. MacPherson. There I told him all about the
scene at the hut, and if you have read that you must know that we knew
nothing of Field or his work. All we know is that he stole some of our
grub and showed remarkable skill in doing so. All through, he was about
as clever as one could imagine."

"I'll grant that he was clever, and you seem clever yourself," was the
reply.

"Don't forget that we'll keep our eye on you the rest of the summer, and
that at the first suspicious move, we'll arrest you," said another
official.

"You will find that totally unnecessary. We have been coming up into
this country for several years, and the delights of nature, the fishing,
hunting and adventure are the only things we are after here," said Mr.
Waterman.

"I hardly know what to believe," said the spokesman of the party. "That
man Field was here on just the same plea that you have stated, and until
a few days ago he was just as little suspected as you now actually are.
Pardon my questioning, but it seemed necessary. We are camping over on
Lac Corbeau for some time, so if you see more of us do not be surprised.
For the present we'll assume that things are just as you state they are.
I sincerely hope so, for otherwise it will be a very serious matter for
you."

The two parties then separated, and Mr. Waterman led the way back down
the mountain. They were just in time for a real good swim before supper.
Jack had been out and he had gotten four ducks, so that they had a very
fine meal. Duck, trout, biscuits hot from the pan, ginger-bread and
apricots made up a meal that would have done credit to Delmonico's, let
alone a camp far away in the Canadian wilds. They certainly enjoyed it.

The next morning they were up early. They were going to get over to the
Escoumains River and this meant that they would have to portage through
three lakes.

"We'll have some hard work this morning, boys, so let's get away as
early as we can," said Mr. Waterman.

"How many portages have we?" asked Pud.

"Three," was the reply.

"It's all the same to me," said Pud. "I'm getting to like the feel of
that old canoe on my neck. It certainly does not seem half as heavy as
it was ten days ago."

"That's because you know how to distribute its weight so that you carry
it with head, neck, and arms," said Mr. Anderson. "These canoes are
especially made and they weigh only sixty pounds. You ought to carry the
canoes we used the first year of the Saguenay Club.