CHAPTER XII
PIERRE'S BIG SALMON
The next night, Bob visited the guides' tent after supper and he did notreturn to the others until nearly ten o'clock.
"What did you find so interesting up there with the guides?" asked Bill.
"Nothing much," replied Bob. "Pierre was telling me how he nearly losthis life landing a big salmon on the Shipshaw River one summer."
"Let's hear the story," demanded Pud.
"It's too late to-night but I'll tell it to you to-morrow night if youwant me to," replied Bob.
The next evening it was raining, so a fire had been built outside ofBob's shelter tent. The boys were leaning back inside, all the morecomfortable because of the dreary conditions outside. In spite of therain, the birch logs burned brightly though accompanied by hissing, asbig drops of rain came down now and then from the pines overhead.
"This is a good night to do murder or some other light occupation," saidPud to the others.
"Why not tell us that fish story of Pierre's now?" queried Bill.
"That's a good idea," said Pud.
"All right," answered Bob, "but I really wish I could give you the storyjust as Pierre told it to me, with the sidelights of Indian philosophyand the natural expressions of wood lore that made his story much morepiquant and picturesque than mine could ever be. Anyway, I'll do thebest I can.
"It seems that one summer he was sent out by one of the big lumbercompanies to scout for timber. He was told to get another Indian or twoand go up the Shipshaw River and report the growth of timber near thewater, whether he thought it could be rafted down or not, and any otherinformation that would be valuable for the lumber companies. He tookalong two nephews of his, named Jean and Jacques, and an old Indian,named Montagnais because he was reputed to be the head chief of thetribe of that name to which all the Indians of that part of the countrybelonged. The old Indian told Pierre before he started that there wasplenty of big timber in the Shipshaw Valley but that he would find itpractically impossible to raft it down. Pierre told the lumber companythis but they desired him to go anyway, stating that they wished to findout definitely about the matter that summer.
"They started off and took the steamer to Chicoutimi at the head of theSaguenay River. They there got into their canoes and were soon going upthe Shipshaw. They found this river one of great volume, and they hadmany long portages to make and much fast water to pole up. It took themover three weeks of hard paddling and portaging to get near its source.At last they got as far up as the valley as Pierre thought wasnecessary. It was Pierre's idea that on the way down, they would stopoff every few miles and go back into the country to look over the woodsThis they did, and, of course, this made their progress down ratherslow.
"One day they came on a real Indian encampment at the foot of therapids, and as it was near evening they determined to stop and enjoy thecompany of their brother tribesmen for the night. They found the Indiansvery glad to see them. They told them that they had wintered far to thenorth of the Great Divide and that they planned to get down to the St.Lawrence and in touch with white people and civilization once more.Later in the evening, they learned that the little party had stayed atthat one place for three full days, because the chief was determined tocatch a big salmon that had tantalized him during that time. This salmonhad been seen by all of them, as he lived in a big pool at the head ofsome rapids only a short distance down the river. It was then too darkto show this big fish to Pierre and his companions, but early the nextmorning, Pierre was down at the pool. He looked over a big rock into thepool, that was formed by a back eddy, and, sure enough, there was anespecially large salmon swimming about in the quiet water. In anothermoment, Pierre had out his fishing tackle, but to no avail. The bigsalmon would have nothing to do with anything Pierre offered him. Hetried one fly after another, but without effect. It seemed as if the bigsalmon despised his efforts. As if in defiance, every now and then thefish would swoop up to the surface and jump two or three feet out of thewater.
"Pierre grew stubborn. All that day, he stayed by the pool, either hehimself fishing or watching the old chief try every while to entice thegiant salmon to take that hook. At night they all returned to camp andtold stories of phantom fish that could not be caught except by blackmagic. They came to the conclusion finally that the big fish must be oneof that kind, with something uncanny about him, and they decided that itwould be bad medicine to try to catch him. Pierre was the only one thatdissented from this.
"He got up even before dawn the next morning and was early down at thepool. He procured a little pitch and some black flies and stuck themtogether in such a way that, when they were thrown on the water, theylooked just like a half dozen flies floating down the stream. He got outhis smallest leader and fastened a hook among the flies. When he hadfinished, it looked very lifelike and Pierre was proud of his handiwork.Carefully approaching the stream without making any noise or permittingany shadow to fall on the water, he threw his semi-artificial fly farout on the stream, so that the back eddy would ultimately bring it intothe pool. Sure enough, the little black spot on the water whirled aroundand finally floated calmly and slowly around the pool. Twice it made thecircuit and Pierre had just about decided that he was doomed todisappointment again, when he saw a streak fly into the air and his reelfairly sang as it spun around. Unfortunately something jammed and therod was jerked out of his hands. Pierre saw it disappear over the edgeof the rock, but he was after it and just caught the end of the rod asit was being dragged under. Pierre held on like grim death. In anotherminute he found himself out in the river and a moment later he was inthe powerful current at the head of the rapids. Even yet he had time toget to shore but, with his usual obstinacy, he held on. A minute laterhe was going down the rapids, doing his best to keep his head abovewater, but with the line wound tightly around his arm. It was now afight for life, and he had no time to think of the fish. Down he went,carried hither and thither by the powerful currents. He knew that eachmoment might be his last but he struggled on. Once he believed he hearda shout and thought he caught a glimpse of a canoe shooting after him,but the noise of the water and his fearful struggle to keep from beingdashed upon the rocks that lined the river made this appear more like adream than a reality.
