CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
"SHOOSKIN'."
Next day Roy and Nelly rose with the sun, and spent the forenoon inskinning and cutting up the bear, for they intended to dry part of themeat, and use it on their journey. The afternoon was spent in draggingthe various parts to the hut. In the evening Roy proposed that theyshould go and have a shoosk. Nelly agreed, so they sallied forth to aneighbouring slope with their sledge.
Shoosking, good reader, is a game which is played not only by childrenbut by men and women; it is also played in various parts of the world,such as Canada and Russia, and goes by various names; but we shall adoptthe name used by _our_ hero and heroine, namely "shoosking." It is verysimple, but uncommonly violent, and consists in hauling a sledge to thetop of a snow-hill or slope, getting upon it, and sliding down to thebottom. Of course, the extent of violence depends on the steepness ofthe slope, the interruptions that occur in it, and the nature of theground at the bottom. We once shoosked with an Indian down awood-cutter's track, on the side of a steep hill, which had a sharp turnin it, with a pile of firewood at the turn, and a hole in the snow atthe bottom, in which were a number of old empty casks. Our greatdifficulties in this place were to take the turn without grazing thefirewood, and to stop our sledges before reaching the hole. We each hadseparate sledges. For some time we got on famously, but at last _we_ran into the pile of firewood, and tore all the buttons off our coat,and the Indian went down into the hole with a hideous crash among theempty casks; yet, strange to say, neither of us came by any seriousdamage!
"There's a splendid slope," said Roy, as they walked briskly along theshores of Silver Lake, dragging the sledge after them, "just beyond thebig cliff, but I'm afraid it's too much for _you_."
"Oh, _I_ can go if you can," said Nell, promptly.
"You've a good opinion of yourself. I guess I could make you sing smallif I were to try."
"Then don't try," said Nelly, with a laugh.
"See," continued Roy, "there's the slope; you see it is very steep; we'dgo down it like a streak of greased lightnin'; but I don't like to tryit."
"Why not? It seems easy enough to me. I'm sure we have gone down assteep places before at home."
"Ay, lass, but not with a round-backed drift like that at the bottom.It has got such a curve that I think it would make us fly right up intothe air."
Nelly admitted that it looked dangerous, but suggested that they mightmake a trial.
"Well, so we will, but I'll go down by myself first," said Roy,arranging the sledge at the summit of a slope, which was full fifty feethigh.
"Now, then, pick up the bits tenderly, Nell, if I'm knocked to pieces;here goes, hurrah!"
Roy had seated himself on the sledge, with his feet resting on the headof it, and holding on to the side-lines with both hands firmly. Hepushed off as he cheered, and the next moment was flying down the hillat railway speed, with a cloud of snow-drift rolling like steam behindhim. He reached the foot, and the impetus sent him up and over thesnow-drift or wave, and far out upon the surface of the lake. It istrue he made one or two violent swerves in this wild descent, owing toinequalities in the hill, but by a touch of his hands in the snow oneither side, he guided the sledge, as with a rudder, and reached thefoot in safety.
"May I venture, Roy?" inquired Nell, eagerly, as the lad came panting upthe hill.
"Venture! Of course. I rose off the top o' the drift only a littlebit, hardly felt the crack at all; come, get you on in front, and I'llsit at yer back an' steer."
Nelly needed no second bidding. She sat down and seized the side-linesof the sledge, with a look of what we may call wild expectation; Roy satdown behind her.
"Now, lass, steady, and away we go!"
At the last word they shot from the hill-top like an arrow from a bow.The cloud of snow behind them rolled thicker, for the sledge was moreheavily laden than before. Owing to the same cause it plunged into thehollow at the foot of the hill with greater violence, and shot up theslope of the snow-drift and over its crest with such force that itsprung horizontally forward for a few feet in the air, and came to theground with a crash that extracted a loud gasp from Roy, and a sharpsqueak from Nelly. It was found to be so delightful, however, that theytried it again and again, each time becoming more expert, and thereforemore confident.
Excessive confidence, however, frequently engenders carelessness. Roysoon became reckless; Nelly waxed fearless. The result was that theformer steered somewhat wildly, and finally upset.
Their last "shoosk" that evening was undertaken just as the sun's latestrays were shooting between the hills on the opposite side of SilverLake, and casting a crimson glow on the hut and the surrounding scenery.Roy had fixed a snow-shoe on the outer ridge of the snow-drift, to markthe distance of their last leap from its crest, and had given the sledgean extra push on the way down to increase its impetus. This extra pushdisconcerted him in steering; he reached the hollow in a side-longfashion, shot up the slope of the drift waveringly, and left its crestwith a swing that not only turned the sledge right round, but alsoupside down. Of course they were both thrown off, and all three fellinto the snow in a condition of dire confusion. Fortunately, no damagewas done beyond the shock and the fright, but this accident wassufficient to calm their spirits, and incline them to go home to supper.
"Well, it's great fun, no doubt, but we must turn our minds to moreearnest work, for our journey lies before us," said Roy, with thegravity of an Iroquois warrior, as he sat beside the fire that nightdiscussing a bear-steak with his sister. "We have more than enough offish and meat, you see; a day or two will do to turn our deer and bearinto dried meat; the snow-shoes are mended, the sledge is in good order,as to-night's work has proved, and all that we've got to do is to startfresh with true bearin's and--hey! for home!"
"I wish I was there," said Nelly, laying down a marrow-bone with a sigh.
"Wishin' ain't enough, Nell."
"I know that, an' I'm ready to work," said Nelly, resuming the bone witha resolute air. "When shall we set out?"
"When we are ready, lass. We shall begin to dry the meat to-morrow, an'as soon as it's fixed--off we'll start. I only hope the cold weatherwill last, for if it came warm it would go hard with your little feet,Nell. But let's turn in now. Hard work requires a good sleep, an' itmay be that we've harder work than we think before us."