THE BLACK BEAR OF MUSKOKA 121 



to a turn. Eagerly stretching out both hands, he 

 seized the handle, and shook the brown mass with 

 a violence and energy that would have broken 

 a man's neck unless it had been made of iron. 

 He then whacked the contents upon a piece of 

 board, and gave me a forcible kick. Being very 

 hungry, I drew my pocket-knife and joined 

 heartily in the meal. When we had finished 

 Joe stared at me for at least a minute, and then 

 came the word c Spavined.' What did he mean ? 

 Was he spavined, or was I spavined ? * Then 

 the thought of my ponies entered my mind 

 and everything became clear. When Joe saw 

 me coming he had fixed his eyes on one of my 

 Indian ponies. 



" Joe was a ' holy terror ' on arguments, so 

 I knew it would be better not to take exception 

 to his remark. I found it exceedingly difficult 

 to draw the slightest information out of him. 

 He had himself blazed a path to Bull, Echo, 

 Clear, and Long Lakes, and knew almost every 

 yard of the country for twenty miles round. 

 Possibly he had seen me immerge from the bush 

 on his side of the lake, and his suspicions had 

 been aroused. Whenever I referred to my 

 journey to Huron a curious expression came 



