1921
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CHAPTER XVII "Defeat" |
 By
6 a.m., the interval having been spent by B. in sleep, we had filled
up with gas and were again on the road. Outside the town W. took
the wheel to relieve B. but Maudie, recognizing a strange touch,
baulked badly on the hill out of the Kootenay Valley, so B. again
took control. The weather was by this time clearing nicely and some
wonderful cloud effects were seen as we climbed out of the valley
and into the sunshine and could look across to the opposite range
of hills, the valley being filled with mist and cloud. For some
distance we made good progress and had even begun to discuss prospective
campsites East of Fernie when Maudie again intimated that we only
traveled at her pleasure. The source of trouble now was the shoe
purchased at Blairmore, which should by all rights have been good
for another 3000 miles, but since the shoe bore the brand of the
Maltese Cross it is not altogether to be wondered at. As we neared
the boundary, our thoughts which had turned instinctively to Bridge
62 and that which awaited us there grew ever brighter, but tempers
were not improved when, on reaching Kingsgate, we were compelled
to pay a duty of $4 on the shoe purchased in Wilbur which had already
cost, on account of the exchange, more than if bought in Canada
and in addition, the delay caused by Maudie and the customs had
now made it virtually impossible to reach Cranbrook before noon.
Under these conditions we should, if the afore-mentioned Puritanical
Pharisees are to be believed, on reaching the bridge cache and recovering
our property, have immediately proceeded to make beasts of ourselves,
but instead we merely followed St. Paul's advice and proceeded on
our way. Between Yahk and Moyie, Maudie again claimed attention
and the stop was prolonged for lunch. At this time also another
party, on their way through from Alberta, who had camped nearby,
came over to borrow coffee and, on supplying their needs, presented
us with some potatoes and onions, the latter when fried adding greatly
to the savor of our nightly beans and subsequently, and consequently
becoming a fixed  item
of supper. A short stop in Moyie, to procure additional patches
and darning material, if this were possible in such a deserted place,
deduced the fact that there was still one actual resident who, on
being aroused from sleep, assured us that he had that morning seen
a man who might have what we required, but he feared this man had
since gone to the country in search of a rest cure. We therefore,
had to proceed as we were and trust to luck and Maudie's more than
doubtful temper but, near Wattsburg and only about 11 miles from
Cranbrook the inevitable happened and, although we did manage to
make a repair with the last of our emergency kit the pump refused
to work. Then, when a fortuitously passing car lent us a pump, the
whole side of the shoe blew out in an entirely new place, making
a rip in the sock that would have been almost impossible to mend
even had we had the material, and all Maudie's spare hosiery was
in like case. The shoe, moreover, would not have lasted 200 yards
without considerable inner patching, so that our case appeared pretty
well hopeless. Wattsburg is really only a large sawmill, but we
thought it might be possible to buy, beg or borrow a spare or disused
shoe still capable of carrying us to Cranbrook. Our hopes in this
respect were short lived, but we did get the offer of a ride into
town for one of us after 6 p.m. We had been told that there was
somewhere in the vicinity a wrecked car from which we might be able
to salvage our requirements so, more to pass the time than with
the expectation of finding anything, a search was made, which resulted
in the discovery of this car and from it we obtained a spare sock
and some darning material. Then, while B. fabricated patches and
persuaded the pump to work after a fashion, L. made tea and at last,
with a very soft and doubtful shoe, we essayed the intervening miles
in fear and trembling. Fortunately the distance was short and no
further ill luck befell us, but on reaching Cranbrook we found that
the place where our spare had been left was, like the rest of the
town, closed up for the half holiday and, as it was now getting
late, we drove back about two miles to a spot we had remarked on
the way in and made camp for the night. Luckily, our bedrolls had
dried considerably during the day and, by spreading the bedding
out to catch the remaining sunshine, it was in very fair shape by
the time it was required. The day's run from Cranbrook amounted
to no more than 85 miles for the 13 or 14 hours on the road.
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