272 CANADIAN WILDS. 



The chances are that he might never have 

 been found and thus have perished, had a quiet- 

 ing effect on him for some days but the old rest- 

 lessness got hold of him again, and he had to be 

 away hunting up fresh trouble. This time he- 

 had a companion and they went in a canoe to 

 hunt ducks. His companion (a half-breed) de- 

 barked on the river bank to crawl up to sonic 

 birds and placed an injunction on Ralson to re- 

 main quietly seated in the canoe. When the 

 half-breed returned to the river bank it was to 

 find the canoe upset and Ralson sitting on the 

 shore dripping wet. On comparing notes it 

 was found a rifle I had lent him was at that pre- 

 cise moment at the bottom of the river in about 

 ten feet of water. 



It would never do to return to the post and 

 report this mishap and the loss of the gun, so 

 Ralson undressed and began to dive for its re- 

 covery. Robert, the man, told me, when de- 

 scribing the adventure, that he never laughed 

 so much in his life as when sitting on the bank 

 and watching Ralson making desperate and re- 

 peated efforts to recover the weapon. lie was 

 finally successful and exacted a cast iron prom- 

 ise from Robert not to inform the people at the 

 post. A promise which Robert promptly broke. 



An accident, however, which almost cost him 

 his life, altho after he was safe at the post, 



