124 



RECREATION 



ments. Several times we were startled 

 by the hoot of an owl in the nearby 

 trees, occasionally we heard the mourn- 

 ful yip-yowl of a coyote, and once away 

 in the distance a dog barked, sounding 

 to me strangely out of place. 



The next forenoon passed calmly, 

 long stretches of comparative idleness 

 alternating with short ones of hard 

 work. One or two small rapids were 

 passed in safety and we began to hope 

 that we should see home that evening. 

 But it was not to be. About four we 

 reached Crooked Rapids, the only place 

 on the river we had worried about, and 

 passed through and on in safety. Our 

 troubles were over now surely, so I lay 

 down for a little quiet sleep. The boats 

 were going along nicely when the pilot 

 Frenchman saw the water breaking 

 over a boulder square in the course 

 ahead. The utmost efforts to turn the 

 boats were unavailing, and my sleep 

 was broken by a tremendous crash and 

 jar as the foremost boat struck the 

 rock. Trie force of the water swung 

 the boats, and the rear one missed the 

 rock entirely, while the front one was 

 scraped from corner to corner. The 

 water commenced to rise in the dam- 

 aged boat, and although I manned the 

 hand pump at once it gained rapidly in 

 depth. We pulled nearer shore, and 

 about two miles farther down found a 

 place to snub. The last mile was one 

 of terribly hard work, for the extra 

 weight of the water made the boats ex- 



ceedingly heavy to manage. One of the 

 Frenchmen had sustained such a severe 

 nervous shock that he had to empty 

 nearly a whole bottle of gin to regain 

 his composure. I might add that he 

 had brought the liquor to frighten 

 away any colds that might be wander- 

 ing around loose. 



We unloaded all perishable goods 

 from the broken scow and piled some 

 on the bank and some on the smaller 

 boat. The next morning we untied the 

 small scow from its leader, which was 

 now resting securely on the bottom, 

 rigged up a small sweep in its prow, 

 and pushed out for the last time. Gold 

 Island was passed ; another long, grav- 

 elly island, and in a little while we 

 rounded a big. gentle curve and saw 

 Storm Hill looming up ; home was 

 near. A short half-hour more and we 

 swung gradually into shore and 

 snubbed for the last time. The French 

 family living at the landing, including 

 the mother, two grown-up daughters 

 and several youngsters came hurry- 

 ing down to meet our passengers. 

 One of the Frenchmen was a relation 

 of theirs, the other ones — well, they 

 were going to be soon. All came in for 

 a goodly share of greetings, which 

 were very realistic, and no doubt high- 

 ly satisfactory. Then everybody clam- 

 bered up the bank, and in a few min- 

 utes rapids, mosquitoes and other evils 

 were forgotten in the attractions of a 

 well-loaded table. 



