The two boys ran rapidly to meet Moise, and overwhelmed him with questions asked all at once.
“How’s everything?” demanded Rob, “and where’s Jesse?”
“Oh, those boy, she’ll been all right,” said Moise. “She’ll be on camp seex, h’eight mile below here, up above, maybe so. My cousins Billy and At-tick, come through with us—they’ll portage half-way to-day.
“But, mes amis,” broke out Moise; “there’s your boat! How you’ll got her through? S’pose you take wings an’ fly over those rock, hein? Mon Dieu!”
“We couldn’t wait any longer, Moise,” said Rob, “and we thought we had better be busy than idle. It was hard work, but Alex carried her over, and we didn’t have much left to pack except our rifles and ourselves.”
“Then you’ll not need any mans for help on the portage? All right. We’ll get some boat below.”
“How far is it back to your camp, Moise?” demanded John.
“Maybe five, seex mile, maybe more—I’ll not keep track of heem.”
“Can we go back there to-night with you? I’d like to see Jess. May we go, Alex?”