430 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



I May 18, 1893. 



ON THE NORTH SHORE.— IV. 



The Return Trip. — IV. 



[Continued from page AOS.] 



Ned awoke early the next morniug and observed a regu- 

 lar mass of ragged-edged and dark, dirty-looking clouds, 

 that were driving rapidly across the heavenly highway, 

 making the lake appear with an ominous storm tinge on 

 its surface. The boatmen kept watcliing the riotoiis rage 

 above as they were preparing tlie meal, expecting every 

 minute to see an approaching squaU strike us. About 6 

 o'clock it came and with a violence that threatened to 

 sweep tlie canvas into the lake. ISTed and I grabbed hold 

 of the front of the tent, M^here the fury of the gale 

 attacked it, and then hallooing for the boys they came 

 climbing up the hill in a hurry, wdth their hah- streaming 

 in the wind and their faces ablaze with excitement. They 

 were soon in position, holding down the fluttering 

 structure with a herculean strength. There we stood for 

 fully twenty minutes, striving with all our might and 

 main to keep the tent secure. "Hold her, hold her," was 

 the cry, as the wind rattled and played a hvely tune on 

 the flapping canvas and the strained cordage. "Here 

 she goes," cried Ned, as the tent raised from the ground 

 like an inflated balloon and threatened to carry us oli, 

 but we held with a tenacity born of desperation. It, 

 however, soon played out, as all summer squalls do, but 

 it was a high old frolic old Boreas made for us for a 

 brief time. "What I tell you," said the astronomer, as 

 he released his hold on the canvas, perfectly dehghted 

 with the realizing of his forecast. "You believe me when 

 I tell you," he continued, and then he strode around like 

 a Delphic Oracle, and exploited relative to his great 

 knowledge of where gales, hurricanes and cyclones are 

 bom, and how, when and where they travel; and then 

 vvith a parting warning of "More come by and by," hur- 

 ried down the granite hill to participate ia preparing the 

 breakfast hash. 



"Let the old sage (?) enjoy his present triumph," says 

 Ned, "for out of all his observations during the trip no 

 two in succession ever realized and seven out of ten were 

 flat failures." 



The blow was followed by heavy thunder and vivid 

 lightning on the heels of which rain in torrents fell for 

 near an hour, then in rumbling murmurs tlie storm 

 fretted itself away, and the sky took on a roseate hue; but 

 for a few moments only, as sombre clouds agaiti began to 

 darken the lieavens. 



Notwithstanding the unpropitious appearance of the 

 weather, we started for our old fishing grounds soon after 

 breakfast, and within a few minutes after arriving caught 

 one trout and hooked and lost another. A gale of wind 

 and rain was unmistakably apparent, as the bleak gray 

 stole over the frothing sea, and turned ashen the curve of 

 every surge. A flash of lightning now painted itself in 

 fiery forks upon the inky clouds, and at once we ceased 

 the sport and made lively times for our quarters, in hopes 

 of escaping the threatened rain, for the black-winged 

 legions of the tempest were rapidly concentrating their 

 hosts for a formidable attack. We failed to reach our 

 destination by about one hundred yards, where we were 

 struck with a. terrific wind and heavy rain, that was so 

 scythe-like in its terrible sweep as to give us exceedingly 

 hard work to even cover the little space that intervened 

 between us and the harbor. The boys tugged at the oars 

 with the strength of giants, and by a maneuver of Peter 

 in giving the boat a quarter swing, we gained the landing. 

 The rain came down in beads like buckshot, and fell upon 

 us with a stinging force that was really painful. 



The boatmen, when they had reached camp, were as 

 soaked as if they had fallen into the lake, while, thanks to 

 our rubbers and "sou'westers," we escaped with a slight 

 sprinkle. On going to our quarters we found the tents 

 flooded and the ridge-pole of the fly broken, with the 

 canvas flapping itself into shreds. The squall lasted about 

 fifteen minutes, and then the storm king departed, satis- 

 fied with the passing courtesy he had paid the "Twin 

 Sisters." 



The camp was again put in order, and things began to 

 look cheerful once more. The old prophet, who lingered 

 around us while straightening matters in the tent, said, 

 "More storm soon," and we thought so too, for there was 

 a low rumble of thunder overhead, a dazzlmg play of 

 fiery tapestry in the western horizon, and a liard, cold 

 look on the water that satisfied us we were to have another 

 attack of the unruly elements. It came a little alter din- 

 ner and with such a terrific force that it required all 

 hands to keep our white- winged abode erect, and then we 

 had to take the flies down in order to save them. Both 

 the boys' and the dining tent, however, fell before the 

 wratbful wind. 



