After an awkward pause Bob asked:
"What un do wi' th' stove, John?"
"What stove?"
"From th' river tilt. Ye took un, didn't ye?"
"No, I didn't take no stove. I weren't in th' river tilt, an' don't know what yer talkin' about," lied the half-breed.
"Some one took un an' we was layin' it t' you. Now I wonders who 'twere."
"Well, I wouldn't take it. Ye ought t' known I wouldn't do a thing like that," insisted Micmac, with an air of injured innocence. "Maybe th' Mingen Injuns took it. There's been some around an' they says they'll take anything they find, an' fur too, if they find any in th' tilts. These are their huntin' grounds an' outsiders has no right on 'em. They gave me right t' hunt down t' th' suth'ard."
"Who may th' Mingen Injuns be, now?"
"Mountaineers as belong Mingen way up south, an' hunts between this an' th' Straits."
"I were thinkin' 'twere th' Nascaupees took th' stove if you didn't take un."