They sweat and laboured to carry him
over every portage; but they covered the fifty miles in three
days, and on the evening of the third, arrived at the little
backwoods village of Lyons Falls.
The change that took place fn Hoag now was marked and unpleasant.
He gave a number of orders, where, the day before, he would have
made whining petitions. He told them to "land easy, and don't
bump my canoe." He hailed the loungers about the mill with an
effusiveness that they did not resdond to. Their cool, "Hello,
Jack, are you back?" was little but a passing recognition. One
of them was persuaded to take Rolf's place in carrying Hoag to
his cabin. Yes, his folks were there, but they did not seem
overjoyed at his arrival. He whispered to the boy, who sullenly
went out to the river and returned with the rifle, Rolf's rifle now,
the latter supposed, and would have taken the bundle of furs had
not Skookum sprung on the robber and driven him away from the canoe.
And now Hoag showed his true character. "Them's my furs and my
canoe," he said to one of the mill hands, and turning to the two
who had saved him, he said: "An' you two dirty, cutthroat,
redskin thieves, you can get out of town as fast as ye know how,
or I'll have ye jugged," and all the pent-up hate of his hateful
nature frothed out in words insulting and unprintable.
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