“Un serpent sonnette! A rattlesnake!”
All sprang to their feet, even the poor shaking invalid, just in time to see the reptile glide past within three inches of my mother’s feet, while the men assailed the spot it had left with whips, missives, and whatever would help along the commotion.
This little incident proved an excellent remedy for the ague. One excitement drives away another, and by means of this, (upon the homœopathic principle), sister Margaret was so much improved that by the time all the mischiefs were repaired, she was ready to take her place in the cavalcade, as bright and cheerful as the rest of us.
So great had been the delay occasioned by all these untoward circumstances, that our afternoon’s ride was but a short one, bringing us no further than the shores of a beautiful sheet of water, now known as Crystal Lake. Its clear surface was covered with Loons, and Poules d’Eau, a species of Rail, with which, at certain seasons, this region abounds.
The Indians have, universally, the genius of Æsop for depicting animal life and character, and there is, among them, a fable illustrative of every peculiarity in the personal appearance, habits, or dispositions of each variety of the animal creation.
The back of the little Rail is very concave, or hollow. The Indians tell us it became so in the following manner:—
STORY OF THE LITTLE RAIL, OR POULE D’EAU.
There is supposed, by most of the North-western tribes, to exist an invisible being, corresponding to the “Genius” of oriental story. Without being exactly the father of evil, Nan-nee-bo-zho is a mischievous spirit, to whose office it seems to be assigned to punish what is amiss. For his own purposes too, he seems constantly occupied in entrapping and making examples of all the animals that come in his way.
One pleasant evening, as he walked along the banks of a lake, he saw a flock of ducks, sailing and enjoying themselves on the blue waters. He called to them: