CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE ENCAMPMENT ON SILVER LAKE.
When Roy and Nelly sat down to gaze in admiration on Silver Lake, theylittle thought how long a period they should have to spend on itsshores.
The lake was a small sheet of water not more than half a mile broad,embosomed among low hills, which, though not grand, were picturesque inoutline, and wooded to their tops. It occupied the summit of anelevated region or height-of-land--a water-shed, in fact--and Royafterwards discovered that water flowed from both the north-east andsouth-west sides of the table-land, in the midst of which it lay. Thesefountain-heads, separated by little more than half a mile from eachother, were the sources of streams, which, flowing in oppositedirections through hundreds of miles of wild, beautiful, anduncultivated wilderness, found their way, on the one hand, into Hudson'sBay, on the other hand, into the Atlantic through the great rivers andlakes of Canada.
The waters of the lake were strikingly clear and pellucid. When theyoung wanderer first came upon the scene, not a zephyr stirred theleaves of the forest; the blue sky was studded with towering masses ofwhite clouds which glowed in sunshine, and these reflected in the glassywater--as if far, far down in its unfathomable depths--produced thatsilvery effect which prompted Nelly to utter the name which we haveadopted.
Small though the Silver Lake was, it boasted two islets, which like twinbabes lay side by side on their mother's fair breast, their reflectedimages stretching down into that breast as if striving to reach andgrasp its heart!
"Couldn't we stay here a short time?" asked Nelly, breaking the silencein a tone that indicated anxiety, hope, and enthusiasm, "only for a very_little_ time," she added, coaxingly.
Roy looked grave and sagacious. Boys, as well as men, like to be leantupon and trusted by the fair sex--at least in things masculine--andNelly had such boundless faith in her brother's capacity to protect herand guide her through the forest, that she unwittingly inspired him withan exuberant amount of courage and self-reliance. The lad was bold andfearless enough by nature. His sister's confidence in him had theeffect of inducing him to think himself fit for anything! He affected,therefore, at times, a look of grave sagacity, befitting, as he thought,so important and responsible a character.
"I've just been thinking," said he--
"Oh! don't _think_, but say yes!" interrupted Nelly.
"Well, I'm going to say yes, but I meant to give you my reasons forsayin' so. In the first place, my powder and shot is gettin' low. Yousee I did not bring away very much from the Injun camp, and we've beenusing it for so many months now that it won't last much longer, so Ithink it would not be a bad plan to stop here awhile and fish and shootand feed up--for you need rest, Nelly--and then start fresh with awell-loaded sledge. I'll save some powder by using the bow we made theother day."
"But you forget it's broken."
"So it is--never mind, we can make another--there's a tree that willmake a first-rater down in the hollow, d'ye see it, Nell?"
"Where--oh yes--just by the grassy place where the rock juts out intothe water with the sun shining on it? what a _nice_ place to build ahut!"
"Just so," said Roy, smiling at the girl's enthusiasm, "that's the spot,and that's the very thought that jumped bang into my brain as you spoke.By the way, does a thought jump _into_ a man's brain or _out_ of it, Iwonder?"
"Out of it, of course," cried Nelly, with a laugh.
"I'm not so sure of that, Nell. I send it rather slowly out through mymouth, but I think it jumps _into_ my brain. I wonder how it gets in;whether by the eyes, or ears, or mouth--perhaps it goes up the nose."
"What stuff you do talk!" cried Nelly.
"D'ye think so," said Roy with a grin, "well, that bein' the case, let'sgo and fix our camp, for the sun is not given to sitting up all night inthese parts, so we must work while it shines."
With hurried steps and eager looks, (for Roy, despite his affectedcoolness, was as enthusiastic about the new plan as his sister,) theydescended to the margin of Silver Lake, and began to make theirencampment on the sunny spot before referred to.
