Three Boys in the Wild North Land

by Egerton Ryerson Young

The boys listened with absorbing interest to this thrilling story. The camp fire had partly burned down and the stars had come out in their splendour, but none seemed to observe these things.

The dramatic power with which Pukumakun accompanied his narrative, his genuine sorrow at the tragic death of his mother, and then his fierce excitement as he described the last long race and its end, simply fascinated our young friends, and they declared that it was the most wonderful story they had ever heard.

Of course the bright tartan shirt, with some other gifts, was handed over, and then all wrapped themselves in their blankets and lay down on the rocks to sleep.

During the night the strong south wind veered around to the north-east, and the alert Indians in charge were quick to observe the change. Soon the cry of “Meyoo nootin!” (“Fair wind!”) was heard, and, in a time so brief that it would have seemed almost incredible to persons who have not witnessed it, the boats were afloat, the masts stepped, the sails hoisted, and the journey, so long delayed, was gladly resumed. In the earliest dawn the last of the sails were seen by Mr Ross and our friends to be sinking below the horizon as they sped along toward the mouth of the great Saskatchewan. For the rest of the day they were quite lonesome after the departure of the brigade, and, as the wind was in a bad quarter for them, they decided to rest during the day and then go out spearing fish during the coming night. The Indians were set to work preparing the inflammable torches which would be necessary for their success. These were made of various things. The best were of the fine resinous strips of spruce or balsam, taken from those parts that are saturated with the resinous gum. They were secured in handles which prevented the hot melted pitch from running down and burning the hands of those who held them. Other torches were made of strips or rolls of birch-bark saturated in the balsam gum, which is gathered by the Indians and used so generally in keeping watertight their canoes.

The three-pronged barbed spears were fastened in long light handles, and every other preparation was made for having a successful expedition.

On account of the long evening twilight they had to wait for some hours after supper ere it was dark enough for them to hope for any measure of success. However, the experienced Indians knew when it was best to start, and so, after the inevitable cup of tea and the additional pipe for the smokers, the three canoes were carried down and carefully placed in the water. In each canoe was one of our boys, and they were of course excited at the prospect of this nightly adventure. It seemed so weird to thus embark in this ghostly way and to leave the bright camp fire on the rocks, with the few watchers who remained, Mr Ross being one of them, and to embark in their canoes and go paddling out in the gloom.

Their destination was in the western part of Playgreen lake, where they expected to find abundance of fish of the varieties that afford excellent sport when caught in this way. After several miles of careful paddling in the darkness, where rocks abounded and rapids were many, they reached a place that seemed familiar to the Indians. They easily found a sheltered cove, where they went ashore, and, groping around in the darkness, they soon gathered some dry wood and kindled a fire. Fortunately the wind had nearly died away, and so they anticipated a successful night’s sport.

The inflammable torches were carefully arranged, and a couple of them for each boat were ignited. Then all again took their assigned positions in their canoes, and noiselessly paddled to the places where the fish were supposed to be abundant.

At first all the boys could see were dark, shadowlike objects in the water that, after remaining under the glare of the lights, suddenly dashed away in the gloom.

For fear of accident it was decided that the experienced Indians should do the spearing, while the boys looked on and aided with the paddles or helped to hold the torches. The Indian spearmen stood up in the canoe, and, gazing intently into the water where it was brilliantly lit up by the blazing torches, were able to see the fish at a depth of several feet beneath the surface. Some varieties of fish are not attracted by the light, and so are not to be caught in this way. Other kinds, however, seem quite fascinated by the bright light, and will remain perfectly still in its glare, as though under some power they cannot withstand.