River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-02-04

4 got a bunch somethin's goin' to
happen" Shorty pleaded after him.
But Smokes reply was a bantering
laugh He held on down the little val
ley, occasionally wiping the sweat from
his forehead. the while his feet crush
ed through ripe mountain ra-pberries
and delicate ferns that grew beside
patches Of sun sheltered ice
LII the early spring he and Shorty
had come to the Stewart river and
launched out into the amazing chaos
of the region where Surprise lake lay
! And all OF the spring and half of the
summer had been consumed in futile
Wanderings. when, Oh the verge OF
turning back they caught their first
| glimpse Of the battling. gold bottomed
sheet OF water which had ured and
! fooled a general ton Of miners
Making their camp i'll the old cabin
which Smoke had discovered OH his
| previous visit. they learned three
| things-irst, heavy nugget gold was
carpeted thickly on the lake bottom;
next the gold could be dived for in
the shallower portions. but the temper
allure of the water was man killing.
and. finally. the draining Of the lake
was too stupendouS a task for two men
in the shorter half of q short summer.
| Undeterred, reasoning from the coarse
ness Of the gold that it had not trav-
eled far, they had set out in search of
| the mother lode. They had crossed the
! big glacier that frOWned on the south
crn rim and devoted themselves to the
puZZling maze Of small valleys and
canyons beyond, which, by most I'M
lnountain-like methods, drained. or had
at one time drained, into the lake.
The valley Smoke was descending
gradually widened after the fashion Of
any normal valley, but at the lower
end it pinched narrowly between high,
precipitous walls and abruptly stopped
| in a cross wall At the base Of this, in
a welter of broken rock, the stream!et
disappeared, evidently finding it's way
| cut underground.
Climbing the cross wall. from the top
Smoke saw the lake beneath him. Tn
| like any mountain lake he had ever
seen. it was not blue. Instead its in
tense peacock green tokened its shall
lowness. 1t was this shallowness that
made it's draining feasible. All about
arose iumbled mountains, with ice
SCARED peaks and cragS, grOtesquely
| shaped and grouped All was tOpSy
| turvy and unsy Stematic-a DOre night
mare
Across the lake, seemingly not more
than half mile. but, as he well knew,
| f We miles away, he could see the bunch
OF spruce trees and the cabin. lie
| looked again to make sure and saw
smoke clearly rising from the chimney.
Somebody else had surprised them
selves into finding Surprise lake. was
his conclusion as he turned to climb
the southern wall.
From the top of this he came down
INTO little valley. flower fioored ana
lazy with the hum Of bees. that be
haved quite as reasonable valley
should. in so far as it made legitimate
entry on the lake What was wrong
with it was it's length-scarcely 100
yards-its head straight up and down
cliff of 1000 feet, over which stream
pitched itself in descending wells of
mist.
And here he encountered more
smoke floating laZily upward in the
warm sunshine, beyond an outlet OF
rock. AS he came around the corner
be heard a light metallic tap-tapping
and a merry whistling that kept the
beat Then he saw the man, an up
turned shoe between his knees. into
the sole of which he was driving hob
spikes.
"Hellor' was the strangers greet
ing. and Smokes heart went out to the
man in ready liking. "Just in time
for snack There's coffee in the
pot, a couple Of cold fapjacks and
some jerky."
I'll go you if l lose" was Smokes
acceptance as he sat down. 1--WE been
rather skimped on the last several
meals. but there's coolies of grub over
IN the cabin"
Across the lake? That's what l
was heading for"
Seems Surprise lake is becoming
populous." Smoke complained, empty
ing the coffeepOt-
Go on, you're joking, aren't your
the man said. surprise painted on his
face.
Smoke laughed. That's the way it
takes everybody. You see those high
Lodges across there to the northwest?
There's where l first saw it. No warn
ing Just suddenly caught the view
of the whole lake from there I'd Civ
en- up looking for it too"
Same here" the other agreed. I'd
headed back and was expecting TO
fetch the Stewart last night when out
popped in sight of the lake. If that's
it where's the Stewart? And where
have | been all the time? And how
did you come here? And what's your
name?"
"Bellew-Kit Bellew."