32 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



no plumbers to swear over, no janitors to cuss at, no, not even 

 any housecleaning to do before you depart just move and 

 nothing more. Just dump a little outfit into a canoe and then 

 paddle away from all your tiresome environment, and travel 

 wherever your heart dictates, and then settle down where not 

 even an exasperating neighbour could find you. What would 

 you give to live such a peaceful life? 



"As I understand it," says Thoreau, "that was a valid ob- 

 jection urged by Momus against the house which Minerva 

 made, that she had not made it movable, by which means a bad 

 neighbourhood might be avoided; and it may still be urged, for 

 our houses are such unwieldy property that we are often 

 imprisoned rather than housed in them; and the bad neighbour- 

 hood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves." 



On their arrival, Amik at once set about getting his ad- 

 vances. He was a stalwart, athletic-looking man of about 

 thirty-five, but not the equal of his father-in-law in character. 

 Oo-koo-hoo now told the Factor just where he intended to 

 hunt, what fur he expected to get, and how the fur runners 

 could best find his camp. As the price of fur had risen, the 

 Factor told him what price he expected to pay. If, however, 

 the price had dropped, the Factor would not have informed the 

 hunter until his return next year. During the course of the 

 conversation, the old hunter begged the loan of a second-hand 

 gun and some traps for the use of his grandsons; and the 

 Factor granted his request. 



In the meantime, the women called upon the clergyman and 

 the priest and the nuns to wish them farewell, and incidentally 

 to do a little more begging. As they were not ready to go by 

 noon, the Factor's wife spread a cloth upon the kitchen floor, 

 and placed upon it some food for the party. After lunch 

 they actually made ready to depart, and everybody came down 

 to the landing to see us off. As the children and dogs scrambled 

 aboard the canoes, the older woman remembered that she had 



