Just then the canoes slipped past a sandy bar decorated with a fresh
moose track; the excitement of the colonel set us laughing. This man was
certainly a joy! And with that, after a long paddle down the winding
river and across two breezy lakes, we were at the club-house. We
lunched, and in short order--for we wanted to make camp that night--I
dug into my _pacquetons_ and transformed my officer into a sportsman,
his huge delight in Abernethy & Flitch's creations being a part of the
game. Then we were off.

One has small chance for associating with guides while travelling in the
woods. One sits in a canoe between two, but if there is a wind and the
boat is _chargé_ their hands are full with the small craft and its heavy
load; when the landing is made and the "messieurs" are _débarqués_,
instantly the men are busy lifting canoes on their heads and packs on
their backs in bizarre, piled-up masses to be carried from a leather
tump-line, a strap of two inches wide going around the forehead. The
whole length of the spine helps in the carrying. My colonel watched
Delphise, a husky specimen, load. With a grunt he swung up a canvas U.S.
mailbag stuffed with _butin_, which includes clothes and books and shoes
and tobacco and cartridges and more. With a half-syllable Delphise
indicated to Laurent a bag of potatoes weighing eighty pounds, a box of
tinned biscuit, a wooden package of cans of condensed milk, a rod case,
and a raincoat. These Laurent added to the spine of Delphise.

"How many pounds?" I asked, as the dark head bent forward to equalize
the strain.

Delphise shifted weight with another grunt to gauge the pull. "About a
hundred and eighty pounds, m'sieur--quite heavy--_assez pesant_." Off he