•wh 3, 1582.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



86B 



While still chuckling over his discomfiture, I heard a 

 snuffling whino behind me, and turning, discovered two 

 jouug bear cubs, each about the size of a Newfoundland 

 iOg, regarding mo with a moat comical look of mingled fun 

 and shyness upon their faces. "Here was richness! I" I 

 knew that Madame Uraus was too good a mother to be far 

 distant when her darlings were taking an airing, and as, 

 under the boat of circumstances, this amiable female is dis- 

 jioscd to be rather short .in temper, not to say huffy, and 

 prone to take offence when none is meant, and especially so 

 While her darlings arc still, as it were, in tho cradle, the 

 situation was one not wholly devoid of unpleasant features. 

 True, this was a fine opportunity to capture a couple of 

 playful pets, hut several considerations restrained my rash 

 ardor. First, I hadn't lost any bears. Second, I remem- 

 bered the historical character who once "caught a Tartar." 

 Thud, the Frenchman's experience occurred to me — "Yen 

 you hunt zo bear, it is grand sport! But ven ze bear hunt 

 you, bj gar, ze foot Ls in the udder boot!" And lastly, I 

 fuudoujy recollected that the morning was well advanced, 

 and that Ignotus was probably growing uneasy at my 

 •absence. Now, if there is anything on which I pride my- 

 self, it is consideration for the feelings of others, an 1 as just 

 at this moment, I heard a querulous sniffling in the spruces 

 just behind me, I deemed it my imperative duty to hasten 

 back to camp, and relieve my companion's anxiety. Besides, 

 lie might be in absolute danger. We were in tho country of 

 flie ferocious ground-hog and the fierce porcupine, to'say 

 Spthing of the venomous rabbit, and deadly coney, and who 

 knew at what moment he might be exposed to attack from 

 •flicee predatory foes. 



"Shall I allow any considerations of mere selfish pleasure 

 4o detain me from the side of my faithful comrade, who 

 vOTcn now may be in imminent peril? Perish the thought! 

 [X million bears shall not keep me from treading the path of 

 duty, painful though it may be! and, stern m tins determina- 

 tion, 1 would not even stay to receive my distinguished visi- 

 tor, but hastened back to camp, with anxious speed, and 

 drew a deep breath of relief when I found Ignotus all safe, 

 •Bid calmly picking a rib of mountain sheep. When I told 

 Em, with tears in my eyes, what I had sacrificed for his 

 Sake, 



"Bight you were,'' was hia answer. "Unless you can 

 (pht a bullet on a knife-blade at a quarter of a mile, in a 

 .nark night, with a Texas Norther blowing, and you shaking 

 With a Wabash chill, don't you tackle a she-grizzly when 

 *he's got cubs. There ain't many things I'm afraid of, but 

 there's two I don't allow to buck against, as long as the Lord 

 leaves me my senses, and them's a woman and a she-grizzly. " 

 (Ifound out afterward, that once in his life, the old misogy- 

 nist had encountered each of these enemies, and in both 

 teses had come out second best.) II. P, TJ. 



1 



CAMPS OF THE KINGFISHERS. 



UPPER AND I-OWBK WATERS OF INTERMEDIATE EASE. 



N making up our minds where to build our camp-fire foi 

 _ this year, 1881, we remembered our longing the year be- 

 fore to visit the uppei waters of Intermediate Lake, which, 

 as mentioned in a previous letter to Forest and Stream* 

 Stee a lot of distinct lakes, belonging to the same chain, how- 

 ever, strung together by a system of littlo, narrow, crooked 

 livers flowing from one lake to the other, t'ie whole called 

 Intermediate Lake on the guide maps and by the inhabitants 

 at the region. Why it is so called is net quite clear, unless 

 it is because they want to invest Intermediate with a sound- 

 mg "bigness" that it cannot in justice lay claim to; and as it 

 Will not rob Central Lafce— the lower and largest one— of any 

 •fif its beauty to give a word of praise to tho uppei ones com- 

 prising the cham, I shall, further on, have, occasion to 

 make a few "amphibious remarks" about them. 



