FOREST AND STREAM. 
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Hector and Me. 
BY C. S. HOWARD^ TORONTO. 
The Story which won the First Prize of $50 in Forest 
and Stream" Canoe Cruising Competition. 
Our craft was a light Peterboro model, ratlier shal- 
lower than the standard, and made of varnished cedar. 
It was very "easily paddling," and in rough weather, 
as dry as a canoe can be. In fact, her disposition un- 
der all conditions was such as to deserve the word 
"Sweet Sixteen." 
"sweet," and as her length was- i6ft., we called her 
"Sweet Sixteen." 
We took two cushions and three paddles. 
We had a conical tent 6ft. square at the base. It 
was not supplied with poles nor pegs. These we cut 
wherever we were camped. In the day time it was 
made, with aid of a pack strap, into a kind of immense 
valise— as nearly like the regulation Hudson's Bay 
"pack" as we could get with only theory to work upon. 
This held the "grub bag," our coats, several changes 
of socks, three or four extra sweaters, our hatchet, 
fishing tackle, matches, etc. 
Our blankets and waterproof sheets we kept in an 
oiled bag by themselves. 
Our list of provisions was: Five pounds hard tack, 
5 pounds pork, 6 pounds beans, ^ stone rolled oats, 
.3 pounds rice, 2 pounds raisins, 3 pounds pure choco- 
late, 4 pounds white sugar, 2 pounds cheese, ^ 
pound tea, y2 pound cocoa, 1 can condensed milk, 
4 soup tablets, salt and pepper. From time to time, 
as we needed them, and could get them, we supple- 
mented this list by eggs, bread, milk and lemons. All 
the provisions were put into little canvas bags and the 
little bags into one large "turkey." 
To cook with and eat from we took: Three tin pails 
of various sizes, 3 granite plates (one to act as frying- 
' pan), 2 granite cups, 2 tin spoons (small), 2 tin spoons 
(large), 2 steel forks, i large hunting knife, i pot 
cleaner (made of metal rings). All these fitted into 
the largest tin pail, which, in turn, went nicely under 
the stern deck. Our tin lantern (for candles) occupied 
a corresponding position forward. 
We were attired as Hector wrote, "in white sweat- 
ees with felt hats to match. Ninety-eight-cent trousers 
and moose hide shoe packs completed very charming 
toilets." . 
At the head of the Muskoka River, twenty miles 
from the boundary of the Algonquin National Park of 
Ontario, and forty, east from the railroad, there lies 
a lake dotted with hemlock-covered islands, and sur- 
rounded by hemlock-covered hills. Its name is Lake 
Kahweambeluwagamog, although as Hector says, you 
don't have to call it that unless you want to. He pre- 
} fers the Indian name to the English himself, but for 
others, another and less striking title has been pro- 
vided. Hollow Lake is the other name. 
A fine spot is Hollow Lake. On the long winter 
, evenings around the fire, when the pipes are going, it 
: is of Hollow Lake they talk. The big salmon that 
grows at every telling, was originally caught in Hollow 
Lake, and the buck whose head and antlers adorn the 
wall was knocked over there. For Hollow Lake is 
near the Nation^al Reserves, and there is plenty to at- 
tract the man who can use a rifle and fishing-rod. 
The visitors to Hollow Lake are few, but these few 
are of the best (and include Hector and me). The 
problem of carrying a canoe across the four-mile por- 
tage which separates the lake from the comparative 
civilization of Dorset, frightens the others, and, in- 
: deed. Hollow Lake is the better without them. 
But I know Hector better than any other living 
I soul, and he knows" me. We have paddled together 
ij since _we first overcame maternal prejudice to canoes, 
mtlee4 (U tfee truth be told), long before that. 
We know, or at least Hector knows, what we can do. 
Our ideas never conflict. They fit together like the 
cog wheels in a watch, and help each other. 
Consequently, when Hector dropped in one evening 
with a valise filled with maps, and guides, and illus- 
trated pamphlets of the most recent patent cooking 
stove (which we always look at, but never take), and 
said, "I guess we'll go up to Kahweambeluwagamog 
this year," I nodded my head and said, "All right." 
And so, on Sunday, May 10, he knelt in a canoe at 
the dock at Muskoka wharf and prepared to depart. 
We had come from Toronto by train the day before, 
and it being too late to start then, and a sinful waste 
of time to wait until Monday, we were putting out on 
Sunday. 
"Ready?" inquired Hector from the stern. 
"Mhm," I replied. 
"Put the time on it." 
"Four minutes to nine." 
Hector solemnly entered it in his note book, and 
then pushed off from the float with his paddle. 
"We're ofif," he remarked, "and a better day for 
paddling I never saw." 
We paddled up the bay with a fast, swinging stroke, 
for we were fresh and free, and the enthusiasm was 
strong in us. Soon we reached the narrows, .and 
passed out into the big, black Lake Muskoka. Away 
off, on the other shore, we could see about where the 
mouth of the_ river should be, and we made toward it. 
It was an ideal day for the beginning of a holiday. 
The sun shone "full and warm," as the novels say, 
and the surface of the lake was unruffled. There was 
not a breath of wind. 
I felt that I must shout and sing, stand on my head 
and carry on in a generally foolish manner. So did 
Hector. We always do the first day. We had no work 
to_ do for two weeks, you see. For two weeks we 
might go where we liked, and do as we chose, and 
stop when we wanted to — like horses out at pasture. 
