188 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 19, 1893. 



MR. RASTUS'S EXPERIENCES.—III. 



Editor Forest and Stream.: 



Something mOre than a year ago I sent j^ou the story of the experi- 

 ences in Onnadian woods of Mr. E. Eastus, of a49th street, New Yorls:. 

 It occurred to me lately to write to my friend Judge Factum, to know 

 whether he had heard anything further from Mr. Rastus. The Judge 

 wrote to Major O'Glory and tie to Dr. Pilule, with the result that the 

 inclosed letter has come into my hands. — G. dk Montauba>', 



Dr. Tugrane Pilule: 



Deaji Sir— In compliance with the request contained in 

 your letter I will say that you were rightly informed and 

 that I did make a second visit to my brother-in-law's 

 brother's fishing camp, and in further compliance with 

 your request I will proceed to relate my experiences. 



And, first, for I lilie to be concise, I will let you know 

 how it came about. I told you before that the green of the 

 woods and the gray of the rocks did my eyes a great deal 

 of good, and I also escaped my usual attack of hay fever. 

 So, my general health being imf>roved, I was able to un- 

 dertake the preparation of an almanac for a celebrated 

 firm of patent medicine manufacturers, with entirely new 

 and original predictions of the weather and a great deal 

 of .other interesting and amusing matter, for which I was 

 paid a very liberal price. 



Therefore I know that the medicines are good, and if 

 any one asks me about them I shall recommend them ac- 

 cordingly. I never took any of them, being a homeopa- 

 thist myself, although Bess professes to hold the views of 

 that school in the greatest contempt. But I notice that iu 

 the case of her baby she favors that treatment, giving 

 medicine in the smallest possible quantities. In regard to 

 food and fresh air I admit she is an allopathist of what I 

 might call a high degree. Perhaps you will allow me to 

 add that the youngster grows immensely and has come to 

 be much less of a nuisance to me than he was at first. He 

 delights to sit on my knee when I am writing, and as he 

 usually goes to sleep with his little head in the hollow of 

 my left arm he is not much trouble to me. The other day 

 I heard Bess say to Tom, "It is strange how fond Erastus 

 is of that little nephew of his." But that is not so. It is 

 only that I am fond of peace and tranquillity, and the boy 

 is much more quiet when- he is asleep in my arms than 

 when he Is wide awake. 



But never mind about that, when it came toward the 

 end of June I began to feel tired. Tom said I was pining 

 for the Canadian woods, which I stoutly denied. I had 

 been there once and remembered the miseries I suffered. 

 I had to admit that I was none the worse for them, but 

 on the contrary, had felt better, done more and better 

 work and earned much more money than I had for 

 several years before. 



It happened that just while we were discussing the 

 matter a letter came from Bill (my brother-in-law's 

 brother, as you may remember), inviting me to make 

 him another visit. 



That settled the matter. To make a long story short, 

 the invitation was acct^jpted by first mail, although cir- 

 cumstances prevented my starting until late in August. 

 Tom said that would be an advantage, for there would be 

 no flies, which I found to be true. However, I immedi- 

 ately began to make preparations. Profiting by my ex- 

 periences of the year before I determined to provide my- 

 self with whatever would conduce to my comfort. 



I began to read the advertisements in Forest and 

 Stream, and sent for catalogues of nearly all the things 

 mentioned in them except dogs and guns, neither of 

 which I like. As I had to buy a dollar's worth at each 

 place m order to get back the 10 or 25 cents that I Imd 

 paid for the catalogues, I received a good many articles 

 from the diflferent firms, some that might be useful ana 

 some that I didn't even know the names of. 



Tom went with me to buy a rod and he got me a nice 

 one from the firm whose advertisement you wiU find on 

 page— (the number escapes me at this moment) of Forest 

 AND Stream, But when it came to reels, lines, flies, etc., 

 Tom shirked and left me to supply myself. I bought two 

 reels, six lines and about ten dozen flies, some of them 

 very wonderful. I looked in the natural history books in 

 the Astor Library in vain for insects having the names 

 given those flies. 



I bought a tent and some camp stools, an air bed and 

 pillow, a rubber blanket and coat, and a box full of 

 crockery ware, so that I might not have to eat out of those 

 dreadful tm dishes. I took a fine large pair of blankets, 

 and I may as well say here that these were the only things 

 out of all my supplips that Bdl could be induced to pay 

 any attention to, except the tent, and that he said was too 

 big. 



As I had used up all my old clothes on the f drmer ti ip 

 I procured an entirely new outfit from head to foot. My 

 wading boots, that came up to my thighs, delighted the 

 baby, and Tom's two puppies slept in them every night 

 Ben would not let me tiy on my boots with spikes in the 

 soles in the house, so I had to take them into the back 

 yard. Tom said it would develop my muscle to walk in 

 them. 