This year the Scribe and ti e Editor (Jim) started a couple 

 Mf weeks ahead of the time set to go a-fishin' by tho party, in 

 order to make a long contemplated trip to St. PauC Minn., 

 Minneapolis and Duluth by rail, and a steamer ride down 

 •Lake Superior. After a stop of a day or two at the Sault 

 they were to come on around via Torch Lake, and join the 

 party at Central Lake on Wednesday, July 27, in time to 

 start together for a camp above. 



IThislcft tho writer to go it alone (of late years an occur- 

 rence of frequent regularity) ; but the camp stuff having been 

 Slipped w Central Lake ten days ahead I made the start on 

 the morning of July 26, in light marching order, burdeueo 

 Only with my rods, a supply of "plug terbacker," and a fight 

 Heart, bubbling over with pleasant anticipations of two or 

 three weeks of quiet sport and rest in the "bresh" of North 

 Michigan. At Fort Wayne, Ind., I was joined by Mr. R. 

 Bad Dan T. Sloan, of Decatur, 111. ; the former a stranger to 

 me ways of the angler, the latter a veteran bass fisher of 

 many years' experience, and a "charter member" of the old 

 Kingfisher Club. 



Each year, save one, since tho war, the write and old Dan 

 ]»vo broken bread together at (be same rude table, and told 

 BBh lies 'till night waned into morning, around the same 

 camp-fire. We have slept under the same blanket in all 

 weathers, fished from the same bucket of minnow, caught 

 base in tho same snow storm, been wet by tho same rain, 

 Warmed by the same fire, have divided the last "chaw to- 

 baeker," drank from the same b-b-brook, and, in short, have 

 "Jieen, in the closest and best sense, brothers of the angle. 



For many years he has had only the use of his left hand 

 »Bd arm, the right hanging limp and shrunken and utterly 

 useless by paralysis. His right log is a littlo better, enab- 

 ™? him to hobble around after a fashion; but put him in a 



tt, with a fishing-rod and some one to handle the oars, and ho 

 thome— "life hath no lacking charm. " And then he is won- 

 iul handy with his left "fin' Y for a naturally right-handed 

 Benson, Holding the hook between his teeth.'he will take a 

 frog or minnow from a bucket, hook it on properly and make 

 a twenty-yard cast from tho reel with a precision that never 

 fails to astonish a beginner. With a marked hook between 

 aiH teeth ho will take a half dozen half hitches around the 

 shank that will not slip; attach a float or sinker to his line 

 ^rhen necessary, and do a score of other things that are diffi- 

 cult of accomplishment to a person -with two hands. And 

 St, laboring under so many disadvantages, the pure love of 

 e sport has mastered a thousand difficulties; and to-day he 

 o one of the best bass fishers that ' 'draw comfort from the 

 Waters." This is old Dan Sloan, a frieud to all the brother- 

 D«cd of anglers; and if the reader have the heart of an an- 

 Blw in him L know he will pardon this personal mention, and 

 Wt his sympathies go out to him in his affliction. 



brother K.. (we dubbed him brother from the start) a rela- 



o account of ttie Kingfishers' campaign of 1880 was given in the 

 . S*^™ 8 ™?^ -° £ Jun * 80. 3381, and the three succeeding iseuee. 

 »> jLvi,, *>•«, ass, 36, »i tukd as. 



tive of Dan, and a prominent merchant of Decatur, was a 

 new quantity in the party. He had never camped out, had 

 caught chubs and shiners' with a bent pin in his early youth, 

 and had yet his maiden hook to flesh in bass, but he was a 

 keen and successful sportsman In the field, and one who 

 would take long chances on a, double shot on grouse or quail, 

 aud rarely fail to bag both birds. These two made up the 

 party. 



Leaving Ft. Wayne wo settled into our seats; and Dan 

 and i took up the line of fish talk where it had boen broken 

 off nearly two years before. Recollections of old camp fires 

 on the Tippecanoe, Wabash, Kankakee and streams and 

 waters of lesser note beguiled the time ; and between chap- 

 ters, the scenery along the road was admired; everything 

 had a rose color that day, for were we not boys again, and 

 goin' a flshin'? 



As we crossed a stream or passed some of the many beauti- 

 ful little lakes that dot the landscape along the upper line of 

 this road, wagers were laid that behind yonder old log or 

 just bolow that boulder a bass might be lured to his death 

 by slipping up and casting in from the screen of that over- 

 hanging bush; or off yon point in the little lake to the left, 

 just there by that patch of water lilies, was sure to be a 

 hungry pickerel waiting to bo skittered to his dowufall. 



