Aug. 4. 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
169 
“'What are you goin’ to do?” said Uncle Shaw. 
“I have been thinking that I would get Joe 
Lablanc to take his dogs and see if he can’t 
find them. If they were lost in the woods, the 
dogs would hunt them up. But this storm has 
come up, and I don’t think the dogs could track 
them. I am going home, and to-morrow Henry 
and I are going out there again.” 
“Wall, if you want any help, send right out 
here, and we’ll all turn out and help ye hunt. 
I ain’t so suple as I was once, but I can get 
’round in the woods a little now, I guess. Tell 
Miss Kelly not to fret; they are good strong 
boys and can take care of themselves.” 
“Much obliged to you, Mr. Shaw. If we don’t 
find them soon, we all will have to hunt; but 
I shouldn’t be surprised to see them coming 
home most any time,” and the tired and anxious 
father got into his wagon and drove ofif. 
Sunday passed, and no word was heard from 
the boys. Their condition was the general 
topic of conversation among the people at 
church, and many were the guesses and sur¬ 
mises as to why they had not returned. 
When evening came, Jim Early was seen rid¬ 
ing up the street toward the hotel, and many 
were the questions as to what had been heard 
of the boys. He,reported that early that morn¬ 
ing he and Mr. Kelly had gone over to the 
camp again. When they arrived there they 
found that the boys had been back to the camp 
the night before and had spent the night there, 
but had been gone some time. 
As they were looking around. Jim saw a piece 
of birch bark stuck on the side of the camp, 
on it w’as written with coal that the boys were 
lost, couldn’t find their way out, and had started 
again for home. Their food was all gone and 
they should not return to the camp again. 
It was encouraging at least to learn anything 
from them. So after looking all around for 
some sign of the way they had gone, they 
started on their way back. Mr. Kelly thought 
best to come to the village, get some help ready, 
and early the next morning go out to find them, 
as the boys were out of food and must be found 
soon, if at all. 
Many of the men, both young and old, volun¬ 
teered to go, and it was decided that they should 
all be at the hotel at daybreak the next morn¬ 
ing to get an early start. 
Just then Joe Lablanc came to the hotel. 
Jim asked him if he would go and help find the 
boys and take his dogs. “Go where?” said Joe. 
“Why go out and help us hunt for Fred Kelly 
and the two King boys.” 
“What, sah ! dem boys ain’t lost, is it?” said Joe. 
“Yes, Joe, they went out to John’s Stream 
last Monday, and hain’t been seen since.” 
“Bah gosh! you ain’t tell me dat. I ain’t 
hear of it before. I been workin’ on de road 
last week, and jes’ got back home dis mornin’.” 
“Well, Joe, we want you to be here on hand 
at daylight and bring your dogs with you. We’ll 
see if they are as good as you tell for.” 
Joe was very much interested, and asked a 
great many questions. “Dat make me t’ink 
’bout de time I live in Quebec,” said he. “My 
fader been jes’ move up dare in de fall, and 
all winter he ain’t got no work. We have some 
pork and some potat from de farm we been 
live on, but putty soon by-me-by dat all eat up 
an’ we ain’t know what we goin’ do. 
, “But in de spring we find little work some¬ 
time, an’ dat manage to buy some flour to eat, 
an' we all live; but I never want see any more 
such hard time like dat was. My poor ole 
moder, she never ain't been putty well since. 
“Wall, one day, ’long ’bout dis time year, I 
was down by de river watchin’ de steamer dat 
come over from Point Levis, to get a job totin’ 
some man’s carpet-scratchel, when a young 
Yankee-man come up an’ say, ‘Lookin’ for a 
job. Johnny?’ 
“I tole him I was. Den he say, ‘Can you 
cook?’ I say. ‘Yes, sah, if I have somethin’ to 
cook wid.’ He laugh and tole me to step on de 
hotel. So I walk up to de St. Louis Hotel wid 
him, an’ he take me in a big room and dare 
was two ole mans, an’ he say, ‘Here is a young 
Frenchmans dat say he can cook if he have 
somethin’ to cook wid.’ 
“De ole mans laugh, an’ one of dem ask me 
all ’bout it myself, an’ ’fore I was know it, I 
been tole him all ’bout it. How we been near 
starve all winter, an’ ’bout my poore ole moder 
ain’t have no shoe on his foot, and how hongry 
all de children was. 
