"What's the matter, Jim?" she asked. "Are you hurt or ill?"

He dropped the heavy bag of flour he carried and forced a smile. "Does
it look as if I were ill? I've lost two canoes and their loads."

"Oh, Jim!" said Carrie, and added: "After all, it isn't so very
important."

"Not important?" Jim exclaimed.

Carrie hesitated. "Oh, well; never mind. Where are the boys? You
haven't lost _them_?"

"They're coming," said Jim, who sat down on a log, feeling embarrassed.

He was dull. Carrie had been disturbed about him because he had been
away longer than he thought, and her obvious relief when she saw he was
not injured was soothing. He needed soothing, since the loss of the
canoes and stores weighed heavily, but Carrie had made him feel this
did not matter much so long as he was safe. Although he could not
agree, it was a comfort to know her satisfaction was sincere. Carrie
always was sincere.

She was quiet and he resumed in an apologetic voice: "I felt mean about
coming back like this; losing the truck is going to make things harder
for you. Then I bought some new cookers; the steam went through a row
of pans and I thought they'd save you work. There was a piece of stuff
at the dry goods store the girl told me would make a dress; but it went
down the rapid with the cookers."

Carrie gave him a gentle glance. "You bought them: the rest was an
accident."

"It was not an accident, but we'll talk about that again. I'm glad to
get back; I'm always glad to get back now, though I didn't bother about
it much when we camped in the bush before."

Carrie took off the lid of a cooking-pot and while she was occupied the
packers arrived with their loads. Soon afterwards Jake and the other
men came up and they got supper. When the meal was over Jim told his
story and Jake looked thoughtful.

"The obvious explanation is, the freighter tried to stop you by turning
loose the log," he said. "I don't know if we ought to count on this;
but we'll take it first."

"I'm doubtful," Jim replied. "Somehow I feel the fellow was bluffing;
he wanted to scare me so I'd agree to his terms. Although I reckon he
meant to charge me high when I came to him next time, I don't think he
sent the log down. I haven't much ground for the conclusion, but there
it is."

"In some ways, you're not a fool," Jake remarked with a twinkle. "I've
known judgments you hadn't much ground for turn out sound. Very well;
we come to the b