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Show 77 The outfitter at Skagway had insisted on mosquitoe netting and eucalyptus oil. I had doubted his word, but now I frantically sought those supplies which were at the bottom of our stack of goods. We pushed hard and fast to free the raft from that bog. And even then the stinging hordes followed us out to the current. After that, we went ashore only when we needed firewood for our stove, which we had set up on deck, or when a storm forced us there. Otherwise, we lowered our sail and slept on deck, floating along in the twilight of the Northern summer until we bumped into something. Our raft was always bumping into things on those glacial lakes-Lake Bennett, Lake Tagish, and Lake Marsh. Things like ice floes and snagpiles. We spent many nights on sand bars, but we did not care. There were no mosquitoes in the middle of the lake. Fish jumped all around for our supper. And there was always the next day for digging out. The Queen of the Raft was a real talker. And the only person she had to talk to-was me. This is how she would begin one of her dialogues: "I've been thinking today about my dear aunt who died of a broken heart." "Oh?" I'd say. "Yes, you see, there was this tavern in her town where her |