562 The Halcyon in Canada. 



if to go around our camp. As I pursued them, they ran squawking - 

 with outstretched stubby wings, scattering right and left, and seek- 

 ing a hiding-place under the logs and debris. I captured one and 

 carried it into camp. It was just what Joe wanted ; it would make 

 a valuable decoy. So he kept it in a box, fed it upon oats, and took 

 it out of the woods with him. 



We found the camp we had appropriated was a favorite stopping- 

 place of the carmen who hauled in supplies for the gang of two 

 hundred road-builders. One rainy day, near night-fall, no less than 

 eight carts drew up at the old stable, and the rain-soaked drivers, 

 after picketing and feeding their horses, came down to our fire. We 

 were away, and Joe met us on our return with the unwelcome news. 

 We kept open house so far as the fire was concerned ; but our roof 

 was a narrow one at the best, and one or two leaky spots made it 

 still narrower. 



" We shall probably sleep out-of-doors to-night," said my com- 

 panion, "unless we are a match for this posse of rough teamsters." 



But the men proved to be much more peaceably disposed than 

 the same class at home ; they apologized for intruding, pleading the 

 inclemency of the weather, and were quite willing, with our permis- 

 sion, to take up with pot-luck about the fire and leave us the shanty. 

 They dried their clothes upon poles and logs, and had their fun and 

 their bantering amid it all. An Irishman among them did about the 

 only growling ; he invited himself into our quarters, and before 

 morning had Joe's blanket about him in addition to his own. 



On Friday, we made an excursion to Great Lake Jacques Cartier, 

 paddling and poling up the river in the rude box-boat. It was a 

 bright, still morning after the rain, and everything had a new, fresh 

 appearance. Expectation was ever on tiptoe, as each turn in the 

 river opened a new prospect before us. How wild and shaggy and 

 silent it was ! What fascinating pools, what tempting stretches of 

 trout-haunted water ! Now and then we would catch a glimpse of 

 long black shadows starting away from the boat and shooting through 

 the sunlit depths ; but no sound or motion on shore was heard or 

 seen. Near the lake we came to a long, shallow rapid, when we 

 pulled off our shoes and stockings, and, with our trowsers rolled up 

 above our knees, towed the boat up it, wincing and cringing amid 

 the sharp, slippery stones. With benumbed feet and legs, we reached 



