348 



of dogged reserve with which each 

 man worked. He knew it could 

 not be done but he was willing to 

 try, since that was what he had been 

 engaged for, and leave the issue to 

 fate. Creche, as usual the only 

 talkative one, expressed his mixed 

 ideas in equally mixed dialect. 



"Shure Mr. Tevis, mon. We'll try 

 ze thrick. Zere is no buck on ze 

 Ottawa can carry more zan Creche. 

 Grace a Dieu, je suis fort comme le 

 boeuf. Creche will show you what 

 a man can do to-day. I sucked 

 strength in wif my mower's milk, 

 and her mower was an Indian prin- 

 cess who " 



At this point the Cook threw at 

 him an empty water pail. 



"Here fill that, and work your 

 legs instead of your jaw for a while. ' ' 



There were no idle hands that 

 morning, and by ten o'clock we 

 actually had gotten packed up and 

 all the stuff moved across the Lake 

 to the first portage, which was 

 about a mile long. 



It was there that Bobbie got his 

 first shock. Two of the canoes had 

 made a second trip. He had no 



