FOREST AND STREAM. 



{.Jan. 6, 1894. 



greater part of their area not more than Sin. A canoe 

 propelled across either turned with her bow a furrow as 

 clearly defined as if made with a plow. Both lakes are 

 practically bottomless. Moore pushed a 25ft. sapling 

 down its entire length into Mud Lake without meeting 

 the slightest resistance. 



On Oct. 8, a beautifully clear, cold morning, we started 

 from Scotch Lake, on the eastern side of the St. John, 

 on our 18-mile drive to Mud Lake. We had a pair of 

 good, stout horses hitched to a lumber wagon, and our 

 impedimenta, with a week's rations for man and beast, in 

 a hay rack. There had been a hard frost the evening 

 before, and the ruts in the road were frozen hard enough 

 to make the driving very rough. We were to pick David 

 up on the road near the western shore of Scotch Lakp. 

 While he was awaiting the arrival of the wagon a rare 

 piece of luck came to him. A flock of bluebills went 

 whizzing by in the uncertain light of the gray dawn, and 

 with a lightning right and left he dropped a bunch of 

 them into the lake. Three were retrieved. One fell so 

 far out that he could not make the dog see it, and a native 

 got in a whole forenoon's shooting on a pair of cripples. 



Moore drove the team and the rest of us worked any 

 likely patches of cover that lay near the road. We added 

 one grouse to our bag before we reached Bear Island, the 

 point where we were to cross the St. John. The name, 

 Bear Island, has a gamy sound that harmonized well 

 with our experience there. The outfit crossed the river 

 on a large scow propelled by sweeps, and all the while 

 little bunches of mergansers, with their black, white and 

 cinnamon feathers shining in the morning sun, sailed by 

 within easy range. It was useless to shoot at them, as, 

 owing to the rapidity of the current they could not be 

 retrieved. 



A few hundred yards np the Bear Island shore we saw 

 three Canada geese. We drove the team within 70yds. , 

 and as they arose, a perfect hail of No. 1 followed 

 them. A snowstorm of feathers flecked the surface of 

 the water, and David called to the scowman to gatner 

 them as they came down to make him a pillow. The 

 geese flew across the river, when one let go and fell on a 

 bar. A settler picked him up and he doubtless furnished 

 the base of an excellent meal. Our feelings were akin to 

 those of the man who betteth his money on the bob-tailed 

 nag, when the bay with the blazed face and white heel 

 captureth the race; and raketh in the spoils. Alas! that 

 Moore's big 10-gauge was securely corded up in the center 

 of a blanket roll, 



The channel, on the western side of the island, was dry 

 save for a few ponds. Scanning these with a glass, we 

 saw in one of them a flock of black ducks. Our party 

 divided, W. H. and I taking the highland side of the chan- 

 nel, while David and Will approached them from Bear 

 Island way. We thus sandwiched them between two fines 

 of guns, and if they did not rise straight in the air some 

 one was reasonably sure of a shot. We ran into a flock of 

 grouse in a strip of woods a little distance from where we 

 left the wagon, and killed a pair. At length W. H. and 

 I found ourselves looking down on the ducks from the top 

 of a 40-foot bank. This was a new point of view for both 

 of us, and looking at the broad backs of the birds, we ad- 

 judged them to be only 40yds away when they really 

 were 60. When they flushed, W. H. gave them one bar- 

 rel before he took in the situation. Then they swung to 

 the other boys, who received them with a volley. But 

 this was one of the occasions on which we sowed liberally 

 and harvested not. However, Will and David added 

 somewhat to their stock of natural history lore. They 

 saw a mink, like the smooth, polished shyster of civiliza- 

 tion, evidently intent on securing a victim. The ducks 

 did not seem to be troubling themselves much about him; 

 but all the same, they took precious good care not to let 

 him get too near. Sometimes he would slide out on a 

 rock and make a spring at the nearest bird, but the latter 

 would generally manage to be two or three feet away 

 when he alighted. 



