The Big Otter

The Big Otter, by R.M.
Ballantyne

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Title: The Big Otter
Author: R.M. Ballantyne
Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21718]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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OTTER ***

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THE BIG OTTER, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
CHAPTER ONE.
SLEEPING IN SNOW.

Cold comfort is naturally suggested by a bed of snow, yet I have
enjoyed great comfort and much warmth in such a bed.
My friend Lumley was particularly fond of warmth and of physical
ease, yet he often expressed the opinion, with much emphasis, that
there was nothing he enjoyed so much as a night in a snow-bed. Jack
Lumley was my chum--a fine manly fellow with a vigorous will, a
hardy frame, and a kindly heart. We had a natural leaning towards each
other--a sort of undefinable sympathy--which inclined us to seek each
other's company in a quiet unobtrusive way. We were neither of us
demonstrative; we did not express regard for each other; we made no
protestations of undying friendship, but we drew together, somehow,
especially in our hunting expeditions which were numerous.
On holidays--we had two in the week at the outpost in the American
backwoods where we dwelt--when the other young fellows were
cleaning gulls or arranging snow-shoes for the day's work, Lumley was
wont to say to me:--
"Where d'you intend to shoot to-day, Max?" (Max was an abbreviation;
my real name is George Maxby.)
"I think I'll go up by the willows and round by Beaver Creek."
"I've half a mind to go that way too."
"Come along then."
And so we would go off together for the day.
One morning Lumley said to me, "I'm off to North River; will you
come?"
"With pleasure, but we'll have to camp out."
"Well, it won't be the first time."
"D'you know that the thermometer stood at forty below zero this
morning before breakfast?"

"I know it; what then? Mercurial fellows like you don't freeze easily."
I did not condescend to reply, but set about preparing for our
expedition, resolving to carry my largest blanket with me, for camping
out implied sleeping in the snow.
Of course I must guard my readers--especially my juvenile
readers--from supposing that it was our purpose that night to undress
and calmly lie down in, or on, the pure white winding-sheet in which
the frozen world of the Great Nor'-west had been at that time wrapped
for more than four months. Our snow-bed, like other beds, required
making, but I will postpone the making of it till bed-time. Meanwhile,
let us follow the steps of Lumley, who, being taller and stronger than I,
always led the way.
This leading of the way through the trackless wilderness in snow
averaging four feet deep is harder work than one might suppose. It
could not be done at all without the aid of snow-shoes, which, varying
from three to five feet in length, enable the traveller to walk on the
surface of the snow, into which he would otherwise sink, more or less,
according to its condition. If it be newly fallen and very soft, he sinks
six, eight, or more inches. If it be somewhat compressed by time or
wind he sinks only an inch or two. On the hard surface of exposed lakes
and rivers, where it is beaten to the appearance of marble, he dispenses
with snow-shoes altogether, slings them on his gun, and carries them
over his shoulder.
Our first mile lay through a clump of pine-wood, where snow had
recently fallen. When I looked at my comrade's broad back, and
observed the vigour of his action as he trod deep into the virgin snow at
every stride, scattering it aside like fine white powder as he lifted each
foot, I thought how admirably he was fitted for a pioneer in the
wilderness, or for the work of those dauntless, persevering men who go
forth to add to the world's geographical knowledge, and to lead the
expeditions sent out in search of such lost heroes as Franklin and
Livingstone.
My own work was comparatively light. I had merely to tread in the

beaten path. I was not, however, thereby secured from disaster, as I
found when, having advanced about half a mile, my right shoe caught a
twig to which it held for a moment, and then, breaking loose, allowed
me to pitch head down with such violence that I