"Frank, my boy, here is a conundrum for you: Of which of the venerable men of the past does your conduct remind me?"
Various guesses were made, but none were considered satisfactory, and so Sam was called upon to solve his own riddle. His answer was clever and characteristic. "Well," said he, "when reading the blessed book my mother gave me I found a portion which said, "And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept." Why he should have shed any tears at such an interesting transaction bothered me. But now I think I get a glimmering idea in reference to it, since I have seen the events of to- day."
"Sam, Sam," said Mrs Ross, who had heard this quaint reference to the old patriarch, "why do you thus bring in such names in your pleasantries?"
"I don"t know," replied the irrepressible Sam, "unless it is that it is in my blood; for one of the last things I heard my mother say, ere I left home, was that, to judge by the thinness of the milk furnished by the farmer who supplied us, he much reminded her of Pharaoh"s daughter, as he took a _profit_ out of the water!"
"Chestnuts," said Alec. "I have heard that before."
It was new to the majority, and the droll way in which Sam gave it put everybody in a good humour, and a very happy, delightful time was spent by them all.
Rapidly sped on the few days that intervened between the arrival of the packet and the return trip of the boats to Red River. These Hudson Bay Company"s boats had come loaded with furs caught the previous winter, which would be sent down to York Factory with vast quant.i.ties from other parts of the great country, and from that fort shipped to England.
Then, loaded with goods for the next winter"s trade, the boats would return to the different posts from which they had come. With the exception of canoes, they afforded the only means of travel in the summer time in those regions.
Mr Ross had gone over to the fort at Norway House, and had obtained from the gentlemen there in charge permission to send Frank, Alec, and Sam in these boats as far as Fort Garry. He also decided to accompany them that far in their journey, and see that everything was secured necessary for their long trip across the prairies to St. Paul.
As the weather had now become very pleasant for canoeing, several very delightful outings were arranged by Mr and Mrs Ross for the young folks. The boys had become expert canoeists, and in the long gloamings of the lengthened days in June in those high north lands, they had many memorable excursions.
As the Indian women and maidens are all experts in handling the paddle, so it becomes a point of honour among the ladies, young and old, in the Hudson Bay fort and mission to be able to, at least in a measure, imitate the dusky, bronzed maidens of the wigwams. Mr Hurlburt had wisely trained his daughters in this accomplishment. Living as they did, where there were really no walks except the trails that immediately led into the primeval forests, where lurking wild beasts were at times so bold that they came up close to the dwellings of the villagers, it was really dangerous to go far from home. Canoeing thus became the great summer recreation and amus.e.m.e.nt. And for the upper part of the body there is no better exercise. The result was that Rachel and Winnie were both skillful and fearless canoeists, and very much enjoyed this, which has well been called "the poetry of motion."
Mr Ross prided himself on his beautiful, graceful canoes for the summer time, about as much as he loved his dogs in the long winter months. The Indians, knowing his love for their graceful canoes, had presented him with some great beauties, on which they had exercised all their ingenuity and skill in construction, and their artistic taste in ornamentation. These were all now in much demand, and merry and happy indeed was the whole party, as perhaps in six or eight canoes they started from the little land-locked harbour of Sagasta-weekee. Frank and Rachel were company enough for one of the prettiest canoes, while the same could be said of Alec and Winnie in another not less handsome.
To the last, Sam"s joy was to have with him the little children, Wenonah and Roderick. To him was a.s.signed a large, safe canoe, and a couple of trusty Indians to aid in the paddling. The rest of the party went out more or less frequently, as it best suited them. So much had to be done to complete the arrangements for the journey that often the young folks went out alone on their joyous trips.
One afternoon Mr Ross was a little troubled, and at first seemed inclined to ask all to give up their excursions on the water for that day and amuse themselves at home. His trusty barometer, that had stood so steady for fine settled weather for days, was now acting in a most erratic manner. A change of some kind was evident, and so Sam and the children did not venture out. Still, as the sky was cloudless and the blue waters of the island-studded lake looked so peaceful and quiet, he did not prevent Frank and Alec, with the young ladies, from venturing out, but gave them some words of caution and then let the happy canoeists embark, and saw them strike out in unison as away they glided over the little sun-kissed waves. For a little while the music of their laughter and song fell on the ears of those who had gone to see them off. When they had disappeared among the beautiful fir-clad islands the spectators returned to the house, and were soon busy in their various duties.
Crash! Boom! What is that?
Too well was it known by Mr Ross and those who had lived in that land.
It was a dreadful thunderbolt, the precursor of the fierce cyclone, the sudden storm that is coming upon them at the rate of something near a hundred miles an hour. Worst of all, four young people are out in it, in a couple of frail canoes, and who can tell what may happen to them when in its full fury it bursts upon them?
And how fares it with the young folks about whom there is now naturally so much anxiety at Sagasta-weekee? With laughter and song we saw them dash away, as under their skillful strokes their light canoes, like sea birds, glided along over the peaceful waters. Now, drenched and half dazed by the blinding glare of the terrific storm, they are battling for life in a very maelstrom of waters. Suddenly had the storm struck them.
They had remarked the strange actions and the frightened cries of the birds, that all seemed hurrying in one direction. Then they had observed the dead calm that had settled down on everything. Even the aspen leaves on the trees, on the islands along which they glided, for once were ominously still. Every wavelet on the waters hushed itself asleep, and the whole surface of the lake was as a sea of polished gla.s.s.
Rachel was the first to take alarm from this deadly calm, and she exclaimed:
"This is unnatural, and means danger. Let us return at once."
