The sons - a fine,
hardy, independent set of fellows - were regarded by the old man with
pride and affection. Many were his anecdotes of their prowess in
hunting and fishing.
His method of giving them an aversion to strong drink while very
young amused me greatly, but it is not every child that could have
stood the test of his experiment.
"When they were little chaps, from five to six years of age, I made
them very drunk," he said; "so drunk that it brought on severe
headache and sickness, and this so disgusted them with liquor,
that they never could abide the sight of it again. I have only one
drunkard among the seven; and he was such a weak, puling crathur,
that I dared not try the same game with him, lest it should kill
him. 'Tis his nature, I suppose, and he can't help it; but the truth
is, that to make up for the sobriety of all the rest, he is killing
himself with drink."
Norah gave us an account of her catching a deer that had got into
the enclosure the day before.
"I went out," she said, "early in the morning, to milk the cows,
and I saw a fine young buck struggling to get through a pale of the
fence, in which having entangled his head and horns, I knew, by the
desperate efforts he was making to push aside the rails, that if I
was not quick in getting hold of him, he would soon be gone."
"And did you dare to touch him?"
"If I had had Mat's gun I would have shot him, but he would have
made his escape long before I could run to the house for that, so I
went boldly up to him and got him by the hind legs; and though he
kicked and struggled dreadfully, I held on till Mat heard me call,
and ran to my help, and cut his throat with his hunting-knife. So
you see," she continued, with a good-natured laugh, "I can beat our
hunters hollow - they hunt the deer, but I can catch a buck with my
hands."
While we were chatting away, great were the preparations making by
Miss Betty and a very handsome American woman, who had recently come
thither as a help. One little barefooted garsoon was shelling peas
in an Indian basket, another was stringing currants into a yellow
pie-dish, and a third was sent to the rapids with his rod and line,
to procure a dish of fresh fish to add to the long list of bush
dainties that were preparing for our dinner.
It was in vain that I begged our kind entertainers not to put
themselves to the least trouble on our account, telling them that
we were now used to the woods, and contented with anything; they
were determined to exhaust all their stores to furnish forth the
entertainment. Nor can it be wondered at, that, with so many
dishes to cook, and pies and custards to bake, instead of dining
at twelve, it was past two o'clock before we were conducted to
the dinner-table. I was vexed and disappointed at the delay, as
I wanted to see all I could of the spot we were about to visit
before night and darkness compelled us to return.
The feast was spread in a large outhouse, the table being formed
of two broad deal boards laid together, and supported by rude
carpenter's stools. A white linen cloth, a relic of better days,
concealed these arrangements. The board was covered with an
indescribable variety of roast and boiled, of fish, flesh, and
fowl. My readers should see a table laid out in a wealthy Canadian
farmer's house before they can have any idea of the profusion
displayed in the entertainment of two visitors and their young
children.
Besides venison, pork, chickens, ducks, and fish of several kinds,
cooked in a variety of ways, there was a number of pumpkin,
raspberry, cherry, and currant pies, with fresh butter and green
cheese (as the new cream-cheese is called), molasses, preserves, and
pickled cucumbers, besides tea and coffee - the latter, be it known,
I had watched the American woman boiling in the frying-pan. It was a
black-looking compound, and I did not attempt to discuss its merits.
The vessel in which it had been prepared had prejudiced me, and
rendered me very sceptical on that score.
We were all very hungry, having tasted nothing since five o'clock in
the morning, and contrived, out of the variety of good things before
us, to make an excellent dinner.
I was glad, however, when we rose to prosecute our intended trip up
the lake. The old man, whose heart was now thoroughly warmed with
whiskey, declared that he meant to make one of the party, and Betty,
too, was to accompany us; her sister Norah kindly staying behind to
take care of the children.
We followed a path along the top of the high ridge of limestone
rock, until we had passed the falls and the rapids above, when we
found Pat and Mat Y - - waiting for us on the shore below, in two
beautiful new birch-bark canoes, which they had purchased the day
before from the Indians.
Miss Betty, Mat, and myself, were safely stowed into one, while the
old miller, and his son Pat, and my husband, embarked in the other,
and our steersmen pushed off into the middle of the deep and silent
stream; the shadow of the tall woods, towering so many feet above
us, casting an inky hue upon the waters.
The scene was very imposing, and after paddling for a few minutes in
shade and silence, we suddenly emerged into light and sunshine, and
Clear Lake, which gets its name from the unrivalled brightness of
its waters, spread out its azure mirror before us.
