oodsman, rough as he was, had a
sensitive disposition, which chafed under the rebuff with which his
well-meant advice had been met. After crossing the river and leaving
Fort Ontario behind them, they plunged into the apparently trackless
forest, and for some time neither of them spoke a word. Boulanger
strode on, eyeing his companion askance, and possibly speculating
whether the fine gentleman who had treated him so superciliously would
not very soon be forced to give in, and perhaps commit to him the task
of proceeding alone to their intended destination. Isidore seemed
indeed scarcely the man for a task like that which lay before them.
Rather under the middle height and slightly built, he had apparently
been little accustomed to severe or protracted exertion, whilst
everything about him bespoke the _petit maitre_, if not the fop. In
the meanwhile the young marquis had not given a second thought to the
few words that had passed at the outset of the journey. Being
habitually reserved towards his inferiors, he was content to indulge in
his own meditations without caring what such a man as Jean Baptiste
Boulanger might think about him. The guide, however, had no notion of
being kept at arm's length by a man with whom he was to traverse those
lonely woods for the next week; and as he observed the coolness, and
still more the agility, with which Isidore met and surmounted some
little difficulties that soon presented themselves on the way, he began
to warm towards him and to feel half sorry that he should have been put
to an undertaking that might prove too much for him. It was probably
some feeling of this kind that at last brought out the words--

"And how far does monsieur mean to march to-night?"

"Nay, my friend," replied Isidore, "that is for you to arrange; I never
interfere with the business of other people. You are the guide; you
know the distance and the road. It is for you to settle the length of
the stages, and where we are to encamp for the night, as I suppose,
from the little I know of these parts, that we have not much chance of
sleeping under a roof between this and Fort Chambly."

"Bravely spoken, monsieur!" exclaimed Boulanger, thoroughly restored to
good-humour by these words. "Monsieur will pardon me for having had my
misgivings as to the length of the marches that might be accomplished
by--by a personage like yourself, not used to this kind of work. Well,
then, I propose that we halt at midn