Quickly they turned their canoes, and now only a few yards apart they began the race before the coming storm, although as yet it had not revealed itself. The first intimation they had of its approach was the rapidly rising wind, which fortunately arose directly behind them. It was at first different from any ordinary breeze. It seemed to come along like a thing of life, now catching up a handful of water and scattering it like sand, then bounding up in wanton sport, and then once more trailing on the waters and making it ripple in lines or lanes, as in mad sport it now more rapidly hurried along.
Then, as they looked back over their shoulders to the north-west, they saw coming up the cyclonic cloud. It was dark as midnight, ragged at its edges, and above it was a rim of sky so green and so unnatural that our brave young people for a moment almost recoiled with terror at the sight.
"Paddle for that island!" shouted Rachel. "No canoe can live in such a storm as will soon be on us."
Hardly had she uttered these words ere there shot out a thunderbolt so vivid that they were all nearly blinded by its intense brightness. It seemed to fill the whole heavens around them with its dazzling whiteness, and then as suddenly it was gone.
"One, two, three, four," began Rachel, who, although paddling with wondrous effectiveness, was calm and collected.
"O, don"t stop to count," called Winnie, who was like the rest desperately yet cautiously using her paddle. "It would be better to pray than do that."
"We"ll do that shortly, but paddle for dear life now, and don"t interrupt the count. Where was I? Ten, eleven, twelve--" and at eighteen there came the crash of the thunder of that lightning flash that had so nearly blinded them. It was as though a thousand great cannon had simultaneously been fired.
"Hurrah!" shouted the brave girl the instant it died away. "We have two minutes and a half yet ere the cyclone reaches us. In two minutes we must reach the other side of that high rocky point, and in the remaining half minute we must get on the lee side of the great sheltering rocks.
Courage all, and let every stroke tell!"
And there was need for courage, for already the white caps were around them, and behind them the waters hissed and shrieked like demons let loose and howling for their victims. The heavens were rapidly being overwhelmed with the blackness of darkness. But here is the point!
Skillfully the two girls, who were in the stern of the canoes, steered them sharply around, and the strong strokes of Frank and Alec did the rest, and they were in the shelter of the rock. But it would only be safe for an instant.
"Now all spring for your lives!" again cried Rachel; "and let everything go, Frank, but your gun and some cartridges."
"Can we not save the canoes?" shouted Alec.
"No, no!" cried Rachel. "It is our lives here only that we must think about, for the sake of those who even now, perhaps, are mourning us as dead."
The shelter of the rocks was within a few flying bounds, and they were safe. It was an enormous rock that towered up some scores of feet, and on the lee side, where our young folks had found shelter, hung over for perhaps twenty feet. Fortunate indeed were they to have reached such a refuge.
A few seconds later, when, with backs against the mighty rock, they were in a measure recovering from the violent exertion of that fearful struggle, Winnie cried out, "O, where are the canoes?"
Not a vestige of them was ever after seen. They had been caught up in that cyclone that came thundering on so close behind that in the brief seconds in which the young people had run from them to the rock they had been picked up and whirled into oblivion.
"It is well," said Alec, "I did not stop to try and save the one I was in. But why, Rachel, did you ask Frank to bring along his gun and ammunition?"
"You will soon see," said the brave, thoughtful girl, "that they will be worth more to us and our anxious friends than the canoes."
In the meantime, the storm in pa.s.sing the point had spread out over the whole place, and the rain, which was now descending in torrents, began to be very uncomfortable. A rim of light was still in the distance, and with the now almost incessant flashings of the lightning it was possible to grope around for a dry and more sheltered spot under the great rock.
Alec, who had volunteered to go out and try to find a drier place, and who was now groping along in one direction as the lightning lit up his path, was heard to suddenly let out a cry of alarm and then almost immediately after burst into a hearty peal of laughter.
"What in the world have you found in such a place to cause you to act like this?" said Frank, who was really annoyed at the merriment of Alec after such a narrow escape.
"Come here and you will see," was the only reply they could secure from Alec, who was acting in a manner so strange and unaccountable.
So, waiting for the lightning flashes to enable them to pick their way over the rough stones under the sheltered place, they cautiously moved toward him. As they came within a few feet and were now in the gloom, waiting for another flash to light up the way, Alec said: "Don"t be frightened at what you will see. It is only old Napoleon, and he is as frightened as he can be, and seems glad to have me with him."
The sight that met them as the next vivid flash blazed out was indeed enough to try older and stronger nerves, for there was Alec with his back against the dry rock and one of his arms around the neck of an enormous bear.
"Don"t be alarmed," shouted Alec. "It is old Napoleon, and he is more frightened by the cyclone than any of us."
"How do you know it is Napoleon?" asked Winnie, who was noted for her extreme cautiousness.
"Know him? Why, of course I know him, and he was as pleased as an affectionate dog to see me. And see, here are the two bra.s.s rings I put in his little round ears last winter at the fort, some time before Christmas."
This was convincing proof that their comrade was a tame, harmless bear, and so without any more alarm they all crowded into what proved to be a dry and safe retreat from the fearful storm that still raged outside.
"Bears know a thing or two," said Alec, "and so old Nap in selecting this spot was quite confident that it could stand a cyclone."
Meantime the storm continued to rage with awful fury, but sheltered by the rocks they were safe from its ravages. All they could do was to patiently wait until its fury was spent. So they sang some sweet hymns, and the girls gave some reminiscences of previous storms and adventures.
As soon as the storm began to abate Rachel said, "I think, Frank, it is time you began to use your gun."