ame running up, and the boys fell into
one another's arms, asking a dozen questions all at once.

"Weren't you awfully scared?" said Jesse, somewhat awed at Rob's
accomplishment.

"Well," said Rob, truthfully, "I did a good deal of thinking when we
went fast on that rock out there in the middle. That was pretty bad."

"Uncle Dick," called out John, excitedly now. "Say, now, it's no fair
for Rob to go through and us others not. Can't we go with the next
boat?"

Uncle Dick stood looking at them quietly for a time, his hands in his
pockets.

"You wait awhile," said he. "There'll be forty or fifty boats going
through here. Time enough later to see whether it's safe for you two
youngsters to risk it."

V

WHITE-WATER DAYS

For three days the work of portaging on the Grand Island continued
steadily, boat after boat going down to the head of the island to
discharge, then taking the run through the channel of the right-hand
side. Some excitement was shown when in the still water at the head of
the murderous left-hand chute, which never was attempted by the
_voyageurs_, a roll of bedding with a coat tied to it was seen
floating in the current. It was supposed that somewhere up the river
an accident had occurred, but, as it was impossible to tell when or
where, no attempt was made to solve the mystery, and the labor of
advancing the brigade northward went on without further delay.

As the boys watched the river-men at their hard and heavy work, they
came more and more to respect them. Throughout long hours of
labor--and in this northern latitude the sun did not set until after
nine o'clock--there was never a surly word or a complaint heard from
any of them.

John, who seemed to care for facts and figures, began to ask about the
wages which these men received for this hard labor. He was told that
they were paid by the trip from Athabasca Landing to McMurray, which
covered the bad water to the head of steamboat transport. The
steersmen for the round trip received about eighty dollars and their
board, and the river-men forty to fifty dollars. All walked back
across country, a shorter distance than that by water. Some of the men
had along on the scows the large dogs which they used in the
winter-time, and which they now purposed to employ in packing a part
of their loads on the return journey.

John also discovered that the cargo of a scow averaged about
twenty-five hundred dollars in value, and that it would