Frontier and pioneer life -- Québec (Province) -- Fiction; Historical fiction; Short stories
the cold deep I will find you.”
There was a shriek behind her which froze every heart. A young woman,
the winsome daughter of one of the settlers, had fallen senseless on
the sand.
The patriarch of the settlement who, at the first sound, had knelt
and placed his ear close to the lake, soon rose in stern reproof. “Is
it thus you welcome God’s mercy? Your son, Mrs McDonald, and your
lover, Flora, for so you have just revealed to us he is, is alive and
well. It is his voice singing the boat-song of the Isle of Mist, and I
hear the plash of oars.” And so it was, for now clear and strong came
from the lake the words of the song, and soon keen eyes could see the
approaching canoe. There was a shout of joy, and tears streamed from
every cheek. A few minutes more and the lost were among them.
When they had re-entered the shanty and the cup of rejoicing had gone
round, Mr McDonald told his story. As time passed, and the canoe
drifted farther down the lake, he had given up all hope and expected
every moment to feel it caught in the strong current that leads to the
rapids, and to hear their dreadful sound. “I was praying for you in my
heart,” he said, “when I heard the sound of breaking water. Allan, I
shouted, here they are at last; make ready to jump and swim for your
life. No sooner said than my paddle struck bottom and I saw trees
before me. Quick, Allan, jump and we will drag the canoe ashore. We
both sprang out at the same time, and catching hold of the canoe ran
her through the breakers and high on to the bank. We were wet and so
cold, but, oh, we were thankful that we were saved. After a while we
got up and moved round to see if a house was near, when we found that
we were on one of the small islands that lie at the head of the rapids.
A few rods one way or the other and we would have swept past it and
been lost. It was God’s own hand that had steered our canoe. Well, we
waited patiently till the gale went down, and as soon as we dared we
launched out again and paddled homeward. And a long pull we had, but it
warmed us.”
The bag of flour was opened. The water had caked the outside layer,
leaving the interior quite dry. The flour was examined with interest,
being the first from wheat grown in the settlement.
“Well,” exclaimed the patriarch, “it is time we were in our beds,
though it be now good daylight, and we will go to sleep with thankful
hearts that our good neighbor is with us and not at the bottom of the
lake. And you, Mrs McDonald, we wish well to, for you have this morning
found not only the son that was lost, but a daughter you knew not of,
and a good girl she is too. There is plenty of land here for all, and
we will build them a house and hold our New Year in it, and, please
God, we will not again risk life in these French cobbles of canoes, but
build a big boat.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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