Bro. K. sat by and took in all this stream of fish lore in 

 silence, probably storing away in his mind a point here and 

 there for future use, but more likely thinking he bad got mixed 

 up -with a pair of escaped lunatics. Suddenly, however, the 

 spirit of the sportsman in him blazed out as a pair of wild 

 ducks rase from a small lake we were passing, and with a 

 startled quack! quack! circled a moment and whaeled away 

 toward the further shore. 



"What a splendid double shot!" and instinctively an im- 

 aginary breech-loader came to his shoulder. "If I had been 

 behind that clump of willows I would have got them both," 

 and he craned his neck out of the open window and watched 

 them till a curve in the road hid both ducks and lake from 

 view. + 



The long summer day slipped away before we were aware 

 of it, and y o'clock found us at Grand Rapids, where the 

 train considerately waited an hour and a half for a connec- 

 tion, which gave us a chance to stretch our legs and limber 

 up the stiffened jointB in our backs. We had intended 

 going in by Traverse City and Torch Lake, but learning 

 that the up boat did not- stop at Torch Lake on Wednesdays, 

 and not caring to lose a day and night at Traverse or Elk 

 Rapids, we decided to go on to Mancelona and take wagon 

 across the country via Bellaire to Central Lake, a distance 

 of twenty-one miles: so at 6 o'clock next morning the genial 

 phiz of Charley Persons greeted us at the Mancelona House, 

 looking mayhap a shade or two sweeter, but not a day older 

 than a year before. The morning was quite chilly, and a 

 cup of hot coffee, a regulation beefsteak and a score or two 

 of biscuits that looked as if their growth had been suddenly 

 stopped when quite young, braced us up for the long ride. 

 While waiting for the wagon that Persons had sent for to 

 take us across country we interviewed the pet bear, who a 

 year before was a little fellow of a few weeks old, now a 

 great, clumsy lubber, full of quaint tricks, and "sassy and 

 fat as a 'possum in 'simmon time." As we approached, he 

 stood up on end and reached out a big, awkward paw for a 

 friendly shake, but as our limited acquaintance did not seem 

 to warrant the familiarity, the proffered civility was de- 

 cbned with thanks, Dan- remarking that "inasmuch as they 

 had never been even introduced, the bear-faced impudence 

 of the fellow was rather refreshing." 



"That bear," said a hanger-on, "is the knowinest critter 

 you ever seed; fuller o' tricks than a pleece court lawyer is 

 o' meanness. Cught to see 'im pull the cork out of a bottle 

 o' sweetened water and lay on his back and drink it. Tuk 

 to it from a cub, nateral as a Jerseyman to applejack; drink 

 a bar'l of it every day ef I'd give it to *im. And them tricks 

 o* his'n, guess he's not a hull circus with four clowns; oh! 

 no; I guess not! See that deer in that pen?" pointing to a 

 mild-eyed young deer in a board inclosure near by — a poor, 

 loan thing that looked like a skeleton, "that deer hes jest 

 laffed hisself to a shadder— nuthin' left but thcrunnin' gears, 

 ye mout say— at the antics o' that bear. An' the chickens 

 around here, most on 'em haint got no more'u a half a crap 

 o' fethers on 'em— shuk 'em off laflin' at that bear— fact. 

 Why, that bear—" 



"Oh! forbear!" growled Dan, "the wagon will beTeady 

 in a few minutes;" and we left nim "waggin' " his jaw and 

 gazing after us with an expression that said plainly, "Mean 

 skunks, them fellers; no drinks out o' that party." 



We stowed our traps in a two-horse wagon, and mounting 

 into a couple of seats with good springs under them, were 

 soon out of sight of the sleepy little hamlet and into the 

 shadows and sweet odors of the silent woods. 



The drive to Bellaire was an improvement over that of the 

 year before, many of the roots having been cut out of the 



ing the high, sandy plateau, we were, liowever, tired enough 

 of the wagon to got out and rest a few minutes and take a 

 long draught of its clear, cold water as it went laughing and 

 gurgling through the shadows on its way to Grass Lake. 

