CANOE AND CAMP IN NOVA SCOTIA. 



5 



ground, while a general absence of 

 undergrowth made getting about 

 easy. 



I joined in the bustle of camp mak- 

 ing with a will, for a spell ; then sud- 

 denly bethought myself of a likely 

 spot, just around the end of the is- 

 land where at that hour I would be 

 pretty certain of a rise, if I were 

 there. No use. The pent up desires 

 of a year to go a-angling were plainly 

 getting the best of me. I walked 

 about, around and through- the. camp 

 duffle, picking up this and that and 

 laying it down again where it could 

 not be found. I drove stakes in 

 the most out of the way places, 

 and got myself in the way gen- 

 erally. Finally Mrs. S., noticing my 

 dilemma, bless her ! suggested that 

 we try for some fish for supper 

 and breakfast before nightfall. At 

 the first breath of that suggestion 

 I dropped an armful of camp mis- 

 cellanies, made a bee line for my rod, 

 jointed it in a jiffy, and started for the 

 canoes, adjusting my reel en route. 

 Before we got away my enthusiasm 

 infected another rod and it came 

 along also. 



The guide put the canoe, up to 

 some boulders well in the current of 

 a still run. I stepped out and he 

 landed the other rod in a good posi- 

 tion on the opposite side of the run. 

 While I was adjusting a few prelimi- 

 naries an ominous splash near my 

 perch set my nerves off and I made 

 before I was half ready a shambling, 

 zigzag cast that the veriest tyro 

 would have been ashamed of. How- 

 beit I got the flies out and the fish 

 were not fastidious about graceful 

 casts, for scarcely had the hackles and 

 silver doctor fallen in a snarl on the 

 water when I felt a heavy strike and 

 my bamboo curved from my very 

 fingers. My first fish landed, I got 

 over my foolishness and managed to 

 cover the remaining waters within my 

 reach in a little better form. 



A brief time sufficed for the 2 rods 

 to bring to net a dozen handsome 

 trout, and we returned to the unfin- 



ished camp. Our spirits were buoy- 

 ant, and progress was lively. Two 

 of us set to work on the tents ; 

 the women rummaged and rattled 

 tin dishes, while ever and anon from 

 over the guide's way came the merry 

 sizzle of frying trout and potatoes and 

 an occasional sniff of the aroma of 

 boiling Mocha and Java ; welcome 

 sounds and odors to hungry mortals 

 wearied yet invigorated by the day's 

 experiences. Ere long we fell to and 

 ate with such zeal and relish as only 

 comes to campers whose appetites 

 prompt them to eat 2 adults' doses 

 3 times a day. 



When at last we were filled and 

 "shoved back," the friendly light of 

 day had gone out, and the shades of 

 twilight, marshaling on noiseless 

 pinions, had settled down among the 

 great trees, deeper and deeper, until 

 it was night. What a strange sensa- 

 tion always is the first night in the 

 woods. No matter what may have, 

 been one's previous experience, the 

 stoutest will send his imagination buf- 

 feting off into the realms of night, 

 only to be frightened back by its 

 own denser shadow. This is not 

 timidity. Why the imagination 

 should be so shy about renewing its 

 familiarity with the wood nymphs I 

 can not say. But if the nights under 

 the old firs and hemlocks were 

 black, they only heightened the 

 cheer and. brilliancy of the camp fires 

 about which we nightly gathered. 

 What incomparable pleasures we. de- 

 rived from those camp fire talks ! 

 The guide's interesting experiences, 

 ranching, mining and hunting in the 

 early days of the far West were well 

 suited to our surroundings and, of 

 course, we occasionally sandwiched 

 in some of our own more modest ex- 

 ploits. Then, if the narrative spirit 

 did not move, what better than to 

 wrap up in oneself and watch in si- 

 lence the glowing embers or the 

 crackling flames, and the sparks scur- 

 rying up through the curling smoke. 



We remained on Hemlock island 

 nearly a week, fishing, photograph- 



