THE COMRADES 



245 



though he drew nearer, the bird did not* 

 fly away, only endeavoring to escape by 

 ambling away on its short legs. Won- 

 dering, Detanges pursued and caught 

 it. Upon taking it in his hands, he per- 

 ceived that its wings were injured. 



"Bon crow," he muttered, smoothing 

 the ruffling feathers. "No, Ah wouldna' 

 hurt you. Pore bud ! Ah take you 

 home to de varm an' de vood. ' So the 

 black bunch of feathers was dumped 

 unceremoniously into a huge pocket, 

 and later introduced to his new abode. 



In this bird, Detanges found much 

 enjoyment. During the long evenings, 

 seated in the opposite side of the cabin 

 from the grumpy Andre, with his pet 

 perched upon his shoulder or knee, he 

 would smoke his two pipefuls, and then 

 converse to it upon the events of the 

 day. 



But the wise animal never ap- 

 proached to companionable terms with 

 Andre ; in fact, it held entirely aloof 

 from him, seemingly aware of the ill- 

 will, which the morose man held to- 

 wards everything. For upon its first 

 day in the cabin, the bird, approaching 

 along the table toward the man, was 

 suddenly swept to the floor by that per- 

 son's large hand. Later in the even- 

 ing, Detanges whisperingly informed 

 the outraged crow that he must excuse 

 Andre, for he was so disappointed at 

 his poor success that he did not really 

 know what he was doing. 



Between the two men, the friendly 

 feeling was gradually passing away. 

 Andre's first pangs of envy had slowly 

 grown, as Destanges still remained 

 most successful. Almost unconscious 

 to himself, it had become malice. The 

 greatness of his own misfortunes con- 

 stantly rushed before him in contrast to 

 his comrade's good luck. This, only, 

 caused him malignant feelings which he 

 could not control. 



Detanges, on the other hand, held 

 Andre in contempt, because he knew 

 that jealousy was conquering the other 

 man's common sense. "One tarn vool," 

 he growled to the bird, when the person 

 referred to was out of hearing. "He 



tillks Ab is to blame. Jle is fn 11 to 

 moi no more, 'cause Ab get big lot o' 

 beaver. He mils' link Ah keep dem 

 From hees traps. Ab no understand at 

 all." 



Thrown together as they constantly 

 were, the hostile feelings between them 

 became worse, each ignorantly blaming 

 the other as the cause. 



One day at last Andre's pent up 

 emotion burst forth, and he fled from 

 the cabin to the woods. It was caused 

 by the lucky Detanges returning from a 

 visit to his traps with one of those 

 precious gems of the north forests. 



Forgetting in his happiness, how 

 Andre might feel at his action, he burst 

 into the cabin like a rollicking school- 

 boy, thrusting jubilantly before the 

 other's astonished eyes, the beautiful 

 pelt of a silver fox. Glossy, silky, per- 

 fect, it rippled before his face as De- 

 tanges began to excitedly tell how he 

 had trapped it. 



Andre realized that this meant a for- 

 tune for the other — a fortune gained 

 in addition to his already large cap- 

 tures, whereas, he himself, who was in 

 much more need of success, was able to 

 catch almost nothing more valuable 

 than a measly rat. Also, was not De- 

 tanges taunting him by waving the rich 

 skin before his very nose? 



He could not control himself at this 

 point ; with a cry of rage, he thrust the 

 splendid pelt aside, fleeing out of doors. 

 At the border of the woods, he stood 

 for a moment, shaking his clenched 

 fists at the cabin and the sky. Then he 

 dashed into the gloomy forest, on and 

 on, thinking only of his terrible 

 wrong's. 



All his feelings of hate for Detanges 

 now rushed to the surface. He com- 

 pletely forgot the kindnesses he had re- 

 ceived of him. To think that he 

 flaunted the valuable creature before his 

 sight ! that he should ridicule him for 

 his own bad fortunes ! This was the last 

 straw he could bear. 



Did he himself not set his traps ex- 

 actly as Detanges did? Did he not 

 even work harder? But Detanges was 



