We had been joined on the River by friends. "Doug," who never fished more than forty rods from camp, and was always inventing water-gauges, patent indicators1, and other things, and who wore in his soft slouch hat so many brilliant trout2 flies that he irresistibly3 reminded you of flower-decked Ophelia; "Dinnis," who was large and good-natured, and bubbling and popular; Johnny, whose wide eyes looked for the first time on the woods-life, and whose awe-struck soul concealed4 itself behind assumptions; "Jim," six feet tall and three feet broad, with whom the season before I had penetrated5 to Hudson Bay; and finally, "Doc," tall, granite6, experienced, the best fisherman that ever hit the river. With these were Indians. Buckshot, a little Indian with a good knowledge of English; Johnnie Challan, a half-breed Indian, ugly, furtive7, an efficient man about camp; and Tawabinisay himself. This was an honour due to the presence of Doc. Tawabinisay approved of Doc. That was all there was to say about it.
After a few days, inevitably9 the question of Kawagama came up. Billy, Johnnie Challan, and Buckshot squatted10 in a semi-circle, and drew diagrams in the soft dirt with a stick. Tawabinisay sat on a log and overlooked the proceedings11. Finally he spoke12.
"Tawabinisay" (they always gave him his full title; we called him Tawab) "tell me lake you find he no Kawagama," translated Buckshot. "He called Black Beaver13 Lake."
"Ask him if he'll take us to Kawagama," I requested.
Tawabinisay looked very doubtful.
"Come on, Tawab," urged Doc, nodding at him vigorously. "Don't be a clam14. We won't take anybody else up there."
The Indian probably did not comprehend the words, but he liked Doc.
"A'-right," he pronounced laboriously15.
Buckshot explained to us his plans.
"Tawabinisay tell me," said he, "he don' been to Kawagama seven year. To-morrow he go blaze trail. Nex' day we go."
"How would it be if one or two of us went with him to-morrow to see how he does it?" asked Jim.
Buckshot looked at us strangely.
"_I_ don't want to follow him," he replied, with a significant simplicity16. "He run like a deer."
"Buckshot," said I, pursuing the inevitable17 linguistics18, "what does Kawagama mean?"
Buckshot thought for quite two minutes. Then he drew a semicircle.
"W'at you call dat?" he asked.
"Crescent, like moon? half-circle? horseshoe? bow?" we proposed.
Buckshot shook his head at each suggestion. He made a wriggling19 mark, then a wide sweep, then a loop.
"All dose," said he, "w'at you call him?"
"Curve!" we cried.
"Ah hah," assented20 Buckshot, satisfied.
"Buckshot," we went on, "what does Tawabinisay mean?"
"Man-who-travels-by-moonlight," he replied promptly21.
The following morning Tawabinisay departed, carrying a lunch and a hand-axe22. At four o'clock he was back, sitting on a log and smoking a pipe. In the meantime we had made up our party.
Tawabinisay himself had decided23 that the two half-breeds must stay at home. He wished to share his secret only with his own tribesmen. The fiat24 grieved Billy, for behold25 he had already put in much time on this very search, and naturally desired to be in at the finish. Dick, too, wanted to go, but him we decided too young and light for a fast march. Dinnis had to leave the River in a day or so; Johnnie was a little doubtful as to the tramp, although he concealed his doubt--at least to his own satisfaction--under a variety of excuses. Jim and Doc would go, of course. There remained Doug.
We found that individual erecting26 a rack of many projecting arms--like a Greek warrior's trophy27--at the precise spot where the first rays of the morning sun would strike it. On the projecting arms he purposed hanging his wet clothes.
"Doug," said we, "do you want to go to Kawagama to-morrow?"
Doug turned on us a sardonic28 eye. He made no direct answer, but told the following story:--
"Once upon a time Judge Carter was riding through a rural district in Virginia. He stopped at a negro's cabin to get his direction.
