CHAPTER ELEVEN.
LUMLEY ON DUTY--FORT WICHIKAGAN BEGINS TO GROW.
The bold and prompt manner in which peace was established among thecontending savages of Lake Wichikagan did more to raise my friend JackLumley in their estimation than if he had fought a hundred successfulbattles, and subdued a nation of foes. It seemed to be felt on allhands that he was a man who could be trusted, and his pointed referenceto the Great Spirit conveyed an impression that truth and justice mustbe his guiding principles.
And on this point these children of nature read his character correctly,for, as I have had frequent occasion to observe, my friend was strictlytruthful, and, I might almost say, sternly just. Duty indeed was hispole-star--duty to God and man.
"Max," he once said to me when we had got into a confidential chatbeside our camp-fire, "let me advise you to take a sound view, and agood grasp, of what men call duty. There is a right and a wrong ineverything that the mind or hand of man can be brought to bear upon. Itis our duty to discover and do the right if we can--to recognise andavoid the wrong. True success in life depends upon this principle beingacted on at all times, and in all things. Even what worldly men deemsuccess--the acquisition of wealth, fame, etcetera--is largely dependenton strict regard to duty."
Of course I heartily agreed with him in this matter, but I am free toconfess that I feel woefully far short of the standard to which heattained. Perhaps a soft and somewhat undecided nature had something todo with my failure. I say not this by way of excuse but explanation.Whatever the cause, I felt so very far below my friend that I looked upto him as a sort of demigod. Strange to say, his affection for me wasalso very strong. He never seemed to perceive my weak points--but,then, he was of a large-hearted, generous disposition, and he came to beloved not only by me and the Indians, but by the men of the expedition,some of whom, although good workers, were rather turbulent fellows.
All things having been satisfactorily arranged, as detailed in the lastchapter, we now set about preparation for wintering. The first point tosettle was the site for our establishment, and a council of the wholeparty was called to settle it on the lawn-like spot on the margin of ourlake where the first fire had been kindled.
"No spot could be better, I think," said our chief, as we stood in apicturesque group around him, with Masqua, Mozwa, and several otherIndians looking on. "The little rising ground and clump of wood at theback will shelter us from the north winds; the underwood on the east andwest is sufficiently high to form a slight protection in thosedirections, and to the south the island-studded bosom of Lake Wichikaganlies spread out before us, to supply us with fish and water, and acheering prospect."
"And to remind Donald Bane and James Dougall," said I, "of Loch Lomondor Loch Ness."
"I rather think," said Lumley, "that it strikes Dougall as having moreresemblance to Loch Awe, if we may judge from the awesome expression ofhis face."
"Weel, Muster Lumley," returned Dougall with a slight smile, "not tospoil your choke, sir, it wass thinkin' o' the fush I wass, an'wonderin' if they wass goot fush."
"Big Otter says they are good," returned our chief, "and I think we mayrely on his opinion. There's a little stretch of rock over there,jutting out from the shore, which could be made into a capital pier forour boats and canoes without much labour. What say you, Henri Coppet;could not a few trees and some planks be easily fitted to these rocks?"
"Oui, monsieur--yes, sir--very easily," answered the carpenter, inFrench.
"Ay, an' wan or two big stones on the other pint o' rocks there,"observed Donald Bane, "would make a goot breakwater, an' a fine harbour,whatever."
"And I'm sure nothing could be finer than the view," said I, withfeelings of enthusiasm.
"Well, then, since we all seem agreed on that point--here shall ourhouse be raised," rejoined Lumley, driving the point of a stick hecarried into the ground. "Come now, boys, go to work. Max, you willsuperintend the placing of the goods in a secure position and cover themwith tarpaulin in the meantime. We'll soon have a hut ready. Dumont,set up your forge under yon pine-tree and get your tools ready.Overhaul your nets, Blondin, and take Salamander to help you--especiallythe seine-net; I'll try a sweep this afternoon or to-morrow. Come here,Max, I want to speak with you."
"Now, Max," he said, when we had gone aside some distance, "see that youarrange the goods so that they may be easily guarded, and don't let theredskins come too near. They may be honest enough, but we won't throwtemptation in their way. We shall want one of them, by the bye, to keephouse for us. What say you to hiring Waboose?"
"Out of the question," said I, quickly.
"Why so, Max?"
"Why, because--don't you see--she's far above that sort o' thing, she'squite a kind of princess in the tribe. Haven't you noticed howrespectful they all are to her? And, besides, she is so--what one mightalmost call ladylike. I am convinced that her father must have been agentleman."
"Perhaps so," returned Lumley, with a quiet laugh; "well, we won'tinsult her by asking her to fill such a position. Away to work now. Iwill sketch out the plan of our establishment. When the goods are allsafe, send your men to fell heavy timber for the houses, and let themalso cut some firewood. Off you go."
