The trapper continued, "'It would make me feel better, Yardsley,' he says, 'if you would take it an' kinder test it on some one out in the woods. I don't like ter feel I was the only one.'"
"An' that's jest what you done, eh, Pardsley?" broke in Musgrove, shaking his head vigorously. "An' me an' Tim didn't sleep a wink all night—an' all fer that, eh? An' Bowser most took a spell. Well, I like it; yes, sir, I do—for a fact." And Musgrove's expression indicated a state of feeling exactly the reverse of his words.
"I'm powerful glad ter hear you say that," remarked the trapper, with a sly wink at the others. "That's the way ter take them things, an'—"
"But don't never try no more, Bardsley," interrupted Musgrove, fiercely. "We won't stand fer it. No, sir, not me,—nor Tim, neither. No more jokin'—mind yer."
"All right!" responded Yardsley, with pretended meekness. "I like ter hear a feller speak right out in meetin'. And by the way," he continued, "do you know them fellers 'crost the lake?"
"They came over to see us once," replied Bob Somers.
"Wal, I don't know nothing about 'em. They was nosing around yesterday morning, kinder curious like, an' askin' if I had many furs—but I ain' tellin' my affairs ter strangers nohow."
"Been hunting and trapping long?" asked Nat.
"Wal, I guess! I come from down East, an' been at it off an' on for quite a spell."
"How do you like it out here?" asked Hackett.