At the Porcupine Rapids everything was lashed securely into the boat, as a precaution in case of accident, but they overcame the rapid without mishap, and finally they reached Gull Island Lake, a broadening of the river in safety, and were able to resume their oars again.  It was a great relief after the long siege of tracking, and Ed voiced the feelings of all in the remark: 

“Pullin’ at th’ oars is hard when ye has nothin’ harder t’ do, but trackin’s so much harder, pullin’ seems easy alongside un.”

“Aye,” said Dick, “th’ thing a man’s doin’s always the hardest work un ever done.  ‘Tis because ye forgets how hard th’ things is that ye’ve done afore.”

“An’ it’s just the same in winter.  When a frosty spell comes folks thinks ‘tis th’ frostiest time they ever knew.  If ‘twere, th’ winters, I ‘lows’d be gettin’ so cold folks couldn’t stand un.  I recollects one frosty spell——­”

“Now none o’ yer yarns, Ed. Th’ Lord’ll be strikin’ ye dead in His anger some day when ye’re tellin’ what ain’t so.”

“I tells no yarns as ain’t so, an’ I can prove un all—­leastways I could a proved this un, only it so happens as I were alone.  As I was sayin’, ‘twere so cold one night last winter that when I was boilin’ o’ my kettle an’ left th’ door o’ th’ tilt open for a bit while I steps outside, th’ wind blowin’ in on th’ kettle all th’ time hits th’ steam at th’ spout—­an’ what does ye think I sees when I comes in?”

“Ye sees steam, o’ course, an’ what else could ye see, now?”

“‘Twere so cold—­that wind—­blowin’ right on th’ spout where th’ steam comes out, when I comes in I looks an’ I can’t believe what I sees myself.  Well, now, I sees th’ steam froze solid, an’ a string o’ ice hangin’ from th’ spout right down t’ th’ floor o’ th’ tilt, an’ th’ kettle boilin’ merry all th’ time.  That’s what I sees, an’——­”

“Now stop yer lyin’, Ed. Ye knows no un——­”

“A bear!  A bear!” interrupted Bob, excitedly.  “See un!  See un there comin’ straight to that rock!”

Sure enough, a couple Of hundred yards away a big black bear was lumbering right down towards them, and if it kept its course would pass a large boulder standing some fifty yards back from the river bank.  The animal had not seen the boat nor scented the men, for the wind was blowing from it towards them.

“Run her in here,” said Bob, indicating a bit of bank out of the bear’s range of vision, “an’ let me ashore t’ have a chance at un.”

The instant the boat touched land he grabbed his gun—­a single-barrelled, muzzle loader—­bounded noiselessly ashore, and stooping low gained the shelter of the boulder unobserved.