A TALE OF THE GRAND JARDIN 



jealously, which was natural enough as 

 it yielded them game and fur in plenty. 

 Though he showed me good sport, it was 

 quite plain that he never told all that he 

 knew. The paths he followed, if indeed 

 they were paths, were not blazed. He 

 seemed to steer by a sense of direction, 

 and from a general knowledge of the lie 

 of the mountains, valleys and rivers. 

 Seldom did we return by the way that 

 had taken us to the feeding-grounds of 

 moose or caribou. Duchene was con- 

 temptuous of easy walking, and almost 

 seemed to choose the roughest going, but 

 he jogged along in marvellous fashion 

 through swamps and windfalls, with a 

 cruel load on his back. The fellow was 

 simply hard as nails, and, measured by 

 my abilities, was tireless. 



" Looking back to that autumn, it 

 strikes me that there was something de- 

 monic in his energy. Food and rest did 

 not matter to him. He was always ready 

 to go anywhere, leaving me to follow 



149 



