the winter packet.

on returning next morning towards the outpost from our encampment in the woods, lumley and i made a discovery which excited us greatly. it was nothing more than a track in the snow, but there was a revelation in the track which sent the blood tingling through our veins.

it was not the track of a polar bear. we should have been somewhat surprised, no doubt, but not greatly excited by that. neither was it the track of a deer or an arctic fox. it was only the track of a sledge!

“is that all?” exclaims the reader. no, that is not all. but, in order that you may understand it better, let me explain.

fort dunregan, in which we dwelt, stood more than a thousand miles distant from the utmost verge of civilised life in canada. we were buried, so to speak, in the heart of the great northern wilderness. our nearest neighbour lived in an outpost between one and two hundred miles distant, similar to our own in all respects but even more lonely, being in charge of a certain scotsman named macnab, whose army of occupation consisted of only six men and two indian women! the forests around us were not peopled. those vast solitudes were indeed here and there broken in upon, as it were, by a few families of wandering red-indians, who dwelt in movable tents—were here to-day and away to-morrow—but they could not be said to be peopled, except by deer and bears and foxes and kindred spirits.

of course, therefore, we were far beyond the every day influences of civilised life. we had no newspapers, no mails; no communication whatever, in short, with the outer world except twice in the year. the one occasion was in summer, when a brigade of boats arrived with our outfit of goods for the year’s trade with the few scattered indians above referred to; the other occasion was in the depth of our apparently interminable winter, when a packet of letters was forwarded from outpost to outpost throughout the land by the agents of the hudson’s bay company which we served.

this half-yearly interval between mails had a double effect on our minds. in the first place, it induced a strange feeling that the great world and all its affairs were things of the past, with which we had little or nothing to do—a sort of dream—and that the little world of our outpost, with its eight or ten men and three or four indian women, its hunting, and trapping, and firewood-cutting, and fishing, and trading, and small domestic arrangements and dissensions, was the one place of vital importance and interest, before which empires and dynasties and the trifling matter of politics sank into mere insignificance! in the second place, it created an intense longing—a hungering and thirsting—for news of our kindred “at home.”

our chief, mr strang, and our two selves, with another fellow-clerk who was named spooner, as well as most of our men, were from “the old country,” where we had left fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters—in some cases sweethearts—behind us. it may be conceived then with what anxiety and yearning we looked forward to the periodical break in the weary six months of total silence that had enveloped us. men in civilised, or even semi-civilised communities, cannot understand this. convicts on penal servitude for long periods may have some faint notion of it, but even these have periods of literary intercourse more frequently than we had. the reader must just take the statement on trust therefore, that our anxious yearnings were remarkably powerful. what might not have occurred in these six months of dark silence! who might not have been married, born, laid low by sickness, banished to the ends of the earth like ourselves, or even removed by death!

is it surprising, then, that we caught our breath and flushed, and that our hearts leaped when we came unexpectedly upon the track of the two men who had dragged news from home for hundreds of miles over the snow? we knew the tracks well. our intimate acquaintance with every species of track that was possible in that particular region, rendered a mistake out of the question. there was the step of the leader, who wore a snow-shoe the shape of which, although not unknown, was somewhat unfamiliar to us. there was the print of the sled, or toboggan, which was different in pattern from those used at dunregan, and there was the footprint of the man in rear, whose snow-shoe also made an unfamiliar impression.

“the packet!” exclaimed lumley, opening his solemn grey eyes to their widest as he looked up from the track to me.

“at last!” i returned, unconsciously betraying the prolonged state of suspense with which my mind had been afflicted.

“come along!” said my companion, starting off homeward at a pace that was almost too much for me.

we soon reached the outpost, and there stood the makers of the track which had roused in us so much excitement.

two strong men, chosen expressly for a duty which required mental endurance and perseverance as well as physical vigour. they stood at the door of the entrance-hall, talking with mr strang, the one with his snow-shoes slung over his shoulder on the butt of his gun, the other using the same implements as a rest for his hands, while spooner, in a state of great excitement, was hastily undoing the lashings of the sled, to get at the precious box which contained “the packet.”

“well, gentlemen, here it is at last,” said our chief, with a genial smile as we came up.

“yes, we followed the track immediately we struck it,” said lumley, stooping to assist spooner in his work.

we soon had the box carried to our chief’s private room, while the two strangers were had off by our men to their own house, there to be feasted on venison, ptarmigan, salt-pork, fish, and pease-pudding to satiety, and afterwards “pumped” to a state of exhaustion.

i followed our chief, who had a provokingly deliberate way of opening the packet and examining its contents, while my feverish agitation and expectancy increased. there was a humorous twinkle in his eye, i thought, which told of mischievous purpose, while he kept up a murmuring commentary.