A minute or two after the squall had passed a fog bank 

 of tremendous proportions, that seemed to reach from the 

 waters to the azure blue, came rolling from the west with 

 such a formidable and appalling front as to amaze us. It 

 advanced with tlie circling motion of a rapidly revolving 

 cylinder, as if it were really absorbing everything as it 

 progressed. Ned held up his hands in horror as he saw 

 its awful approach, asserting that it was backed by 

 another cyclonic blow which would sweep the island of 

 all movable things; but it passed south of us. disclosing in 

 its rear such volumes of black, ragged clouds behind, with 

 lightning, as to threaten a "tempest dropping fire." 

 Though we admired it as a gxand, majestic storm-paint- 

 ing of the invisible pencil, as it stood vividly outUned in 

 its sombrous and inky masses of surcharged vapor, we felt 

 awed in its presence, realizing fuUy the invisible power 

 within its compacted confines: 



"Who shaU face 

 The blast thatmakes the fury of the sea." 



It seemed unwise, with such a day of storm as we had 

 had and still threatenmg, to again venture upon the 

 lake, yet an hour before supper-time we were on the way 

 to our old fiBhmg grounds. Arrivmg there we whipped 

 the waters, and succeeded in making one double catch 

 a three and a two-pounder, and then started for camn 

 with the growling of the thunder of the still distant 

 storm. 



That evening was a wild scene of troubled, rmmino- 

 foaming waters, that sm-ged and beat the shores with*a 

 dLsmal violence which foretold a furious sea before morn- 

 ing. The gloom stole gradually into darkness, as thouo-h 

 some giant hand was warily ck-awing a sable curtain 

 around us. In the extreme west there was an incessant 

 play ot hghtmng all about, like a mad dancing of stars of 

 piercing brilhance; this enlarged into dense masses of 



dark vapor, streaked as sand is ribbed- by the surf, then a 

 vast array of clouds twisted into the aspect of whirlpools, 

 and in their brooding motionlessness resembling vortices 

 suddenly arrested when most madly gyrating. Words 

 cannot exipress the eft'ect upon the mind of the contrast 

 of the several shades of color, all combining to fill the 

 lake with a malignant line, and the keen throbbing of the 

 lightning low down, the .stooping soot of the vaporous 

 clouds overhead only waiting, as it seemed, for some 

 storm-signal to start every one of them into a very mad- 

 ness of revolution boiling out into a fearful tempest. 

 "These soon formed into one great cloud of indigo tint, 

 ridged with layers of black vapor, and blackening into 

 very midnight in the west where the hghtning was 

 shooting." 



We all sat around the tent watching the lieavenly pyro- 

 technics which were in constant play. You could see 

 where the mountain tops lost themselves in the black 

 masses, and when a vale obtruded it stood out hke a 

 pleasing picture in this great tumult of the elements. 

 Your eye would range along the shore expecting to take 

 in miles of towering clilfs and ragged rocks, when the 

 light would suddenly drop you into dense darkness, and 

 thus rob you of the completeness and enjoyment of the 

 scene. 



The astronomer went deeply into mathematics and 

 figured out that before morning the storm, which he 

 estimated at over 200 miles distant, would travel some 

 40 miles an hour and reach us about midnight, with a 

 heavy squall of thunder, lightning and rain. This solv- 

 ing of the storm problem made him additional work, for 

 we advised him and Peter to take the necessary precau- 

 tions looking to the security of our endangered quarters. 

 This they did in a masterly manner, by piling huge stones 

 upon the saplings that held our frail tenement. We now 

 felt secure, for a gale that would wreck that tent would 

 assuredly send us over the declivitous rock into the lake, 

 where further proceedings would interest us no more. 



We retired that night after the exciting storms of the 

 day, with a hope that the worst had passed, and that the 

 mutter and moan of thunder, the red glare in the heavens, 

 and the dismal bank of blackness would pass away with- 

 out disturbing our slumbers. It developed that such 

 serenity was not to be ours, for about 2 o'clock in the 

 morning a heavy squall of wind and rain, with an intro- 

 ductory of Jove's artillery, came sweeping over the island 

 with an appaUing force that abruptly awakened us. Ned 

 at once jumped into his pantaloons, while I sprang 

 for the front flaps of the tent to keep out the flooding 

 waters as well as aid in holding it down. Ned soon joined 

 me, and there for fully fifteen minutes we held like 

 "grim death" to that rattling canvas which fluttered as if 

 it would either go to rags, or take its final adieu from the 

 island. The rain came down in great round drops, with 

 as deafening and terrific force as if a tornado had envel- 

 oped us. I don't think I ever before put as much vitality 

 into my muscles as I did during the time I held on to that 

 tensioned cordage, and am confident Ned equally exerted 

 himself. It was well the gale was of short duration, for 

 every minute the cords were being so severely strained 

 that it would have been utterly impossible for them to 

 have held out much longer. 



