Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1914-09-17

| look Tor mysel1, ne cogltated. "One
can never be altogether certain that
these fellows are giving one straight
talk. Yet | don't see how there can
be any Indians living up the rivers
| to the east or these people would
know about them. OF course they're
| always scared at the mention of
tribes they're not acquainted with:
but they don't even give me some
cock-and-bull story abort bad people
| living somewhere in that direction. ~
Five days were enough to explore
the northern river. 1t proved to be
fine ground, but it was all carefully
trapped over until it ended in tiny
streams issuing from great marsh
lands.
The first eastern river only took
four days to explore. 1t soon proved
to he utterly ir1Nnseihn fnr c-uon
navigation and Lorimcr had to turn
back.
The remaining stream; flowing
into the lake not more than
mile from the inlet Of the previous
one, at first promised fair travel; but
nowhere on the banks could they dis
cover any trace of Indians.
After some days they came to a
long canon walled in by cliffs of the
great height, where the waters mar
rowed into seething torrent, which
made navigation impossible. They
made a long, hard portage, but it
only brought them onto a barren
land where trees were dwarfed and
great tracts of gray moss, edged by
rank, sour grasses, extended beyond
their vision.
For several days they progressed
noting a few old tracks of caribou,
although they saw none of the ami
mails. Wild fowl were plentiful, and
they shot some geese and ducks.
But soon Lorimer was compelled
to acknowledge that the outlook was
hopeless and they started back.
ut has been a wild goose chase for
fair" Lorimer told Mashkaugan.
Still, I'm glad enough to have seen
all this country"
AS they retraced their way the 60
ing was easier. The provisions were
gradually diminishing, and the ca
noe rode lightly on the water, while
the portages could be passed over
more rapidly. They again took what
seemed to be desperate chances in
boiling rapids, but always went
through them in safety.
They crossed the big lake again.
1t was long journey. The frail
craft could not be trusted far from
land. Big squalls came up very sud-
denly and compelled them to follow
the shore and cut across from point
to point when the water was calm
enough.
Finally they reached the outlet Of
the big lake. They were obliged to
halt for one day while a gale abated.
Lorimer felt more contented now
than at any time since the beginning
of the trip. Was he no. going back
to the cherished woman he had
learned to love so dearly? The food
bore them so swiftly that in three
hours they covered a ditance that
had taken long day on the upward
trip.
Lorimer for some time had been
conscious that Mashkaugan was
watching him in a strange way.
Over rapids and in dangerous places
the halfbreed would hesitate at
times, seeming to have lost some Of
his nerve.
One day, in camp, the hunchback
bly, to clean it with a greasy rag,
but when the young man changed to
look at him he had an uncomfortable
feeling that the Indian was staring
at him strangely and that some
queer notion possessed his mind.
Mashkaugan put the gun aside
quite suddenly and busted himself
with the making of batter for flap
jacks.
1t was on the day after this that
they reached the great White Rap
ids again. They shot part of it at
tremendous speed, but stopped in a
bit of dead water above the place
where the narrowing river seemed to
rest for an instant before it entered
the chasm and took a thirty-foot leap
into the turmoil below.
Here they landed on a great, fiat
rock and unloaded. Mashkaugan
found small leak in the canoe and
built tiny fire to heat some gum.
When everything was ready Mash
kaugan lit his pipe. His hands were
somewhat unsteady. Lorimer made
up his pack, which consisted of his
own war-bag and partly filled ff-
ty-pound bag of flour.
leave that behind" grunted
Mashkaugan ~ come back for it."
But Lorimer had already swung
the load to his forehead.
"I can easily take that across" he
said. "The going is good enough,
and you have plenty to carry"
He looked about to see that moth
ing was left behind, and noted that
a little -four had been spilled on the
rocks. He put his load down to in
vestigate. There was small hole in
the bag.
FROM his own pack he took a spare
bag of waterproof canvas and trans
ferred the -four to il, tying up the
neck with strong cord.
Better leave th;t -four" NASH
kaugan said again.
The half-breed, while always will
ing to do far more than his own
share Of the work without the slight
est complaint, had never before OBJ
jected to Lorimers packing all he
wanted to carry. This insistence
seemed strange to the young man;
h,,t tho half -hraa6 was a r,aar chan