"'Uncle,' said he, 'can you direct me to Colonel Thompson's?'
"'Yes, sah,' replied the negro; 'yo' goes down this yah road 'bout8 two mile till yo' comes to an ol' ailm tree, and then yo' tu'us sha'p to th' right down a lane fo' 'bout a qua'ter of a mile. Thah you sees a big white house. Yo' wants to go through th' ya'd, to a paf that takes you a spell to a gate. Yo' follows that road to th' lef till yo' comes to three roads goin' up a hill; and, jedge, _it don' mattah which one of them thah roads yo' take, yo' gets lost surer 'n hell anyway!_'"
Then Doug turned placidly29 back to the construction of his trophy.
We interpreted this as an answer, and made up an outfit30 for five.
The following morning at six o'clock we were under way. Johnnie Challan ferried us across the river in two instalments. We waved our hands and plunged31 through the brush screen.
Thenceforth it was walk half an hour, rest five minutes, with almost the regularity32 of clockwork. We timed the Indians secretly, and found they varied33 by hardly a minute from absolute fidelity34 to this schedule. We had at first, of course, to gain the higher level of the hills, but Tawabinisay had the day before picked out a route that mounted as easily as the country would allow, and through a hardwood forest free of underbrush. Briefly35 indicated, our way led first through the big trees and up the hills, then behind a great cliff knob into a creek36 valley, through a quarter-mile of bottom-land thicket37, then by an open strip to the first little lake. This we ferried by means of the bark canoe carried on the shoulders of Tawabinisay.
In the course of the morning we thus passed four lakes. Throughout the entire distance to Kawagama were the fresh axe-blazes the Indian had made the day before. These were neither so frequent nor as plainly cut as a white man's trail, but each represented a pause long enough for the clip of an axe. In addition the trail had been made passable for a canoe. That meant the cutting out of overhanging branches wherever they might catch the bow of the craft. In the thicket a little road had been cleared, and the brush had been piled on either side. To an unaccustomed eye it seemed the work of two days at least. Yet Tawabinisay had picked out his route, cleared and marked it thus, skirted the shores of the lakes we were able to traverse in the canoe, and had returned to the River in less time than we consumed in merely reaching the Lake itself! Truly, as Buckshot said, he must have "run like a deer."
Tawabinisay has a delightful39 grin which he displays when pleased or good-humoured or puzzled or interested or comprehending, just as a dog sneezes and wrinkles up his nose in like case. He is essentially40 kind-hearted. If he likes you and approves of you, he tries to teach you, to help you, to show you things. But he never offers to do any part of your work, and on the march he never looks back to see if you are keeping up. You can shout at him until you are black in the face, but never will he pause until rest-time. Then he squats41 on his heels, lights his pipe, and grins.
Buckshot adored him. This opportunity of travelling with him was an epoch42. He drank in eagerly the brief remarks of his "old man," and detailed43 them to us with solemnity, prefaced always by his "Tawabinisay tell me." Buckshot is of the better class of Indian himself, but occasionally he is puzzled by the woods-noises. Tawabinisay never. As we cooked lunch, we heard the sound of steady footsteps in the forest--_pat_; then a pause; then _pat_; just like a deer browsing44. To make sure I inquired of Buckshot.
"What is it?"
Buckshot listened a moment.
"Deer," said he decisively; then, not because he doubted his own judgment45, but from habitual46 deference47, he turned to where Tawabinisay was frying things.
"Qwaw?" he inquired.
Tawabinisay never even looked up.
"Adji-domo" (squirrel), said he.
We looked at each other incredulously. It sounded like a deer. It did not sound in the least like a squirrel. An experienced Indian had pronounced it a deer. Nevertheless it was a squirrel.
