hing I ever
beheld!"

"'Twere awful!" assented Bob.

"It shows us, Bob, what you and I escaped. Bob, I've been very
disagreeable lately. Take my hand and forgive me, won't you?"

"'Twere th' rabbit meat, Shad," said Bob, taking Shad's hand. "Rabbit
meat be wonderful tryin' t' eat steady. I were knowin', now, you'd be
all right again, Shad."

"I think I've been demented, Bob--I'm sure I have--anyway, believe it,
and don't hold it against me."

"I'll not be holdin' un ag'in you, Shad. 'Twere natural, and--" Bob
ceased speaking and sat staring at the high bank of the mainland.
"Manikawan!" he exclaimed, springing up and crossing the island point
at a bound.

There she stood, joy, wonder, incredulity, written upon her face. She
had believed White Brother of the Snow dead, but here she saw him in
flesh and alive, and he had spoken her name.

"White Brother of the Snow! Oh, White Brother of the Snow! The evil
spirits did not devour you, but like hungry wolves they have devoured
your enemies."

Very quickly Bob explained their predicament, and she listened
silently. Then she went to the sloping rock, descended its dangerous
angle to the water's edge, and returned.

"White Brother of the Snow and his friend would find no lodgment
there," said she. "It is a place of deceit. But White Brother of the
Snow knows how to be patient. Let him and his friend wait. The evil
spirits cannot reach up for them where they are. When the sun returns
again to the high point in the heavens Manikawan will stand here.
Wait."

The next instant she was gone.

"What did she say?" asked Shad.

"She were sayin'," explained Bob, "that if we has patience an' waits
she'll be back by noon to-morrow, or thereabouts. An' she says if we
waits here we'll be safe, but we couldn't be makin' a footin' on th'
rock. She's thinkin' o' some way o' gettin' us off, but I'm not
knowin' what 'tis, now."

XIII

ON THE TRAIL OF THE INDIANS

None of the three trappers had ever penetrated the region lying
between the Big Hill trail and the river. They knew that here,
somewhere, Ungava Bob was to lay his new trails, but as to the route
the trails were to take they had no information, for this was a
circumstance that the local evidences of the existence of fur-bearing
animals was to have decided for Bob when he entered the country to
make his initial survey of conditions.

Among the Indians who traded at the Eskimo Bay post there was but one,
an old