24 OLD JAKE'S STORY. 



encampment by water, for a cedar-wood canoe rests 

 bottom up upon the shingly beach within a few yards 

 of the fire. Under the shelter of the hut are stowed 

 the articles of the freight. 



The party seem in high good humour notwithstand- 

 ing the downpour of rain which hisses in the embers. 

 They are amused, apparently, by some anecdote which 

 their grizzled companion is narrating in the intervals 

 between his attacks on a venison rib which he holds 

 across his mouth in both hands, gnawing it from 

 right to left, and left to right. We will draw a 

 little nearer, and share in the amusement of the two 

 youths : 



"Wai, boyees, that wa'nt a sarcumstance to what 

 happened last time I wur at the fort. Some nioun- 

 tainy fe\en wur thur, a tradin' thur plunder, an' you 

 bet they wur on fur a big drink ! They wur squenchin' 

 thur thirst this-a-way one day, an' talkin' o' what they 

 cud do wi' thur rifles, when a dispute riz between two 

 o' 'em, which wur the best shot. " ' 'Tis easy to settle 

 that,' sez Gadwell Green. 'Hyur's my old shootin' 

 stick, and thur's yourn. We'll rig up a mark fast enuff, 

 I'll allow, an' the boys '11 jedge atween us.' T'other 

 fellur agreed at oncest, an' looked round fur his rifle, 

 which he had leaned agin the wall. I wur thur at 

 the time, an' seed one o' the lads put down somethin' 

 as wa'n't powder in the rifle afore handin' it to the 

 owner, who didn't see what wur goin' on. A nail wur 

 druv in a tree sixty yards away, an' the thing wur to 



