when roy and nelly sat down to gaze in admiration on silver lake, they little thought how long a period they should have to spend on its shores.
the lake was a small sheet of water not more than half a mile broad, embosomed among low hills, which, though not grand, were picturesque in outline, and wooded to their tops. it occupied the summit of an elevated region or height-of-land—a water-shed, in fact—and roy afterwards discovered that water flowed from both the north-east and south-west sides of the table-land, in the midst of which it lay. these fountain-heads, separated by little more than half a mile from each other, were the sources of streams, which, flowing in opposite directions through hundreds of miles of wild, beautiful, and uncultivated wilderness, found their way, on the one hand, into hudson’s bay, on the other hand, into the atlantic through the great rivers and lakes of canada.
the waters of the lake were strikingly clear and pellucid. when the young wanderer first came upon the scene, not a zephyr stirred the leaves of the forest; the blue sky was studded with towering masses of white clouds which glowed in sunshine, and these reflected in the glassy water—as if far, far down in its unfathomable depths—produced that silvery effect which prompted nelly to utter the name which we have adopted.
small though the silver lake was, it boasted two islets, which like twin babes lay side by side on their mother’s fair breast, their reflected images stretching down into that breast as if striving to reach and grasp its heart!
“couldn’t we stay here a short time?” asked nelly, breaking the silence in a tone that indicated anxiety, hope, and enthusiasm, “only for a very little time,” she added, coaxingly.
roy looked grave and sagacious. boys as well as men like to be leant upon and trusted by the fair sex—at least in things masculine—and nelly had such boundless faith in her brother’s capacity to protect her and guide her through the forest, that she unwittingly inspired him with an exuberant amount of courage and self-reliance. the lad was bold and fearless enough by nature. his sister’s confidence in him had the effect of inducing him to think himself fit for anything! he affected, therefore, at times, a look of grave sagacity, befitting, as he thought, so important and responsible a character.
“i’ve just been thinking,” said he—
“oh! don’t think, but say yes!” interrupted nelly.
“well, i’m going to say yes, but i meant to give you my reasons for sayin’ so. in the first place, my powder and shot is gettin’ low. you see i did not bring away very much from the injun camp, and we’ve been using it for so many months now that it won’t last much longer, so i think it would not be a bad plan to stop here awhile and fish and shoot and feed up—for you need rest, nelly—and then start fresh with a well-loaded sledge. i’ll save some powder by using the bow we made the other day.”
“but you forget it’s broken.”
“so it is—never mind, we can make another—there’s a tree that will make a first-rater down in the hollow, d’ye see it, nell?”
“where—oh yes—just by the grassy place where the rock juts out into the water with the sun shining on it? what a nice place to build a hut!”
“just so,” said roy, smiling at the girl’s enthusiasm, “that’s the spot, and that’s the very thought that jumped bang into my brain as you spoke. by the way, does a thought jump into a man’s brain or out of it, i wonder?”
“out of it, of course,” cried nelly, with a laugh.
“i’m not so sure of that, nell. i send it rather slowly out through my mouth, but i think it jumps into my brain. i wonder how it gets in; whether by the eyes, or ears, or mouth—perhaps it goes up the nose.”
“what stuff you do talk!” cried nelly.
“d’ye think so,” said roy with a grin, “well, that bein’ the case, let’s go and fix our camp, for the sun is not given to sitting up all night in these parts, so we must work while it shines.”
with hurried steps and eager looks, (for roy, despite his affected coolness, was as enthusiastic about the new plan as his sister,) they descended to the margin of silver lake, and began to make their encampment on the sunny spot before referred to.
it turned out to be most suitable for their purpose, having a gentle slope towards the margin of the lake, which was fringed with a beach of pure white pebbles, and being well sheltered in the rear by umbrageous trees. the point of rocks close at hand formed a natural jetty, which, roy observed, would be useful as a landing-place when he got his raft under way; the turf was soft, a matter of some importance, as it was to form their couch at night, and a small stream trickled down from one of the numerous springs which welled up at the foot of the nearest hill.
solitary and remote from the usual haunts of men as this lake was, there was no feeling of solitude about it at the time we write of. the entire region was alive with wild fowl of many kinds. wild geese trumpeted their advent as they came from the far north, en route for the far south, and settled on the bosom of silver lake to take a night’s lodging there. ducks, from the same region, and bound for the same goal—though with less stately and regular flight—flew hither and thither with whistling wings, ever and anon going swash into the water as a tempting patch of reeds invited them to feed, or a whim of fancy induced them to rest. wild swans occasionally sailed in all their majesty on its waters, while plover of every length of limb and bill, and every species of plaintive cry, waded round its margin, or swept in clouds over the neighbouring swamps. sometimes deer would trot out of the woods and slake their thirst on its shore, and the frequent rings that broke its smooth surface told of life in the watery depths below.
the whole air was filled with gushing sounds of wild melody, as though bird and beast were uniting in a hymn of praise to the beneficent creator who had provided the means of, and given the capacity for, so much enjoyment.
having decided on a suitable spot for their temporary resting-place, roy’s first care was to construct a hut. this was neither a work of time nor difficulty. in a couple of hours it was finished. he commenced the work by felling about a dozen young fir-trees not much thicker than a man’s wrist, from which he chopped the branches, thus leaving them bare poles about nine feet long. while he was thus employed, his sister cleared the spot on which their dwelling was to stand, and, having an eye to the picturesque, so arranged that the opening of the hut should command an uninterrupted view of the lake. on going into the “bush” to the place where roy was at work, she found him cutting down his sixth tree, and the ground was strewn with the flat branches of those already cut.
“come along, nelly—how hot i am—carry these branches into camp, lass, an’ go ahead, for i’ve got supper to kill yet.”
nelly made no direct reply, but muttered to herself something that sounded very like, “oh, what fun!” as she filled her tiny arms with pine branches, and, hugging them to her heaving breast, staggered to the camp. when she had carried all the branches, roy had cut all the poles, so he proceeded to set them up. tying three poles together at the top, and using the pliant roots of a tree for the purpose, he set them up in the form of a tripod. against these three all the other poles were piled, crossing each other at the top, and spreading out at the base so as to enclose a circle of about six feet in diameter. being numerous, the poles were pretty close together, thus affording good support to the branches which were afterwards piled on them. pine branches are flat, spreading, and thick, so that when laid above each other to a depth of several inches they form a very good shelter from dew and light rain. the hut was entirely covered with such branches, which were kept in their places by other poles leaning upon and pressing them down. the floor of the hut was also covered with pine “brush.”
“now for supper, nelly,” said roy, seizing his bow, when the hut was completed, and splicing its broken part with a strip of deerskin cut from the lines of the sledge.
“get a goose, roy, and pick out a nice fat one,” cried nelly, laughing, “i’ll have the fire ready when you come back.”
“i’ll try,” said roy, and he did try, but tried in vain. although a good shot, he was not sufficiently expert with the bow to shoot wild fowl on the wing, so he returned to the hut empty-handed.
“we must make a new bow, nell,” said he, sitting down by the fire, “i can do nothin’ wi’ this, and it won’t do to use the gun for anythin’ but deer. meanwhile let’s have the remains of our dinner for supper. come, cheer up, old ’ooman; we shall feast on the fat of the land to-morrow!”
the stars were shining in the sky, and winking at their reflections down in the depths of silver lake, and the lake itself lay, as black as ink, under the shadow of the hills, when the brother and sister spread their blanket above them that night, and sank, almost immediately, into profound slumber.
