rter in consequence of tear and wear.

"Bad luck to ye, Losh! Out o' the way, an' let yer betters land before
ye," exclaimed Bryan, as he jumped into the water, and dragged the canoe
towards the beach.

The only marks that rough travelling had put on Bryan were one or two
additional wrinkles in his battered white hat; as for his face, it was
already so thoroughly bronzed by long exposure, that a week or two more
or less made no difference in its hue.

"Jump into my arms, Miss Edith," said Francois, as he stood in the water
beside the canoe.

"Steady, boy; mind the gum," cried Massan, as Oolibuck strained the
canoe roughly in shouldering a package.

"Look out ashore, there," cried Dick Prince, throwing the tent poles on
the beach as he spoke.

Regardless of the warning, Gaspard did not "look out," and received a
rap on the leg from one of the poles, whereat he growled savagely, and
threw down a sack, which rested on his shoulder, so violently that it
nearly knocked over Ma-istequan, who was passing at the time with the
camp-kettle in his hand.

"What an ould buffalo it is!" exclaimed Bryan, pushing Gaspard rudely
aside with his left shoulder, and hitching off La Roche's cap with his
right, as he sprang back to the canoe for another load. "Pardonay mwa,
Losh, may garson," he exclaimed, with a broad grin. "Now thin, boys,
out wid the fixin's. Faix it's mysilf is plazed to git ashore anyhow,
for there's nothin' gone into my intarior since brickfust this mornin'."

At this moment the bow of the other canoe grated on the sand, and Frank
Morton leaped ashore.

"Capital place to camp, Frank," said Stanley, who had just finished
pitching the tent on the scrimp herbage that forced its way through the
sand. "There's a splendid spring of pure water below yonder rock. I've
just left my wife and Eda busy with the tea-cups, and La Roche
preventing them from getting things ready, by way of helping them."

"It does indeed seem a good place," replied Frank, "and might do for
temporary headquarters, perhaps, while we make excursions to the coast
to fix on a spot for our new home."

Stanley gazed contemplatively around him as his friend spoke. "Hand me
the telescope, Frank; it strikes me we are nearer the sea than you
think. The water here is brackish, and yonder opening in the mountains
might reveal something beyond, if magnified by the glass."

After a lengthened survey of the surrounding hills, Frank and Stanley
c