Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-08-26
At Big Loon Post
By Gerge Van Schaick Copyrighted,
By Gerge Van Schaick

dIlu sat UUWn Tor moment.
He studied the sun carefully, and
hnaIly turned at right angles to the
course he mad been taking, coming
out to the river again, where he
loud That half days toll had been
wasted, for he was nearly at his
Startlng-plac near the rapids of
Dead Pine Hill.
The pain in his limbs and his Bills
>. tered feet and aching shoulders did
not alone trouble HIM. His food was
poor stu1 for man on a hard Jour
ney.
Ihere was no baking powder for
ms Hour, and the sOdden cakes he
baked on hat stones or the raw flour
ne sometimes ate were like lead in
MS stomach.
Always ne watched keenly for
game, yet he was aole to Kill but lit
tie. he captured a couple of porcu-
p-nes as they were slowly climbing
trees with great rattle of auills,
and ate their tat meat raVenousty. A
DIS hare he shot lasted him a coupje
oI days. Patrluges had been scarce
that year, and he killed but very few
with his pistol.
At the end of the first week, hay-
ing tolled from earliest daylight un-
til dark, and resting only when over
come with fatigue, he knew that he
vas not yet halfway to Tshemuak
Post. Already he had grown thin
and worn. H:s cheek bones pro.
trudec, and his eyes darkened like
those OF man who has undergone
,ong Iigils.
He knew then the awful WEAKNESS
Of the man to whom inanimate
things become To,yon"' e~t,~'.s
There is a time wnen the cA.ia<s
dragging of feet from the /! -; oo%o
becomes torture; whom hind r.
branches and vines that are sn"rc
for heavy feet to catch upon and
fallen trunks that cannot be stepped
over become the wiles of fiends
united in conspiracy and try ones
soul to the verge of madness.
At times, often for a merciful
half-hour, he would find himself in
bit of open forest where there were
no windfalls, or where the high trees
shutting off the light, had prevented
the growth of smaller trees and
shrubs.
Then he would feel as if he had
been delivered from shackles, and he
went on, gladdened for a while, I'M
til quagmires barred his way or tan
| gled, deciduous trees halted him.
He might have collapsed and
wept in moment of exhaustion, but
the sweating of his body and the
thinness of his poorly nourished
frame must have dried the fount of
his tears.
For two days he had to tramp in
pouring rain. When the summer
warmth earth was moistened with
! the water that came cold from north
! born clouds, it steamed and smoked,
and the thick mist obscured his Wis
ion.
Several times he sank on soggy
moss and rotting leaves, and slept
/ for time, to awake in terror lest he
had wasted precious hours. Then he
would start hurriedly, until his stiff
ened limbs would rebel at his speed.
and stumble, so that he frequently
walked with the tottering gait of the
aged.
1t began to seem like ages since
he had started. He lost the count Of
days, and soon began to think he had
wandered for months and that there
never could be an end to his jour
ney.
Very early one morning he started
again, his head confused with the
first delirium of overexertion. He
no longer seemed to care whether he
ever reached his goal.
In a few minutes he came to a
small lake, which puzzled him at
first. Suddenly he realized that he
was on the shore of Amishkapi, or
Many Beaver Lake, that was only a
few hours travel in canoes from
Tshemuak.
A little strength returned to his
body. He would certainly arrive at
his post on the evening of the next
| day at the latest.
For time he found fair walking,
and his heart was wonderfully light
ed. for his home was almost in sight.
He had to keep some distance from
the shore of the lake, for it was
reedy, with a soft, mud bottom.
Then he vaguely noted the tracks
of a man who had been there only
recently. Following these tracks he
came to a place on the shore where
a canoe had landed-but it was no
longer there.
Retracing his steps he followed
the tracks inland.
At the foot of tree, resting on a
bed of moss, an infant, wrapped in a
| tiny blanket, was lying asleep.
For a moment Lorimer looked
duly at the baby, hardly seeming to
understand Then the baby cried
feebly, as if weak from hunger.
Lorimer, still dazed, took the child
in his arms, hardly knowing what he
was doing.
An hour later Uapukun, the wife
of Atuk, a Nascaupee, who was
camping on Many Beaver Lake, net
| ting whitetish for the winters pro-
Wis. ons, opened her eyes in wonder.
A man clad in woful rags was
staggering toward her, yet he did
not appear to see her. His face was
rough with a beard of some weeks,
and he was soiled with the dirt of
many days, which cold water alone
had been unable to remove. In his
| arms the man held a weeping child.
The woman called him and he lift
ed up his head as one suddenly awak-
ened from dream. He rushed to-
| ward her, stumbling, bent down,
placed the baby in her arms, and
/ rolled over on the ground, an inert
| mass.
Uapukun then cried out and her