“I’ve been a-loafin’ around thet fort so much I ain’t got my walkin’ legs yit,” was the manner in which he expressed himself. “Maybe I’ll hev ’em by ter-morrer.”
“I fancy we all need the rest,” answered James Morris. “I am stiff myself. We’ll get used to the snowshoes in a day or two.”
They searched for another resting-place, and James Morris found a spot he had used for that purpose when he had first gone west—to establish himself on the Kinotah.
“That seems a long time ago,” said the trader, to Tony Jadwin. “And think of all that has happened since! The war with France, and the capture of Fort Pitt, Niagara, Quebec, Montreal, and a number of other places, and then this war with Pontiac and the tribes under him. Surely, Tony, we can be thankful that we live to tell about it.”
“Yes,” answered the trapper addressed. “And think of the fights at the old trading post and then at the new one! And we ain’t done yet, I am sorry to say.”
“Sometimes I wonder if it is worth all the trouble and risk”, continued James Morris. “I have gained a little, but it has cost me dear.”
“I’d never give in to the Indians or to them Frenchmen, Mr. Morris. Why, if you give ’em a pound they’ll want a thousand.”
“I know that.”
“The land in the west belongs to the English now, and a fair share of it is yours. Those Indians and those Frenchmen have got to leave us alone, an’ the sooner they learn the lesson the better,” concluded Tony Jadwin.
The new resting-place was where some tall trees grew on the very edge of a cliff. One tree had fallen, and its gigantic roots hung over the cliff, forming a network over which it was easy to place some pine branches. As the cliff was hollowed out just beyond the trees, this left a space about eight feet deep by twenty feet long where they could make themselves comfortable. Against the rocks they built a fire, the smoke escaping through some crevices. They cooked themselves a haunch of venison and some beans and biscuits, and took their own time about eating. All went to sleep as soon as it grew dark, knowing that a long, hard tramp lay before them at daybreak.