actually did keep the bow of that canoe ahead of all others--no matter
where or when the other crews contested for the honour of leading the
Fur Brigade.

The next morning, at sunrise, the Fur Brigade was to take its
departure. Now it was time I visited Spearhead, to thank my friends,
the Free Trader and his family, for all their kindness to me, and to
bid them farewell; so I borrowed a small canoe and paddled across the
lake. When I arrived they invited me to dine with them. At the table
that day there was less talking--everyone seemed to be in a thoughtful
mood.

The windows and doors were open and the baggy mosquito netting sagged
away from the hot sun as the cool breeze whispered through its
close-knit mesh. Outside, I could see the heifer and her mother lying
in the shade of a tree on the far side of the stump-lot, and near the
doorway the ducks and geese were sauntering about the grass and every
now and then making sudden little rushes--as though they were trying to
catch something. There, too, in the pathway, the chickens were
scratching about and ruffling their feathers in little dust holes--as
though they were trying to get rid of something. An unexpected grunt
at the doorway attracted my attention and I saw a pig leering at me
from the corners of its half-closed eyes--the very same pig the Free
Trader and his wife had chosen to add to their daughter's wedding
dowry--then it gave a familiar little nod, as though it recognized me;
and I fancied, too, that its ugly chops broke into an insolent smile.
What was it thinking about? . . . Was it Son-in-law? I wondered.

I glanced at Athabasca. How beautiful she looked! The reflected
sunlight in the room cast a delightful sheen over her lustrous brown