village. But the mining village had been abandoned for three years
now, because the vein of copper had ended in a thick seam of coal,
which, under present circumstances, was not worth working. Now the
nearest approach to a village was at Seal Cove, at the mouth of the
river, nearly three miles away, where there were about half a dozen
wooden huts, and the liquor saloon kept by Oily Dave when he was at
home, and shut up when he was absent on fishing expeditions.

Although houses were so scarce, there was no lack of trade for the
lonely store in the woods. All through the summer there was a
procession of birchbark canoes, filled with red men and white,
coming down the river to the bay, laden with skins of wolf, fox,
beaver, wolverine, squirrel, and skunk, the harvest of the winter's
trapping. Then in winter the cove and the river were often crowded
with boats, driven to anchorage there by the ice, and to escape the
fearful storms sweeping over the bay. The river was more favoured
as an anchorage than the cove, because it was more sheltered, and
also because there was open water at the foot of the rapids even in
the severest winter, and had been so long as anyone could remember.

As the morning wore on, Katherine's mood became even more restless,
and she simply yearned for the fresh air and the sunshine. She was
usually free to go out-of-doors in the afternoons, because the boys
only worked until noon, and then again in the evening, when it was
night school, and Katherine did her best with such of the fisher
folk as preferred learning to loafing and gambling in Oily Dave's
saloon.

Even Miles seemed stupid this morning, for he was usually such a
good worker; while Phil was quite hopeless. Both boys were bitten