The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-02-08

"MeDOe you KNOW moio, en"n -,
Injun,", he said; "and meboe again you
And he relapsed into his usual silence. l
10 NOT know II he would have spoken again.
but seeing me about 10 disturb one OF the plles
in order TO get some Of the best specimens, ms
LOYALTY got the better OF his indigna'ion' "'i'
he fastened TO warn me- =, ..,rata
Don't touch the piles" he said. Make
had luck 10 do that. Canoe mebbe sink, or MT
rock or something.n
us that soy" asked.
I'm" was the reply Every old mum on
Point say So" A., 1,d;an
village is. respected Toms fears, selected
nv specimens from among those lnh. lit j.,
not been piled up. and we went on our way 40
safety. - ,vor a.
4 year after this visit was passing Won-e
ion-up in a canoe. in which were tnree J.lIJ
besides myself and we were hsasny s,,Ion-
did run without guide. all of us being pre.lyy
good canoemen. Being hungry, l sugsGse oS,a
that we should stop. have a lunch, anu 80
what the fairies had been dong; apu 81 I;.go
went ashore There We're dozens OF Ine httlo
niles on the beach, but when l tod the III
d;an,s WARNING nv companions became very
merry. and one Of them, very wise c9he ~
professor, proceeded to show, how niue ne
cared for such superstitiOns by KICKING tno
majority of the piles into the water, az iae
same time giving what he called the scleulln9
explanation of the peculiar formation anu
ARRANGEMENT of the stones. IL was no use 10
tell him that boatmen had been rs rash as ne;
and had paid up for 1t before they fencn It
Nictau-wav-ick He knew more imam a! thd
''old Injuns' put together. ana ne hlc. Hcu
away to his hearts content. An examination
of orr baskets revealed the fact that we n"u
scarcely the materials for lunch: and so we
resumed our journey without, II the ,ru'n
mist be told much fear of any EVIL results
You see. none of us believed in fairies we
were too big. II was growing late IN the ye.II.
We had not been very well PROVIDED VIII
eatables, depending upon what hsh we 1oul9
catch for the principal part OF our food anu
so were anxious 20 reach the settlements pc
fore dark, AS il was not safe 10 run our ioaueu
canoe after dark Somehow or another, aIter
we left WOn-e- jOn-up first one thlng anu lheu
another delayed MS until after sunset, wheh OF
a sudden cold wind came sweeping up the
river, carrying heavy cloud OF iog WIN WIN IT.
and shutting out the last glimmer OF twilight.
We could not see either shore. and could only
Judge where the channel was IN the rapids ~
watching closely the set of the water. we
went along all right for time, ana were Just
CONCENTRATING ourselves upon the proDaDllly
of our getting to the settlement IN salely,
when. as we entered a rapid, our canoe came
10 a stand
Now birch-bark canoe is not a thing you
can use roughly When it happens to catch
upon a rock, it must be got OF very gently or
il may be badly broken. The professor,
whose turn il had been 10 SIT IN the stern ot
the canoe. laid down his paddle the moment
our craft stopped. and taking up what -
called a Setting POLE q straight piece OF
wood about ten feet long, attempted, by
pressing on the bottom of the stream, 10 Int
Ms clear of the obstruction. II was no use, so
| had 10 do the next best thing-lump out
into the water. which took me up nearly 70
my armpits. | had hoped thus 70 tighten the
canoe, but it was no use; It would not move,
end the stern man feeling the water coming
in around his feet, called TO the others 10 get
out, and followed them himself There was
no difficulty then in floating the canoe, but
rs we did not know the extent OF the INJURY IL
had sustained, it was clearly not safe to
90 on. We stood for moment. undecided
as TO which was the shortest way 10
the shore, but after little ascertained
that the water shoaled more quickly 10
our right than in any other direction, 50 we
went that way. holding on 70 the canoe, and
We're soon out Of the water and upon a rocky
beach BY this time it was about as dark as
it could get. Some of us went IN one dlrec-
ton and some in another 10 see what sort Of a
place we had landed on: and the best c0nclu-
sion we could come 10 was that II was simply
pile of rocks. One of our company said he
knew the place and that il was a high bar with
deep water all around it. This was not en-
we might as well make the best of IT, 50 We
set out to hunt for dry wood to make fire
Our search Welded nothing, and the only
thing for US 10 do was 20 make the most of our
situation until daylight So getting out our
blankets we wrapped ourselves up IN them,
first making very scanty supper on few
pieces of "hardbread." which were all we had
left in the shape of cooked provisions. 1t was
rs wretched a night as will be readily mag
med. Wet hungry and cold. we had only our
boots for pillows and stones for bed, and |
need not tell how many points there are on
the roundest stone, after you have slept on it
an hour or two.
was the first to wake after it had become
daylight; and my surprise may be Judged
when / tell that | found we were not on an
island or bar. but simply on "A long point rum
ming out from grassy bank, on which an in
FAINT might have rested IN comfort. while only
a rod away from this perfect camping ground
was a pile of dry wood as big as a house. In
few moments had a fire going and some
coffee made Then / woke the others
more surprised lot of people have not seen
since.
well. must say we are a stupid lot" said
the Professor: "to lie all night in discomfort,
with such place up there to sleep on, and
such wood for a fire"
We an agreed with him. and began to make
excuses ! said that | was hungry. and that
never could think well when wanted my SUP
per. The man who SAID he knew the place
said that he must have got turned around
some way: for now he came TO think of it, the
place he meant was about ten miles up-river
and we had passed il during the afternoon
Yes" said one Of the others, lust before
we came 10 the place were the little stones
were piled mp"
That's il. 7" said the boy Of the party.
whats it.n we asked in unison
"ThOse stones. The Professor kicked them
ovar and This - hoC wa have mud for hia
fun"
And as any explanation is better than none
at all, and this was the least 20 our discredit.
we concluded % attribute our misfortune to
the FAIRIES
1t only remains to be told that our canoe
was really not much injured. and that we
mended II in few minutes. So don't think
the fairies were very cruel to US after ALL
FREDERICTON. n. B.. CANADA.
Bismarck's Motto.