But what amused Tom most— and Bess too for that mat- 

 ter—was to see me in my new suit of corduroys, knicker- 

 bockers and aU. Indeed I think my appearance pleased 

 everybody who saw me in that rig. I didn't really think 

 the style was becoming to rne, as my form is quite spai-e 

 and long, but the clerk in the store said it was the only 

 truly suitable costume for the woods, and that all trout 

 fishermen wore it. 



I put it on when about starting on my journey, but 

 Bess thought I had better wear my usual clothing and 

 not put on knickerbockers until I got pretty well into the 

 torest. lorn said they were a very neat fit and that I re- 

 minded him of Don Quixote. Don Quixote is a favorite of 

 mine, and Tom knows it, but he has a habit of saying 

 things m such a way that I can't always tell what he 

 means. So 1 don't know whether he hked my suit or not 

 I occasionally wonder what there is about that youno- man 



tha,t niakes Bess so fond of him. I admit he is very good 

 and kind to her, and I don't know hut she is just as happy 

 now as she was before she married him. He is quite, 

 ^elptul and polite to me also, but I sometimes feel as if 



he didn t quite synipathize with me at aU times. I have never got over my dislike to bark canoes, big or 



iiowever, lie and Bess both lent a hand to help me to ( little, and never intend to. They put me in one of the 



get ready. Tom s mother came round with some bottles ' ' " ••' ^ 



of medicine and a package of court plaster, and his maiden 

 sister sent a neat little basket with some pins and needles 



two pieces of tape, soine yarn and a little round wooden 

 ball such as Bess uses to darn stockings on. 



Tom went down to Forty -second street station with 

 me, bought my ticket, got my baggage checked, and, I 

 suspect, paid the conduetor of the parlor car to look after 

 me and see that I didn't get left anywhere. 



Having been over the roufe once, I got on tolerably 

 well, and arrived at that four-o'clock-in-the-morning sta- 

 tion just as I had done the other time. The same man 

 was waiting for me, and we went over the same road an 

 stopppd at the same house as before. As I was in better 

 health and felt much easier in my mind, I enjoyed the 

 scenery and noticed a good many pretty things that I had 

 not felt like paying attention to the other time. And 

 besides, Bess had scolded me so much about not seeing 

 nice things so as to tell about them afterward, that " 

 looked about all I could and tried to remember tliem. 

 noted a good many places that I thought would delight 

 Bess's heart if she could only come there and sketch them. 

 Last year I took her home a lot of Bill's photographs and 

 she made no end of fuss over them. 



I had so much baggage this time that when we came to 

 the end of the road, just at the edge of the woods, the 

 men put it on a sled and the horse dragged it. 



When we got to the edge of the lake I expected to have 

 to cross in that same liorrid old hog trough, and I only 

 hoped it would be drier in the bottom that it was last 

 year; but the men chattered a few minutes and said 

 something to me about Bill that I couldn't understand 

 and then peacefully sat down and lighted their pipes. 

 That is the way with those Frenchmen; they light their 

 pipes when they start and when they stop, and if any- 

 thing happens or anybody speaks to them on the road. 



I understood it all quickly, for in a few minutes I saw 

 a big barge rowed by four oars and loaded with ladies 

 and gentlemen, with BUI standing up and steering it, just 

 coming round a point. It was a pretty sight. When 

 Bill saw me he gave a shout, the rowers pulled harder 

 and the boat was soon at the shore, I was introduced to 

 the people, they got me and my traps on board and the 

 crossing was made in a few minutes and in very jolly 

 fashion, It was a great contrast to my former arrival, 

 when I crossed in that beastly old dugout in mortal terror 

 all the time and sitting in 3in. of ice-cold water. 



I found the camp very much as I had left it, some few 

 comforts added, but no great change. This time, how- 

 ever, there was a number of people, and it seemed they 

 were waiting for me to come in order to go on what they 

 called "a cruise." Why they should have waited for me 

 I don't know. Last year I know I avoided all "cruises,' 

 as soon as I found what they were. 1 didn't like them. 

 The two or three that I had with Bill I considered enough 

 for a lifetime. But the people at the camp whom I had 

 met before were determined not to go without me, and 

 they made the others wait. 



They allowed me one day to rest, and I passed it in eat 

 ing and sleeping. The log camp and the tin dishes did 

 not disgust me as much as before, and I found the trout 

 and the baked beans very good. Bess gives us baked 

 beans at home once in a while, but somehow they don't 

 taste just right, although we were originally Boston 

 people, and she ought to know how to cook them. And 

 once I paid ever so much money down at Fulton Market 

 for some trout, but when they were cooked they didn't 

 seem to be the right thing at all. 



