ecitied and more populous land. The
more he thought about it, the more certain he became that he would
choose to escape. A half-breed girl who was almost pure Indian in her
manners--and Peggy seemed that to him now--could never be a fitting
companion for an educated white man. He'd been something more than a
fool to marry her. The entire business was a farce, from start to
finish; and then he remembered that nearly every farce ends in
someone's tragedy.

He was interrupted in his bitterness by a shout from up-river. While
they had been all engaged in watching the northeast, a swift canoe,
carrying two men, had stolen in from the west. It was approaching the
pier; before he had time to get down, its occupants had landed and
were shaking hands with Beorn effusively, emitting low, hoarse cries
of "Watchee. Watchee."

As he descended the mound, he scanned their travelling outfit, that he
might guess their errand. They carried no cargo, nor was their canoe
the broad-built, slate-coloured conveyance of the Hudson Bay Company;
it was birch-bark, constructed for speed, and carried in the bow a
miniature sail. They must be the bearers of a letter, or of important
verbal tidings.

He shook hands with them in silence, nor did he ask them at once to
deliver to him their message, well knowing from unhappy experience
that to attempt to hurry an Indian is to cause him to delay. Instead,
he set about doing them favours, that so they might be the more
willing to oblige him. He led the way up to his store and, displaying
to them his wares, told them to choose themselves each a present.
There were gaudy shawls, beflowered muslin dress-lengths, rifles,
watches, clocks, suits of clothing and city head-gear, probably
misfits or the refuse of a bankrupt's stock which Wrath had bought
cheap, all of them long since out of date; there were even battered
dolls and children's toys lying about mixed up with canned goods and
groceries--a miscellaneous array. Arranged along one wall were all the
implements of the trapper's trade and the articles of common use,
such as kettles, pans, enamel cups and plates, coils of rope, etc.
With the inborn thriftlessness of the Indian, at the articles of
essential worth they only glanced, after which they turned aside from
them. Not until an hour had passed did one of the men make up his mind
to take a top-hat for his present, broad-brimmed and dusty, from off
which most of the silk was worn--a relic, perhaps,