It was to blanket again, with the cessation of the terrible 

 tiirbulence, and so exhansted were we that sweet and 

 refreshing slumber came o'er us quite suddenly. After a 

 storm a calm, and that was the revelation of the dawn. 

 It disclosed the great archway in regal splendor, the lake 

 in rippling streaks of frothing silver, an atmosphere so 

 exhilarating as to make you feel as if you )iad taken 

 great draughts of pure champagne. The opening of the 

 golden gates of that morn was one the loveliness of which 

 no language can portray: 



"Jlighty nature bounds as from her birth. 

 The sua is in the heavens, and life on earth; 

 Flowers in the valley, splendor in the beam, 

 Health in the gale and freshness in the stream." 



Ned concluded while dressing to have a look at his 

 bruised limb which he had so freely anointed Avith a lini- 

 ment iDrocured from the Hudson Bay agent. He found it 

 healing rapidly, and thought ere he reached the "Soo" 

 that he would be able to show a clean bill of health. His 

 hydropathic treatment he was positive was an irritation, 

 but it took him a long time to arrive at that conclusion. 

 The trouble was that he had douched it about every half 

 hour with the icy water, surely enough to create inflam- 

 mation of a severe character. He practically felt that he 

 had advanced a round or two in memorabilia if not in 

 medicine, and will hereafter know how to treat a battered 

 limb. 



For the past two days we had heard the barking of a 

 dog on the main shore opposite, and when fishing there 

 had seen him frantically racing up and down the rocks 

 and into the forest, as if looking for his master, from 

 whom he had undoubtedly sti-ayed. We tried to induce 

 him to come to the boat, as we desired to give hi m a trout 

 or two for his breakfast, knowing full well that he must 

 be ravenously hungry, but away he would scamper when 

 he saw us, as if fearful of captm-e. We concluded-, how- 

 ever, that morning to take a lot of our broken food as 

 well as a few fish and leave them on the beach for him. 

 Peter thought he was a wild dog, and Emery a. mad one, 

 but we were positive he had been left behind by some 

 Indian hunter. 



As tiie weather was aU that could be desired for trouting, 

 we started immediately after satisfying our rapacious 

 maws, for the home of the tempting beauties, and suc- 

 ceeded in capturing four in a brief time, and then the 

 grand loveliness of nature, which had so delighted us, 

 began to hide her beautiful favors in a dense fog that 

 spread her misty wings o'er land and sea. The inaugura- 

 tion of this vaporous mass caused a prompt return to the 

 island, where we had expected to find the Hudson Bay 

 agent and his famfly, who were to have feasted with us, 

 but they were non est. This was a great disappointment 

 to Peter, but since that statuesque pose of beauty and 

 beans on a wave- washed rock had flitted through my mind 

 in various forms of humorous imagery, I cared little for 

 the realization of the banquet. Caesar had his Brutus, 

 Chaiies the Fu-st his Cromwell, but to Peter it was given 

 to have Beauty and Beans on a wave-washed rock. Shades 

 of Praxitiles, dowse the glim ! The barking and bewildered 

 dog we had so hberally provided for, could not be found 

 that morning, but we left the food we had taken along aU 

 the same. 



In the afternoon it cleared up sufficiently to permit us 

 to again pursue our pastime. To the main shore it was, 



but to unexplored waters which no ily had as yet kissed. 

 No sooner had we reached the locality than a young mink 

 was seen racing o'er one of the shore rocks, where, doubt- 

 less, his black, sleeked parents had within its confines 

 their summer quarters. It showed great fear of us, for 

 the minute we approached it accelerated its speed and 

 soon disappeared in some crevice. 



Having an abunda.nce of trout in camp, we concluded 

 it wanton waste to capture more, so those we caught, 

 some four or five, were liberated, not one of which had 

 received a fatal wound. The trip was simply an adjunct 

 for wasting time, and as tiie sky cleared the glad waters 

 rippled, the wild floAvers nodded and the birds sang 

 sweetly in the golden glow. We felt as if we were in a 

 land of enchantment, where fairy elves in fringing for- 

 ests revel to the sounding shells of the Tritons. It was 

 delightful, this slipping o'er the silken ripples to the 

 tinkling dip of the bright blades, by clilf and crag, bay 

 and river, nook and niche, until we became the veriest 

 idlers and dreamers, with om- souls 



"A lordly pleasure house 

 Wherein at ease for aye to dweU." 



The sun began to pale and sink in great banks of orange 

 and opal, scarlet and purple, that flowed in streams of 

 pink and crimson, so richly edged and delicately woven 

 into shreds of beauty that an artist would ever dream over, 

 and attempt in vain to transfer to his canvas. 



"Touched by a light that hath no name, 



A glory never sung. 

 Aloft on sky and mountain wall 

 Are God's great pictures hung. 

