Co The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 



conducted Paul to the principal house, and pointed 

 out the room allotted to him. 



" You have just arrived in time," he said, when 

 Paul, refreshed by a bathe in the lake and a change 

 of clothing, took his seat at the supper table, " for 

 in a few days I expect a party of Ojibbeways in 

 ^ with their furs, and you may depend on their 

 quickening their movements when they find out 

 that a fresh supply of stores have reached the fort." 



" And what kind of peltry will they bring 1 " asked 

 Paul. 



" Oh, principally beaver, and most likely a bear- 

 skin or two. Of course all fur-bearing animals are 

 scarce in this quarter now, but we have a good 

 number of beavers still left, though their skins have 

 sunk enormously in value since the hatters have 

 taken to using silk in place of fur. A beaver skin 

 used to fetch thirty shillings in London, it is now 

 hardly worth a sixth of that sum." 



Paul was most anxious to gain every information 

 possible regarding the different anmials whose fur 

 renders them so eagerly sought after, and both 

 Mr. Groves and Pierre Lefranc were perfectly willing 

 to satisfy his curiosity, so by questioning them, and 

 keeping his eyes well open he learnt a variety of 

 things regarding the trade, which, as well as I can, 

 I shall endeavour to convey to the reader. 



