lways tie up at night They have certain stages which they try to
make. The whole thing is all planned out on a pretty good system,
rough but effective, as you will see."

"Is he a pretty good cook?" asked John, somewhat demurring.

"Well, good enough for us, if he is good enough for the others,"
replied his uncle. "But I'll tell you what we might do once in a
while. They do say that the two good Sisters who go north with the
mission brigade know how to cook better than any half-breed. I've made
arrangements so that we can eat on their scow once in a while if we
like."

"What's that funny business on the end of our boat?" asked Jesse,
presently, pointing to a rude framework of bent poles which covered
the short deck at the stern of the boat.

"That's what they call a 'bower' up in this country," said Uncle Dick.
"They have some curious old English words in here, even yet. Now a
bower is simply a lot of poles, like an Indian wickiup, covering the
end of your boat, as you see. You can throw your blankets over it, if
you like, or green willows. It keeps the sun off. Since the Hudson's
Bay Company charges a pretty stiff price for taking any passenger
north, it tries to earn its money by building a bower for the select
few, such as we are."

"I don't think that we need any bower," said Rob, and all the other
boys shook their heads.

"A little sunshine won't hurt us," said Jesse, stoutly.

"But think of the style about it," laughed Uncle Dick, pleased to see
the hardiness of his young charges. "Well, we'll do as we like about
that. One thing, we've got to have a chance to see out, for I know you
will want to keep your eyes open every foot of the way."

"Well, I wish the breeds would hurry up and get the boats loaded,"
added Jesse, impatiently, after a while. "There's nothing doing here
worth while."

"Don't be too hard with the breeds," counseled Uncle Dick. "They're
like children, that's all. This is the best time of the year for them,
when the great fur brigade goes north. It couldn't go without them.
The fur trade in this country couldn't exist without the half-breeds
and the full-bloods; there's a half-dozen tribes on whom the revenues
of this great corporation depend absolutely.

"You'll see now the best water-men and the best trail-men in the
world. Look at these packages--a hundred pounds or better in each.
Every pound of all that stuff is to be portaged across the Smith's
Landing portage, and the Mountain