“Just luck, Jabe!” replied the Boy carelessly, trying to seem properly modest.
This different suggestion Jabe did not take the trouble to controvert. He knew the Boy did not mean it.
“But I thought as how ye wouldn’t kill anything?” he went on, teasingly.
“Had to!” retorted the Boy. “That was self-defence! Those beavers are my beavers. An’ I’ve always wanted a real good excuse for getting a good lynx skin, anyway!”
“I don’t blame ye a mite fer standin’ by them beaver!” continued Jabe. “They’re jest all right! It was better’n any circus; an’ I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed myself more.”
“Then the least you can do, Jabe, is promise not to trap any more beavers!” said the Boy quickly.
“Wa’al,” answered Jabe, as they entered camp and began spreading their blankets, “leastwise I’ll do my best to see that no harm comes to them beaver, nor to the pond.”
Next morning, as the woodsman was starting out for the day’s cruise, the Boy said to him:
“If you’re game for another night’s watching, Jabe, I’ll show you something altogether different up at the pond to-night.”