half a mile. A large quantity had been
blown out into the river, and had gone floating down the stream.

Where stood the piles of powder kegs was an excavation in the ground,
but, alas! no powder was left. All had gone to cause that great
explosion that had borne such a near approach to an earthquake. Of
course, Big Tom and his men were a humiliated lot, as there is a great
deal of ambition among these hardy boatmen to deliver their cargoes in
as good condition to the Hudson Bay Company's officials as possible.
But here was a disaster. Three boatloads of supplies, as well as a
cargo of gunpowder, were simply annihilated, or nearly so.

Quickly did they set to work to secure what was in the water, but it was
of little value. Some of the most adventurous climbed the high trees
and managed to pull off a few of the garments there securely lodged, but
much was beyond their reach, and for several years the articles
fluttered in the winds of winter and of summer, and vividly reminded all
who passed over that portage of that singular disaster.

And how had it come about?

This was easily found out. One of the powder barrels had a little
unnoticed hole in it, and from this had silted out a tiny little stream
of powder all along the whole length of the portage. When the fire was
kindled at the other end, where the dinner was cooked, it touched the
beginning of this strangely laid fuse, which in running along had so
interested those who had seen it at the beginning, but who had had no
idea of there being any danger in it or of the damage it would inflict
upon the supplies.

"Well," said Big Tom, in his quiet way, "I am sorry for John Company to
lose so much property; but he is rich, and it will not hurt him. I am
glad we did not do as is our general way--come over here and have our
dinner near our loads. If we had done so perhaps some of our arms or
legs might be now hanging up there in the branches where those red
calicoes and other things are."

So, while all regretted the great misfortune, they were very thankful
that there had been no loss of life or anybody even wounded. With a
will they set to work, and soon the other cargoes were carried over, and
then the boats were dragged across by the united crews. Soon were they
launched and loaded, some with only half cargoes on account of the
disaster, and then the journey was resumed.

How Big Tom explained the story of the explosion to the Hudson Bay
officials, a