journeying, and should feel the majesty of the untraveled waters. I
saw that he was trying, as he promised, not to intrude upon my notice,
and I wondered a little what he would be saying to me now if I had
answered him otherwise, and had said that we could be friends. Perhaps
I had cut myself off from pleasant intercourse. He certainly had
gayety of spirit, even if he somewhat lacked in strength of head.

We paddled only till mid-afternoon. I was as eager to meet the western
Indians as I had been anxious to avoid those we left behind, and now my
object was to invite attention. It was the season for beaver and otter
trapping, and I hoped to encounter hunting parties, so we landed, made
camp in the open, and piled our fire till the smoke blurred the sky.

The spirit of the afternoon was toward idleness. We fished some, but
loitered more, and I had no word of reproof for the men for using hours
of good daylight playing the dish game they had learned among the
Ottawas. I heard them stake their patrimony in this world, and their
hopes of the next, on the throw of the black and yellow balls, but I
smoked my pipe, and let them brag and squabble. The bees were droning,
the sun lay warm on my back, and the forest was at peace. Two years
before, I remembered, I had worn lace and periwig on this day, and had
stood in his majesty's antechamber. Now I was gaunt and rusty as a
bear in spring. I looked at the secret forest, the uncharted water,
and at my smoke-grimed men squatting like monkeys over a savage game,
and I smote my knee with content. Truly it was a satisfying thing to
live while the world afforded such contrasts! And if I played my
present cards with skill, there might be a still greater contrast in
store for me when next I stood in that ante-chamber and heard my name
carried within. But that thought made me restless, and I went in
search of the Englishman.