“Wall, dey tole me dey was goin’ down de 
river fishin’ for de salmon, and had got a 
steamer all pick out; but de boy on it, he 
ain’t know how to cook, an’ if I can cook good, 
dey would take me and pay me two dollar a day. 
“I .tole dem I been cookee on de boat dat 
ran from Dalhousie to Gaspe, an’ I t’ink I could 
make enough good plain cookin’s, an’ so dey 
hire me, an’ want me to go down to de boat 
putty quick right off. 
“When I was goin’ out of de room one of 
de ole mans, he whisper to de young mans, an’ 
he say he will goin’ on my home wid me. I 
feel shame, to have him go, ’cause I ain’t like 
putty well for have him see my ole moder in 
his hare foots, an’ my sister in his ragged dress 
so bad; but I can’t tole him I ain’t like him for 
to go, so I walk along, an’ he go, too. He go 
in de house an' I present my moder to him, an’ 
my sisters, an’ he very polite and ain’t see my 
moder's bare foots nor de ragged dress, an’ den 
he go ’way. 
“Jes’ de time I get ready to leave de house, a 
wagon come to de door and de mans rap, an’ 
he say, ‘Mr. Perin Lablanc live here?’ I say, 
‘Yes.’ He say, ‘All right.’ An’ he begin un¬ 
load de biggest lot of t’ings you never can’t 
find out. I tole him, ‘Llole on, dere,’ but he 
say it all right; a mans told him to do it .an’ 
give me dat letter.” 
“My sister, he read dat letter, an’ it say it 
was a present from Mr. Dexter to de moder. 
Wall, sah, you been ought to see my moder. 
She cry, and hug de children and look at de 
sugar an’ de pork, an’ de potat, an’ den she 
see a bundle and put up to his nose, an’ she 
give one big snuff and say, ‘It’s tea, Joe, it’s 
de tea.’ An’ den dey sit on de floor and cry 
some, an’ laugh some, ’cause she ain’t been have 
some tea for a long time. 
“Wall, I call my little dog an’ I go to de 
boat an I t’ink, ‘Bah gosh! if I don’t make dat 
mans feel glad he hire dis boy den I ain’t never 
see my moder again.’ 
"When I get to de boat, I fine all de mans 
ready to go. Dey was put lots of t’ing to eat 
an drink in de hole, an’ putty soon we get all 
on an’ she start. 
“We sail all de night and de day and dat 
night, an’ de next day we stop at Tadousac. 
Den I fine out dat dey goin’ to a place where no 
mans live, an’ de wolves an’ de bear an’ de 
Indian-devil was all over, an’ I feel lots ’fraid; 
but I t’ink de mans know what dey do, an’ if 
dey no ’fraid den I ain’t. So I keep right on 
cook de grub, an' de mans dey praise me an’ 
say it was good. 
“One time I make some cocktail like I use 
to make when I was cookee, an’ dey praise dat, 
an’ I make some more. De nex’ day we find de 
river where we goin’ fishin’ in, an’ we go ’way 
up it jus’ so far as we can, an’ we make de boat 
fas’ to a big rock. 
“Dey fish an’ fish, but de water is so high 
dey can’t get some salmon hardly; but dey catch 
more trout dan any mans ever see in all his life. 
But dey no like it, ’cause dey no catch de 
salmon, an’ soon dey stop fishin’ and keep me 
busy makin’ de cocktail up and cook de grub. 
“Every night we hear de wolves and de odder 
t’ing howl, an’ we feel putty frighten, but we 
know dey ain get out to de rock where we was. 
Mr. Jack Dexter, he want to go down a mile 
or two to anoder river, but his fader say ‘No!’ 
an’ dat make de young mans mad; an’ he say he 
no care for his fader, an’ he go anyway. 
“De nex’ mornin’ when I call for breakfas’, de 
young mans he no come; an’ his fader was more 
madder, an’ he go find him, an’ he was gone. 
Dare was de boat on de shore where lie left it, 
an’ de ole mans know dat Jack, he go to de 
odder river. 
“You never see a man so mad as de ole Mr. 
Dexter was. He swan he would go back to 
Quebec an’ leave de young mans dare; but de 
odder mans, he make de ole mans laugh an’ he 
forget ’bout it. 
