August wore on not unpleasantly for the boy, but Quonab was
getting decidedly restless. He could work for a week as hard as
any white man, but his race had not risen to the dignity of
patient, unremitting, life-long toil.
"How much money have we now, Nibowaka?" was one of the mid-August
indications of restlessness. Rolf reckoned up; half a month for
Quonab, $15.00; for himself, $10.00; for finding the cows $2.00
-- $27.00 in all. Not enough.
Three days later Quonab reckoned up again. Next day he said: "We
need two months' open water to find a good country and build a
shanty." Then did Rolf do the wise thing; he went to fat Hendrik
and told him all about it. They wanted to get a canoe and an
outfit, and seek for a trapping or hunting ground that would not
encroach on those already possessed, for the trapping law is
rigid; even the death penalty is not considered too high in
certain cases of trespass, provided the injured party is ready to
be judge, jury, and executioner. Van Trumper was able to help
them not a little in the matter of location -- there was no use
trying on the Vermont side, nor anywhere near Lake Champlain, nor
near Lake George; neither was it worth while going to the far
North, as the Frenchmen came in there, and they were keen
hunters, so that Hamilton County was more promising than any
other, but it was almost inaccessible, remote from all the great
waterways, and of course without roads; its inaccessibility was
the reason why it was little known.
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