David thought there was less of the fool about these 

 ducks than about some men. Our road now lay at right 

 angles to the course of - the St. John, aid as the team had 

 to climb a steep hill all of the boys jumped out and 

 walked on ahead. A young fellow with a light express 

 and pair soon overtook us, and we all got on board and 

 rode several miles, till, at last, as we came to good bits of 

 cover, one by one the rest got out and left me alone with 

 the driver, a lad of about sixteen. He proved to be, like 

 most boys of his age, a regular traveling interrogation 

 point, and bad I not laid myself out to give him as little 

 information as was consistent with civility, he would 

 have known our names, ages, occupations and how much 

 money we had if persistent cross-questioning could have 

 elicited such facts. He looked slightly askance at me 

 when, in response to his request for David's name, I ex- 

 plained to him that his father died when he was very 

 young and did no leave him any name. His mind seemed 

 not entirely frae from doubt, when an inquiry as to the 

 part of the country from which we hailed, brought him 

 the information that it was the part where all the best 

 men and women were reared. When, however, I made 

 a practical application of the homeopathic principle, 

 "Like cures like," and poured the questions in on him 

 thick and fast, dodging a return here and countering 

 there, a hopeless resignation seemed to settle over him, 

 and he answered in a dull, mechanical way that might 

 have indicated a broken sprit. It is strange how inquis- 

 itive the average citizen is. The question, "What might 

 your name be?" is nearly as common as the salute, "Good 

 morning," but as a rule I never impart the information it 

 calls for. It is not good policy to repel it with a snub. 

 Good-natured chaff, judiciously applied, will stave it off 

 better than anything else I know of. 



The Prevaricator says that a request for his name, 

 prompted simply by idle curiosity, invariably brings the 

 reply that it is Smith. He says that there are enough black 

 sheep in the Smith family to preclude all possibility of 

 your disgracing the name, and yet there are sufficient 

 illustrious persons connected with it to make it no dis- 

 honor to its owner, and lastly, and best of all no one will 

 undertake to unravel your pedigree. When it was 

 pointed out that this plan involved a flagrant disregard of 

 fact, he retorted: "Doesn't the Prince of Wales travel 

 under an assumed name sometimes, and do you expect me 

 to have more regard for fact than he? And haven't I as 

 good a right to an incog, anyway? And don't they in- 

 sert the aliases of a burglar in his indictment, thus recog- 

 nizing his right to all of them? And has a reputable 

 citizen fewer rights than a criminal?" It is no use to 

 reason with a man who talks that way. 



At length the paths of the teamster and myself diverged, 

 and about a half mile further on I overtook Will and 

 David. On our way through the old Magundy road we 

 had up several birds, but only scored on one. Will killed 

 that. We crossed the Poquiox, and its tributary, the 

 Magundy, the last of the St. John waters, when, as it was 

 nearly noon, we deemed it expedient to wait for the 

 wagon. It came along in about ten minutes. In less time 

 than it takes to tell it the kettle was boiling, and three 

 birds were skinned, drawn and in the frying pan. The 

 style of cooking drew out several healthy protests from the 

 girls. 



That dinner by the roadside is one of the pleasantest of 

 memories. ,What spirits we were in! What appetites we 

 had! What a mellowing influence on the soul had the 

 surrounding scenery, bathed in the yellow light of the 

 midday autumnal sun! 



Dinner over, every one was in motion in five minutes. 

 David and W. H. whistled up the dogs, and started up 

 the valley of the Magundy. Some skirmish line firing a 

 little later proclaimed trouble for the grouse family, and 

 when they rejoined us, two miles on the road, they had 

 three birds. Will and I saw a snipe alight in a field near 

 by, and started over to gather him in. We marked him 

 by a little bush, and bore to the windward to get him just 

 right as he arose. But he had not been idle in the mean- 

 time. He had run 40yds. right across our line of advance, 

 and finally rose behind us, which same was a scurvy 

 trick. We each got in one barrel, and the snipe got in 

 some mighty good work. He flew over to the wagon, 

 and, as if to show his contempt for the whole outfit, took 

 a look at the rest at about 10ft. distance; and then rising 

 high in the air, struck out for Magaguadavic. 