 Canoe Creek, I think Smith called it, but if it were ever 

 nav.gated by a canoe it must have been one modeled for the 

 fairies, as it was choked up with old logs and fallen cedars, 

 and overlapped by drooping branches much after the manner 

 of Cedar River and most other streams in this region. Smith 

 said there were some fair-sized trout in it further clown, and 

 he had frequently seen them at this point as he crossed the 

 little low bridge on his trips to and from Bellaire. Bro. R. 

 and I crept stealthily through the bushes along the banks 

 for some distance, hoping to see the flash af a spotted side, 

 but were disappointed, and clambering back into the wagon 

 Smith resumed his "persuader" and busied himself in a laud- 

 able endeavor to keep his ' 'off hoss" from pulling through 

 the harness — backwards, This was the only drawback we 

 experienced during the drive. A mile or more out from 

 Bellaire we got a pacing view through the woods of the 

 east end of Grass Lake, and a little further on Smith 

 pointed out the bar at tue mouth of Intermediate River, 

 around which is said to be famous bass fishing. The Sight 

 of the lake put new life into us; we forgot the jolte and 

 backaches, and drove into tuo village footing nearly as good 

 as new, We stopped at Bellaire only a few minutes, as we 

 wanted to get to Central Lake in time, if possible, to get into 

 camp that night at the head of St. Clair's Lake, ten miles 

 above, From here the road leads straight north, and some 

 three miles out we had what was to Dan and Bro. R. the 

 fir3t view of Central Lake and the little round island, which 

 had been honored over its two fellows by having a loon's 

 nest on it the previous year. Straight across and back in 



the swamp we could see the eagle's nest framed in tho doad 

 top of a cedar, and further up, past Pickerel Point, I could 

 point out to the boys the mouth of our little stream near 

 where I took the "bull bass" the year before. As we. climbed 

 a sand hill and entered the woods; we got a glimpse of the 

 upper end of Lewis's Island, the scene "of our first camp on 

 Intermediate. Passing Johnson's Nursery (Snowflake P. O.) 

 we had a glorious view of the lake, which is here perhaps a 

 mile and a half wide, and down shore in the blue distance 

 we could see Deep Water Point, behind which the Editor, the 

 Scribe and the Writer sought shelter once ur on a time dur- 

 ing a smart "blow." All this picture of green shore and 

 lovely water, softened by a veil of blue, smoky haze that 

 hung over it all, was a revelation to Dan and Bro. R., and 

 only for the aches in Dan's old bones, caused by tho rough 

 jolting over the last few miles of road, he would no doubt 

 have jumped out of the wagon and rolled in the grass by the 

 roadside in pure delight. 



From here up to Central the road was excollcut, and by 

 timely applications of the persuader to the right-spot on the 

 off horse Smith shook us up at a rattling pace, pulling up at 

 Wadsworth & Thurston's store door a few minutes past 2 P. 

 M., when, after a shake with friend Thurston, we at once 

 set about getting ready for a start to camp at the head of St. 

 Clair's. 



We had arranged for the little steamer Wahwataysee 

 (firefly) to tow us, traps and all, up to camp, but tho water 

 in the upper rivers connecting the lakes was so low that this 

 was out of the question, as she drew twenty two inches light 

 on an even keel, while on some of the bars the water was 

 barely more than a foot deep, so we had to fall back on the 

 ash. The three light skiffs we had engaged of friend Smith, 

 of tho hotel, lay ready at the landing; and in addition we 

 borrowed a yawl, roomy enough to carry the packing boxes, 

 and hired "Sailor Jack" to furnish the motive power. 



We laid in a supply of butter, eggs, potatoes, etc., at the 

 store, and when the boats were loaded our little fleet of four 

 boats left the landing shortly after 4 P. M., with Frank 

 Frantz, cook and camp custodian, in the lead, a Mr. Sisson, 

 who lived three miles above at the head of the lake of the same 

 name, and Brother R. in another of Smith's boats, Sailor 

 Jack in the yawl, while the writer and Uncle Dan, with a 

 trunk and the box of groceries and produce to ballast our 

 boat, brought up the rear. (Mem. The Scribe, accompanied 

 by our able Editor, had not ' 'arrived. ") Through Cedar and 

 Hauler lakes— joined together by a narrow strait— it waa 

 plain sailing, but when we entered the little, narrow, devious 

 river connecting with Sisson's Lake above, it required mus- 

 cle and skill to stem the current and keep the boats in the 

 stream; and by the time we were fairly in Sisson's Lake we 

 were ready to entertain his proposition to stop over night at 

 his house, and bike an early start in the morning, as it waa 

 evident we could not reach our proposed camp at the rate we 

 were going until long after dark. 



