“I EMPTIED THE CONTENTS OF MY POCKETS ON A ROCK”
“I STRUCK THE STONE WITH MY KNIFE-BLADE”
The sun had set and the forest was black as midnight, but the sky was still faintly bright with the afterglow and the river shone silvery as it swirled and eddied between its shadowy banks. There was no hope of finding berries, roots, or other edibles in the woods after dusk. I had no means of catching game or fish, which, I knew, were abundant, and I commenced to think that I would die a miserable death of starvation before morning, when I suddenly recollected having seen a number of fresh-water mussels in some shallow backwaters of the river while hunting for my flinty pebbles. I had never eaten these shell-fish, but I felt sure they were edible, and, seizing a blazing pine knot from the fire, I made my way to the shore and soon found the pools where I had noticed the mollusks. There were not many—a bare dozen were all I could find that night—but these I felt would be far better than nothing, and in a few moments I had them baking on a bed of hot coals. Hardly waiting for them to cook, I raked them forth and devoured them ravenously, and never did choicest food taste so delicate, so delicious, and so welcome to my lips as did those half-baked, slimy, unseasoned mussels eaten beside my fire in the midst of the wilderness. Few as they were, they served to refresh me greatly and to drive away the most pressing pangs of hunger, and, much as I desired more, I had not the strength or ambition to trudge up and down the river-bank searching for the shells. Piling several huge logs on the fire, I formed a rude bed of fir twigs and, casting myself upon this, fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep.
CHAPTER II
FOOD AND SHELTER
I was awakened by a shaft of sunlight striking my face, and opened my eyes to find the day well advanced. My first thought was of the fire, which had burned completely out. A thread of bluish smoke rose from the heap of ashes, however, and by raking these aside and thrusting bits of birch bark amid the embers I soon had a new blaze started, which I piled high with dry wood. I was wonderfully strengthened and refreshed by my long sleep, but I was all but famished, and as soon as the fire was going well I hurried to the river for more mussels. I found a few here and a few there, and with a dozen or two went back to the fire and presently was breakfasting off the shell-fish. I realized that while these would serve to prevent me from dying of hunger and they were wonderfully welcome in my present starved condition, I would be forced to search for something else to eat very soon. In the first place, the supply of the bivalves was limited. They would, I felt, prove far from palatable save when I was very hungry, and I doubted how much nourishment was contained in their flabby meat.
Had I possessed firearms or even fishing-tackle my plight would not have been bad, for birds and animals could, I knew, be readily found in the woods, while trout and other fish were abundant everywhere in the wilderness streams. As I ate my mussels I sought to devise some method of securing game, but every plan that occurred to me was spoiled by some unsurmountable obstacle which arose. I had often snared game and had even caught partridges with a slender noose on the end of a pole—for in the north woods these birds sit stupidly upon the low fir-trees and allow the hunter to pull them from their perches without taking flight. But a snare required a fine line, a slender wire, or a horsehair, and I had none. Fishing with a line was cast aside as out of the question for the same reason, with the added lack of a hook. Then a bow and arrow occurred to me, but I soon realized that arrows without feathers or sharp, heavy points would be impossible, and that neither heads nor feathers were within reach. Then I thought of spears, for I knew that many savage tribes used spears both in fishing and in hunting, and I decided to try my skill at harpooning some unsuspicious fish or some unusually stupid partridge. It was a long time before I could find a straight, light stick for a haft, but at last I found a slender pole of weathered, dried spruce cast up by the river, and, by dint of whittling and trimming, this was worked into a very straight, well-balanced shaft which I judged would fulfil my requirements. I tried throwing it several times and found it easy to handle, but that it could not be depended upon, for one end was nearly as heavy as the other and it would fly sideways and strike a glancing blow as frequently as it would strike end on.
I realized that a head of some sort was required, but this I could not furnish, and rather than lose all the time I had spent on it I determined to try my hand at spearing a fish before throwing my weapon aside. Whittling the end to a sharp point and cutting numerous barbs, or notches, in it, I walked to the river and looked carefully into each pool and backwater. I saw several fish, but each flitted out of view as the spear was plunged downward, and I was about to abandon my attempts when luck favored me. Approaching one small pool, I gave a little start as a great bullfrog leaped almost from beneath my feet with a loud croak. A moment later he appeared on the farther side of the pool, his goggly eyes just showing above the water, and, approaching him carefully, I drove my sharpened stick at his big, green body. It was a lucky stroke, for the frog was fairly impaled upon the stick, and I drew my first victim from his watery home with a wonderful feeling of elation to think that unaided and alone I had actually succeeded in hunting and capturing a live, wild creature to serve my needs.
Strangely enough, frogs had not occurred to me hitherto, but, now that I had obtained one, I bestirred myself to capture a number. I realized that with my crude spear I could not expect to kill many frogs, and that my first success was pure luck more than anything else. Many a time when a boy I had speared frogs when spending my summers on a farm, and now that frogs were in my mind I remembered the two- or three-pronged spears which the farmers’ boys used. I was still hungry, and while my frog was broiling I busied myself in making a real frog-spear. It was not a difficult task. I had only to attach two slender, barbed pieces of hard wood to the sides of my spear. I had some trouble in binding them on, but I sacrificed strips of my clothing for the purpose, and although the completed spear was very crude, I felt sure it would serve its purpose. I knew, however, that it would soon be blunted and broken among the rocks of the river and I also knew that in such spots frogs would be scarce and that in muddy or stagnant pools I would stand a much better chance of finding them. No swamps or pools were in the immediate vicinity, but I had little doubt that I could find some by a short tramp. I was very anxious to try my spear, but I also realized that I must give time and thought to constructing a shelter to protect me in case of rain, and, reluctantly abandoning my frog-hunt for the time being, I gave my whole attention to the problem of house-building. I had seen many a shack or “lean-to” built and had helped at the work myself, but without an ax I knew that to build even the smallest and simplest shelter would necessitate a tremendous amount of hard labor and would present almost insurmountable difficulties. With only a pocket-knife to cut the necessary trees, poles, and branches, I would be obliged to make the shack of small stuff, and I trembled to think what fate might have in store for me if I should break my knife in an attempt to cut tough branches from the trees.
However, if I was to have a shelter at all it behooved me to begin at once, and I started forth to select a site for my home. I found a sheltered, dry knoll with good drainage a short distance from the river and with plenty of building material in the form of balsam firs, pines, and birches near at hand. I first selected two young trees, about five feet apart, and from these I cut the lower branches, leaving the stubs projecting a few inches. Across two of these I placed a light spruce pole and from the ends of this I laid other poles extending back at an angle to the ground.