hes away.

The month of May was nearly gone; June was at hand; that is, the spring
was over.

In all ages, man has had the impulse, if not the habit, of spring
migration. Yielding to it he either migrated or made some radical change
in his life. Most of the Adirondack men who trapped in the winter sought
work on the log drives in spring; some who had families and a permanent
home set about planting potatoes and plying the fish nets. Rolf and
Quonab having neither way open, yet feeling the impulse, decided to go
out to Warren's with the fur.

Quonab wanted tobacco--and a change.

Rolf wanted a rifle, and to see the Van Trumpers--and a change.

So June 1st saw them all aboard, with Quonab steering at the stern, and
Skookum bow-wowing at the bow, bound for the great centre of Warren's
settlement--one store and three houses, very wide apart.

There was a noble flush of water in the streams, and, thanks to their
axe work in September, they passed down Jesup's River without a pause,
and camped on the Hudson that night, fully twenty-five miles from home.

Long, stringing flocks of pigeons going north were the most numerous
forms of life. But a porcupine on the bank and a bear in the water
aroused Skookum to a pitch of frightful enthusiasm and vaulting ambition
that he was forced to restrain.

On the evening of the third day they landed at Warren's and found a
hearty welcome from the trader, who left a group of loafers and came
forward:

"Good day to ye, boy. My, how ye have growed."

So he had. Neither Rolf nor Quonab had remarked it, but now they
were much of the same height. "Wall, an' how'd ye make out with yer
hunt?--Ah, that's fine!" as each of them dropped a fur pack on the
counter. "Wall, this is fine; we must have a drink on the head of it,"
and the trader was somewhat nonplussed when both the trappers refused.
He was disappointed, too, for that refusal meant that they would get
much better prices for their fun But he concealed his chagrin and
rattled on: "I reckon I'll sell you the finest rifle in the country this
time," and he knew by Rolf's face that there was business to do in that
line.

Now came the listing of the fur, and naturally the bargaining was
between the shrewd Yankee boy and the trader. The Indian stood shyly
aside, but he did not fail to help with significant grunts and glances.

"There, now," said Warren, as the row of martens were laid out side
by side, "thirty martens--a leetle pale--