In a few minutes we were all at work, busy as bees--carrying, hauling,cutting, hammering and chopping; while some of the Indians looked on,intensely interested, others assisted under the direction of Big Otter,and the woods resounded with the noise of the new-born activity.
Soon Blondin had a net down, and before evening we had caught enough ofthat splendid staple of the North American lakes, the whitefish, tosupply us with a good meal and leave something over for our red friends.
I observed during these operations that, after planning, sketching, andmeasuring, our chief took his axe into the wood and felled a tall pine,from which he proceeded to remove the branches and bark. Towardsevening he took a spade, and dug a deep hole in the ground on the mostprominent part of the lawn, in front of what was to be our future home.
"Come now, four of you," he said, "and help me to set up ourflag-staff."
I ran with three others to assist, and in another minute or two the endof the tall taper stick was dropped into the hole and fixed there. Ahole had been already bored in the top and a rope rove through it, towhich Lumley soon attached the corners of a small red bundle.
"Ho! lads," he shouted, when all was ready, in a voice that rang outfull and strong, "Fall in!"
We had previously been trained to obey this order with the utmostalacrity, by running towards our leader, carrying our loaded guns withus, and forming into line, so as to be ready for any emergency. It wasa fancy of Lumley to drill us thus, and we fell in with his humour, mostof us counting it a piece of fun, to break off from what we chanced tobe doing at the moment the order was given, and trying who should befirst to reach the spot where he stood. As our guns were always loadedand primed, we never had to lose time in charging them.
On the occasion of which I write, we amazed and somewhat alarmed theIndians by our prompt action, for we stood together in a silent row inless than half a minute after the summons was shouted.
"I have called you up, lads," said Lumley, "to take part in a littleceremony. Through the goodness of the Almighty we have been brought insafety and health to our new home. It is already part of the Queen ofEngland's dominions, and I now take possession of it in the name of theHudson's Bay Company. May God prosper and bless us while we stay here!"
He hoisted, as he spoke, the small red bundle, which when shaken outproved to be a flag on which were the letters HBC in white.
"Now, boys, send a volley at the new moon up there. Ready--present--fire! Hoorah!"
The crash of the united volley and the wild huzza which followed causedmany a redskin's heart to leap, and would doubtless have caused many afoot to run, but for the fact that their own redskin brother--BigOtter--was one of the firing party, and, perhaps, the wildest cheerer ofthe band!
The ceremony ended, orders were given to knock off work for the day, andset about the preparation oh supper.
The food was sweet that night, sweeter than usual, for we were veryhungry; the stars were bright that night, brighter than usual, for wewere very happy at the auspicious commencement of our sojourn; and oursleep was unusually sound, for we felt safer than ever under theguidance of a chief who had proved himself so capable of turningthreatened war into peace. This being the condition of things, it wasnot surprising that we indulged in a longer rest than usual, andcontinued to slumber long after the sun had risen and converted LakeWichikagan into a glorious sheet of silver.
It is true that our guide, with that sense of responsibility which seemsto weigh heavy on guides even when asleep, had awakened at the usualhour of starting--daybreak--and, from the mere force of habit, had givenforth his accustomed and sonorous "Leve! leve!"--rise, rise. From themere force of habit, too, we all turned round to have a few secondsrepose on our other sides before obeying the order, but suddenly lightflashed into our minds, and various growls in varied keys saluted ourguide.
"Go to sleep, men," said our chief, with a half laugh, which ended in asigh of contentment.
French growls of doubtful meaning issued from the lips of Dumont andCoppet, but Blondin condescended on no remark at all, unless "Pooh!" maybe considered such.
"Hoots! man--heigh-ho!" remonstrated Donald Bane, while his comradeDougall merely said, "Wow!" and followed it with a prolonged snore.
For myself, I felt inclined to laugh, but, being much too lazy to do so,turned over, and was instantly lost again in oblivion. The whole campwas immediately in the same condition, and thus, as I have said, weremained till the sun was high.
Soon after daybreak, however, the Indians began to stir in their camp--which lay a little apart from ours--and, ascending a slight eminence,whence they could look down on our slumbering forms at their leisure,squatted there and continued to gaze--perhaps to wonder how long wemeant to rest. They were soon joined by others--men, women, andchildren--from the neighbouring camp. Self-restraint, at least in somematters, is a characteristic of the red-men, and they remained verypatiently and silently there; even the children spoke in whispers, andgazed in solemn earnestness at our slumbering camp.
When we rose and began active preparations for breakfast, the littleones melted away--influenced either by fear or by the orders of theirparents. They returned, however, in greater force than ever when webegan the labours of the day. Being all more or less naked, theyresembled a band of brown monkeys without tails, whose great eyes werecapable of expressing only one powerful sentiment--that of surprise!
Thus, watched with deep interest by a large portion of the tribe, weproceeded to the erection of the first house.
