A TRAGEDY IN THE MAINE WOODS. 



89 



hold, thus loosening and tightening it 

 himself. 



Knowing the man's reputation as I 

 did, it interested me to see how com- 

 pletely he collapsed at the sight of his 

 own blood, and how strong his fear 

 of death was. The tears would run 

 down his cheeks, his face would trem- 

 ble, and he would ask me if the bleed- 

 ing had not recommenced, or he 

 would declare he knew it had and that 

 he was bleeding to death. I only 

 kept him up by repeated doses of 

 brandy. 



It was then necessary to cook sup- 

 per and cut firewood for the night. 

 The supper was easily managed; but 

 the firewood ! I was townbred, raised 

 in an office, and had never handled 

 an ax except incidentally or for 

 amusement. To cut enough wood to 

 keep a large fire burning all night is 

 a big job. Dead wood does well 

 enough for a blaze to warm or cook 

 by, but for a steady fire green birch 

 wood was needed. It was late in the 

 fall, the air was chilly, and Darling- 

 complained bitterly of the cold. 

 Through my inexperience it was one 

 o'clock before enough wood had been 

 cut to last all night. Between keep- 

 ing up the fire and looking after Dar- 

 ling's foot, I slept little. Rising 

 at daylight, trout enough for break- 

 fast were soon caught. While they 

 were cooking, I sat down to con- 

 sider. 



We were at least 20 miles above 

 the Upper Canada falls, and therefore 

 about 36 miles from the lumber camp. 

 To go through the woods would be 

 difficult, and an attempt would proba- 

 bly result in my getting lost. On the 

 other hand, much as I had hunted in 

 a canoe, I had never learned to steer, 

 having always paddled from the bow, 

 and to go through even the small rap- 

 ids on the way would probably end in 

 an upset. Again, Darling needed 

 constant attention. He could not pos- 

 sibly collect firewood, and as the fire 

 burned nearly as fast as I could cut, 

 our provisions would probably be ex- 



hausted before a supply could be ac- 

 cumulated. 



Here was a quandary. At last I re- 

 membered that the evening before we 

 had both imagined we heard the 

 report of a distant gun, and had can- 

 vassed the possibility of there being 

 a party camped below us. I decided 

 it could do no harm to fire a signal of 

 distress, and that it certainly was 

 worth trying. Three gun shots close 

 together are recognized as a distress 

 signal everywhere I have hunted, both 

 in the United States and in British 

 Columbia. Three shots were fired. 

 There was no answer. Waiting a few 

 moments, I repeated the signal. That 

 time the answer was immediate, and 

 evidently within 3 miles. Again the 

 signal was repeated, and again an- 

 swered, so with a cheerful heart I set 

 about dressing the wound and serving- 

 breakfast. Within an hour the canoes 

 which we had passed on the way up 

 were at the landing. Our outfit was 

 soon packed in our canoe, in which 

 rode Darling and one of the strange 

 guides. I rode with the other guide 

 in his boat. By 2 o'clock we were at 

 the head of the upper falls. There they 

 left us. It was hard work to get the 

 men to take any compensation for 

 their trouble. 



Fixing Darling as comfortably as 

 possible, I walked the 6 miles to a 

 point opposite the lumber camp, and a 

 signal shot soon brought the men out. 

 * Cunningham, the boss, started with 2 

 men, a sled and a pair of horses to 

 bring down Darling, the canoe and 

 the baggage, while I was at liberty to 

 dry my clothing, which was soaked by 

 the rain. 



That night was spent in the cabin 

 and I had a good night's rest, for not 

 even the rats could keep me awake. 

 Next morning Darling was much bet- 

 ter. W r e were a long 20 miles from 

 the North West Carry to Moosehead 

 lake, and must go through some 

 rough water to get there, so we made 

 an early start, the warm hearted lum- 

 bermen doing everything to help us. 



