and sympathetic. All through the long winter they were
inseparable.

The warm, inquisitive sun had so discomfited the snow that for five
months had determinedly hid the earth, that it had begun to lose its
attractive whiteness and to assume a jaundiced hue, and, finally
succumbing to its ancient foe, was gradually retreating into the
earth--the vanishing of the snow meant the breaking up of the camp,
for without it the logs could not be hauled to the river.

It was a beautiful day at the latter end of March when Narcisse and
Charlie, with their winter's earnings in their pockets, left camp and
happily trudged off to the railway station, four miles away. They had
agreed to spend a month at St. John's, where Narcisse lived, before
going out to the North-West for the summer. Charlie had suggested that
they should go out west at once, but Narcisse somehow never took
kindly to the proposition, and had offered several excuses for not
hurrying away that seemed to Charlie to be a little hazy and certainly
not very weighty. One reason Narcisse dwelt upon for not going was the
good fishing there was at St. John's. Prior to this suggestion
Narcisse had never mentioned fishing; consequently the sudden outbreak
of this new passion in his friend provided Charlie, on more than one
occasion, with ample food for reflection.

Town life was wonderfully bright and attractive to them after the long
quiet of the woods. Narcisse knew many people in the pretty little
town, and wherever he went Charlie was always sure to be seen. Rev.
Father Pelletiere, the parish priest, who had christened Narcisse and
buried his parents, called the young men David and Jonathan. The
reverend father was a man thoroughly opposed to race prejudices, and
there could be no doubt but that the friendship between the two young
men had entirely bridged the artificial barriers so often raised
between men of different races and creeds.

The very day they arrived in town, Narcisse, in an off-hand manner,
told Charlie that they would go and call at a cottage that he had
occasionally visited before he went to the woods. There was something
in the tone in which Narcisse said this that gave Charlie the
impression that the house must be one of more than ordinary size and
importance. The more than usual time that Narcisse took in dressing
that day increased this impression. When finally, after wandering down
a series of little streets, Narcisse stopped at a small whitewash