amp I cut
up my canvas leggings and used pieces of the canvas to rebottom my
moccasins, sewing it on with shoemaker's thread.

It was a glorious evening. A big moon rising over the bluffs beyond us
transformed the river into a silvery thread stretching far down through
the dark valley. Behind us the black spruce forest made our roaring
fire seem more cheerful in contrast. A cold east wind had driven away
the flies and the mosquitoes. Supper eaten, our cup of contentment was
full to the brim. After all, the wilderness was not so inhospitable.
Who would be anywhere else, if he could? Not one of us.

With the sensation that we were the only people in Labrador, a fancy
struck me and I suggested to my companions that we ought to organise
some sort of government.

"We'll make you, Hubbard," I said, "the head of the nation and call you
the Great Mogul. Of course you will be commander-in-chief of the army
and navy and have unlimited power. We're your subjects."

"I suspect," replied Hubbard, "you are looking for a political job.
However, I, of course, stand ready, like our politicians at home, to
serve the country when duty calls--if there's enough in it. As the
Great Mogul of Labrador, I appoint you, Wallace, Chief Justice and also
Secretary of State. George I shall appoint Admiral of the Navy."

"Where are my ships?" asked George.

"Ships!", exclaimed Hubbard. "Well, there will be only one for the
present. But she's a good staunch one--eighteen feet long, with a beam
of thirty-three and a half inches. And she carries two quick-fire
rifles."

With these and other conceits we whiled away the beautiful evening
hours. What a difference there was in the morning! We awoke--it was
Saturday, August 8--to find that the east wind had increased in force
and was accompanied by a driving, chilling rain. Reluctantly we broke
camp, and began a day of back-breaking, disheartening work. The wind
soughed dismally through the forests, and it was as though late autumn
had overtaken us in a night. The spruce boughs, watersoaked, seemed to
hang low for no other purpose than to strike us in the face at every
step, and the willows and alders along the river that now and again
obstructed our way appeared to be thicker and wetter than ever.

Under these conditions we had made six portages, the longest of which
was about three-quarters of a mile, and covered in all about four and a
half miles, when one o'clock came and we gave