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544

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:8. NO. 25.

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,DETROI'l‘, MICHIGAN, 1 =15, 1893.

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in SONG, Mr l?l-innnn SINGS.

BY’ E.‘P.A.'U'IoI1V'E J'OEN'SOITq

' a
I

mééuu

HREE taut little bass-
wood- canoes, manned
at the stern, maidened
at the bow, six" gleam-
ing, agile paddles—and
before us a run of nine-
ty-seven miles on one
of the most rollicking
lrivers in Ontario; who
would ask more than
this for a typical out-
ing in merry May-time?
For days. and days
id cruisers had vainly tried

larly almost a hundred feetin a massive
pile, its ‘shelving irregularity perforated
by numerous caves and crested by the
hardy cedar, whose roots‘ miraculously
draw their nutriment from those earthless
cliffs. ~

Below the Narrows another rock frowns
out conspicuously. It is called’ “The old
Man's Face,” as‘ it bears a striking resem-
lance to a hu ‘an profile.
breaks into _a

ll [tell
=_;;r"

urbulent little cascade some
five feet high, and finally sinks exhausted
and lulled..into a huge stone basin known
as "‘.The Devil!-is Punch ’ owl." , Beiowitmg
us from gemg_ . By «new we launched our three _rail crhft. ;',.l_‘he
hree girls «who were«.in2ad..».t°3?lPt.3-llmk t9‘—l’l1’1.l-19519.: 1 , W
ttempt _r.un::i' §-tho'se—-' wild’ W33 Elm? l3.?,1‘95l8tlbl°-* ~'bl1Jf”'0'
», .Wf~.ca-'

be Water was at} flood mght‘, pilots refused . all 'importunities;'.{_-
swollen by recent rains until 'n°e5 have °V°l' “"1 the 50739: ‘ l3‘]..3‘5991l18.i
threatening enough. to lessen. and °nlY tW° .h.9",'.° We’ “Veal thF°Wh""lt--
a. spring cruise even .in the. the» °°°“l’3m39l-'_ ‘$116 Otllerfi .8l8;dI;r"eBl3p-It-‘.
of some of em. beet club ingwith their lives and the -experi'ence."nor
at we three gme Wenvt at- bemoaning-the .canoes slivered andlwrecked
way of an Outdoor greue, or their kit lost forever in the angry swirl
ting of genuine - Canadian’ 01 "tl.‘°3°‘ thul1.d.°..1‘°l13 1'3-P155 l ‘:1’? .' ’
-0,-th the p1em,me.__ _ « In Elora they tell of. some French trap-
lgis the most popular sport V ~— ' ' —~ ' ‘
LS to-day is beyond dispute,
the back lakes, rivers and
that have not mirrored pad-
'bo'ro sail and bivouac; but
as that stretch of the Grand
between Elora and Brant-
n by ladies. Old canoeists
mid never do it. Tlhgr told
would regret taking us be-
‘night closed in; that the
- long, too arduous, too‘haz-
.r three jolly comrades stood
clared that we girls would
" in “better shape" than
men they had piloted down
river, that is one long series
rapids, from themoment it
2 Grand Falls at Elora until
Lst the pretty little city of
Lrly 100 miles distant. In
I this we went by rail to‘
ie stream, shipping our ‘ca-
he day previous." O_ur three
regulation sixteen-foot bass-
bizrty-inch beam and good,
bows. Not one of them .
sixty-five ,pounds and with
was light and consisted of
ecessities, our entire outfit
ier-weight compared to‘ that
_by novices at -river. cruising.
all old hands. andlvery old
_about'- as gjoliyf a crowd‘ as-

'l.‘hén* the river 4

44;.

their lands, but not nearly the value there-
of. But although these shores have long
been strangers to the moccasined foot of
the red hunter, although many moons have
paled and died since these might}! elms and
. firs spread their numerous branches above
the barken bivouac of that grandest 01 all
Indian races, _the pure old Iroquois, still
the river voices, and the restless pine trees

'§‘ih]e:gsé9fshtd]l$eshtIh(;1)'y hyeslal-[db tlvileh l?1d?zlll'I;1(l)1I1]§1tlng song,

And watched his elflsh, whispering canoe

Flit like a spirit, as they listened to

The fleeing footsteps of the startled deer

That paused to slake its thirst in waters clear.