It turned out to be most suitable for their purpose, having a gentleslope towards the margin of the lake, which was fringed with a beach ofpure white pebbles, and being well sheltered in the rear by umbrageoustrees. The point of rocks close at hand formed a natural jetty, which,Roy observed, would be useful as a landing-place when he got his raftunder way; the turf was soft, a matter of some importance, as it was toform their couch at night, and a small stream trickled down from one ofthe numerous springs which welled up at the foot of the nearest hill.
Solitary and remote from the usual haunts of men as this lake was, therewas no feeling of solitude about it at the time we write of. The entireregion was alive with wild fowl of many kinds. Wild geese trumpetedtheir advent as they came from the far north, _en route_ for the farsouth, and settled on the bosom of Silver Lake to take a night's lodgingthere. Ducks, from the same region, and bound for the same goal--thoughwith less stately and regular flight--flew hither and thither withwhistling wings, ever and anon going swash into the water as a temptingpatch of reeds invited them to feed, or a whim of fancy induced them torest. Wild swans occasionally sailed in all their majesty on itswaters, while plover of every length of limb and bill, and every speciesof plaintive cry, waded round its margin, or swept in clouds over theneighbouring swamps. Sometimes deer would trot out of the woods andslake their thirst on its shore, and the frequent rings that broke itssmooth surface told of life in the watery depths below.
The whole air was filled with gushing sounds of wild melody, as thoughbird and beast were uniting in a hymn of praise to the beneficentCreator who had provided the means of, and given the capacity for, somuch enjoyment.
Having decided on a suitable spot for their temporary resting-place,Roy's first care was to construct a hut. This was neither a work oftime nor difficulty. In a couple of hours it was finished. Hecommenced the work by felling about a dozen young fir-trees not muchthicker than a man's wrist, from which he chopped the branches, thusleaving them bare poles about nine feet long. While he was thusemployed, his sister cleared the spot on which their dwelling was tostand, and, having an eye to the picturesque, so arranged that theopening of the hut should command an uninterrupted view of the lake. Ongoing into the "bush" to the place where Roy was at work, she found himcutting down his sixth tree, and the ground was strewn with the flatbranches of those already cut.
"Come along, Nelly--how hot I am--carry these branches into camp, lass,an' go ahead, for I've got supper to kill yet."
Nelly made no direct reply, but muttered to herself something thatsounded very like, "Oh, what fun!" as she filled her tiny arms with pinebranches, and, hugging them to her heaving breast, staggered to thecamp. When she had carried all the branches, Roy had cut all the poles,so he proceeded to set them up. Tying three poles together at the top,and using the pliant roots of a tree for the purpose, he set them up inthe form of a tripod. Against these three all the other poles werepiled, crossing each other at the top, and spreading out at the base soas to enclose a circle of about six feet in diameter. Being numerous,the poles were pretty close together, thus affording good support to thebranches which were afterwards piled on them. Pine branches are flat,spreading, and thick, so that when laid above each other to a depth ofseveral inches they form a very good shelter from dew and light rain.The hut was entirely covered with such branches, which were kept intheir places by other poles leaning upon and pressing them down. Thefloor of the hut was also covered with pine "brush."
"Now for supper, Nelly," said Roy, seizing his bow, when the hut wascompleted, and splicing its broken part with a strip of deerskin cutfrom the lines of the sledge.
"Get a goose, Roy, and pick out a nice fat one," cried Nelly, laughing,"I'll have the fire ready when you come back."
"I'll try," said Roy, and he did try, but tried in vain. Although agood shot, he was not sufficiently expert with the bow to shoot wildfo
wl on the wing, so he returned to the hut empty-handed.
"We must make a new bow, Nell," said he, sitting down by the fire, "Ican do nothin' wi' this, and it won't do to use the gun for anythin' butdeer. Meanwhile let's have the remains of our dinner for supper. Come,cheer up, old 'ooman; we shall feast on the fat of the land to-morrow!"
The stars were shining in the sky, and winking at their reflections downin the depths of Silver Lake, and the lake itself lay, as black as ink,under the shadow of the hills, when the brother and sister spread theirblanket above them that night, and sank, almost immediately, intoprofound slumber.