ANTOINE GARDAPEE. 243 



beyond anything that is possible for one of the "lower 

 animals" to do, and after all there are men who are really 

 honest as the world goes who will rob a hard-working 

 bee of the fruits of its summer labor and leave it to perish 

 in the winter. 



A month later there was a thaw, and I got caught in 

 it. The thongs in the snowshoes softened and stretched, 

 and in places where the shade of hills or trees preserved 

 the temperature the snow packed and froze on the thongs 

 until it was severe work to lift a foot. Frequent recourse 

 to the stream removed the snow, but it was only a tem- 

 porary relief, and progress was slow and painful. The 

 crust had softened, and without snowshoes a man would 

 sink down at least twenty inches, which was knee-deep 

 for me, and in snow packed by laying all winter this 

 made travel impossible without snowshoes, while with 

 them a thaw like this clogged them so that they were of 

 little use. It was evident that I must make a camp for 

 the night before the regular camping place could be 

 reached, and before nightfall I had a shelter constructed 

 against a huge log by means of poles and brush, and a 

 bed of balsam boughs kept my blankets from the snow. 

 I was out three nights on this trip, and was lame and 

 sore on reaching the cabin. The stream was so high and 

 rapid that it would have involved some extra miles of 

 travel to find a crossing place if Antoine had not felled a 

 great oak across the swollen brook at the point where he 

 knew I would reach it. 



Antoine had a severe toothache. It had troubled 

 him a little for some weeks, but now it was raging. To- 

 bacco had no effect upon it, and he suffered in silence 

 except when an extra twinge forced a sacre or a big D 

 from him. He ate little, but sat by the fire and thought. 

 Pipe after pipe was filled and emptied, and still he 



