to get out and lead the canoe 

 through. 



On reaching one of the wide stretches of water 

 Henry stopped and asked me if I believed in animal 

 intelligence. I told him that I did. He then told the 

 following story in proof that animals do reason and 

 think more than people give them credit for doing. 



