when he learned the errand on which the trappers were

bent. From that time forward he gave up all desire

to visit the mountains in company with such men, but

he still retained an intense longing to roam at large

among their rocky fastnesses and gallop out upon the

wide prairies.

Meanwhile he dutifully tended his mother's cattle and

sheep, and contented himself with an occasional deer-hunt

in the neighbouring forests. He devoted himself

also to the training of his dog Crusoe--an operation