they were off. Sam could not
help shouting back to Pasche, as he stood on a rock with a sorrowful
face:

"Don't set any more traps for moose bulls, Pasche!"

"No, mon garcon, I have had enough of that work," he shouted, amid the
laughter of the other servants.

With waving of handkerchiefs and shouts of "Bon voyage" and "Good-bye,"
Sagasta-weekee was left behind. There were tears in the eyes of the
lads who had spent within its comfortable walls such an eventful year.
They had grown much, not only physically, but there had been development
mentally and morally that would tell for good in the oncoming years. To
have been under the guidance of such a couple as Mr and Mr Ross in
such a formative period of their young lives was of incalculable value.
Happy are the boys who have such guardians; happier still if their own
parents are of this splendid class.

As the wind sprang up from the north the mast, which had been securely
tied to the outside of the boat, was quickly placed in position, and the
sail was soon doing its work. Mr Ross and the lads had comfortable
seats arranged for them in the stern of the boat. Just behind them
stood Big Tom, skillfully using a great oar as a rudder. Wild ducks and
a few geese flew by, but there was now no time for shooting. On they
sped, and it was easy to observe from the quiet yet frequent
consultations in the Indian language that passed between Mr Ross and
Big Tom that there was something more than the sail in the Sam, who had
picked up quite a knowledge of Indian, was the first to suspect what was
before them, and so he blurted out:

"Faith, I believe Oo-che-me-ke-se-gou is going to be repeated."

"What do you mean?" asked Frank.

"Mean, is it, you ask? Why, I mean that I fancy some other hands than
Martin's will pour the tea for us to-night."

"Do stop talking riddles, Sam," said Alec, "and tell us what your
palaver is all about."

"Well," replied the incorrigible tease, "I fancy that, if you young
gentlemen are getting sick of having pledged yourselves to eternal
loyalty, or, in other words, plighted your troths either to others, as
the book says, you will both have a chance to tell the fair damsels to
their faces ere the sun goes down."

"Sam!" they both shouted, "what do you mean?"

This explosion on their part caused Mr Ross to turn from his
consultation with Big Tom. In response rather to his looks than
anything he uttered Sam said:

"I have been trying