[CHAPTER XXVI]
An unexpected meeting, and an unexpected deer-hunt; arrival at the outpost; disagreement with the natives; an enemy discovered, and a murder

[CHAPTER XXVII]
The chase; the fight; retribution; low spirits and good news

[CHAPTER XXVIII]
Old friends and scenes; coming events cast their shadows before

[CHAPTER XXIX]
The first day at home; a gallop in the prairie, and its consequences

[CHAPTER XXX]
Love; old Mr. Kennedy puts his foot in it

[CHAPTER XXXI]
The course of true love, curiously enough, runs smooth for once; and the curtain falls

PREFACE.

In writing this book my desire has been to draw an exact copy of the picture which is indelibly stamped on my own memory. I have carefully avoided exaggeration in everything of importance. All the chief, and most of the minor incidents are facts. In regard to unimportant matters, I have taken the liberty of a novelist—not to colour too highly, or to invent improbabilities, but—to transpose time, place, and circumstance at pleasure; while, at the same time, I have endeavoured to convey to the reader’s mind a truthful impression of the general effect—to use a painter’s language—of the life and country of the Fur Trader.

EDINBURGH, 1856.

CHAPTER I.