Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-02-05
CHAPTER Xxx.

La voila!" said Tete Girls. "Here
she sits, this canoe, eager to go on.
It's forward again, mes anlis! For
ward once more; and glad enough am
for this day. We shall see new lands
ere long"
For my part" said Jean Breboeuf,
Il also am most anxious to be away.
for have eaten this whitefsh until
l crave no more. l had bethought me
how excellent are the pumpkins of the
good fathers at the straits; and in
deed l would we had with us more OF
that excellent fruit. the beam"
Bah! Jean Breboeuf," retorted
Pierre Noir. Ills but poor-hearted
voyageur would nang about a mission
garden with hoe in his hand instead
OF gun. Perhaps the good sisters at
the Mountain miss thy skill at pulling
| weeds"
Nay, now, can live as long on
fish and flesh as any man." replied
Jean Breboeuf. stoutly, NOR do 1
hold myself, Monsieur Tete Girls, one
| jot in courage back of any man upon
the TRAIL
"of course not, save in time of
Storm" grinned Tete Girls. Then, it
is Holy Mary. witness my vow of a
bale of beaver!' 1t is
well, so be it" said Jean Breboeuf,
| stoutly. tbs sure bale of beaver
| will come easily enough in these new
lands; and-though insist again that
l have naught of superstition in NV
soul-when raven sits on a tree
near camp and croalss of morning be-
fore breakfast-as upon my word of
honor was the case this morning
there must be some Ill fate in store for
US, as doth but stand to reason"
But say you so?" said Tete Girls,
pausing at his task, with his face as
Stunning a certain seriousness.
"Assuredly," said Jean Breboeuf
"'Tis as l told you. Moreover, | in
sist to you, my brothers, that the signs
have not been right for this trip at
any time. For myself, look for Moth
ing but disaster"
The humor OF Jean Breboeuf's very
gravity appealed so strongly to his
older comrades that they broke out in
to laughter, and SO all fell again to
their tasks, in sheer light-heartedness
forgetting the superstitions of their
class.
Thus at length the party took ship
again, and in time made the head OF
the great bay within whose arms they
had been for some time encamped.
They Won up over the sullen rapids Of
the river which came into the bay,
toiling sometimes waist-deep at the
cordelle, yet complaining not at all.
So in time they came out on the wide
expanse of the shallow lake of the
Winnebagoes, which body of water
they crossed directly, coming into the
| quiet channel of the stream which fell
in upon its western shore. Up this
stream in turn steadily they passed,
amid panorama filed with constant
change. Sometimes the gentle river
bent away in long curves, with hardly
| ripple upon it's placid surface, save
where now and again some startled
| fish sprang into the air in fright or
sport, or in the rush upon it's prey.
| Then the stream would lead away into
vast seas of marsh lands, waving in
| illimitable reaches of rushes, or fringed
with the unspeakdbly beautiful green
of the graceful wild rice plant.
In these wide levels now and again
the channel divided, or lost itself in
little cul de sacs, from which the pad
dlers We're obliged to retrace their way.
| All about them rose myriads of birds
and wild fowl, which made their nests
among these marshes. and the babbling
chatter of the rail, the high-keyed
calling of the coot, or the clamoring
Of the home-building mallard assailed
their ears hour after hour as they
passed on between the leafy shores.
Then, again, the channel would sweep
to one side Of the marsh, and give view
to wide vistas of high and rolling lands,
dotted with groves Of hardwood, with
here and there swamp of cedar or of
tamarack. Little herds of elk and
droves of deer fed on the grass-covered
slopes, as fat, as sleek and fearless of
mankind as though they dwelt domes-
tlcated In some noble park.
1t was a land obviously but little
known, even to the most adventurous.
and as chance would have it, they met
not even wandering party of the ma
tive tribes. Clearly now the little
boat was climbing, climbing slowly
and gently, yet surely, upward from
the level OF the great Lake Michiganon.
In time the little river broadened and
Hattened out into wide, shallow ex-
4 panses, the waters known as the Lakes
or the Foxes; and beyond that it be-
came yet more shallow and uncertain,
winding among quaking boys and I'M
known marshes; yet still, whether by
patience, or by cheerfulness, or by de-
termination, the craft stood on and on,
and so reached that end of the water
way which, in the opinion of the more
experienced Du Mesne, must surely be
the place known among the Indian
tribes as the "place for the carrying
of boats"
Here they paused for few days, at
that mild summit of land which marks
the portage between the east bound
and the west bound waters; yet, inn
PEELED ever by the eager spirit of the
adventurer, they made their pause but
short In time they launched their
craft on the bright, smooth flood of
the river Of the Ouisconsins, stained
coppery-red by it's far-off, unknown
course in the north, where it had
bathed leagues of the roots of pine and
.tamarack and cedar. They passed on
steadily Westward, hour after hour
with the current of this great stream