n get the canoes out, carrying them on
their backs all the way from where we left them?" asked Jesse.

"They're very strong," Rob answered, "and that work isn't new to them.
And, you know, they carried all our packs in the same way."

"That Moise is as strong as a horse," said John. "My! I couldn't lift
the end of his pack here. I bet it weighed two hundred pounds at
least. And he just laughed. I think he's a good-natured man, anyhow."

"Most of these woodsmen are," replied Rob. "They are used to
hardships, and they just laugh instead of complain about things. Alex
is quieter than Moise, but I'll venture to say they'll both do their
part all right. And moreover," he added stoutly, "if Alex said he'd be
here before dark, he'll be here."

"It will be in less than ten minutes, then," said Jesse, looking at
the new watch which his mother had given him to take along on his
trip. "The canoe's a pretty heavy thing, John."

Rob did not quite agree with him.

"They're not heavy for canoes--sixteen-foot Peterboroughs. They beat
any boat going for their weight, and they're regular ships in the
water under load."

"They look pretty small to me," demurred Jesse.

"They're bigger than the skin boats that we had among the Aleuts last
year," ventured John. "Besides, I've noticed a good deal depends on
the way you handle a boat."

"Not everybody has boats as good as these," admitted Jesse.

"Yes," said John, "it must have cost Uncle Dick a lot of money to get
them up here from the railroad. Sir Alexander Mackenzie traveled in a
big birch-bark when he was here--ten men in her, and three thousand
pounds of cargo besides. She was twenty-five feet long. Uncle Dick
told me the Indians have dugouts farther down the river, but not very
good ones. I didn't think they knew anything about birch-bark so far
northwest, but he says all their big journeys were made in those big
bark canoes in the early days."

"Well, I'm guessing that our boats will seem pretty good before we get
through," was Rob's belief, "and they'll pay for themselves too."

All the boys had been reading in all the books they could find telling
of the journeys of the old fur-traders, Alexander Mackenzie, Simon
Fraser, and others, through this country. Rob had a book open in his
lap now.

"How far can we go in a day?" asked Jesse, looking as though he would
be gladder to get back home again than to get farther and farther
away.

"That depends on the state of the