“hm! as i expected—no news from macnab. what’s this?—ah! the governor! a voluminous epistle, and—hallo! lumley’s friends must be fond of him. his packet is the biggest in the box. and spooner too, not so bad for him. here, take these to them. stay—here is a bundle of letters for the men. you’d better deliver these yourself.”

i hesitated, while a mist of great darkness began to descend on my soul.

“nothing for me, sir?” i asked faintly.

“there seems to be—nothing—stay! what’s this?—why, i thought it was a big book, but, yes, it is a packet for you, mr maxby—there!”

my heart leaped into my mouth—almost out of it—as i received a thick packet wrapped in newspaper.

hastening to what was called the clerk’s winter house with these treasures i distributed them, and handed the men’s packet to one of themselves, who was eagerly awaiting it. then i went to my room and barricaded the door to prevent interruption.

in bachelors’ hall, as we styled our apartments, we had an inveterate habit of practical joking, which, however interesting and agreeable it might be at most times, was in some circumstances rather inconvenient. to guard against it at such times we were in the habit of retiring to our respective dens and barricading the doors, the locks being sometimes incapable of standing the strain brought to bear on them.

on this particular occasion i made my barricade stronger than usual; sat down on my bed and opened the packet from home.

but here i must let the curtain fall. i cannot suppose that the reader, however amiable, will sympathise with the joys and sorrows of an unknown family, interesting though they were to me. i may state, however, that before i got through the budget it was so late that i turned into bed and read the remainder there. then, as the fire in the hall-stove sank low, the cold obliged me to put on above my voluminous blankets (we dared not sleep in sheets out there) a thick buffalo robe, which, besides having on the outside the shaggy hair of the animal to which it had belonged, was lined with flannel. thus nestled into a warm hole, i read on until a shout arrested me and brought me suddenly back from the hills of bonny scotland to the frozen wilderness.

“i say,” shouted lumley at the back of the door, which he saluted with a kick, “my sister is married!”

“poor thing!” said i. “who to?”

“open the door.”

“i can’t. i’m in bed.”

“you must.”

“i won’t.”

“no! then here goes.”

he retired as he spoke, and, making a rush, launched himself against my door, which, however, withstood the shock.

“here, spooner,” i then heard him say, “lend a hand; let us go at it together.”

they went at it together. the lock gave way; the chest of drawers went spinning to the other side of the room, and lumley tumbled over spooner as both fell headlong to the floor.

as this was by no means an unfamiliar mode of entering each other’s rooms, i took no notice of it, but proceeded to inquire about the married sister; and lumley, sitting down on my bed with spooner, for neither of them had yet undressed, began to tell me of home and friends with as much eagerness as if i had been a member of both families. young spooner interrupted lumley now and then when a touch of coincidence struck him with reference to his own family affairs, and i could not resist the pleasure of occasionally making some such remark as, “how odd! that’s very like what happened to my little brother bob,” etcetera, whereupon spooner would immediately become excited and draw a parallel more or less striking in regard to his own kindred and so we went on far into the night, until we got our several families mixed up to such an extent that it became almost impossible to disentangle them; for, being three families, you know, we became inextricably confused as to which was which, though each was perfectly clear in regard to his own! thus, to me, jane lumley became confused with janet spooner, so that janet lumley and jane spooner were always tripping over each other in my brain, while my dear cousin maggie maxby became a maggie spooner to lumley, and a maggie lumley to spooner, and to each sometimes a janet or a jane respectively. if the reader will multiply into this question two mothers and three fathers, four brothers and six sisters, besides numberless aunts, uncles, and cousins, male and female, he will easily perceive how between mental perplexity and a tendency to slumber, we at last gave the matter up in a sort of jovial despair.

we were startled suddenly from this condition by a crash and an exceedingly sharp and bitter cry.

it must be remarked here, that, in order to subdue king frost in those northern strongholds of his, we had, besides double doors and double windows and porches, an enormous cast-iron stove from the famous carron foundry. it stood in the centre of our hall, so that its genial favours might be distributed with equal justice to the various sleeping-rooms that opened out of the hall all round. from this stove an iron pipe arose, and, turning at a right angle when within a couple of feet of the ceiling, proceeded to the chimney at the upper end of the hall. when the thermometer stood much below zero, we were accustomed to raise the stove and part of its pipe to a dull-red heat, which had the effect of partially melting the contents of the water-jugs in our bedrooms, and of partially roasting the knees of our trousers. to keep this stove up to its work was the duty of an indian youth, whom we styled salamander, because he seemed to be impervious to heat. he was equally so to cold. when i first went to dunregan i used to pity salamander, on hearing him every morning enter our hall with a gust of air that seemed cold enough to freeze a walrus, and proceed to strike a light and kindle our fire. my own nose, and sometimes an eye, was all that protruded from the buffalo robe at such times. but salamander never shivered, and always grinned, from which i came to understand that my pity was misplaced. about nine o’clock each night he left us to look after the great carron stove ourselves, and we were all pretty good stokers. self-interest kept us up to duty. sometimes we overdid it, raising the dull-red to brightness now and then.

