"Don't wait for me," he said. "I'll stop and talk to Bela for a while. Musq'oosis will play propriety," he added with a laugh.
Bela made no remark, and the shack emptied except for the three of them. Mary Otter had gone to call at the mission.
For a while Mahooley passed the time in idly teasing Musq'oosis after his own style.
"Musq'oosis, they tell me you were quite a runner in your young days."
"So," said the old man good-humouredly.
"Yes, fellow said when the dinner-bell rang in camp, you beat the dog to the table!"
Mahooley supplied the laughter to his own jest.
"Let him be," said Bela sullenly.
"Don't mak' stop," observed Musq'oosis, smiling. "I lak hear what fonny thoughts come in his head."
Mahooley glanced at him narrowly, suspecting a double meaning.