he was looked upon, with hearty liking and admiration, as a plucky chap
that knew how to take care of himself; by the remainder of the French
contingent, with Damase as the ruling spirit, he was regarded as a
stuck-up youngster that wanted taking down badly, and who was trying to
make himself a special favourite with the foreman just to advance his
own selfish ends. Gladly would Frank have been on friendly terms with
all; but this being now impossible, through no fault of his own, he made
up his mind to go on his way as quietly as possible, being constantly
careful to give no cause of offence to those who, as he well knew, were
only too eager to take it.

There were some slight flurries of snow, fragile and short-lived heralds
of winter's coming, during the latter part of November, and then December
was ushered in by a grand storm that lasted a whole day, and made glad
the hearts of the lumbermen by filling the forest aisles with a deep,
soft, spotless carpet, that asked only to be packed smooth and hard in
order to make perfect roads over which to transport the noble logs that
had been accumulating upon the "roll-ways" during the past weeks.

A shantyman is never so completely in his element as when the snow lies
two feet deep upon the earth's brown breast. An open winter is his bane,
Jack Frost his best friend; and there was a perceptible rise in the
spirits of the occupants of Camp Kippewa as the mercury sank lower and
lower in the tube of the foreman's thermometer. Plenty of snow meant not
only easy hauling all winter long, but a full river and "high water" in
the spring-time, and no difficulty in getting the drive of logs that
would represent their winter's work down the Kippewa to the Grand River
beyond. Frank did not entirely share their exultation. The colder it got
the more wood had to be chopped, the more food had to be cooked--for the
men's appetites showed a marked increase--and, furthermore, the task of