effort, his breath coming at first in painful gasps, but gradually
becoming long and easy.

"I'm glad we'll be in Canada tomorrow, Dave," he said, "because the
journey has surely been most difficult."

"Pretty thick with dangers, that's true," laughed the hunter, "but we've
run past most of 'em. The rest of the day will be easy, safe and
pleasant."

His prediction came true, their journey on the river continuing without
interruption. Two or three times they saw distant smoke rising above the
forest, but they judged that it came from the camp fires of hunters, and
they paid no further attention to it. That night they took the canoe
from the river once more, carrying it into the woods and sleeping beside
it, and the next day they entered the mighty St. Lawrence.

"This is Canada," said Willet. "Farther west we claim that our territory
comes to the river and that we have a share in it. But here it's surely
French by right of long occupation. We can reach Montreal by night,
where we'll get a bigger boat, and then we'll go on to Quebec. It's a
fine river, isn't it, Robert?"

"So it is," replied Robert, looking at the vast sheet of water, blue
then under a perfectly blue sky, flowing in a mighty mass toward the
sea. Tayoga's eyes sparkled also. The young warrior could feel to the
full the splendors of the great forests, rivers and lakes of his native
land.

"I too shall be glad to see Stadacona," he said, "the mighty rock that