Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-08-14

| ana W coo had no ClncUllY In KNOCKING
four or five of them in the head with
their ha,ehets, while Fan k,u,y i.cee
Others.
They viii make us a capital stew" re-
marked Gordon
And viii attend to making it," cried
Service, eager TO display his skill, "anc
immediately, if you like"
"At our first halt" replied Gordon.
1t took them half an hour to traverse
| this miniature forest. and then another
long stretch of sand appeared
| 1t was about eleven O'clock when they
reached the spot where the waters oG Dixie
| Creek the stream discovered on their first
| exploring expedition flowed into the lake.
| According 10 BaudoinS map, this place
was six miles from their starting point,
and here they halted at the base of a mag
| niticent pine-tree A fire was lighted be
| tween two large stones aud L few minutes
! afterward three of the rabbits were cook.
| ing over the flames. The first culinary
| efforts of Service proving brilliant sue
| cess, they had hearty meal without be-
| ing obliged to draw upon the stock of pro
visions save for few crackers TO take the
| place of bread
| The repast over, they waded across the
| creek, and this crossed, they found them
| selves obliged to leave the shore of the
| lake, which had become very maTshy, and
| pursue their journey along the edge Of the
| forest, which was of the same general
character rs that in the immediate vCiui-
| ty OF the French Cave. WoodpeCkers
golden-crestcl wrens, and other beautiful
birds flttted ryOm branch to branch, but
! greatly to the regret of Service, the parrot
family, which figured so prominently in
his favorite volume, was here conspicuous
by its absence Though he had failed in
his attempt o tame an ostrich, one of
these loquaCi0us birds might have proved
less refractory.
Feathered game, especially in the shape
of grouse, everywhere ahounded; never
theless Gordon could not deny Donovan
the pleasure of shooting a plump young
! peccari that would serve both for supper
that night and breakfast the next morn
ing
They kept ON along the edge of the forest
until about five O'Clock in the afternoon,
| when they suddenly found themselves on
the bank of Il second stream. twas about
forty feet in width and an outlet Of the
lake, empyiug into the Pacific above
Sloughi Bay, after making n circuit of
the northern end of the Auckland Hills,
Gordon, thinking q twelve-mile walk
quite euougl for one day, decided to camp
here, and as il seemed advisable to give a
name to the water-course upon whose
banks they had halted, they called it Stop
River.
The grouse having been reserved for
the next day, Survtce proceeded to cook
the other rabbits without loss of time, for
they were all tired and sleepy; then u
huge fire WAS made, which Donovan and
Wilcox tended by turns while the others
slept.
Nothing occurred to disturb their slum-
bcrs and b, dawn the next morning they
all woke refreshed and ready to resume
their Journey,
The bcstoWal of n name upon the stream
did not suffice; it was now necessary to
cross II, and it proving too deep to wade,
the rubber boat was brought into requisi-
ton. As this frail bark could transport
but one person at time, it was necessary
to make the trip from the south to the
north bank Of the river seven times This
tool, over an hour, but the loss of time was
of MINOR Importance, as their stock of
provisions aud ammunition was kept dry.
| y
she sprung into the stream without an IN.
stant's hesitation, and in n few secon DIS
reached the opposite side.
The ground being no longer marshy,
Gordon took an oblique course in order to
regain the shore of the lake, which they
reached a little before ten o'clock. There
was nothing to indicate that the end of
the lake was near, aud the eastern hori-
zon was still bounded by a curved line Of
sky and water, when about noon Dono-
van, who had lifted his glass to his eyes,
| exclaimed:
"Theve is the opposite shore"
And looking in the direction indicated,
the lads perceived the tops of several trees
beginning TO show themselves above the
water.
LET Us lose no more time here" said
Gordon. but try to reach our destination
before night"
A dry, sandy plain, with occasional
clumps of rushes and reeds, stretched
nOrJhWard as far as the eye could reach.
Indeed, the entire northern part Of the is
land seemed TO consist Of long stretches Of
sand which contrasted strongly with the
luxuriant forests of the interior, and to
which Gordon could Justly give the name
of Sandy Desert
About three o'clock, the opposite shore
became distinctly visible, the lake not be-
ing more than two miles wide at this
poiut. The surrounding country seemed
to have been abandoned by all living crea-
lures save the few sea-brds which passed
occasionally on their way TO the coast
Really. If the "Sloughi" had been strand
ed in a region Ike this, the young mari
ners would have considered starvation in
evitable. 1t seemed scarcely worth while
to push Their explorations any further in
this direction, as the country was evident
ly uninhabtable. Would it not be much
more sensible to undertake the eXplora-
tion of the eastern shore of the lake where
the forests might reveal new richest Yes.
for my part, feel sure they al serve us "A
good turn. II our supply Of ammunition
should fail us some day, the lasso and
bolas will not come amiss. We shall see
sooner or later; In the meantime let us
have dinner
The preparations for that repast occu-
pied home time, however, Service being
anxious that his turkey should be roasted
TO q turn. The fact that this one bird suf-
feed for these youthful sromachs was con.