land."

"No," was the firm rejoinder. "You must get the sex idea out of your
head once for all, Donald. It will be time enough for you to make it
easy for me when I need it worse than I do now."

"Yesterday I said you were a wonder, Lucetta; to-day I rise to remark
that you are two wonders, and mighty plucky ones at that."

"And to-morrow I shall be three wonders, and the next day four, and so
on to infinity, I suppose," she said, laughing. "By the way, speaking of
days, what day is this?"

Prime drew a notched twig from his pocket.

"Don't ever say after this that I am not the original Robinson Crusoe,"
he grinned. "I cut this twig the second day, just before we began the
hike for the river." Then he counted up: "According to my almanac, this
ought to be Monday--wash-day."

"Then yesterday was Sunday, which is why we had all our bad luck. We
ought to have gone to church. Is it possible that we were both in Quebec
no longer ago than last Tuesday night? It seems as if months had elapsed
since then--months, I said, but I ought to have said ages."

"Are things changing for you so radically, then?" he asked.

"They are, indeed. And for you?"

"Yes; I guess so. For one thing, I have discovered the habitat of about
a million muscles that I didn't know I had; and for another----"

"Well?" she challenged, "why don't you say it?"

"I will say it. For another, I have discovered the most remarkable woman
that ever lived."

She laughed joyously. "See what a few days of unavoidable propinquity
will do! But you are mistaken--I'm not especially remarkable. You are
only doing what Mr. Grider said you ought to do--studying the female of
the species at short range."

"Grider was an ass!" was the impatient rejoinder. "If I had him here I'd
duck him in the river in spite of his fifty pounds excess. But this
isn't getting the remainder of the dunnage. Are you quite sure you want
to go along?"

"Quite sure," she returned, and once more they took the riverside trail
to the stream-head.

The third carry was lighter than the others had been, and the six-mile
tramp was the best possible antidote for stiffened joints and lamed
muscles. By the time they had reassembled themselves and their
belongings in the little glade between the rapids they were both in fine
fettle, and ready to begin the real journey.

The loading of the canoe was a new thing, but in this they gave common
sense a free rein. The camp stuff and provisions wer