The Opelousas courier., 1903-05-23
y ARLY one September day l
. left the river steamer ON the

VI head waters of the Ottawa
- and struck off into a wilder
ness broken by settlements only neal
the n%avigable reaches of the river.
was looking for a farm.
My uncle, who had been in the mil
itia during the "Fenian raids" urex
pcctedly found himself entitled to
quarter-section of what was known
as veterans lands in northern On.
tario, and as he was unable to leave
his business, l had volunteered to Sc,
1ect a desirable claim. This would al
thgrsame time give me an opportunity
fora my customary annual camping
expSiition.
ByJEay of companion I took with me
q snsRof ut abnormally restless fox.
terf4er who had been in the woods with
ME before. No n can possibly be
lonely in the company of afox-terrier.
and l had educated Jack to take q
more scientific interest in partridges
and rabbits than Is natural. to his
breed. Having such small game and
the occasional backwoods settlers to
depend upon, I expected to have no
difficulty about provisions, and carried
merely a few pounds OF concentrated
supplies in my knapsack. The rest Of
my load consisted simply of a gun and
a liberal stock of ammunition. At the
end of the corduroy road, with a geo.
logical survey map as q guide, l took
a half-obliterated trail into the forest.
I found settlers less frequent, the
land less promising, and the woods
much less penetrable than I had been
led to expect. For three days and q
half Jack and I threaded the tangled
underground. became involved in
swamps, and RATED ourselves across
rivers. During all this time the
weather had been perfect, but the
fourth day rose cold and cloudy. At
about noon n heavy rain began, that
presently settled into a dismal, all-day
drizzle which saturated everything
above ground, and produced an indie
scribably dreary effect of autumn and
desolation.
1t depressed even Jacks abundant
spirits, and he trotted soberly behind
me. manifesting only a slight interest
in the rabbit and woodchuck burrows
we passed. AS for myself, l did not
much mind getting d%renched; but /
greatly disliked the idea of q wet
camp.
NO shelter presented itself, but short
ly before sunset I came unexpectedly
upon an unmistakable wood-road,
choked with second growth" yet in
dicating the neighborhood of human
beings. l turned up it at once, with
the ~pleasurable anticipation Of finding
a clearing and a hospitable settler Mt
the end of it; but as the road continued
to show every indication Of long dis
use, these hopes gradually weakened.
Still, there was certain to be a building
OF some sort, even If deserted, and, in
deed. q quarter Of a mile farther the
road curved a little, and I saw before
me the expected clearing, with the
empty log shanty, black-windowed and
deserted, staring drearily through the
twilight rain.
1t was a most melancholy looking
place, and under ordinary circum-
stances l should vastly have preferred
camping in the open forest. But in
this weather ! welcomed it and pushed
through the dripping jungle of shrub
berry, weeds and berry bushes that had
grown over and choked a rather ex-
clearing.
The door had blown from its leather
hinges and lay beside the threshold:
leaves had drifted into the interior.
md there We're many birds nests in
the inner corners OF the walls. The
Internal aspect of the place suggested
hat 1t had been abandoned Far two
D. three years a iieast, but the roof
not appear to leak-not more, thst
:. tnaan was naturally to be expected.
The shanty contained two rooms. AMI
n the larger and outer one was the
great rock fireplace, still showing
races OF blackened brands. Al couple
II small windows appeared never To-
been glazed, and there was not
! stick of furniture about the place.
: doorway with no door led to the in
Ter apartment, and the presence. of
two rooms, I thought. indicated
hat the house bad been occupied by q
cal family; a bachelor establishment
n the woods usually finds q house of
ne room most convenient.
This second chamber was fitted with
log shelf above the doorway, and on
ne opposite wall another shelf seemed
o have served as a sort OF table.
evidently other travellers had been bar.
'ored here before me, for the floor was
leaped with twigs Of hemlock and
pruce, now dry and rusty red.
| carried an armful Of this material
'ack to the fireplace for finder. and
plit out one Of the window-frames for
.indling. Jacks spirits had bright
ned upon getting under shelter, and
e was manifesting enthusiasm over
mole which he had discovered in a
corner Of the floor. From it's
size / concluded that it was n
burrow, and from the
logs conduct / imagined that the
'Wncr was at home. for he became SO
'oisy that l was finally compelled to
uppress him with severity.
4 blazing fire on the great hearth
made q world of difference In the ap-
'earance of the deserted house. Out
ide the rain still dripped dismaIly, but
carcely any Of 1t came through the
oof, and Jack and I supped In con.
iderable comfort on a couple of par j
and a lump of hard bread. /
Fas tired. and after I had dried my.