't a one in all these mountains as big as one of those fellows up
in our country."

"Maybe not," said Alex, still smiling, "but they get pretty near as
big as a horse in here, and I want to tell you that one of our old,
white-faced grizzlies will give you a hot time enough if you run
across him--he'll come to you without any coaxing."

"This is fine!" said Rob. "I begin to think we're going to have a good
trip this time."

"Grub pile!" sang out Moise about this time. A moment later they were
all sitting on the ground at the side of the breakfast fire, eating of
the fried bacon, bannock, and tea which Moise had prepared.

"To-day, Moise, she'll get feesh," said Moise, after a time. "Also
maybe the duck. I'll heard some wild goose seenging this morning down
on the lake below there. She's not far, I'll think."

"Just a little ways," said Alex, nodding. "If we'd gone in a little
farther to the west we might have hit the lake there, but I thought it
was easier to let the water of this little creek carry our boats in."

"Listen!" said John. "Isn't that a little bird singing?"

A peal of sweet music came to them as they sat, from a small warbler
on a near-by tree.

"Those bird, he's all same Injun," remarked Moise. "He seeng for the
sun."

The sun now indeed was coming up in the view from the mountain ranges
on the east, though the air still was cool and the grass all about
them still wet with the morning dew.

"Soon she'll get warm," said Moise. "Those mosquito, she'll begin to
seeng now, too."

"Yes," said Rob, "there were plenty of them in the tent this morning
before we got up. We'll have to get out the fly dope pretty soon, if
I'm any judge."

"But now," he added, "suppose we read a little bit in our book before
we break camp and pack up."

"You're still reading Sir Alexander and his voyages?" smiled Alex.

"Yes, indeed, I don't suppose we'd be here if we hadn't read that old
book. It's going to be our guide all the way through. I want to see
just how close we can come to following the trail Mackenzie made when
he crossed this very country, a hundred and eighteen years ago this
very month."

"Some say they can't see how Sir Alexander made so many mistakes,"
said Alex, smiling. He himself was a man of considerable intelligence
and education, as the boys already had learned.

"I know," said Rob, nodding. "For instance, Simon Fraser--"

"Yes, I know those Simon Fraser--he's beeg man in the Companee," br