"A Haunted Island" by Algernon Blackwood

maskinonge, a.k.a. muskellunge: a large North American pike (Esox masquinongy) that can weigh over 60 pounds (27 kg). I have no idea what the pronunciation is supposed to be and couldn't find any example of it, everybody these days seems to just call it muskellunge. I mean, I can find a bunch of French language videos using the word, presumably the Quebec variant of French, but English speakers seem to have abandoned the word.

loon: a type of bird that when at rest floating on the water may look a good deal like a duck, but you will never mistake its call for that of a duck!

-40F is also exactly -40C!

6 inches = 15.25 centimeters

200 yards = 183 meters

The picture used is a cottage on Rainy Lake Island in Ontario. Although that's way over on the west side of Ontario, while Montreal and Toronto are over on the east side, so it can't be the lake in the story, but it is a cottage on an island in a lake surrounded by forest, so it still thematically fits quite nicely.

To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14471/14471-h/14471-h.htm#chapter2