 How changed the summits vast and old! 



No longer granite-browed, 

 They melt in rosy mist; the rook 



Is softer than the cloud; 

 Tlie valley holds its breath; no leaf 



Of all its elms is twirled: 

 The silence of eternity 

 Seems falling on the world." 



We reach camp in an elysium of delight, and after 

 enjoying a delicious meal, take our camp-chairs and seek 

 the apex of the great rock, where the white wings of the 

 tent are casting ciuiet shadows adown the declivity in the 

 rear. The heavens are 



"Bespangled with those isles of light 

 So wildly, spirituallj' bright." 



The Pleiades and Orion sparkle in boundless mag- 

 nificence, the mariners' heavenly nhart, that points to the 

 radiating diamond of the North, is also in illustrious 

 pomp, while the ten thousand other suns tha,t light us 

 deep into the Deity, dazzle with twinkling loveliness as 

 they pay homage to Hesperus and the red planet Ma<rs. 

 The fuU-orbed moon, in her mantle of silver, sheds her 

 beauty and deep softness o'er the whole, sending a shaft 

 of light along the rippling lake that seems to sink into 

 unmeasured depths. 



"The night is calm and cloudless, 

 And still as still can be, 

 And the stars come forth to listen 

 To the music of the sea." 



As we watched the jeweled heavens and the shimmer 

 of the miu-muring sea, the love and faith in immortal 

 life came uppermost in Ned's mind, who arising as he 

 looked out in the night's luxtuy, and gracefully extend- 

 ing an arm exclaimed in solemn tone, "By night an 

 atheist half believes a God," and then sought his bed in 

 deep silence, fervently impressed with the sable goddess. 



Alex. Starbtkjk. 



[to be CdlflTINtTEaj.] 



THE MAINE ICE. 



The ice cleared from the lakes and ponds controlled by 

 the Inglewood Club in New Brunswick on the 9tli of May, 

 several days later than last year. The members of the 

 club, largely composed of Boston professional and busi- 

 ness men, are preparing for their spring fishing. The first 

 party of the season left Boston on Friday evening. It was 

 made up of Col. C. A. Hopkins, resident manager of the 

 New York Mutual Life Insurance Co. ; ex-Eailroad Com- 

 missioner Crocker, J. P. Bates, of Cobb, Bates & Yerxa, 

 and one or two others. A very large party will leave 

 Boston on the evening of the 26th, and Forest and 

 Stkeam shall have the names of the happy fishermen in 

 due season. 



The L. Dana Chapman party, to Sebago, mentioned last 

 week, was fairly successful with landlocked salmon, the 

 smallest weighing 3-tlbs. and the largest 71bs. The weather 

 was very cold and the fishermen did nothing till the third 

 day after the ice went out, the next to the last day of their 

 stay. Another Boston party, quick to follow, was com- 

 posed of Mr. John G-. Wright, Mr. E. A. Adams, Mi-. Kil- 

 ham and Charlie Robinson, of South Windham, Me. Re- 

 ports say that these gentlemen are having good sport. 



The ice has cleared from Lake Winnepesaukee, in New 

 Hampshire, but it went out over twenty days later than 

 last year. Hearing that the ice was out several sports- 

 men started from Boston on Thursday. They will troU for 

 lake trout. 



Reports are very dubious concerning the clearing of the 

 great trout lakes in Maine. At the time of this writing 

 the ice is thick and solid, A special dispatch to the Bos- 

 ton Herald on Friday, from Rangeley, said that the ice 

 in that lake was very solid. It might go out as early as 

 the 20th, but good judges believe that it will hold till the 

 25th. Capt. Fred C. Barker, of The Birches and of Camp 

 Beamis, on Mooselucmaguntic Lake, suggests fully as late 

 a clearing of that lake. Reports from Andover, Me. , sug- 

 gest that Richardson Lake can scarcely be clear of ice be- 

 fore the 20th, and more likely the 25th. But so late a 

 clearing is almost unheard of,' and it is more Ukely that 

 these lakes will be clear as early as the 20th. The late- 

 ness of the season is dampening the ardor of the fisher- 

 men a good deal, and there is a complaint in the tackle 

 stores that the ti-ade is very poor. Mr. A. S, Foster of 

 Lamkin & Foster, a veteran fisherman at the Rangeleys, 

 has reports from Mr. Rich, at Kennebago, which say that 

 on May 7 there were 26in. of sohd, blue ice on that lake, 

 and that teams were hauling goods over the ice. 



ReiJorts from Moosehead are just as discouraging, and it 

 is very doubtful if that lake clears more than a couple of 

 days earlier than the Rangeleys. But the enthusiasm of 

 some of the Boston trout fishermen gets the better of 

 their judgment, and they start off, believing that the ice 



