ss. They
learned their mistake when they reached the camp of a man from whom
they expected to learn news more recent than the events reported in the
paper the day they left civilization, seven weeks before. They felt sure
that, as he lived on the trail, he would have seen some traveler who had
left the railroad since their own departure.

When they asked him for late news from the States, he said he had some
very recent news, and proceeded to tell of events eight months old! "Do
you call that recent?" he was asked, in disgust.

"What's the matter with that?" was the wondering reply. "It only
happened last fall, and there ain't been nobody through here since." And
he contentedly resumed the task at which he had been engaged when
interrupted by the demand for "recent" news.

On the same journey the travelers--whose story is told in "Trails in
Western Canada"--showed that they were learning the lesson. Carelessness
in handling a campfire caused a forest fire which threatened their food
supply. They saved this, but lost their only axes. After a long search
they found these in the embers, but the temper had been utterly ruined
by the heat. Only a few hours before they felt that an axe was
absolutely necessary not only to comfort but to life itself, yet when
the ruined tools were found the travelers turned to their tasks without
giving the disaster a second thought. They knew that there is always a
way out of difficulty. They continued their expedition without an axe,
and found that they managed very well.

The lesson was impressed still more by the attitude of a guide who spent
a few days with them. Like many other people on vacation they allowed
themselves to worry about finances. But their thoughts were set on a new
track by the guide, who, after telling of the success in trapping
grizzly bear and beaver which had enabled him to save a little money,
said: "Life is too short to worry about money. If I lose all I have
to-morrow, I can get a couple of bear traps and by next spring I'll be
on my feet again. The mountains are always here, and I know where there
is a bunch of bear and a colony of beaver, and I can get along out here,
and live like a prince while those poor millionaires are lying awake at
nights, lest someone come and steal their money."

Two other guides were engaged to pole the travelers' raft down the
Fraser River. Nearly every day the cold rain fell in torrents, but the
men were unmoved. "All day long th