THE COMRADES 



By A. CHESTER TUCKER 





T the little trading 

 store, Detanges 

 made his first prep- 

 aration for the long 

 winter hunt. He 

 bought provisions, 

 traps, ammunition 

 with some of the 

 money he had 

 earned as guide in 

 the summer, and 

 even then his small 

 family was secure 

 with ample pro- 

 visions. Unlike some of his native 

 brothers, perhaps, he always thought of 

 his family first, before he visited the 

 back room of the store for the colored 

 water, and in thus doing, he found that 

 he could indulge but very seldom. 



He was loading his canoe with his 

 purchases, when Andre La Farge 

 paddled alongside, watching him. 

 Without speaking, Detanges mused to 

 himself: Andre was a good man, a 

 very good man. He also had a family, 

 and sickness was taking away some of 

 them. Andre was also poor ; he could 

 not buy food for the sick ones at the 

 store. Because he had no money, the 

 mean doctor at the village, miles away, 

 would not come to help them. 



Bad fortune had always seemed to 

 visit him in the past. Even now, De- 

 tanges knew that there was no work 

 for him during the coming winter. He 

 could not go trapping, for the store 

 would not trust him for the necessary 

 supplies. 



On the other hand, Detanges himself 

 was prosperous. It would surely be 

 lonesome trapping all alone during the 

 long, monotonous months. Perhaps he 

 could help Andre, and at the same time 

 procure a good companion. 



"Holla, Andre!" he cried, looking 

 up from his work. "Vanta come vid 



me for to trap up de du Rocher? Lots 

 o' beaver dere." 



"Certaine!" the astonished Andre 

 quickly answered. "But Ah have no 

 penny for to buy traps. Vhat say to 

 dat?" 



"Ah pay for traps," Detanges re- 

 plied. "You pay moi back in spring 

 when you sell furs." 



"Bon!" and a new light of hope 

 crept into Andre's sunken eyes. 



So the next day, the two started up 

 the du Rocher in their heavily laden ca- 

 noe. Straight towards the west against 

 the current, they journeyed, plying 

 their paddles untiringly, only inter- 

 rupted by numerous portages and the 

 fall of night. The woods were already 

 bare and naked, except where the 

 spruce and firs stood, and the night 

 frosts were cold and biting. There 

 was, indeed, great hopes for many 

 beaver skins that winter ; they were go- 

 ing into a region which had not been 

 visited for many years by Canadian 

 trappers. 



At the end of a little more than a 

 week, they arrived amid the heart of 

 the swamp and wooden plain, setting 

 industriously at work to build their 

 cabin. Then, when this stronghold 

 against storms and wild beasts was 

 completed, they were ready to com- 

 mence the work of the winter. 



"Sence ve frens an' companions all 

 vinter, ve vant understanding," sug- 

 gested Detanges. "Now, vhat skins 

 you cache dis vinter, in de spring is 

 yours. Vhat skins Ah cache dis win- 

 ter, in de spring is moin." 



"Bon!" 



"An' you set trap 'n one side brook, 

 an' Ah on oder?" 



"Certaine !" 



So with this agreement between 

 them, all went well for days. With the 

 early rising sun each day, they were up. 



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