“Dinner came, an’ de young mans not show 
up, an’ den de supper an’ he no show up some 
more. De mans was drinkin’ some, but not so 
many, an’ now it was mose dark; an’ Mr. Jack 
had no come back an’ dey was scare. De ole 
Mr. Dexter, he cry an’ say he ain’t know how 
he can go back to his wife widout de boy. 
“Soon I t’ink, ‘Joe Lablanc, what for you 
stay ’roun’ here? Why for you no hunt up dat 
young mans what give your ole moder de tea?’ 
But I was ’fraid, cause de wolves howl; but I 
t’ink not of de wolves, an’ I call Petite an’ step 
on de shore. I tell Petite to find de track, an’ 
he start off jus’’ same he know where he’s goin’; 
an’ I follow him. By-me-by he find de track 
an’ he go off like he shot. I run jes’ so fas as 
I can to keep him up wid me, but he get a long 
way off, an’ I no see him; so I sit down an’ 
call him an’ he come back an’ den I go on. 
I fall down on de stone an’ ’most break my 
legs, but Petite, he go fas’ an’ I have to follow. 
Putty soon I hear Mr. Jack holler, an’ I run up 
an’ den I find him. Ide was laying under a big 
rock where he had fall off an’ sprain his 
ankle. He know when Petite run up dat I was 
somewhere putty quick, an’ he holler. Bah 
gosh! sah, he was glad for see dat little Petite. 
He pat him an’ call him a good dog, an’ den he 
try to get up an’ he fall into de faint. I try 
to lif’ him up, but he was more bigger dan I 
was, an’ I can’t do it ’thout I hurt his leg some 
more. Petite, he lick his face and putty soon 
he come to. 
“Den I make a big fire, ’cause I ’fraid de 
wolves hear Mr. Jack when he holler, an’ would 
come an’ find us if I don’t. An’ den I fix a 
bed for him to lay on, an’ den I sit down to 
t’ink what I’ll do. I know he ain’t ought to 
stay dare all de night. All at one time I t’ink 
I’ll send for some help. So I find a piece of 
birch bark an’ I get Mr. Jack to make a letter 
on dat to his fader an’ den I call Petite an’ put 
it on his neck an’ tole him to go to de boat. 
He Iook in my face an’ his tail wag an’ off he go. 
“De time was putty long, an’ I ’fraid Petite 
been all eat up by somet’ing, but ’fore long 
back he come, an’ behind him was some mans 
wid de lantern. When dey come up, it was de 
capen an’ his man, wid a bed for to put Mr. 
Jack on. Putty quick we was goin’ to de boat, 
an’ after a long time, we got dere. You never 
see a mans so tickle as dose mans was when dey 
find dat Mr. Jack was only have his leg sprain. 
Dey praise Petite till I t’ink dey spoil him, an’ 
Mr. Jack, he make him lay by his bed all de 
time. 
We start for Quebec dat nex’ mornin’, an’ 
soon we got dare, an’ Mr. Jack was carry to 
de hotel, where he have it a doctor. Mr. Dexter, 
he go sfee my fader an’ my moder, an’ one day 
he take dem out to a farm an’ he tell dem he 
give it to dem ’cause dere boy have such a 
smart dog. 
“When Mr. Jack start for home, he ask me 
for give him Petite. I was awfully hate to do 
dat; but he was t’ink so much of him, dat I do 
it. Den he shook my hand, an’ when he let 
go, dare was somet’ing in my hand. I took it 
off my hat an’ make a bow to him, jes’ so nice 
as I can. An’ den I look at dat t’ing in my 
hand, an’, bah gosh! sah, I can’t b’lieve my 
own eyes, for dat was a five-hundred dollar 
bill. 
“Wall, dat fall I marry Ellen, an’ we move 
down here, an’ de nex’ spring dere was a box 
come by de express office, an’ it was a little 
puppy an’ he look jes’ like Petite, an’ I got 
dat little dog yet.” 
As Joe finished his story and rose to go, a 
wagon drove up to the door of the hotel and 
out of it got three ragged, dirty, limping boys. 
A crowd formed around them as soon as it was 
found that they were the lost fishermen, and 
many questions were asked them, but they could 
not stop to talk, and soon disappeared into the 
hotel. 
When the landlord came out, he was asked 
about them. He could tell nothing, but said, 
“Oh! they will be all right in the morning, as 
soon as they get some food and rest. Here, 
Bill, you go all around and tell the folks not to 
come out in the morning, the fishermen have 
come back.” C. D. Chase. 
[to be continued.1 
