Wrecked but not Ruined | Page 9

he seemed but an elder brother.
"Ian," he said to his first-born, as he refilled his tin can with tea, "how
many more timbers have you to prepare for the dam?"
"Six," replied the son laconically.
"It seems to me," observed Kenneth, the second son, "that if the frost
holds much longer we shall be thrown idle, for everything is ready now
to begin the works."
"Idle we need not be," returned the father, "as long as there is timber to
fell in the forest. We must prepare logs to be sawn as well as the mill to
saw them."
"I can't help thinking, father," said Ian, "that we did not act wisely in
spending all the remainder of our cash in an order for goods from
England. We should have waited to see how the mill paid before setting
up a store. Besides, I have my doubts as to the wood-cutters or other
people passing this out-o'-the-way spot in sufficient numbers to make a
store pay for many a day to come, and even if they do, people coming
up the coast will have the Fur Company's store at the Cliff Fort to go to
for supplies."

"It's too late to think of these things now," retorted the elder McLeod;
"we have made the venture, and must go through with it. Our case
shows the folly of taking the advice of a friend, of whose wisdom one
is not well assured. No doubt Gambart meant to do us a service, and
fancied that he knew this coast well, but it is quite plain that he was
mistaken, for I have no doubt now, from the situation of the place, that
there will be little or no traffic here for a long time to come."
"So, then, we might as well have thrown the remnant of our wrecked
fortunes into the sea," said Kenneth gravely.
"Not quite," returned the father, with a smile. "If we can only manage
to hold on for a year or two, we shall be sure to succeed, for there can
be no question that the tide of immigration is beginning to set in this
direction, but it does not flow fast, and our great difficulty in the
meantime will be the want of ready cash."
"Act in haste and repent at leisure," said Ian.
"One can scarcely be said to act in haste," retorted his father, "who is
almost forced into a course of action. My chief mistake was in putting
too much trust in Gambart."
"Well," said Kenneth, rising and stretching his huge frame as he placed
a hatchet on his shoulder, "there's nothing like a good breakfast for
giving a man heart to face difficulties. I'll away to work. What a pity
that we may not raise some of our timbers on the other side of the creek,
for it is admirably adapted to our purpose. Don't you think we might,
father?"
"No," replied the elder McLeod, "the other side belongs to the
fur-traders, whose rights must be respected."
Ian and his father soon followed Kenneth to the scene of their labours.
The spot was a wild one, but in many respects it was well-suited to the
purpose, for which these adventurers had chosen it. The coast line at
Jenkins Creek was precipitous. Cliffs, crowned with pines, rose in

some places perpendicularly from the shingly beach of the gulf, and
elsewhere the ground was very rugged. The creek itself was a mere
streamlet which ran a short course from the mountains of the interior,
brawling down a wild gully of inconsiderable extent. Near its mouth
was a cascade, divided by a small rock or islet. It was between this rock
and the south shore that the McLeods purposed to erect their dam when
the ice should have cleared away, and here, in the meantime, the three
men busied themselves in cutting and shaping the necessary timbers,
and forming the rougher parts of the machinery of the mill.
They toiled steadily till noon, and then returned to their log-hut for
dinner, which consisted of cold pork, hot tea, biscuit, and salt butter.
They were still in the midst of this meal when the door opened and a
man entered, carrying under his arm a pair of long snow-shoes, which
he had just taken off.
"Glad to see you, Bellew, we had expected you earlier," said the elder
McLeod, rising and shaking hands with the trapper.
"I would have been earlier," replied Bellew, handing a letter to McLeod,
"but for a redskin whom I met on the way, who delayed me somewhat.
He tells me something about a wreck having been seen by some of his
tribe, a good bit down the gulf, but what between the difficulty of
makin' out his lingo, and his stupidity, or