We did not have to climb on to our stools at nine in the 
morning and off at four in the afternoon. We did 
not have to add figures all day, and write things in 
books. We might forget all about that for two weeks. 
So with the consciousness of our freedom, our spirits 
rose, and our actions at times approached the idiotic. 
Hector. 
But it was the first day, and that justifies a multitude 
of things otherwise out of place, except in a nursery. 
_ It was noon when we reached the mouth of the 
river, and we landed and sat in the shade and ate our 
lunch. This was a simple meal with us— but whole- 
some. It consisted of hard tack, cheese and chocolate 
there was no time lost. There was neither cooking 
nor dish washing. In an hour's time we had finished 
lunch, packed up, loaded the canoe and started up 
the river. 
There are some very pretty spots on the Muskoka 
between the lake and Bracebridge, and Hector oointed 
them out to me and commented upon them in 
artistic language, as we passed. For Hector is ex- 
tremely artistic. He knows at a glance whether or 
not a newspaper cartoon should be admired, and his 
bedroom walls are covered with Gibson heads. What 
IS a mere clump of pines to a less endowed person, is 
a great little bit" to him, and he describes a starved- 
lookmg farm with its tumble down buildings, as being 
fine composition." I have no knowledge of art my- 
self, but I have ability to conceal the lack of it which 
IS the next best thing, and in reply to Hector's re- 
marks I agreed naost heartily, and to give 
realism, suggested in an offhand way that the sunshine 
on the green cabbages and red beets, made a "splendid 
piece of color." 
Hector thought I knew as much about art as he did, 
and after thinking it over, I believe I do. 
All the afternoon we paddled. The river was "dead," 
and paddling easy. The enthusiasm had jiot as yet 
worn off, and we paddled hard and smoothly, .^t five 
o'clock we were within two miles of Bracebridge. 
So we swung in to the bank and stopped for the day. 
Soon we had the tent up and a fire going, and pro- 
ceeded to get tea. We tried one of the patent soup 
tablets for tea. They were so easily prepared, accord- 
ing to the label. They would, "when . mixed with a 
pint of boiling water, produce a strong, nutritious 
soup." We were careful to comply with the directions. 
Jammed. 
but the result was not all we had a right to expect. 
It reminded Hector of the gravy that used to be 
served at a boarding establishment where he once 
stayed. According to him, this gravy was made from 
the following recipe: Put some water in a pan, in a 
room where meat has been cooking. If too strong add 
more water. 
So we threw the soup in the river and after it the 
remaining tablets, and ate pork and beans for tea. 
After tea Hector and I carried the dishes to the river 
and Vi'ashed them. Dish washing with us is a simple 
matter, although our process is distinctively mascu- 
line, and might give offense to the ultra-fastidious of 
the opposite sex. We pour cold water upon them, rub 
them with sand, immerse them again in water, and the 
thing is done. The dishes are then ready for another 
meal as soon as we are. 
When the dishes were finished we carried the canoe 
up. on the bank and turned her upside down. Then we 
collected all our belongings and placed them inside the 
tent. Then, fearing that it might rain, we gathered a 
little dry fire wood and put it inside. It was just dusk 
when we crawled inside and rolled ourselves in our 
blankets to sleep (We always go to bed early when 
we are_ camping. This is one of the things that Hec- 
tor insists upon). For five minutes all was quiet. At 
the expiration of that time I awoke with a violent pain 
in the region of my floating ribs, and saw Hector sit- 
ting up, and preparing to administer a second blow 
with his elbow. 
"Half past five," he yelled in my ear. "Get up!" 
Then I knew what the matter was. It was morning. 
In two minutes we had our fire lighted and soon 
the water in our tin pail boiled merrily. Then, while 
Hector pulled the tent down and made up the pack. 
I cooked the porridge and fried the bacon. It was 
the first time I had ever tried to cook bacon, and I 
burnt it to a cinder. Hector regarded the mess in 
silence for a moment, and then announced that my 
'first attempt v/ould prove to be my last — and it did. 
Hector cooked it himself after that. 
By eight o'clock breakfast was disposed of. the dishes 
were washed, and we had loaded the canoe ready to 
start. We paddled up the river toward Bracebridge. 
The river divides just below the town into the North 
and South branches. Our course lay along the North, 
and took us through the town. We made a portage 
past the falls, and reached the river again at nine 
o'clock. Then it was that th« trip began. 
All that day we struggled against saw logs. (Log-, 
ging IS, without doubt, a very fine industry, and the 
country could not get on without it. But one prefers 
to acquire one's knowledge of it from books and 
newspapers, and not mix it with a canoe trip.) Al- 
though the pine has long ago disappeared from that 
immediate neighborhood, the timber is still taken out 
by that route from as far back as Algonquin Park. 
The drives had gone down the river several weeks be- 
fore, leaving behind, like Nar"-1^-n on liis retreat from 
Moscow, _ large np—' --^ tr: jr.silt ry. whose chief 
mission, i' WM 'ld seen u as to ihcoiirnode us. The 
stoi^g.nes in. ilie timber slides were closed, and' above 
each fall had gathered a jam, extending up stream for 
sometimes lialf a mile. I went north with a, feverish 
