The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-11-13

swear IL was cold fOg) revealing :
lone boat with n lone fisherman, ABB
solutely motionless on CLASSY sur
face, showing that II there were fish
IN tho mud they hadn't walked yet.
don't remember where the boys went
after they left The Forks. | cant
remember who ran The Forks hotel al
that time. He was mighty nice &c
me, Being my fathers son was q
big help whenever | went anywhere
They all knew him and. | Judge, liked
him, for things were made easy and
pleasant for me
The hotel man got me a chance to
go into one of the camps, with a
couple OF men. One was an elder
ly man, by the name of Durgin and
the others name | have forgotten.
They had pair of oxen and stone
drag loaded with supplies Looked
sort OF queer to be taking in supplies
that way but-well, there, ] won't
describe that road III only say that
! If those things hadn't been htched
and double hitched and bound down,
over anV over to that drag they
would never have reached their dcs-
tination. TWenty-one miles of it.
they called it. Maybe so. Anyway
they didn't stretch it any.
. We were away in INC cold grey
dawn" on the road To MoXic. Three
miles up, we turned 10 the left off
that road, and We're ON the one. and
only road to camp. At noon, that
Gay, we had our first camp meal, by
the side of large brook. and got
my first lesson camp cooking Also
camp washing. We washed the greasy
tins in the brook, using the sand in
place of soap. ! have found com
mon mud the best, since and it takes
the grease off the hands and the sand
doesn't
We didn't make camp that night un-
til pretty late, for Durgin. who was
boss, hadn't found place to suit him
He did the cooking. The other man
built the fire, quick time. and before
supper was ready, had cut the most
amazing lot of three foot birch logs
ana built solid wind-break Of boughs
about fourteen inches high and ten
feet long, and cut boughs for bed
| carried the boughs and logs and he
kept me humping my back. He was
some wizard with an axe, and never
appeared to hurry. Wasn't | glad
before morning, that we had so many
logs. After supper we sat around a
few minutes and then turned ill.,
Turned in, did | say? had my two
blankets They didn't have any
Durgin hadn't anything but what he
stood in and the other man an over
coat They wouldn't take my blan-
kets or blanket but l. finally got the
~ tn toyo md hn Il %
Durgin take the overcoat and. as
say, we turned in. Durgin within two
feet of the fire, on the leeward side.
and the other two of us behind the
wind-break rolled up in our blankets.
| slept a couple of hours, ! should
Judge, and then woke up. feeling like
an iciclc The fire was a bed of
Goals I got colder and colder. Fin
ally, ! got up and threw on more logs
and got warm. Durgin was within
two feet of that fire. and it was hot,
am telling you. He never moved.
| went back to my blanket, all warm
and comfortable. woke again, in
the iciclc state Fire. a bed of Goals,
the two of them snoozing beautifully.
took that blanket and laid it over
the other fellow built mp that fire
again, made myself seat, with the
tbonobt mat Dnroin wonId have boan
done to a tprn 8hnt he aidn't turn
If bo moved onco all niqbt I didn't
500 hin, no if Riabf IN mat cold
ground and no boughs under him We
had tho houghs laid where the wind
hroal, w,ao nado - 81
',, MN ,.,'',. -. -. ,.. ,,,
~, f" M Qay ..i8hf, iooN ih's S1tn en-,
WehI guy IrdI22 IoqH ioi s"iii9c '"ot 81
topped Il''ie ia't No. 49, go.
across 't!le Ipda' 9ooul 'l''' " .oI'
from me WASH qo,on ''''I 80 -
w Whcn ! "'"|u"' nv vac So 49, =,
iihe ''''' ''l lHe up u ''o 'av, -.
repression, WAS P,'oi -. wa" ~.
apouC SIX leei d'foss. oo'r' ine ,H'i,
wafer was ice, qna'' 'i ~ ~" ~ ~,
thick' frozen lhai hlsnt. was Ela'l
10 sec tl,at zee. CIV i'i' "a
some IeelihI oI sen e'p'E'' ",'oi
lhihklhg !hd' l was an Il" '"' 'C'',''
loot' Also ! iao sum- in'a ~ ~ >"
the boys lcll up mere d. d., a'i'I' oIl,'
a few nights before iheS ''a4 Jus,
come iro"' vain u" -, NJ H. -
t %an uu"U ,'hr o bad s,cnt IN rho loft ON
Val y NH'l' . '''' 90 - - ''-