"The Hall will stand here, Max," said Lumley to me, as I approached him,bearing one end of a long squared log on my shoulder, the other end ofwhich was carried by Big Otter, while Bane and one of the Canadianssupported the centre of it. "Set it down there, lads--a little morethis way--so."
We laid the timber on the green sward facing the lake, in such a waythat it corresponded with the front line of a large square which hadbeen traced on the turf by Lumley.
"Stay with me, Max, I want your help and advice." The men went back tothe bush, from which, at the same moment, four others of our partyissued, bearing a similar log.
It was laid at the other side of the square, parallel to the first one.In a few minutes the two end logs were carried up and deposited in theirplaces. These logs had all been cut, squared, mortised at their ends,and fitted together in the woods before being brought to the lawn.
"Now, the question is," said Lumley, as he stood with coat off, shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows, and pencil and plan in hand, "shall weturn the front of the house a little more to the south or a little moreto the east? We must decide that now, before fixing the frameworktogether."
"We should get more of the rising sun," said I, "if we turned it moretowards the east. And you know we shall not have too much of its beamsin winter to gladden our hearts and eyes."
"Right, Max, but then we might have too much of the east winds totrouble our toes and noses."
"Still the view eastward," said I, "is so extensive and varied--so fullof sublimity."
"While that to the southward," urged Lumley, "is so soft and beautiful--so full of poetry and romance."
"Come, Jack, don't laugh at me. You know that I am not jesting; I meanwhat I say."
"I know it, Max, but though I may seem to be half jesting, is it notpossible that I, too, may thoroughly mean what I say?"
He pointed as he spoke to the southward, where certain combinations oflight and shade thrown on the numerous islets as well as on the clouds--all of which were reflected in the clear water--presented a scene whichit is easier to imagine than describe.
I at once admitted the justice of his remark, and it was finally settledthat the house should face due south.
"Fix the frame together now, Coppet," said Lumley to our carpenter, whocame forward with a load of small timbers, "and let it face as it nowlies. The ground is fortunately so flat that we won't require muchlevelling of foundations. Now, the next thing, Max," he added, turningto me and consulting the plan, "is this--have we made the best possiblearrangement of our space? You see I am not much of an architect, butluckily we have not to contend with the civilised difficulties oflobbies and staircases."
"You intend our palace to have only one storey, I suppose?" said I.
"Just so, Max. Arctic gales, you see, might carry a top storey off. Weshall have no lobby at all--only a front door and a back door enteringdirect upon our hall. Of course I shall have a porch and door outsideof each, to keep wind and snow out. Now, see here. There, you observe,is the foundation frame now being laid down. Well, one-third of thespace in the middle is to be the hall--our drawing-room, dining-room,library, snuggery, smokery, public-room, etcetera, all in one. It willextend from front to rear of the building; but at the back, you see, Ihave marked a little oblong space which is to be boarded off as a sortof larder, and gun-room, and place for rubbish in general. It willextend along the width of the hall, leaving only space for the backdoor."
"What a capital contrivance!" said I; "it will, besides being so useful,break in on the oblong shape of the hall and give variety of form."
"Just so, Max; then the space left on each side of the hall shall bepartitioned off into four rooms--two on either side--with the doorsopening into the hall. No passages, you see, anywhere, and no wastedspace. One room for me, one for you, one for Salamander, who is to beour man-servant as well as interpreter, and one for Blondin, whom Iintend to make a sort of overseer of the men. We shan't want a spareroom, for we won't be troubled much, I fear, with guests; but if such ablessing should ever descend on us, we can turn Blondin or Salamanderout. They will have to mess with the men at any rate; and, by the way,we must start the men's house and the store immediately, for I intend tocarry on all three at the same time, so that we and the men and thegoods may all get housed together."
"Are you to have attics?" I asked.
"No; but there will be a space under the sloping roof, which can beturned into a garret, and may be reached through a trap-door by amovable ladder. As to windows, the hall is to have two--one on eachside of the door, which will give the house the lively aspect ofappearing to have two eyes and a nose. The bedrooms will each have onewindow in its side, and you may take the one looking eastward if youchoose, Max. In winter these windows shall have double frames and glassto keep the cold out. Go now, my boy, and see to the foundation of themen's house."
Need I say that we all toiled with hearty good-will; for, although theweather was pleasantly warm at the time, we knew that the short-livedautumn would quickly pass and render a good roof over our heads mostdesirable.
Soon a pit-saw which we had brought with us was set to work, and planksbegan to multiply. Henri Coppet and his men swung their great axes, an
dtrees began to fall around, and to take unwonted shapes. The ring ofMarcelle Dumont's anvil was heard from morn till eve, echoing throughthe wild-woods; and powerful bands, and nuts, and screws, of varied sizeand form, were evolved from our bundle of iron bars. Thus the wholeparty wrought with untiring energy, and our future abode began to grow.
At all this our red friends gazed with countenances expressive ofinconceivable surprise and profound admiration.