And in the midst of this territory the
little Dutch village has sprung up; its citi-
zens, stolid, prosaic, unromantic, are as
great a contrast to the erstwhile legend-
loving Indians, who lived and hunted and
died here, as two nations of two continents
could well be. -

The second morning "-rong-ht " .1. sky 0%:
,_‘tmjq11afl;'sg§_» afigenial s_l.ln'_'§gld oh! xblessed f0!"

[7t'une, a stiff breeze that whlstleci 11p‘l.3L"I.u
the west and’ struck us full astern. Of
course, we hoisted canvas. The Beneclicts
‘inthe pe-de—queu ran up 8« Scrap Of 8»
lateen and swerved around the bend of the
river before we had time to ship, our
masts. Nip‘ and Jeanette in the Nora,
Tuck and I in the Wild Cat, each ran
out a lugsail that caught the breeze in the
twinkling of an eye and we scurried cut

5-..;

‘u.

ogether--just six of us. Mr.
llmplh-' IlTuck’9I
gvhgg {had .-cruisedfin a Iftice
ed-_‘B_:i.ja_]:.,’l1i;,10rd, boat house {to
Yorlz‘. City, 4, .only.
:o)"7a.'li'cl_’ my‘ own” girl ‘friend,’

s._rers.v~who.-_somel l'l1.ll=¥_
§1i;f.l‘.li'€?si
.l. V’

nine-we . . ms-
.;h’c;a.sdj..—or. , j
“'portageV thereat. '--~...%Laun.cli,ing " .al’g*‘a62;iiri;'l“i‘n’1”T”:fli"e‘
Corkscrew, they reached the“ lD,evi,4l{l_3;i‘?I'unch?
Bowl with-barely their souls in the7ii€~‘bodie$
but their birch-bark, _guns,- am,muniti9_n_,_,an_d.
provenderthe river had torn to sh‘:-eds be-”
yond recognition. So we decided’ ‘not to
emulate these worthy pioneer Voyageurs-
the rain was quite wet enough for us with-
out trying the river. . i
We packed our kit in, tovered it with
rubber sheets, donned our waterproof
coats, sorted ourselves into congenial pairs
. and, amid good wishes from the teamsters
ashore, we shot out into the swollen stream
and the long, singular cruise began.

The only things that made life worth"liv-
ing that day were the beauty of the land-
scape and—-dinner. Our course lay through
one of Ontario's finest farming districts,
for, after leaving Elora, all hints of stone
and granite disappeared as though by mag-
ic. .The world seemed to be just waking
to the realization that it had a boundless
warmth of life stowed away under its
brown bosom, life that was Welling up into
the trees, the simple wild flowers, the si-
lent fields. It was the first flush of May
time, and, despite the drizzle that monot-
onously fell the day through, we thor-
oughlyenjoyed. the beauty of shore, stream
and atmosphere. As is usual on a cruise,
all hands clamored for dinner early, so we
beached on a sodden bank and hunted" for
as sheltered a spot as could be found. The
boys built a fire in a little hollow that was
rain-soaked and muggy. It was a marvel-
ous feat, but boys seem to have Satan's
own command of flame, and in a half hour
we had a big pot of strong black tea ready
for consumption. It is a strange fact, but
I never tasted any tea as good as that the
boys make around a camp fire. The only

myself."
were a .religious crowd; at
(—developed that way when
so the quaint old-time hotel
ghted ominous lead-colored
slowly up from the sou-
'ers for fair.weather that

our usually thoughtless
ve done credit to a better
eless, despite our reforma-
it on the long looked for

to the sound of rain,"

v the boys’ voices clamor-
eron’s door across the cor-
lg, “Oh!nonsense, we can
.in like this with the girls.”
:ioned door flew open, fol-

