d himself preparing the catch for the frying pan. Nobody objected
in the least; for although every scout dearly loved to eat trout, none
of them ever seemed particularly anxious to clean the fish. Consequently
that duty generally devolved upon good-natured Jimmy, who could be
easily duped into believing that it was a high honor they were according
him in allowing this privilege.

Ned, after halting by his canoe to attend to some little thing that
happened to catch his attention, and which needed fixing, sauntered up
the bank to find a fire had already been started by the guides.

"How is this, Francois, that you chose a place to make your fire that
looks as if it might be second-best? According to my notion, over yonder
is an ideal site for cooking fire."

When Ned said this the French-Canadian voyageur looked up and nodded.

"Eet is surely as you say heem be, but when I deescover zat zere haf
been a pig party stop here mebbe last night, I tink you might vant me to
look closer, and see vat ze signs say."

From his manner Ned understood that somehow Francois scented danger
because of the presence of these men in this region. They might of
course only prove to be miners sent up here by the syndicate that had
obtained the right to the new mining region said to exceed in richness
the famous Mesauba country. On the other hand, it was possible that they
were minions of unscrupulous capitalists, sent here to block any effort
on the part of the scouts to learn the truth with regard to the nature
of the great fraud, if the claim put up to Mr. Bosworth proved to be
such.

And Ned knew that the guide had acted wisely in leaving the cold ashes
alone.

CHAPTER V.

WOODCRAFT.

Nothing more was said about the ashes of the dead fire left behind by
some party that had recently been there, until the trout had been
deliciously cooked and eaten. All of them declared that they had never
tasted finer flavored fish than those big gamey fellows of that Far
North river. It really seemed that the further they journeyed toward the
Arctic Circle the sweeter the trout became.

"They were pretty big fellows, too," Frank Shaw said, as they sat there
filling up with dinner.

"Never saw larger ones, only in the Lake Superior region," Ned
confessed; "and eight-pounders are common along the northern shore where
several small rivers empty into the lake. I saw a bunch of that size at
the Government fish hatchery at the Soo when I pass