204 MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH. 



we were in a ten-by-twelve cabin, with a shed roof kept 

 in place by weight poles. A stone oven was made in the 

 fireplace, where we could not only bake bread, raised 

 with cream o' tartar and soda, but could also roast a 

 goose or a venison ham. 



Not until we began to build our camp would the old 

 man let me kill a deer, although we saw plenty of them, 

 because he said that we could not carry any part of it; 

 so we had lived on partridges, rabbits and a coon on the 

 journey, and a change to venison was good. The bed 

 was made with hemlock boughs on the puncheons, and 

 covered with a tarpaulin and blankets. A swinging 

 shelf was made to hold the remaining provisions secure 

 from rats or other intruders, and we started down stream 

 for supplies, taking only one rifle, an axe and enough 

 salt, matches, etc., to last a week, for we had been three 

 days going up from the place where the boat was left. 

 After a two days' tramp we found our provisions as we 

 had left them, and loaded up again and started for camp. 

 Just how it happened, no one knows; my rifle had only 

 one trigger, and that could be "set" by pushing it for- 

 ward, and the "set" was so light that a breath would al- 

 most let it off. Of course it could be used without the 

 "set," and then it took about a two-pound pull to let it go. 

 I had started ahead, and in my pack was the frying-pan, 

 which projected over my shoulder alongside my head. 

 Suddenly a shot startled me close to my ear, and on look- 

 ing around at Antoine he said: "What for he go so easy? 

 I t'ought I kill one pa-tridge on de tree yonder, an' I on'y 

 make a hole in dat fry-pan; de t'ing go off too quick, an' 

 mos' kill you, hey?" 



The grouse had not stirred, and I loaded the rifle, 

 showed Antoine how a single trigger could be set to a 

 "hair," and he picked the head off the partridge, saying; 



