young fellow, who carried his head with the air of one
possessing a fair share of self-esteem and self-reliance, and whose
square jaw suggested wilfulness if not determination.

The rugged surroundings thrilled him with promise of adventure. The
historic post of the old fur traders, the boundless, mysterious
forest, and the romantic life of the trappers and dusky tribes which
it sheltered, were pregnant with interest. But his wildest dreams
could not have foretold the part Shad Trowbridge was destined to play
in this primordial land and life before he should bid farewell to its
bleak coast.

"A rough-looking country," remarked the steward, joining Shad at the
rail.

"It's glorious!" exclaimed Shad enthusiastically. "A real frontier!
And back there is a real wilderness! Just the sort of wilderness I've
dreamed about getting into all my life."

"The deck of the mail boat's about as near as I want to get to it,"
said the steward with a deprecatory shrug. "It's a land o' hard knocks
and short grub. You'd better leave it to the livyeres and Indians,
young man, and go back to God's country with the ship."

"No, thank you," said Shad. "I'm going to have a rattling good summer
hunting and fishing here before I see the ship again."

"When we come on our next voyage, a fortnight from now, you'll be
standing out there on the dock looking for us, and mighty glad to see
us," laughed the steward. "You'll have all you want of The Labrador by
then. Shall I put your things ashore?"

"Yes, if you please--all but the canoe. I'll paddle that over, if
you'll send a man to help me launch it."

"Pooh!" thought Shad, as the steward left him. "'Hard knocks and short
grub'! Of course there would be some hard knocks, but he expected
that, for he was going to rough it! But with the woods full of game
and fish there'd be plenty to eat! He didn't expect any Pullman-car
jaunt; he could have had that at home. What kind of a fellow did the
steward take him for, anyway?"

A half-dozen natives on the boat wharf watched Shad curiously as he
paddled to a low stretch of beach adjoining the wharf, and two of them
strolled down to inspect his canoe when he lifted it out of the water
and turned it upon its side at a safe distance above the lapping
waves.

"Now she's what I calls a rare fine canoe," observed one, a tall,
big-boned, loose-jointed fellow with a straggly red beard, and
picturesquely attired in moleskin trousers tucked into the tops o