Near the head of the lake and opposite his house Sisson 

 pointed out a lone pine standing out on a point, where he 

 said was a good camping place, and on going ashore and 

 looking it over, Dan and I decided to camp there for the 

 night at least rather than put our neighbor to the trouble of 

 stowing so many of us away, and, signalling the rest of the 

 fleet, we soon had everything ashore, and hastily cutting 

 tent-poles from the " bresh" near by, we put up two tents, 

 arranged the beds and " skeeter" bars, set up the camp stove 

 and had supper over and time left to look around a little 

 before dark. The camp was in a Uttle clear spot just large 

 enough to hold three tents comfortably without encroaching 

 on the sm-rounding underbrush, and exactly in the right 

 place was a lovely little nook where we could stretch the fly 

 and fix up a first-class kitchen and pantry. In front the 

 bank Bloped gently down to the water, ending in a short strip 

 of hard sandy beach that made an excellent landing place for 

 the boats; and just around the point, a few rods above camp, 

 a noisy little stream, clear and cold, flowed into the lake and 

 lost itself among the lily pads and rushes growing along the 

 shore. Around the mouth of the stream the water was alive 

 with small minnows, and scores of sunfish of all sizes, from 

 the little fellow of an inch long up to the patriarch with mosa 

 on his back — just the spot a hungry, vagrant pickerel would 

 select for a summer loafing place. 



Neighbor Sisson said there was just as good fishing in thia 

 lake as in any in the chain, and he ' ' guessed a leetle bit bet- 

 ter, if anything." But then we had a notion that Neighbor 

 8. had an axe to grind In the shape of camp supplies, and we 

 "tumbled to it," to use a slang idiom, but decided to fix up 

 our camp in the morning and stay there until the two lag- 

 gards arrived, when, if we did not like it, we would move. 

 We had written to our friend Smith, of Central, earlv in the 

 season about frogs for bait, and he had engaged Sisson's boys 

 to catch 300 for us a day or two before we were due, which 

 they had confined in a couple of open barrels just across the 

 lake from camp ; and two or three dozen of them brought over 

 that evening in minnow buckets put us in shape for an early 

 cast in the morning. Our neighbor took his way home acroes 

 the lake; Sailor Jack, with lusty, measured stroke, shaped his 

 course for the outlet below, and we were left to our reflec- 

 tions and the mosquitoes, 



Wo went early to bed that night, thoroughly tired out 

 with our long railroad ride, twenty-one miles of jolting, and 

 the hard work done after we left Central, and if our beds 

 were lacking in any of the essentials of a first-class couch 

 we failed to take note of it, for I believe we could have 

 slept soundly that night roosting in the crotch of a tree. 

 But just here a word to any of the brethren who may go 

 up in that region to camp; don't go with a scant supply of 

 covering for your bed, even if it be in July or August. At 8 

 o'clock in the morning we were all awake shivering with 

 cold and chilled to the marrow. Frank and I could hear • 

 stream of grunts and growls, mixed with hair-raising impre- 

 cations issuing from the tent where Bro. R. and Dan were 

 trying to sleep. Getting out we pressed into servico and 

 divided between the two tents the bed clothing of Jim and 

 the scribe. This brought relief and quiet for a short time, 

 but we had became too cold to sleep, and crawling out agabs 

 Frank aud 1 built a roaring fire and brewed a pot of red- 

 hot coffee. By the time we had thawed out, the sun waa 

 lighting up the tree tops over the. lake, and whilo the boys 

 were getting ready for breakfast, I took a bucket of frogs 

 and a boat and slipped around to the sandbar at the mouth 

 of the stream to try and get a fish to start a flavor In th* 

 frying pans. 



In a quarter of an hour I had a three pound pickerel and a 

 large-mouthed bass of near two pounds, and in twenty 

 minutes more Frank had them sizzling in the pana. It is 

 scarcely worth while to speak of the superior flavor and 

 sweetness of the first fieh fry in camp. All the other fish you 

 may catch, if you stay a month and cook them a« you may, 

 will not compare with it in toothsomeness and savory snail*. 