on this particular occasion, in the exuberance of his feelings, lumley, before bursting into my room, had heaped on as much dry wood as the stove could hold. it chanced to be exceedingly resinous wood. he also opened the blow-hole to its utmost extent. being congregated in my bedroom, as i have described, deeply engaged in eager comments and family reminiscences, we failed to observe that the great carron stove roared like a wrathful furnace, that it changed from a dull to a bright red in its anger, and eventually became white with passion. as “evil communications” have a tendency to corrupt, the usually innocent pipe became inflamed. it communicated the evil to the chimney, which straightway caught fire, belched forth smoke and flames, and cast a ruddy glare over the usually pallid snow. this chanced to meet the eye of salamander as he gazed from his “bunk” in the men’s house; caused him to bounce up and rush out—for, having a taste for sleeping in his clothes, he was always ready for action—burst open our door with a crash, and rudely dispel our confusedly pleasant intercourse with the exceedingly sharp and bitter cry before mentioned.

“hallo!” shouted lumley and spooner simultaneously, as they bounded rather than rose from my bed. before they had crossed the threshold i was out of bed and into my trousers.

there is nothing like the cry of “fire!” for producing prompt action—or paralysis! also for inducing imbecile stupidity. i could not find my moccasins! thought is quick—quicker than words. amputation at the knee joints stared me in the face for a certainty if i went out with naked feet. in desperation i seized my capote and thrust both feet into the sleeves, with some hazy intention of tying a knot on each wrist to protect the toes. happily i espied my moccasins at the moment, pulled them on—left shoe on right foot, of course—and put the coat to its proper use.

by this time salamander, contrary to all traditions of indian stoicism, was yelling about the fort with his eyes a flame and his hair on end. the men were out in a few seconds with a ladder, and swarmed up to the roof of our house without any definite notion as to what they meant to do. mr strang was also out, smothered in winter garments, and with an enormous makinaw blanket over all. he was greatly excited, though the most self-possessed among us—as most chiefs are, or ought to be.

“water! water!” shouted the men from the roof.

a keen breeze was blowing from what seemed the very heart of king frost’s dominion, and snow-drift fine as dust and penetrating as needles, was swirling about in the night-air.

water! where was water to come from? the river was frozen almost to the bottom. ice six feet thick covered the lakes and ponds. the sound of trickling water had not been heard for months. it had become an ancient memory. water! why, it cost our cook’s assistant a full hour every day to cut through the result of one night’s frost in the water-hole before he could reach the water required for daily use, and what he did obtain had to be slowly dragged to the fort by that slowest of creatures, an ox. nevertheless there was water. in the warmest corner of the kitchen—at that hour about zero—there stood a water-barrel.

“run, cook—fetch a bucketful!” cried our chief.

cook, who had “lost his head,” obediently ran, seized a big earthenware jug, dipped it into the barrel, and smashed it to atoms on a cake of thick ice! this had the effect of partially recovering his head for him. he seized an axe, shattered the cake, caught up a bucket, dipped it full and rushed out spilling half its contents as he ran. the spillings became icicles before they reached the flaming chimney, but the frost, keen as it was, could not quite solidify the liquid in so short a space of time.

blondin, the principal bearer of the winter packet who was a heroic man and chief actor in this scene, received the half-empty bucket.

“bah!” he exclaimed, tossing bucket as well as water contemptuously down the wide chimney. “bring shuvill, an’ blunkits.”

blondin was a french-canadian half-caste, and not a good linguist.

a shovel was thrown up to him. he seized it and shovelled volumes of snow from the house-top into the chimney. a moment later and two blankets were thrown up. blondin spread one over the flames. it was shrivelled up instantly. he stuffed down the remains and spread the second blanket over them, while he shouted for a third. the third came, and, another bucket of water arriving at the same moment, with a large mass of snow detached from the roof, the whole were thrust down the chimney en masse, the flames were quenched and the house was saved.

during this exciting scene, i had begun to realise the great danger of fire in the chimney of a wooden house, and, with the aid of my comrades, had been throwing the contents of bachelors’ hall out into the snow. we now ceased this process, and began to carry them back again, while the men crowded round the iron author of all the mischief to warm their half-frozen bodies. i now observed for the first time that blondin had a black patch on the end of his nose. it was a handsome feature usually, but at that time it was red, swelled, and what may be termed blobby.

“what’s the matter with it, blondin?” i asked.

“my noz was froz,” he replied curtly.

“you’d better have it looked to, or it’ll be worse than froz, my man,” said lumley.

blondin laughed and went off to attend to his nose in the men’s house, accompanied by the others, while we set to work to clean ourselves and our abode. thereafter, with moderated fire, we again got under our buffalo robes, where we spent the remainder of a disturbed night in thinking and dreaming about the thrilling contents of the winter packet.