We approached Kawagama by way of a gradual slope clothed with a beautiful beech48 and maple49 forest whose trees were the tallest of those species I have ever seen. Ten minutes brought us to the shore. There was no abrupt50 bursting in on Kawagama through screens of leaves; we entered leisurely51 to her presence by way of an ante-chamber whose spaciousness52 permitted no vulgar surprises. After a time we launched our canoe from a natural dock afforded by a cedar53 root, and so stood ready to cross to our permanent camp. But first we drew our knives and erased54 from a giant birch the half-grown-over name of the banker Clement55.
There seems to me little use in telling you that Kawagama is about four miles long by a mile wide, is shaped like a crescent, and lies in a valley surrounded by high hills; nor that its water is so transparent56 that the bottom is visible until it fades into the sheer blackness of depth; nor that it is alive with trout; nor that its silence is the silence of a vast solitude57, so that always, even at daybreak or at high midday, it seems to be late afternoon. That would convey little to you. I will inform you quite simply that Kawagama is a very beautiful specimen58 of the wilderness59 lake; that it is as the Lord made it; and that we had a good time.
Did you ever fish with the fly from a birch-bark canoe on absolutely still water? You do not seem to move. But far below you, gliding60, silent, ghostlike, the bottom slips beneath. Like a weather-vane in an imperceptible current of air, your bow turns to right or left in apparent obedience61 to the mere38 will of your companion. And the flies drop softly like down. Then the silence becomes sacred. You whisper-- although there is no reason for your whispering; you move cautiously, lest your reel scrape the gunwale. An inadvertent click of the paddle is a profanation62. The only creatures in all God's world possessing the right to utter aloud a single syllable63 are the loon64, far away, and the winter wren65, near at hand. Even the trout fight grimly, without noise, their white bodies flashing far down in the dimness.
Hour after hour we stole here and there like conspirators66. Where showed the circles of a fish's rise, thither67 crept we to drop a fly on their centre as in the bull's-eye of a target. The trout seemed to linger near their latest capture, so often we would catch one exactly where we had seen him break water some little time before. In this was the charm of the still hunt. Shoal water, deep water, it seemed all the same to our fortunes. The lake was full of fish, and beautiful fish they were, with deep, glowing bronze bellies68, and all of from a pound to a pound and a half in weight. The lake had not been fished. Probably somewhere in those black depths over one of the bubbling spring-holes that must feed so cold and clear a body of water, are big fellows lying, and probably the crafty69 minnow or spoon might lure70 them out. But we were satisfied with our game.
At other times we paddled here and there in exploration of coves71, inlets, and a tiny little brook72 that flowed westward73 from a reed marsh74 to join another river running parallel to our own.
The Indians had erected75 a huge lean-to of birch bark, from the ribs76 of which hung clothes and the little bags of food. The cooking-fire was made in front of it between two giant birch trees. At evening the light and heat reflected strongly beneath the shelter, leaving the forest in impenetrable darkness. To the very edge of mystery crowded the strange woods noises, the eerie77 influences of the night, like wolves afraid of the blaze. We felt them hovering78, vague, huge, dreadful, just outside the circle of safety our fire had traced about us. The cheerful flames were dancing familiars who cherished for us the home feeling in the middle of a wilderness.
Two days we lingered, then took the back track. A little after noon we arrived at the camp, empty save for Johnnie Challan. Towards dark the fishermen straggled in. Time had been paid them in familiar coinage. They had demanded only accustomed toll79 of the days, but we had returned laden80 with strange and glittering memories.
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1
indicators
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| （仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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clam
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| n.蛤，蛤肉 | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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linguistics
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| n.语言学 | |
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wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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fiat
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| n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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squats
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| n.蹲坐，蹲姿( squat的名词复数 )；被擅自占用的建筑物v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的第三人称单数 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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spaciousness
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| n.宽敞 | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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erased
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| v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除 | |
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clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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profanation
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| n.亵渎 | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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loon
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| n.狂人 | |
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wren
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| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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coves
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| n.小海湾( cove的名词复数 )；家伙 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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80
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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