In the evening we sat around a bonfire and sang and 

 told stories, but, everj'body went to bed early in order to 

 be ready for the next day's excursion. I slept tolerably 

 well in my new blankets. In the morning I even went 

 out and took a bath in the lake with the other gentlemen. 

 It did me no harm, although it was the first time I had 

 dared to bathe out of doors for several years. I rather 

 liked it in spite of the inconveniences of dressing on the 

 rocks and getting leaves and little sticks inside my clothing. 

 After the bath I surprised the party by appearing in my 

 knickerbocker suit, which was received with great ap- 

 plause. I felt a little queer in it at first, not being accus- 

 tomed to having my legs undraped. Most of the other 

 gentlemen wore knickerbockers also, but they were 

 stouter than I and their stockings staid up better. Mine 

 gave me a good deal of trouble by sliding down. The 

 oldest of the married ladies noticed the difficulty I was in 

 and with entire calmness offered me some things to keep 

 them up with, which I blushingly accepted and used suc- 

 cessfully after I had made them somewhat smaller. 



Breakfast being over, preparations for the excursion 

 began in earnest. I did not want to go and would have 

 preferred to stay, but when I found that the cruise would 

 last three days and that nobody would remain at the camp 

 but a guardian wliose language I could not understand, 1 

 decided to risk joining the party. 



I wanted to take along my air bed and pillow, my rub- 

 ber coat and blanket, my wading boots and nailed shoes, 

 besides two or three changes of clothing, but when I found 

 that there would be several portages where every man 

 was expected to carry his own .personal belongings, I re- 

 duced my pack till it consisted of my woolen blankets, a 

 tooth brush, a piece of soap and a towel. The married 

 men had to carry their wives' tilings as well as their own, 

 for which I jeered at them, loudly boasting of my inde- 

 pendence of such incumbrances. I fear this was impru- 

 dent on my part, and am almost sure that one of the 

 gentlemen tipped the wink to his daughter, for when it 

 came to carrying things one lady or another asked if I 

 wouldn't be kind enough to take along some satchel or 

 other small article for her until I found I had the heaviest 

 and most unhandy load of aU. This did not happen , how- 

 ever, until later in the day, and then only once. The 

 ladies let up on me. 



We crassed the lake in the barge and then went down 

 that horrid clilf I told you about before. I remembered 

 it well, for it was very near being the death of me. I 

 hoped I should never see it again. Some of the people 

 went down easily, especially the younger ones, but one 

 of the ladies had to be helped by her husband a good deal 

 and even then she had to stop and sit down a good many 

 times. Sometimes she sat down purposely but other 

 times I think against her inclination, the same as I did. 

 By exercising great care we all got safely to the bottom. 

 There we found canoes enough to carry the whole party, 

 two large ones, to carry six persons each, and a small one 

 to carry four. 



large ones and sat me beside the stout lady. I don't 

 doubt it was a good canoe, Bill said it was a "buster" — 

 but I didn't like it. The lady being heavy and I being 



hght she had to sit a good deal over on my side of the 

 canoe in order to keep the balance, I know I do not 

 take up much room, widthwise, but I do require some 

 space, and if I should say I was crowded I should be 

 putting it altogether too mildly. I ought by rights to say 

 that I was squeezed into about the proportions of a lead 

 pencil. At first I wiggled as much as I dared, but I found 

 that every wiggle 1 madei-esulted in my being compressed 

 more and more, and there was a bundle of fishing rods 

 between me and the side of the boat that made a very 

 uncomfortable seat. The la'ly was pleasant and enter- 

 taining and I was thankful to her for the stocking 

 fasteners, but her avoirdupois was considerable. 



We paddled up the lake for about an hour and a half 

 till we came to a place where Bill called out and said we 

 could stop and straighten out om- legs. My legs needed 

 to be bent up rather than straightened out, except that 

 my knees felt as if they were being bent the wrong way. 

 The stocking afliairs also seemed to have stopped my cir- 

 culation and my feet had been asleep for half a hour. If 

 there is anything that I detest u^ore than another about 

 going to the woods it is this riding in bark canoes. It was 

 not so bad this time as when I went ahme with Bill, but 

 I resolved never to get into one again if I got back safely 

 from this trip. 



After resting awhile we re-embarked and I took occa- 

 sion to place that bundle of rods between my neighbor 

 and myself, so that she would liave to sit on them if she 

 was inclined to come too far to my side of tlie canoe. 

 She seemed much better adapted to sitting on rough and 

 uneven surfaces than I was. 



