Away in the Wilderness Read online

  CHAPTER TWO.

  THE THREE FRIENDS.

  When the hunter had stood for full five minutes gazing at the beautifulscenery by which he was surrounded, it suddenly occurred to him that apipe would render him much more capable of enjoying it; so he sat downon the trunk of a fallen tree, leaned his gun on it, pulled the fire-bagfrom his belt, and began to fill his pipe, which was one of the kindused by the savages of the country, with a stone head and a wooden stem.It was soon lighted, and Jasper was thinking how much more clear andbeautiful a landscape looked through tobacco smoke, when a hand was laidlightly on his shoulder. Looking quickly round, he beheld a talldark-faced Indian standing by his side.

  Jasper betrayed neither alarm nor surprise; for the youth was his owncomrade, who had merely come to tell him that the canoe in which theyhad been travelling together, and which had been slightly damaged, wasrepaired and ready for service.

  "Why, Arrowhead, you steal on me with the soft tread of a fox. My earsare not dull, yet I did not hear your approach, lad."

  A smile lighted up the countenance of the young Indian for a moment, ashe listened to a compliment which gratified him much; but the graveexpression which was natural to him instantly returned, as he said,"Arrowhead has hunted in the Rocky Mountains where the men aretreacherous; he has learned to tread lightly there."

  "No doubt, ye had need to be always on the look out where there are suchvarmints; but hereaway, Arrowhead, there are no foes to fear, andtherefore no need to take yer friends by surprise. But ye're proud o'your gifts, lad, an' I suppose it's natural to like to show them off.Is the canoe ready?"

  The Indian replied by a nod.

  "That's well, lad, it will be sun-down in another hour, an' I would liketo camp on the point of pines to-night; so come along."

  "Hist!" exclaimed the Indian, pointing to a flock of geese which cameinto view at that moment.

  "Ah! you come of a masterful race," said Jasper, shaking his headgravely, "you're never content when ye've got enough, but must always bekilling God's creatures right and left for pure sport. Haven't we gotone grey goose already for supper, an' that's enough for two men surely.Of course I make no account o' the artist, poor cratur', for he eatsnext to nothin'. Hows'ever, as your appetite may be sharper set thanusual, I've no objection to bring down another for ye."

  So saying the hunter and the Indian crouched behind a bush, and theformer, while he cocked his gun and examined the priming, gave utteranceto a series of cries so loud and discordant, that any one who wasignorant of a hunter's ways must have thought he was anxious to driveall the living creatures within six miles of him away in terror. Jasperhad no such wish, however. He was merely imitating the cry of the wildgeese. The birds, which were at first so far-off that a rifle-ballcould not have reached them, no sooner heard the cry of their friends(as they doubtless thought it) than they turned out of their course, andcame gradually towards the bush where the two men lay hidden.

  The hunter did not cease to cry until the birds were within gunshot.Then he fixed his eye on one of the flock that seemed plump and fat.The long barrel of the gun was quickly raised, the geese discoveredtheir mistake, and the whole flock were thrown into wild confusion asthey attempted to sheer off; but it was too late. Smoke and fire burstfrom the bush, and an enormous grey goose fell with a heavy crash to theground.

  "What have you shot? what have you shot?" cried a shrill and somewhatweak voice in the distance. In another moment the owner of the voiceappeared, running eagerly towards the two men.

  "Use your eyes, John Heywood, an' ye won't need to ask," said Jasper,with a quiet smile, as he carefully reloaded his gun.

  "Ah! I see--a grey swan--no, surely, it cannot be a goose?" saidHeywood, turning the bird over and regarding it with astonishment; "why,this is the biggest one I ever did see."

  "What's yon in the water? Deer, I do believe," cried Jasper, quicklydrawing the small shot from his gun and putting in a ball instead."Come, lads, we shall have venison for supper to-night. That beastcan't reach t'other side so soon as we can."

  Jasper leaped quickly down the hill, and dashed through the bushestowards the spot where their canoe lay. He was closely followed by hiscompanions, and in less than two minutes they were darting across thelake in their little Indian canoe, which was made of birch-bark, and wasso light that one man could carry it easily.

  While they are thus engaged I will introduce the reader to John Heywood.This individual was a youth of nineteen or twenty years of age, who wasby profession a painter of landscapes and animals. He was tall andslender in person, with straight black hair, a pale haggard-lookingface, an excitable nervous manner, and an enthusiastic temperament.Being adventurous in his disposition, he had left his father's home inCanada, and entreated his friend, Jasper Derry, to take him along withhim into the wilderness. At first Jasper was very unwilling to agree tothis request; because the young artist was utterly ignorant ofeverything connected with a life in the woods, and he could neither usea paddle nor a gun. But Heywood's father had done him some service at atime when he was ill and in difficulties, so, as the youth was veryanxious to go, he resolved to repay this good turn of the father bydoing a kindness to the son.

  Heywood turned out but a poor backwoodsman, but he proved to be apleasant, amusing companion, and as Jasper and the Indian were quitesufficient for the management of the light canoe, and the good gun ofthe former was more than sufficient to feed the party, it matterednothing to Jasper that Heywood spent most of his time seated in themiddle of the canoe, sketching the scenery as they went along. Stillless did it matter that Heywood missed everything he fired at, whetherit was close at hand or far away.

  At first Jasper was disposed to look upon his young companion as a pooruseless creature; and the Indian regarded him with undisguised contempt.But after they had been some time in his company, the opinions of thesetwo men of the woods changed; for they found that the artist was wise,and well informed on many subjects of which they were extremelyignorant; and they beheld with deep admiration the beautiful andlife-like drawings and paintings which he produced in rapid succession.

  Such was the romantic youth who had, for the sake of seeing and paintingthe wilderness, joined himself to these rough sons of the forest, andwho now sat in the centre of the canoe swaying his arms about andshouting with excitement as they quickly drew near to the swimming herdof deer.

  "Keep yourself still," said Jasper, looking over his shoulder, "ye'llupset the canoe if ye go on like that."

  "Give me the axe, give me the axe, I'll kill him!" cried Heywood.

  "Take your pencil and draw him," observed the hunter, with a quietlaugh. "Now, Arrowhead, two good strokes of the paddle will do--there--so."

  As he spoke the canoe glanced up alongside of an affrighted deer, and inthe twinkling of an eye Jasper's long knife was in its heart, and thewater was dyed with blood. This happened quite near to the oppositeshore of the lake, so that in little more than half an hour after it waskilled the animal was cut up and packed, and the canoe was againspeeding towards the upper end of the lake, where the party arrived justas night began to fling its dark mantle over the wilderness.