us a little later, in answer to my inquiry as to whether this was the
beginning of the old trail, he answered, "'Tis where they says the
Indians came out, and some of the Indians has told me so. I supposes
it's the place, sir."

"But have you never hunted here yourself?" I asked.

"No, sir, I've never been in here at all. I travels right past up the
Nascaupee. All I knows about it, sir, is what they tells me. I
always follows the Nascaupee, sir."

Above us rose a high, steep hill covered for two-thirds of the way
from its base with a thick growth of underbrush, but quite barren on
top save for a few bunches of spruce brush.

The old trail, unused for eight or ten years, headed toward the hill
and was quite easily traced for some fifty yards from the old camp.
Then it disappeared completely in a dense undergrowth of willows,
alders and spruce.

While Pete made preparation for our supper and Duncan unloaded his
boat and hauled it up preparatory to leaving it until his return from
the interior, the rest of us tried to follow the trail through the
brush. But beyond where the thick undergrowth began there was nothing
at all that, to us, resembled a trail. Finally, I instructed Pete to
go with Richards and see what he could do while the rest of us made
camp. Pete started ahead, forging his way through the thick growth.
In ten minutes I heard him shout from the hillside, "He here--I find
him," and saw Pete hurrying up the steep incline.