do not know if it was
luck alone that made you choose the spot."

They sat down in the hollow among the rocks, and the missionary shivered
although the fire snapped and threw out clouds of smoke close by.
Thirlwell gave him his tobacco pouch.

"In the meantime, you can eat your bannock and then take a smoke. I'm
curious to learn how you lost your outfit and the dogs."

Father Lucien ate the morsel of hard cake, and afterwards looked up.
"Perhaps I had better tell you before your men arrive. Well, I traveled
about with my people as they moved their traps, and one night when very
tired I slept in damp moccasins. The fire got low and next morning my
foot was slightly frozen. We were forced to make long marches for some
days, and I found the frost-bite had gone deeper than I thought. You
can, no doubt, guess what happened."

Thirlwell nodded. A frozen foot sometimes galls into a sore that will
not heal while the temperature is low.

"Well," said Father Lucien, "some time after we pitched camp, a man came
in with a dog-team that belonged to the Hudson's Bay. He was not going
farther but offered to lend me the dogs, if I would leave them with some
friends of his who were trapping to the south."

"But can you drive dogs?" Thirlwell asked, knowing that skill is
required to manage the snarling, fighting teams.

"Not well, but I have driven dogs, and was anxious to reach the mine
before my foot got worse. I thought I might find somebody at the
Indians' camp who would go on with me. For a day or two we made good
progress, though I had trouble to harness the leader in the morning; he
was a stubborn, bad tempered animal, and missed his master's firm
control. Then, one evening, we came to a creek. The stream had kept the
channel open here and there, and I thought the ice thin, but it was
open, rocky country round about, and I saw a clump of pines in the
distance where we could camp. It got dark as we followed the creek and
clouds drifted over the moon, but I wanted to find shelter and pushed
on. Once or twice the ice cracked ominously, but it held until we came
to a spot where the stream got narrower between high, rocky banks.

"The leader stopped and growled, at the edge of an open crack. His
instinct warned him of danger, but I knew I could not get up the rough
bank with my lame foot, and drove him past. As I limped by his side with
the whip, I thought I heard the current gurgle under the ice, but we
went on, the dogs snuf