"He was on the point of exhaustion when he swung around a bend of theriver and found himself in quiet water. In one sense he was saved, forhe had come through the rapids safely, but in another he was just at thebeginning of his struggle for he was practically exhausted and at leasta half mile from shore. He lay back on the water and closed his eyes,feeling that he could never reach land. Just then he heard a call, andhis two nephews swung around the point and made for him. They pulled himinto their canoe and paddled for the shore. When they reached there,they started to carry Pierre up on the beach, but found the line tiedaround his arm. They disentangled this to find that the pole was stillat the one end of the line. They then started to reel in and in a momentthey felt a weight pulling on the line. They pulled warily, and a minutelater the big salmon came into view. Pierre had caught him after all.Whether he was drowned by being pulled down the rapids, whether he hadhit a rock when entangled in the line, or for whatever reason, the factremained that the line had held and that the big fish was brought safelyashore.
"Jean proposed that they should camp there that day to celebrate theoccasion. Pierre was secretly very glad to do so, for he really was allin, not only because of his great exertion in coming down the rapids,but also because of the many bruises he had received from the rocks. Heasked his nephews how they had come along so luckily to his rescue. Theyreplied that they were just on their way to get a last look at the bigfish when they saw him plunge over the rock by the side of the pool andthen go down the rapids. He was some quarter mile ahead of them and theycould not get near him in the rapids. They kept on going, however,although they were afraid that he would hit his head on some sharp rockand be drowned.
"One of the nephews then went up the river by the porta
ge trail, and inanother hour the small tribe and the old Montagnais chief were gatheredaround Pierre, hearing of his remarkable escape from death in the rapidsand his more remarkable catch of the giant salmon. They roasted the fishfor dinner and had a great feast in honor of the occasion. Pierre statedthat this was the biggest salmon he had ever seen and that it was justluck that he had caught it. He gave himself some credit for the baitthat had tempted the fish, but otherwise he felt that it was only luckthat had brought the fish down through the rapids with him."
Bob stopped here and looked out at the rain which was still coming downsteadily.
"Pierre has had some adventures in his life," said Bill.
"He told me another story about that trip up the Shipshaw, and though Itried to explain it to him, he could not see it," said Bob.
"What was that?" asked Pud.
"According to Pierre the Good Spirit showed that he was displeased athim for catching the fish. As they were going down a wide reach of theriver two days later they saw a big pearshaped black object rise intoview over the hilltops. It sailed on over them and just as it was abovethem, it dropped a rock which went right through Pierre's canoe. If theother canoe had not been near, they would not have had time to saveanything. As it was, they saved all their duffle, and, going ashore,they soon had the canoe in shape again. Pierre felt that the GreatSpirit had thus reminded him of his sacrilege in killing the big spiritfish. I tried to tell Pierre that he had seen a big balloon, and Icalled to mind that in that very year a big balloon had floated far intothe wilderness. Pierre would have no such explanation. To him, the bigobject was a direct visitation of the Great Spirit, It completelyterrorized, him and his mates, and he said that he would always rememberit."
Here Bob paused and Pud took occasion to ask:
"Did Pierre get back all right after his trip?"
"Oh, yes; though he had one more experience that was not very pleasant,"said Bob.
"What was that?" asked Bill.
"As I have already mentioned, they got out of their canoes and wentinland every few miles to scout around and see what timber was in thelittle valleys leading off the main valley of the Shipshaw. On one ofthese occasions, Pierre and the old Indian went off on one side of theriver, and the two others on the opposite side. They had only one riflebetween them, for they were not out hunting and had taken it alongmerely from habit. Pierre had the gun, while the old Indian went aheadwith his easy stride. Though over sixty years of age, he was noted asone of the best walkers and sturdiest paddlers in the country. He ledthe way and Pierre came after, thinking hard about the displeasure ofthe Great Spirit as shown by the sinking of his canoe. They brokethrough a very narrow ravine and came upon a she-bear with three cubs.The sight of the Indians angered the bear and she made a rush for them.
"Pierre was not able to fire for a moment as Montagnais was right in hispath. At Pierre's yell, the old Indian stepped back and the gun belchedforth almost in the bear's face. The ball did not take effect and didnothing except to add fury to the mad rush of the bear. She swept Pierreaside ripping his shoulder with her claws, and caught Montagnais fairlyin the chest. The latter went down without a cry. Fortunately, Pierre'sshoulder was not very badly hurt and he had not dropped his gun. Heslipped another cartridge into the rifle and gave the bear her quietusby hitting her right behind the shoulder and striking her heart. Pierrethen looked at his old Indian friend and saw that he had received a verybad wound. Several ribs were evidently broken, while the chest boneseemed to be caved in. Pierre hastened to a nearby brook and got somewater in a hastily improvised birch bucket. The water brought Montagnaisto his senses, but a broken ankle made it impossible for him to move. Hewas evidently in great pain.