Ij

/ ,3»',_,w../,.;0,‘_ :1. difficulty about this tea was, where were
2/A’ ' "'_ we to sit while we drank it? Benedict had
/4? \_,.;°f" appropriated the only stump in the place.
,, ‘st .;‘2‘F"s_" He was using it :1 y, carv-

b1lt1er’s pantr
l_w_"v-_‘-» _v';l,'w~ ‘' ‘T Iv." ':uw~" Hm-in

Aim’ Hu-

pnvm's enson sown

.’,fcrw'ard.'; 'I.'Jl_(‘.l'C ']'.‘vll‘.‘.il‘ IV 8 (‘filled

work. We “sawed wood” right along, but

wind ’blows only once. in a lifetime.

nose to nose, as prettyea pair ofwhite
swans as you oo'uld.fwis’h to see. 1‘ lounged

him, ~ because" he ".boré,“fi‘o resemblance to W a
divine) managedthe steering blade anrithe
sheet at the same time, quite a «wonderful
feat in such stiff weather.“ We cut through
some minor rapids like materialized light-
ning, splitting the spray into two gauzy
wings over our bow deck and otherwise
raising excitement enough. -to warrant a
cautionary shout from Nip, who was spin-
ning away helter-skelter, narrowly escap-
ing various boulders and half the time
scaring the wits out ofhis bow ballast.
Finally .th_e,gale?blew~; a regular rip-snorter
and with difficulty we lowered_canvas, for
a bend inethe river brought us dead against
the wind, which blew straight into our teeth,
and then we knew. that meanthard work-
The "sails stowed, we to-ok to the paddles,
and for an hour‘7 I never put in harder

the canoe. barely moved. ‘Such a head

Benedict assumed for himself the posi-

. _ 9 u ',
care. "Plunge.

canoe lunged,‘toppled,.r~righted herself, then
met the second wave‘ fairéand square bow _
on. Another deluge of water and I thought
we were swamped, but not a. bit of" it.

through wave _
dropped into the -comparative calm at the
foot of her namesake._ V '

or father all throats, and. then followed a-
general breakfor" shore, ~.wher_e_ w'e.emptie_d .
out the canoes and
ions and kit.

the greatest dare-de.vlil...a.1l'_\lf.!.,~ (10? he!‘ 8lZ8).- l
Some one
rapids.”
head like wine.
this famous stretch of seven. miles. wherein
eleven wildcats followed one "another like
the links in a chain, with ..but~a few yards
space between wherein you could .bI‘e8-the
and grasp your paddlelwith‘ renewed vigor.

these; you take the bow."
what you can do."
forward, brought the kit aft, and. kneeling

at the stern thwart I grasped my paddle
for business.

ltive contrivance’*t’-he; 'vlll,agers_ have of con-
veying letters and -‘parcels. across this river,
which here is bridgeless. ’A stout wire
cable stretches.froin:V__'shore to shore. Over,
which slips 9. 1basket,'worked_
by the simple met’lio/d‘}oIp5::‘.‘p1flling a~vstriI13-.‘,’.'_‘
And this meets th}ii.’si~mple~.demands- of
the villagers. "We?!?t£ou_ch’e_d at the -bank for
a half hour,‘ and.l“‘.ha~‘d"an all too brief
glimpse into an .-ar;tl8t*s home. Luckily it
was the studioof‘-Car'l7_Ahrens, who has
recently «made such a hit’ in domestic and
child painting. Picturesque as ever, sur-
rounded with home affections and effects,
the rising artist ,'fgaV_e;-,:..,11s_ a welcome that
lacked no warn1t;l'i*,,',,._arlsj1j;,vv_h,¢7:xl weleft two

gret and skim _ ,, ..§_tg,t;ting;‘Aintoepretty,i
gravstov-e~<’='*a1t lama I jT;¢l=-.%li9#?=‘ emfnoonei
scarce realizing’ «had? run thirty-
threevmiles sincs*"i§}3y. ”
night in'a gom

fl .
. 1 5 ’

.iSt;af7w5.s .».¢;;.;1.;.;g.‘.“ '
t Dutch inn
' "“~“.was;_the jolliest

gave you at.-feat,he1§‘:l:,l§§ W , _
another to sleepy, f “":}\_

the best, and .we‘~~ 'te7.i§‘]3;.l1i.-zyxneesicllc for
.white, bare floors"A‘.a1;Q,..,;the.’curious. broken‘
English of minechest’;-.i.;v".;;i"'_' I ‘

