Part 3 (1/2)
This was the very thing Nore quantity of the resinous knots These he at length collected, and putting the, returned with Francois to the fire He then announced that he had no further preparations to make
All four now sat down to supper, which consisted of dry meat, with biscuits and coffee; and, as their appetites were sharpened by their water journey, they made a hearty , the canoe was launched and got ready The screen of birch-bark was set up, by lashi+ng its shaft to the bottom timbers, and also to one of the seats Immediately in front of this, and out upon the boas placed the frying-pan; and this having been secured by being tied at the handle, was filled with dry pine-knots, ready to be kindled at amade, the hunters only awaited the darkness to set forth
In the progress of their hunt they would be carried still farther down-strea, they would only be progressing on their journey, and thus ”killing two birds with one stone” This was altogether a very pleasant consideration; and having stowed everything snugly in the canoe, they sat chatting agreeably and waiting for the arrival of night
Night cath, and, as Norently into the canoe, and seating themselves in their respective places, they pushed out and co down-stream
Norman sat near the bow, in order to attend to his torch of pine-knots
Francois was next to hi his double-barrel, loaded with buckshot, which is the saland is even known as ”swan-shot”
Next came Basil with his rifle He sat near Francois, just by the ether a man of peace principles, and but little of a shot compared with either of his brothers, handled the oar--not to propel the canoe, but uide it In this way the party floated on in silence
Norlare over the surface of the river, extending its fiery radii even to the banks on both sides of the streaed with verold
The light only extended over a semicircle Froht did not fall upon the other half of the circle, and this, by contrast, appeared even darker than it would otherwise have done
The advantage of the plan which Norman had adopted was at once apparent to all Ahead of the canoe the whole river was plainly seen, for a distance of several hundred yards No object larger than a cork could have floated on its surface, without being visible to those in the vessel--reat white body of a trumpeter swan Astern of the canoe, on the other hand, all was pitchy darkness, and any one looking at the vessel froht torch and the black uniform surface behind it
As I have already stated, the convex side of the bark was _towards_ the blaze, and the pan containing the torch being placed close into the screen, none of the light could possibly fall upon the forms of those within the canoe They were therefore invisible to any creature fro before them
Two questions yet remained unanswered First--would our hunters find any swans on the river? Second--if they should, would these birds allow theh to be shot at? The first question Norman, of course, could not answer That was a ht not appear, but it was to be hoped they would It was likely enough Many had been seen on the preceding day, and why not then? To the second question, the young Canadian gave a definite reply
He assured his cousins that, if met with, the birds would be easily approached in this manner; he had often hunted them so They would either keep their place, and reht came very near them, or they would move towards it (as he had many times known them to do), attracted by curiosity and the novelty of the spectacle He had hunted deer in the same manner; he had shot, he said, hundreds of these animals upon the banks of rivers, where they had coht
His cousins could well credit his stateht in the woods of Louisiana, where it is ter” They had killed several in this way The creatures as if held by so at the torch carried by one of the party, while the other took sight between their glancing eyes and fired the deadly bullet Reht act in a si until they were convinced of it by actual experience As the canoe rounded a bend in the river, three large white objects appeared in the ”reach” before theh in the deceptive glare of the torch, they appeared even larger than swans Their long upright necks, however, convinced the party they could be nothing else, and the canoe was headed directly for them
As our hunters approached, one of the birds was heard to utter his strange trumpet note, and this he repeated at intervals as they drew nearer
”I have heard that they sing before death,” muttered Francois to Basil, who sat nearest hihed quietly at the joke he had perpetrated
Basil also laughed; and Lucien, who had overheard the rehter
”I fear not,” rejoined Basil; ”there is hardly enoughTheywhile yet”
This rehter, in which all took part; but it was a very silent kind of laughter, that could not have been heard ten yards off: itin a whisper”
It soon ended, however, as matters now became serious: they were already within less than two hundred yards of the gaunners had arranged the order of fire: Basil was to shoot first, taking steady aim with his rifle at any one of the birds; while Francois should fire as soon as he heard the report of his brother's gun, taking the re, with one or both barrels, as he best h, and, levelling his piece, fired The bird threw out its wings, and flattened down upon the water, al into the air, when ”crack! crack!” went the two barrels of Francois' piece, and one of the swans fell back with a broken wing, and fluttered over the surface of the stream Basil's had been shot dead, and was taken up easily; but the wounded bird was only captured after a long chase with the canoe; and when overtaken, it struck so fiercely with its re, that one of the blows inflicted a painful wound on the wrist of Francois Both, however, were at length got safely aboard, and proved to be a est dimensions
CHAPTER V
”CAST AWAY”