d see your old friend--that's a good dog!"

It was no use. Loon's sorrow would not be allayed, and far beyond
Maitland we still heard him wailing it down the wind.

Of course it was but natural that we should discuss the matter with
Eddie. He had assured us that dogs never forget, and we pressed him now
to confess what extreme cruelty or deceit he had practiced upon Loon in
his puppyhood, that the grown hound dog had remembered, and reproached
him for to-day. But for the most part Eddie remained silent and seemed
depressed. Neither did he again produce his diary, though we urged him
to do so, in order that he might once more read to us what he had
recorded of Loon. Perhaps something had been overlooked, something that
would make Loon's lamentations clear. I think we were all glad when at
last there came a gleam through the trees and we were at Jake's Landing,
where our boats would first touch the water, where we would break our
bread in the wilderness for the first time.

[Illustration: "Eddie produced his jug of fly mixture and we anointed
ourselves for the first time, putting on a pungent fragrance."]

It was not much of a place to camp. There was little shade, a good deal
of mud, and the sun was burning hot. There was a remnant of black flies,
too, and an advance guard of mosquitoes. Eddie produced his jug of fly
mixture and we anointed ourselves for the first time, putting on a
pungent fragrance which was to continue a part of us, body and bone, so
long as the wilderness remained our shelter. It was greasy and sticky
and I could not muster an instant liking for the combined fragrance of
camphor, pennyroyal and tar. But Eddie assured me that I would learn to
love it, and I was willing to try.

I was more interested in the loading of the canoes. Del, stout of muscle
and figure--not to say fat, at least not over fat--and Charlie, light of
weight and heart--sometimes known as Charles the Strong--were packing
and fitting our plunder into place, condensing it into a tight and solid
compass in the center of our canoes in a way that commanded my respect
and even awe. I could see, however, that when our craft was loaded the
water line and the gunwale were not so far apart, and I realized that
one would want to sit decently still in a craft like that, especially in
rough water.

Meantime, Eddie had coupled up a rod and standing on a projecting log
was making a few casts. I assumed that he was merely giving us an
exhibit