The third day dawned bluer, balmier even
than its predecessor, a_5'_nd-...we launched just
below the Gait‘ dam. with ‘various friends
and the omnipresent ‘small boy in full‘.
force to wishus good luck,‘ for this was to: ‘
be our day of daysilfiiiagmuch’ as we were? "
to brave the wi1‘d駧f.!‘&D$ds. of the rung , "

We skirled “sileritly~"}-gthrough ithe pretty’.
town and in an hofur'litei3e'.drifting between
the velvetiest ..banksw.:aindf-greenest shores in
the province. Then cameisomee bolder out-.,
lines, followed by a wee village called. Glen-
morris, whose existence is proclaimed sole-
ly by the presence of._a.—laingle stone build-
ing and a dam. ‘We braved the latter in
great style, running fi_tst_ra.ight, with bow
plumb ahead. .The: lit'tlef-‘crafts‘ pitched,
lea.pt,, dipp_ed,x then".sii‘df -‘royally through
the foot foam vwith..s.‘l.i’ev“er"a= treacherous
tilt from either of ‘tliern.."‘Then came the_
Chicopee dam, a rroz-ring torrent of har-
nessed water, which 7 the boys ran with-
mad persistency. “Benedict did not attempt
it; he said he had. tg'sro"'ch_ildren at home
who needed afather to’:-. a‘ few years longer.
On we rushed’ restlesstyfdodging the boul-
ders that began toesjgring. ups-like mush-- -
rooms everywhe‘re..._A,;:;_:te,'yV, ._-.mo_ments more V
and what -is the~'swee‘t7,,- far sound that
reaches our, ears? The rapids at last.
skirling, - rolllcking.;;—,'sf§,jr.;fto;‘ forward,‘ ‘ a’nd,'j-
above their 1augh~t§g.».~i;;theL-fsteadyV rush*:.«of..; "
waters, falling, ’ iiather.-dam.'1-‘ _
“It’s the stone Eihhuts back Bene-
dict. "Hang on a1l‘,::r?l3ok§5‘slippy, and ;we'il -
run her." \,.- . A h .1
For reasons above‘,;l_rne*ntioned the Bene-.
dicts took the qu-iei§ést;~.‘«'b_reak..under the u-
189 Shore. butgthe

the way. .Th’en T113‘ can.g§§i‘f;ileapt.. ._ ‘
straight, was lost..tq,§;;.yiew:."‘for "a7-second’.
only to reappear, r4ldi§ig'i~high. onjtho terri-‘
ble black ‘curling waves ‘that.\‘ia8.l!0€l'-~l1lIn.~‘
about like a straw. In another second we
were in it, and for two orninutes I think V
my eyes stood out like-cannon balls. The

bow upraised in mid; air, then plunged
headlong into a wave -that loomed. a solid
wall of water right .ahea.d. W,e.'sD1it her
crest in‘ twain, and I” gotxabout two pails
of water S.la‘p-ped.right onto,.m3' chest. ._The 0-

3

0x

i
‘J

for‘ the‘ bigl"recu9z:i3;’ll-1:”

N

The taut_ little i'Wild Cat -rode regally
after wave until She

A shout of triumph arose-from all hands,

-y”i’-rung out the cush-
“What's next?,"' demanded Jeannie, who is;
replied, “The Eleven Link"

The very nameof it went to my
Full often had I heard of

“Tuck,” I said, ‘I shall steer through.
“All right,” he assented. “You know best

Accordingly I tucked his big f0I'm 8-Way

’I‘hm'e is rmlhln: in life that sends mo as

artists Joined u-;vifnvl*.Tber1s.*
accompanying us,’ ‘miles. down;
stream. We bade thelflfiegpod-bye. with ‘!‘¢g_-j; V

ford, sleeping in the sunshine, behind us
laughs the wild old river out of its rocky
gorge "at Elora, we drift slowly, regretfully
toward the boathouse, where stand the
men, who taunted us with probable failure.

-We have had no disaster, no upset, noth-

ing but success, so the men cheer and
hurrah us, call us _“some of the boys," and
shake hands heartily as we beach the last
time, for our sweet, mad cruise is over.

" ..-1:r

THE GRAVE’ ow THE rum

3 V’
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