"In the excitement, Pierre had done nothing for himself and did not doso until he finally commenced to feel giddy and came near fainting. Hethen tore off his shirt and found that his weakness was due to loss ofblood. He bound up his arm and sat down to rest and to think what to do.He tried to carry the old Indian, but soon gave that up, both because hewas too weakened to do so and because the great pain caused by movinghis old friend made the latter faint. There was nothing to do except tostay with his friend and wait for Jean and Jacques to hunt them up, orelse to get to the river and bring them back. He thought that the latterwould be the better plan, so he made Montagnais as comfortable as hecould, propping him up against the old bear and giving him the rifle asdefense. The cubs by this time had gotten over their scare and they cameback to their mother and smelled around her with little whines and moansthat were almost childlike. He left Montagnais leaning against the oldbear with a cub on each side of him. They were quite little and asharmless as kittens.
"Pierre found that he must have lost a lot of blood for he had somedifficulty in getting back to the river. At last he reached there, andin due course of time Jean and Jacques came paddling across the river,singing a low Indian love song, happy as any children of the forestshould be when in their native haunt on a fine summer's day. They wereall attention when they saw Pierre and were ready to start at once evenwithout their suppers. This Pierre did not let them do as he felt thathe himself would not be able to get back to his old friend without somenourishment. The two young Indians hurried things along and Pierre feltmuch better by the time supper was over. They then started off and,though by this time night had fallen, Pierre led them straight to thegully and found old Montagnais quietly sleeping with the three cubslying around him. They built a fire and examined the injuries of the oldman. He was now quite conscious and he told Pierre and the others justhow badly he was hurt and what they would have to do to get him out.
"Under his directions, they built a leafy litter and as soon as dawnshowed the way, they carried him back to the river. They felt that itwould be best to rest there for a few days. Jean and Jacques made a tripback to the gully and returned with the bear's skin, as much bear meatas they could handle, and the three cubs following them like puppies. Bythe end of their week's stay, the old Indian was able to sit up and hesaid that he would be able to do his share if they got him into thecanoe. Pierre stayed three days more and then set out. It requiredskillful paddling for him to make some of the rapids but finally theyemerged once more upon the bosom of the wide Saguenay. In due time,Pierre got back to Escoumains and made his report about the lumber."
"Now, I know why Pierre was not very anxious to go up the Shipshaw withme two years ago," said Mr. Waterman. "He told me that he had been upthe river but he did not want to go again."
"He was no doubt thinking of the balloon," said Bill.
"Do you think it was a balloon?" asked Pud.
"It undoubtedly was," said Mr. Waterman. "The very year that Pierre wentup the Shipshaw, they held a long distance balloon race starting awayover in the United States. One of the balloons was carried away to theeast of the Saguenay and the two pilots did not get back to civilizationfor over two weeks. They had a very hard time for they had to tramp out.The remains of the big balloon are up there in the wilderness and haveprobably more than once aroused the astonishment and amazement ofwandering Indians."
"Maybe no one has found them," said Pud.
"That's quite probable, for you know that we have been up here for quitesome time, and we haven't seen anything of them," said Mr. Waterman.
The rain still came down but, sheltered as they were, they ratherenjoyed it. They talked for some time and then dispersed to theirvarious tents.
Bob and Bill were together. Just before turning in, Bob put two big logson the fire and they lay down in their blankets watching the fitfulflames that darted feebly up into the rain.
"We're lucky to-night that we're not out on a trip," said Bill.
"How so?" asked Bob.
"Well," replied Bill, "if we were on a trip we should not have thisshelter tent along and we should stand a good chance to get a soaking."
"I shouldn't mind that much," said Bob. "But don't you remember thatlast trip? We had a rainy night then and we did not get very wet. Oursleeping b
ags kept us just as dry as punk all night, though I could hearthe rain beating down like sin on my head."
"That's true," said Bill. "These sleeping bags are great stuff. All thesame, I'm glad I'm here to-night."
"Are you going to keep the fire going to-night?" asked Bob sleepily.
"Yes, if I happen to wake up," said Bill. "I'm nearest the fire and I'lljust throw on a log if I can reach one without getting out of my bag."
"I've seen to that," said Bob. "You can reach these logs easily enough.Don't bother to do it though unless you wake. Needn't keep it on yourmind."
"Don't worry. I'm as sleepy as the dickens now, so I shall probably notbat an eyelid until morning."
"Good-night," said Bob as he rolled over.
"Pleasant dreams," said Bill in answer.
Ten minutes later the only sign of life about that part of the woods wasthe fire which blazed up now and then, only to be put down when a breezeknocked a lot of big drops from the trees.