Part 5 (1/2)

When dinner was disposed of, Richard suggested that it onderful war Mrs Gray and Emily to clear the table he conducted Shad and Bob to a convenient seat near the boat landing, where they could enjoy a cooling breeze from the bay Here he drew fro tobacco, and holding it toward Shad, asked:

”Does you smoke, sir?”

”No, thank you,” declined Shad ”I had just learned to s for a place on the 'varsity nine, and I had to drop s A fellow can't play his best ball, you know, if he s before I forame like snowshoe racin'!” asked Bob

”Oh, no!” and Shad described the ga detail of battles that his college nine had won and lost upon the diamond

”Well, Bob,” Shad asked finally, ”have you decided to go with htly knowin', sir, where you wants t' go,” said Bob

Shad stated the object of his journey, and the three talked over the possibilities ofsuch a trip as he desired within the time at Bob's disposal

”Countin' on bad weather, 'twouldn't be much of a trip you could make in a fortnut, and that'd be th' ettin' ready t' go t' th' trails,” Richard finally explained ”His oes, for 'twill be a long winter for his mother t' have he aithout seein' he

”Now you says you has no hurry t' go away dick Blake an' Bill Ca Hill trail t' help Bob an' Ed Matheson in with their outfit, an' they starts th' first o'

August Then they coet in before freeze up

”You bein' in no hurry, sir, could go with un on th' first trip, an'

coives you a fine trip an' a fine view o'

th' country It takes un a ht wi'

th' rapids they ets back th' first week in Septe, sir!” exclaimed Bob ”An' I were never thinkin' o' that Father's wonderful at plannin'”

”Done!” said Shad ”I'll do it, but I hope you won't findthe three weeks we have to wait”

”Oh, no, sir! 'Tis a rare treat t' have you visit us, sir!” protested Richard

And thus it was finally decided

Bob was very busy during the days that followed Not only his provision and clothing supply for a ten months' absence from home was to be made ready, but also the full equipment for the new trails to be established

The necessary traps had already been purchased, but sheet-iron had to be fashi+oned into stoves and stove-pipe to heat the tents and log tilts, and one new tent was to be made It was imperative, too, that each minor necessity that the wilderness itself could not readily supply, he provided in advance, and that nothing be forgotten or overlooked

The establishh importance in the Gray household Bob's little fortune of a few thousand dollars, derived fro schooner the previous year, had been deposited in a St Johns bank, and his thrifty old friend, Douglas Cae in a s venture

”Bob can lay his trails this winter,” said Douglas, ”an' next year take sooods in Knowin' th' Nascaupee an' Mountaineer Injuns, an' a bit o' their lingo, he'll be able t' do a snug bit o'

tradin' with un, along with his trappin' An' if you opens a little store here at th' Bight next summer, th' rest of you can 'tend un when Bob's inside trappin'

”I were thinkin', too,” said Douglas, ”'twould be fine t' send Emily t' St Johns t' school th' winter, an' she'd learn t' keep th' books

She's a smart lass, an' she'd learn, now, in a winter or tinters, whatever, an' 'twould pay--an' do th' lass a wonderful lot o' good

I'm wantin' a trip t' St Johns, an' I'd take she on th'discussions before it was finally decided that Bob should launch upon the venture Bob's mother opposed it The terrible winter of suspense when Bob, lost in the snoas given up for dead, was still a vivid rerief as one recalls a horrid nightmare, and she declared that another such winter, particularly if she were to be deprived of Emily's society, would be unendurable

But her objections were finally overcoo to school and it was decided Bob should establish t trails One of these he was to hunt hireed to hunt on a profit-sharing basis dick Blake and Bill Ca trails, and the four to work more or less in conjunction with one another

Shad and Emily became fast friends at once On pleasant afternoons she would lead hi woods in search of wild flowers, and after supper he would tell her fairy tales from Grimm, but best of all she liked his stories froy