300 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



the window and away off toward the distant hills. She, too, 

 set me wondering; was she thinking of Son-in-law? 



At that moment, however, the pig gave another impatient 

 grunt which startled Athabasca and caused her to look directly 

 at me ... I blushed scarlet, then; so did she — but, of 

 course, only out of sympathy. 



"Yes, we'll send her to that finishing school in Toronto," 

 her mother mused, while Free Trader Spear scratched his head 

 once more, and three house flies lazily sat on the sugar bowl 

 and hummed a vulgar tune. 



After dinner Mr. Spear invited me into the trading room to 

 see some of the furs he had secured. Among them were four 

 silver fox skins as well as the black one he had bought from 

 Oo-koo-hoo. They were indeed fine skins. 



It was now time for me to take my departure, so I returned 

 to the living room, but found no one there. Presently, how- 

 ever, Mrs. Spear entered, and though she sat down opposite me, 

 she never once looked my way. She seemed agitated about 

 something. Clasping her fingers together, she twirled her 

 thumbs about one another, then she twirled them back the 

 other way; later she took to tapping her moccasined toe upon 

 the bare floor. I wondered what was coming. I couldn't 

 make it out. For all the while she was looking at a certain 

 crack in the floor. Once more she renewed the twirling action 

 of her thumbs, and even increased the action of her toe upon 

 the floor. 



What did it all mean? Had I done anything to displease 

 her? No; I could think of nothing of the sort, so I felt a little 

 easier. Suddenly, however, she glanced up and, looking 

 straight at me, began: 



"Mr. Heming ... we have only one child . . . 

 and we love her dearly . . ." 



But the pause that followed was so long drawn out that I 

 began to lose interest, especially as the flies were once more 



