With the rising sun a breeze sprang up from the west to add to the discomfort, and presently Indian Jake, unhooking a whitefish, asked:
"How many fish you got, lads?"
"I"ve got four fine ones," David announced.
"I"ve got three," said Andy.
"I"ve got three, and that makes ten," calculated Indian Jake. "That"s all we"ll use this week and next week and th" week after. They"s no need standin" here and freezin", and we might as well go back t" th"
tilt. Pull in, boys, and we"ll go."
Indian Jake and David drew in their lines, and proceeded to clear them of ice, but Andy, with his still in the water hole, was making no preparation to leave.
"Come, Andy," David shouted. "Jake and me are "most ready to go."
"I can"t," answered Andy. "My hook"s snagged on something, and I can"t pull un in."
"Let me try her," said Indian Jake, who had wound his line, and was picking up the frozen fish and dropping them into an empty flour bag he had brought for the purpose.
"Here, try un," and Andy surrendered the line to Indian Jake, just as the line gave a mighty tug.
"Why, you"ve got a fish on there!" exclaimed Indian Jake. "He"s as big as a porpoise, too, whatever he is!"
Vastly excited, the lads watched Indian Jake manipulate the line, drawing the fish nearer and nearer the hole.
"He"s most t" th" hole!" cried David, no less excited than Andy.
"Watch out now! Watch, now! You"re gettin" he, Jake!"
"There he is!" shouted Andy, when, a moment later, the head of an immense fish appeared at the end of the line in the water hole.
"Here!" directed Jake. "You lads take th" line and hold steady! Don"t jerk; just keep a steady pull! Don"t let it slip back any!"
David and Andy seized the line as directed, and held tight. Indian Jake, regardless of the cold, threw off his right mitten, drew his sheath knife from his belt, and leaning far over the hole drove it with a hard, quick blow into the top of the fish"s head. Then flinging the knife out upon the ice, he plunged his hand into the water, slipped his fingers under the gills of the fish, and drew it out upon the ice. Then without a moment"s delay he thrust his hand under his adiky to dry it, and prevent its freezing.
"That"s one of "em," he said coolly. "That"s a namaycush, and a forty pounder if he"s anything."
Of course Andy was proud, though he did not claim all the credit of catching the big namaycush. The glory of such a fish was quite enough, in his estimation, to be distributed among the three.
"Now we"ll have fish for half th" winter, _what_ever!" he declared.
"That we will, now!" said David.
"And good eatin", too," said Indian Jake, recovering his mitten.
"There"s no better eatin" than namaycush."
With his sheath knife Indian Jake severed the head, cut open the fish, and cleaned it.
"Now "twon"t be so heavy to carry," he explained.
Already it was stiffening with the cold, and Indian Jake, lifting it to his shoulder, set out for the tilt, while David and Andy with the bag of whitefish, followed.
They were nearing the tilt when suddenly Indian Jake paused and peered intently up the lake sh.o.r.e. David and Andy followed his gaze and saw something, close in the edge of the trees, move.
"Deer!" exclaimed Indian Jake.
The three ran for their rifles.
XVI
CHRISTMAS EVE ON THE FUR TRAILS
Indian Jake flung the big namaycush into the snow at the tilt door.
David and Andy dropped the bag of whitefish by its side, and all, rushing into the tilt, seized their rifles and cartridge bags.
"You lads go up through th" woods and look for "em on that side,"
directed Indian Jake. "I"ll go up along th" sh.o.r.e. We"ll be sure to get "em one side or the other."
Without a word David and Andy, at a run, but with as little noise as possible, took the direction indicated. Indian Jake, running where he was hidden by brush, stooping low where there was danger that the caribou might see him, followed the ice close to the sh.o.r.e where overhanging brush offered cover to his movements, but where there was firm footing, and he could travel at good speed.
As they neared the place where the caribou had last been seen, the boys moved more cautiously. They stole through the trees without a sound. Their rifles were held ready for instant use.
Suddenly a shot rang out. At the same instant came a sound of crashing bushes, and three caribou burst through the willow brush that lined the lake, and dashed into the forest. David and Andy threw their rifles to their shoulders and fired simultaneously, but with one fleeting glimpse the animals were lost among the thick foliage of the spruce trees.
"They"re gone!" exclaimed David in great disappointment. "We missed un, and we won"t get any of un now!"
"Jake got in one shot," consoled Andy. "Maybe he knocked _one_ of un down _what_ever."
"Let"s have a look where they went through," suggested David, leading the way.
"What"s that? Did you hear that?" asked Andy, as the sound of a movement came to their ears.
"It"s a deer!" shouted David excitedly, running in the direction the caribou had taken. "We hit un! We knocked one down! See un?"
They had indeed wounded a big caribou. Hidden by the trees it had run for a score of yards before it fell, and had been out of their line of vision until they reached a point where they had a clear view of the trail the fleeing caribou had made in the snow. The caribou was now vainly struggling to regain its feet, and a bullet from David"s rifle was sent to end its suffering.
"A good shot!" said Indian Jake, who had heard the firing and now overtook the boys.
"Did you knock one down too?" asked Andy excitedly.
"No, I made a clean miss of "em," Indian Jake confessed. "They got a sniff of us and took fright, and I just took a chance shot. You lads made good shootin" t" catch "em running!"
"We never thought we touched un," said David "We never has time t"
take fair aim. We just pulls up and lets go."
"_"Twas_ quick shootin"," declared Andy. "I wonder which of us. .h.i.t un--you or me--Davy?"