The dogs got up a bunch of grouse in a little wood at 

 the foot of Blaney Ridge, but we failed to reduce any to 

 possession. 



Near the outlet of Mud Lake is a large, wild meadow. 

 An astute settler of Blaney Ridgo purchased the block of 

 land on which it is situated at nominal figures, and 

 worked a rough road through from the settlement by 

 which he could haul out the hay. It thus happened that 

 we had a not very passable, but a tolerably "jackassable," 

 road to within a half mile of our camping ground. At 

 Black Brook, the first of the Magaguadavic waters, there 

 is a poor bridge, and just beyond it a slough. The latter 

 is capable of giving an immense amount of trouble in 

 wet weather, while the former compels the unhitching of 

 horses, and hauling the wagon over by hand. I was 

 obliged to make a journey almost back to the settlement 

 to recover the bean pot and frying pan, which had 

 dropped from the wagon. The girls and W. H. waited 

 for me. In this way it happened that tent pitching was 

 well under way before I arrived at the place that was to 

 be our home for the next week. On our way in Frisk, 

 David's dog, put up a Canada grouse, which W. H. 

 harvested. 



We left the team on the lake shore, near the outlet, a 

 half mile from camp, and the details of gathering hem- 

 lock for bedding, fuel for the night and making the horses 

 comfortable, occupied till 9 o'clock, when we had supper 

 and turned in. There was then a faint drizzle which did 

 not amount to anything, and in the morning the clouds 

 showed signs of lifting. 



During the night, what the novelists term an "eldritch 

 screech," in the woods by the shore of the lake, had at- 

 tracted the attention of the campers. Some, like myself, 

 were asleep, and but dimly conscious of the sound; while 

 others were wide awake and heard it in all its hair-raising 

 distinctness. Around the breakfast table, speculation was 

 rife as to the manner of animal that was the cause there- 

 of. The Prevaricator took no part in the discussion until, 

 at length, in a moment of thoughtlessness one of the 

 ladies asked his opinion. "Oh! that?" said he, as if his 

 train of thought on some other subject had been suddenly 

 interrupted, "that was a catawampus. " When pressed 

 for a description of the beast, he proceeded to evolve from 

 the recesses of his imagination a truly remarkable creature, 

 built on the same general line as a panther, but (like a 

 liar) with more jaw-power. According to this veracious 

 authority, no menagerie had ever been able to keep one 

 of these animals, on account of their propensity for eating 

 up the steel bars of the cage. But the crowning glory of 

 the brute was its tail, which was long and tapered to a 

 point like a buggy whip. On the edge was a cartilage 

 something like that on the elephant's trunk. This the 

 brute could snap with a report like a pistol. When simply 

 amusing itself its favorite pastimes were yelling and grind- 

 ing its teeth; but always just before springing on its prey, 

 it cracked its tail. Whether this was to paralyze its quarry 

 with fear, or simply to urge itself forward, deponent 

 could not say. You all know how little it takes to make 

 one laugh in the woods. The burst of merriment at this 

 clumsy little recital was quite general. Ordinarily it 

 would have been the subject of joke for the remainder of 

 the day, and that would have ended its life. But we 

 were destined to hear from the catawampus again— ex- 

 tensively and loud. 



The forenoon was occupied with getting wood, ferrying 

 dunnage over from the wagon and getting the team into 

 camp. Moore an* David rode the horses around the 

 little lake and Will put up a very good apology for a 

 stable. I ferried the hay over in a boat. 



