to learn of the arrangement made, could cast any damper upon his spirits.
In this case half a loaf was decidedly better than no bread at all.
Freedom from the restraints and irksome duties of chore-boy's lot for
even half the day was a precious boon, and the happy boy lay down to rest
that night feeling like quite a different person from what he had been
of late, when there seemed no way of escape from the monotonous,
wearisome task he had taken upon himself, except to give it all up and
return to Calumet, which was almost the last thing that he could imagine
himself doing; for Frank Kingston had plenty of pride as well as pluck,
and his love for lumbering had not suffered any eclipse because of his
experiences.

But what is one man's meat is another man's poison, according to the
homely adage, and in this case what made Frank so happy made--Damase
miserable. The jealous, revengeful fellow saw in it only another proof
of the foreman's favouritism, and was also pleased to regard the
relegating of Laberge to the dish-washing and so forth as the degradation
of a compatriot, which it behoved him to resent, since Laberge seemed
lacking in the spirit to do it himself. Had he imagined that he would
meet with the support of the majority, he would have sought to organize a
rebellion in the camp. But he knew well enough that such a thing was
utterly out of the question, so he was forced to content himself with
fresh determinations to "get even" with the foreman and his favourite in
some way before the winter passed; and, as will be seen, he came
perilously near attaining his object.




CHAPTER VII.