Charlevoix county herald., 1914-07-25

fortune or because of providential
interference he emerged from the
Jaws of death, just as one lone man
in desperate battle may come
througl a barrier of steel and a hail
of hurting shot and find himself
among the living.
The food had seized Lorimer and
rolled him with a force against
which the strength of giant would
have been futile.
For an instant, through no effort
of his own, he had come to the sur
face and caught one gasping breath
before sinking again.
In his ears there was a roar of
bursting guns, and his chest felt as
if the weight of tons were crushing
it. Then came sense of falling
falling as if forever-during which
one more merciful breath came to
him before he sank and lost con-
seriousness.
The water beneath the falls
swirled him around and played with
him for an instant. Relenting, it
tossed him upon a great rock that
slanted down into the circular pool
Then the body moved The breath
came to pinched, white nostrils; the
eyes opened and closed and opened
again.
For a moment they looked about,
perhaps with the same CHASTITY as
constituent that is seen on the face
of a man shot in battle whom the
ferceness of pain strikes only a few
seconds after the missile has done it's
work
The anguish Of suffering came to
him as the gathering clearness of his
mind enabled him to realize it.
He had but to crawl on hands and
knees to emerge altogether from
the numbing, lev water in which he
had been half submerged.
At this moment the energy of de-
spair, the instinct to fight, the primal
tendency of the wild thing to seek
escape with claw and fang from the
grasp of the enemy-all this return
ed to the man.
Chattering teeth mattered no Ion
ger; the agony of the bruised body
and lacerated skin were not consid-
cred.
He found himself under a ledge of
projecting rock which had doubtless
hidden him from Mashkaugan's eyes.
A few staggering steps brought him
TO a part of the bank where the
great, bare, curling roots of conf
fers, growing above, gave him a
| chance to pull himself up desperate
/ ly until he reached place Of safety
farther down the stream where the
! high floods of spring had cast up a
/ tangled mass of driftwood, now
/ bleached by sun and rain.
Chance had saved him once. A
/ little circumstance that would have
been of trifing import to one in the
midst of civilization again brought
him out of jeopardy.
One of the first lessons the woods
taught him was this: that, whatever
else he might neglect, he must al
ways have dry matches.
From his pocket he pulled out q
box made from brass shotgun cart
ridge, closed by tightly fitting
wooden plug.
Birch-bark was plentiful, and I'M
der his trembling fingers there soon
rose a small, clear flame, on which
he piled dry wood until he had a
great roaring blaze, before which he
lay down exhausted, while a steam
cloud rose from his garments.
In a short time he was rested and
took off most of his clothing, which
he carefully dried. The cold that
had taken hold of him, and which
for some time had caused him to
stagger like drunken man, was
leaving him, and he began to feel
hungry.
1t was then that the notion struck
him that he was alone. In sudden
wild panic he called until he was
hoarse, and stopped abruptly.
He was behind me and must have
stumbled with that canoe so that il
touched me and pushed me over
Then he must have looked for me;
but, as he thought ! was dead, of
course he hurried away"
The realization of his desperate
plight came to Lorimer as a stag
&c ring blow that stunned him. He
was only too well aware of Indian
superstitions that make them fear
people when their end has come sud
denly, and sends them fleeing in ter.
ror from places where bodies have
disappeared.
They claim that Atshoum, chief OF
evil spirits, whom they also know a:
the Matshi Manitou, the bad god, ha.
seized upon them for dread purposes
of his own.
Lorime: sank to the ground again
weakened far more by the conster
nation brought upon him by thes,
thoughts than by the awful expe
rience he had just been through il
the rapids.
Yet the inherent power of mis- rae,
had only been shattered for a time
Hope rose again-the desire of tn,
white man in the vigor of his year.
for a death that shall only overcom,
him in the lust of battle.
The night was coming, and Lori
mer broke some balsam- boughs TO
bedding In the great pile of drift
ed wood he found pieces which, ono,
alight, would burn long and smolde
for hours. These he placed on hi
fire.
Finally exhausted nature had tn
upper hand, and he slept soundly 70
some hours until the chill of nigh
awoke him.
The fire was reduced to few
glowing embers which he onl,
found by stirring the ashes with
stick. More birch-bark helped to re
L. Ia