Return to Tyonak 



when I was pushing the boat's stern off she went 

 into the rough water broadside on, and shipped 

 quite a lot of water, but she was well held above 

 by the rope, a turn of which had been taken 

 round the bole of a tree lest it should be dragged 

 from the men's hands. This was the worst 

 place we had to encounter, although many 

 other places had to be taken with great care. 

 The trip from the Indian shack to the village 

 of Kenai took us just over twelve hours we 

 were up at the house just as it was getting dark, 

 the gear being brought up by the Indians. The 

 skins and heads were hung up in a lock-up 

 house on the beach. 



Next day I heard that my schooner had 

 arrived to take me up to Tyonak, and I went 

 down to interview the owner, who I thought 

 looked somewhat " tough," as though he had 

 been making a night of it. In answer to my 

 inquiry as to when he proposed to sail, he said, 

 " This afternoon, if it will suit you." 



Now that the time had come to say good-bye 

 to Hunter I was sad. We had been the very best 

 of friends during all these long months, and I 

 had got to like his straight honest ways of speech ; 

 one gets to know a man very well when you 

 spend several months in his company. 



It did not take long to get my belongings 

 on that dirty schooner. The cabin was a poky, 

 beastly hole with two bunks, that were taken 



275 



