And it be a mighty heavy box!" said the Trapper.

"You'd 'a' thought so, if you had dragged it over the mile-and-a-half
carry. It was good sleddin' on the river, but the carry took the stuff
out of me."

"Very like, very like," responded the Trapper; "fur the gullies be
deep on the carry, and it must have been slippery haulin'. Didn't ye
git a leetle 'arnest in yer feelin's, Bill, afore ye got to the top of
the last ridge?"

"Old man," answered Bill, as he wheeled his chair toward the Trapper,
with a pint cup of tea in the one hand, and wiping his mustache with
the coat sleeve of the other, "I got it to the top three times, or
within a dozen feet from the top, and each time it got away from me
and went to the bottom agin; for the roots was slippery, and I
couldn't git a grip on the toe of my moccasins; but I held on to the
rope, and I got to the bottom neck and neck with the sled every time."

"Ye did well, ye did well," responded the Trapper, laughing; "for a
loaded sled goes down hill mighty fast when the slide is a steep un,
and a man who gits to the bottom as quick as the sled must have a good
grip, and be considerably in 'arnest. But ye got her up finally by the
same path, didn't ye?"

"Yes, I got her up," returned Bill. "The fourth time I went for that
ridge, I fetched her to the top, for I was madder than a hornet."

"And what did ye do, Bill?" continued the Trapper. "What did ye do
when ye got to the top?"

"I jest tied that sled to a sapling so it wouldn't git away agin, and
I got on to the top of that box, and I talked to that gulch a minit or
two in a way that satisfied my feelings."

"I shouldn't wonder," answered the Trapper, laughing, "fur ye must
have ben a good deal riled. But ye did well to git the box through,
and ye got here in time, and ye've 'arnt yer wages; and now, ef ye'll
tell me how much I am to pay ye, ye shall have yer money, and ye
needn't scrimp yerself on the price, Wild Bill, for the drag has been
a hard un; so tell me yer price, and I'll count ye out the money."

"Old man," answered Bill, "I didn't bring that box through for money,
and I won't take a--"

Perhaps Wild Bill was about to emphasize his refusal by some verbal
addition to the simple statement, but, if it was his intention, he
checked himself, and said, "a cent."

"It's well said," answered the Trapper; "yis, it's well said, and does
jestice to yer feelin's, I don't doubt; but an extra pair of breeches
one of thes