CHAPTER XV. 



THE TRAPPERS LEAVE FORT PIERRE GLOOMY REFLECTIONS JAKE GETS RESTIVE 

 A CAMP AN INDIAN VISITOR AN EXPLOSION ESCAPE OF THE INDIAN 

 HUNT FOR BREAKFAST GAULTIER'S ADVENTURE OLD JAKE STALKED BY 

 SAVAGES HE IS SAVED BY GAULTIER DEATH OF THE INDIANS PIERRE'S 

 RETURN AND ASTONISHMENT. 



AFTER the sad scenes detailed in the last chapter, it is 

 not surprising that our trappers should find a further 

 stay at the fort undesirable. They therefore made 

 every arrangement for their departure on the day fol- 

 lowing the funeral ; and early on the succeeding morn- 

 ing they embarked in a new canoe furnished to them 

 by Mr. Frazer, and once more floated upon the ample 

 bosom of the Athabasca. Short as was the time since 

 they had arrived at Fort Pierre, the sad events that 

 had occurred during that interval impressed them with 

 a sense of having passed through an indefinite period 

 of unhappiness. 



During the first days that succeeded their departure, 

 the hunters or, more properly, Pierre and Gaultier 

 were unusually silent, each reflecting on his share in 

 the recent tragic episodes. Jake who, to do him 

 justice, had evinced an amount of feeling considerable 

 for one of his class at length began to get restive 



