ice clears in th' spring, We could let th' folks know where we
were t' freeze up, an' we'd pick up a lot o' fur before th' ice
breaks, an' th' natives'd hold th' rest until we calls comin' south.
The's a big chanct there," said the mate, conclusively.

"I dunno but yer right. I hadn't thought o' goin' down in th' fall t'
freeze up. We'd have t' be gettin' t' our anchorage by th' first o'
October."

"The's plenty o' time t' do that, sir. 'Twon't take more'n ten days t'
fit out."

"Then the's th' cost o' shippin' th' crew t' be taken into account, 'n
havin' 'em doin' nothin' th' hull winter. I don't know's the'd be much
in it after everythin's counted out."

"That's easy 'nuff fixed. Take a lot o' traps an' let th' crew hunt in
th' winter. Ye wouldn't have t' pay 'em then when ye wasn't afloat. Ye
could give 'em their keep an' let 'em hunt with th' traps on shore an'
make a little outen 'em. The's always fools 'nuff as thinks they'll
get rich if they has a chanct t' try their hand doin' somethin' they
ain't been doin' before, an' you kin get a crew o' fellers like that
easy 'nuff."

"I dunno. Maybe I kin an' maybe I can't. Sounds like it's worth tryin'
an' I'll think about it."

Every spring for ten years Captain Hanks--Skipper Sam he was generally
called--had sailed out of Halifax Harbour with his schooner _Maid of
the North_ to work his way into the Gulf of St. Lawrence when the
waters were clear of ice, and trade a general cargo of merchandise for
furs with the Indians and white trappers along the north shore and the
Straits of Belle Isle--the southern Labrador.

At first he found the trade extremely lucrative, and during the first
four or five years in which he was engaged in it accumulated a snug
sum of money, the income of which would have been quite sufficient to
keep him comfortably the remainder of his life in the modest way in
which he lived.

But Skipper Sam was much like other people, and the more he had the
more he wanted, so he continued in the fur trade. The fact that he had
purchased some city real estate for the purpose of speculation became
known, and other skippers sailing schooners of their own, with an eye
to lucrative, trade, decided that "Skipper Sam must be havin' a darn
good thing on th' Labrador," and when the _Maid of the North_ made her
fifth voyage she had another schooner to keep her company, and another
skipper was on hand to compete with Skipper Sam.

Each year had brought addi