After dinner Will and Moore landed W.H. and David at 

 the upper end of the lake and then proceeded to build some 

 blinds for flight shooting in the evening. I struck out 

 through the woods, and spent the afternoon hunting 

 phantom partridges, sneaking up to the little coves to 

 surprise ducks that never materialized, and exploring 

 well-worn deer paths. I picked a few bog cranberries. 

 Once a fine osprey attempted to settle on the top of a 

 dead tree, and a charge of No. 4s from my left barrel 

 laid him out. This looks like wanton murder, but it was 

 not. Will is a taxidermist, and I knew he wanted the 

 bird for his collection. At last I came to a little point 

 that extended out into the lake. On the extreme end a 

 huge pine measured its length in the water. I walked 

 out into the top of this and sat down. Something might 

 come along and I would get a shot. A kingfisher let go 

 his policeman's rattle as he went by; a bluejay rustled 

 around among the treetops, tolling his bell semi-occasion- 

 ally; a whisky-jack flitted from tree to tree as noiselessly 

 as a ghost; but nothing in the line of game came. Some 

 puffs of smoke, followed by quick reports, showed that 

 the boys at the head of the lake were getting in a "grand 

 rally." A bunch of yellowlegs flew by the blind Moore 

 was building. There were, two reports in quick succession 

 and the survivors flew by my stand out of range, Regard- 



less of the confidence game I attempted by the most se- 

 ductive notes I could command. 



I signalled Moore and Will with an owl call to come 

 ashore after me and thought I saw a hand waved in reply. 

 But I did not find out my mistake till too late to get into 

 the evening shooting. They mistook the call for the gen- 

 uine article. This was flattering. But I saw the flight 

 come in and had almost as many, birds as the rest. 



The ducks were mostly of the black or dusky species. 

 There was none of the preliminary circling before alight- 

 ing so characteristic of the wary bird, but as each little 

 bunch came in high over the lake thpy set their wings 

 and went down with a noise as of the tearing of strong, 

 new cotton. Moore named them "cotton tearers." Now, 

 here is the problem that confronted t l( e shooters; a bird 

 going through the air 100ft. a second and falling 40ft. the 

 same time. It requires a mathematical nicety of calcu- 

 lation to beat a combination like that. When the boys 

 came in they were pleased at having seen so much game, 

 though baffled in having secured any to speak of. 



The grand rally that I saw W. H. and David get at the 

 head of the lake was at shelldrakes, otherwise "Jacoby 

 canvasbacks." The Prevaricator called them "Friday 

 birds," because, he said, they were nothing but fish, pure 

 and simple, and could be eaten in Lent, and on Fridays 

 and fast days, without violating the canons of any 

 church in existence. He said that when he shot one he 

 always asked the pardon of the rest of the party, because 

 the bird ranked as game and as such had to be eaten, 

 but the shooting of one was really purchasing a moment's 

 pleasure at the expense of an hour's torture of the others. 



The next morning Will took the boat and went out on 

 the lake. W. H. and David set out to find Lily Lake, 

 while Moore and I, after doing the chores, were to build 

 new blinds for the evening's shooting. The cheerful 

 "rattlety-bang" right and lefts of Will's old gun announced 

 to the stay-at-homes that he had "made a strike," and 

 it turned out that he cleaned up an entire flock of broad- 

 bills by a sort of bunco game, which enabled him again 

 and again to get within shooting distance before the birds 

 took wing. 



Moore and I had a visitor. A man from the settlement 

 dropped in on us and we entertained him as best we could. 

 The women cooked him the finestdinner the camp afforded. 