We paddled on a mile or two and then had to get out 

 and walk a short distance. The path had been disused a 

 long time and was overgrown with raspberry bushes and 

 fallen trees. There was also a kind of thorn brush that 

 was extremely disagreeable. I found that knickerbockers 

 and stockings gave less protection than my ordinaiy 

 trousers. I got my limbs pricked and scratched to a con- 

 siderable extent. I was, with my usual gallantry, tiying 

 to help my stout companion over a fallen log, when her 

 foot slipped, she let go of my hand and both of us sat 

 down, I in a mud puddle and she in a thorn bush. Not- 

 withstanding her size she seemed to be an active woman, 

 for she got up with great promptness and celerity. I was 

 unable to move so quickly and before I got fairly on my 

 feet I became aware of a good deal of general moisture 

 and of two streams of water gently trickling down my 

 legs. Neither of us said anything but continued on our 

 way without making any remarks. I found myself very 

 uncomfortable in the canoe and the lady also seemed to 

 have difliculty in finding a position that suited her. 



Arrived across a small lake at a place where we were 

 to take our lunch. I called Bill's attention to the plight 

 I was in and he detailed one of his men to take me to a 

 sequestered spot and help me to wash and dry my clothes. 

 This was some improvement, although the quickly dried 

 corduroy felt rather like a suit of tin armor when I first 

 got into it. 



After lunch we had quite a long stretch of shallow 

 water to go up. Most of us walked through the woods, 

 where there was a nice path, but some of the young ladies 

 staid behind, took off their shoes and stockings and 

 waded and splashed in the water and had a jolly time. 

 We could hear them laughing and shouting and having 

 no end of fun, but we couldn't see them. The men got 

 the canoes and baggage up the stream somehow and were 

 in great good humor, though I noticed that some of them 

 were wet from head to foot. Bill set the wettest ones to 

 work and they were none the worse for their dousing. 



I must say this for Bill, that although he paid very 

 ittle attention t<:) the minor miseries of his guests or his 

 men, he took good care that they should all be made as 

 comfortable as possible under the circumstances. What 

 he saw to be inevitable he made no attempt to escape, but 

 took good care to avoid accidents and dangers to the 

 health of his parties. I myself endured untold miberies, 

 but by following his advice I never even took a bad cold. 

 I took this life in the woods instead of other disagreeable 

 medicines, and I admit that it did me more good than all 

 my doctors and their drugs. 



Well, we crossed more lakes and scrambled over more 

 rocks, logs and treetops that made the stout lady puff a 

 good deal and get very red in the face, but did not inter- 

 fere with her good humor. I got my shins barked a good 

 deal, but it was of no use to complain, so I said nothing. 

 The young ladies laughed and joked as if getting over 

 logs and dams was the greatest fun in the world. 



It had got to be the middle of the afternoon when Bill 

 itopped paddhng, stood up in his canoe, looked about and 

 then headed for a point of land and went ashore. The 

 rest of us followed, and Bill said: "We'll sleep here to- 

 night, boys." I didn't think it was a good place to sleep 

 in at all. I saw nothing but trees and bushes, and felt a 

 good deal discouraged. But I had learned to trust to 

 Providence— and Bill— so I looked on and said nothing. 

 Bill went back a few yards into the woods and set his 

 men at work. Some things they cut down and some they 

 pulled up by the roots, and in five minutes they had quite 

 a large space cleared up and leveled. One man cut some 

 IJoles, and before I had done wondering what was to be 

 done next they had two tents set up and a kettle boiling. 

 We each took a cui) of the ready made cofl'ee that Bill al- 

 ways cari-ies, and then they went to breaking off branches 

 that Bill said were what we were to he on. I devoutly 

 wished I had jjersisted in bringing my air bed. 



One of the gentlemen put his fishing rod together and 

 then volunteered to help me with mine. I was very glad, 

 for I was making pretty bad work of it. He went to fish- 

 ing from the rocks, and one of the young ladies invited 

 me to go out in a canoe with her and try my luck. The 

 idea of going out in a bark canoe with only a girl to 

 manage it startled me, but they all said she was perfectly 

 able, and they talked so much that I was ashamed to re- 

 fuse any longer, so I consented. Bill left his work and 

 came to see us all right and showed me how to handle 

 my rod. He was very nice about it. 



The girl paddled away and I began to fish, with great 

 fear and trembling at first, but more confidence later on. 

 Somehow I didu't seem to have much luck. The fish 

 came but I didu't get anj', though the gentlemen on the 

 rocks caught several. Alter a while, when I wasn't look- 

 ing, I suddenly felt a prodigious tug that almost took the 

 rod out of my hands. I gave a jerk and a jump that 

 nearly tipped the canoe over. Bill was watching and 

 shouted out, "He's hooked, keep a taut line, but handle 

 him easy. He's a good one. Take your time. Let him 

 run. Now reel him in slowly. Let him go again. Steady 



