The Drama of the Forests

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The Drama of the Forests

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Drama of the Forests Romance and Adventure
Author: Arthur Heming
Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #18495]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Produced by Al Haines

[Frontispiece: A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake. It appeared to have wings, but it did not fly; and though it possessed a tail, it did not run, but contented itself with moving steadily forward on its long up-turned feet. Over an arm it carried what might have been a trident, and what with its waving tail and great outspreading wings that rose above its horned-like head, it suggested . . . See
Chapter VI.
]

THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
Romance and Adventure

BY
ARTHUR HEMING

ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR WITH REPRODUCTIONS FROM A SERIES OF HIS PAINTINGS OWNED BY THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

GARDEN CITY, N. Y., AND TORONTO
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1921

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
PRINTED AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N, Y.. U. S. A.
First Edition

TO
MR. AND MRS. DAVID A. DUNLAP
WITH WHOM I SPENT MANY HAPPY SEASONS IN THE GREAT NORTHERN FOREST

CONTENTS
I. ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE II. IN QUEST OF TREASURE III. OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO IV. OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME V. MEETING OF THE WILD MEN VI. WILD ANIMALS AND MEN VII. LIFE AND LOVE RETURN VIII. BUSINESS AND ROMANCE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake. It appeared to have wings . . . . . . Frontispiece
I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the merest glance
Oo-koo-hoo's bill
Oo-koo-hoo's calendar
Going to the brink, we saw a "York Boat" in the act of shooting the cataract
Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples upon the water
The lynx is an expert swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water
Next morning we found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket of snow
The bear circled a little in order to descend. Presently it left the shadow
Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes
As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow flying
"There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to Winnipeg"
"It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon"
Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound
After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over
The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the year

INTRODUCTION
It was in childhood that the primitive spirit first came whispering to me. It was then that I had my first day-dreams of the Northland--of its forests, its rivers and lakes, its hunters and trappers and traders, its fur-runners and mounted police, its voyageurs and packeteers, its missionaries and Indians and prospectors, its animals, its birds and its fishes, its trees and its flowers, and its seasons.
Even in childhood I was for ever wondering . . . what is daily going on in the Great Northern Forest? . . . not just this week, this month, or this season, but what is actually occurring day by day, throughout the cycle of an entire year? It was that thought that fascinated me, and when I grew into boyhood, I began delving into books of northern travel, but I did not find the answer there. With the years this ever-present wonder grew, until it so possessed me that at last it spirited me away from the city, while I was still in my teens, and led me along a path of ever-changing and ever-increasing pleasure, showing me the world, not as men had mauled and marred it, but as the Master of Life had made it, in all its original beauty and splendour. Nor was this all. It led me to observe and ponder over the daily pages of the most profound and yet the most fascinating book that man has ever tried to read; and though, it seemed to me, my feeble attempts to decipher its text were always futile, it has, nevertheless, not only taught me to love Nature with an ever-increasing passion, but it has inspired in me an infinite homage toward the Almighty; for, as Emerson says: "In the woods we return to reason and faith. Then I feel that nothing can befall me in life--no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes)--which Nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground--my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space--all mean egoism vanishes. . . . I am