 When he thought the rest of us were not looking, Will, 

 with a Chesterfieldian bow and a smile that for blandness 

 would throw that of Bret Harte's hero completely in the. 

 shade, presented him with a pair of the "Friday birds" 

 the boys got the day before. Still he seemed loath to de- 

 part. Moore and I were anxious to get to work at the 

 blinds we were to make. We were getting fidgety. At 

 last the thought struck me that he was lingering in the 

 hope that, as a sort of crowning grace to our hospitality, 

 a little whisky would be forthcoming. Now, one of our 

 ladies is an inveterate foe to the essence of corn. Waiting 

 till she was present, I remarked incidentally that we had 

 forgotten to bring any with us, whereupon she observed, 

 with such evident sincerity, that to such omission the 

 presence of the women was undoubtedly due, that I 

 congratulated myself on the neatness of the turn. A 

 minute or two later our guest shouldered his "Friday 

 birds" and left us. W. H. saw him two days later, and it 

 took him some time to convince him that I did not extract 

 a part of my joys from the "ov-rflowingbowl." The lady 

 mentioned above says the moral of this is: "He who would 

 not be taken for a whisky drinker should not talk like 

 one." 



We had little trouble in locating our blinds. We built 

 bases on the soft marsh of dry cedar ran i -pikes, and con- 

 cealed them with dead grass which we cut with our 

 knives. We had scarcely finished our work when W. H. 

 and David arrived on a catamaran they found on the other 

 side of the lake. They bad failed to reach Lily Lake, Out 

 had found another small one that discharged into Mud.* 

 Their bag for the day was one broadbill, which they shot 

 after they embarked on the raft. 



Before sundown we took our places for the evening's 

 flight shooting. Moore and I occupied a double blind m 

 a bunch of odd-looking weed, that the Prevaricator 

 named, the "Jimmy-rose-mary patch." Will shot from 

 the boat, two gunshots to the south of us, while W. H. 

 and David held forth on the catamaran, about the same 

 distance to the north. The stands proved to have been 

 well selected. Will made a better showing than did any 

 of the rest either then or subsequently. He shot about a 

 60 per cent. gait. David made all his kills with the 

 second, after missing with the first. Moore was fortunate 

 enough to secure a male summer duck in full plumage, 

 which he had set up after he went home. W. H. made 

 only one hit. I failed to do even that. 



There was joy in the camp that night, either real or 

 well counterfeited, when the Prevari, ator learned of the 

 disposition Will had made of the Friday bin's. He said, 

 no doubt it was unmanly thus to rejoice at the misfortunes 

 of the poor settler; but it was the way of the world to lose 

 sight of the sorrows of others in our own joys. "Willuin," 

 said he, "you shouldn't waste your talents taxy-didymus- 

 in' birds; you should go into politics. No politician who 

 had properly learned to give away only that for which he 

 had no use, ever made a failure." WiJl retorted: "Some 

 people might have had the cheek to give the man a pair 

 of mean, measly-looking broadbills, and those large, fine- 

 looking shelldrakes hanging there in plain sight, but I 

 haven't. I am not anxious to earn the reputation of a 

 hog. I gave him the best-looking birds on the string." 

 Some days after when the Prevaricator was asked of 

 which of the camp scenes he would prefer to have a 

 photograph, he replied without hesitation: "Willum 

 a-presentin' the Friday birds to the settler." 



The next morning, much to the sorrow of the women, 

 Will took his departure. He could do anything there 

 was to do around camp. When he wasn't working he 

 generally had his eye out for a job, and it is needless to 

 say that he often verified the proverb, "Seek and ye shall 

 find." We were indebted to him for many little conven- 

 iences, among which I may mention a table, some seats, a 

 gun rack and a washstand. Besides all this, he is one of 

 the kind that it is good to have around. 



Soon after he left there was a little episode. All hands 

 were around the fire. It struck David that it would be a 

 good time to sort over bis cartridges and separate those 

 containing different sizes of shot. He found one 12-gauge, 

 and addressing W. H, who was just across the fire, he 

 said, "Here is one of your cartridges," and drew back his 

 hand to throw. Seeing what he was about to do I uttered 



*We have since discovered that this little late has no visible outlet. 



