injured in the mill this morning. You had better take your place in the
canoe, and wait for your passenger, who, as is usual with ladies, will
probably be a little late. I think you should sit in the back seat, as
you are the heavier of the two. I presume you remember what I told you
about sitting in a canoe? Get in with caution while these two men hold
the side of it; sit down carefully, and keep steady, no matter what
happens. Perhaps you may as well put your camera here at the back, or in
the prow."

"No," said Trenton, "I shall keep it slung over my shoulder. It isn't
heavy, and I am always afraid of forgetting it if I leave it anywhere."

Trenton got cautiously into the canoe, while Mason bustled off with
a very guilty feeling at his heart. He never thought of blaming Miss
Sommerton for the course she had taken, and the dilemma into which she
placed him, for he felt that the fault was entirely his own.

John Trenton pulled out his pipe, and, absent-mindedly, stuffed it full
of tobacco. Just as he was about to light it, he remembered there was to
be a lady in the party, and so with a grimace of disappointment he put
the loaded pipe into his pocket again.

It was the most lovely time of the year. The sun was still warm, but the
dreaded black fly and other insect pests of the region had disappeared
before the sharp frosts that occurred every night. The hilly banks of
the St. Maurice were covered with unbroken forest, and "the woods of
autumn all around, the vale had put their glory on." Presently Trenton
saw Miss Sommerton, accompanied by old Mrs. Perrault, coming over the
brow of the hill. He attempted to rise, in order to assist the lady to a
seat in the canoe, when the half-breed-said in French--: