New-York tribune., 1910-06-19
EASY MONEY AT THE POST

EVERYONE knows that mans courage cannot
II be measured by his size, and everyone knows
also that great size does not necessarily indicate
great strength; yet these are both hard things to
learn and keep always in mind.
Most of our men at the Hudson Bay Company
post were strong hardened fellows and of them
were brave. Otherwise how could they shoulder
their pound loads of traps and outfit strike into
the wilderness in the heart of winter and live there
all alone for months, fighting Nature at her own
game and beating her? But not all of them the
same in strength and courage, by any means There
was Dan MacMillen for example who scOrned the
little ffty-pound load that made the wiry Nc
Leod stagger at the end of the days tramp. He
tossed his seventyfive pound pack his shoulders
and carried his long rifle besides, and laughed and
turned handsprngS at the end of the day when the
Others sat down to rest. He could lift heavier log
from the ground than any in the country, and
everyone called him Dan the Strong
But his courage was no greater than that of most
of the other at the post and less by half than
that of Scotty MacGilvary, who was scarcely
than half his SZe for he stood back from the mouth
of the hollow log where he and SCOtty had found
bear taking her winter nap and nursing her cub,
while Scotty crawled in and killed her with his hunt
ing knife tor the sheer mischief of it. To be sure,
Dan had to go in later and pull Scotty out by the
legs after the bear had crushed his head and broken
his in two places, and also he carried Scotty al
five miles to the post, where he could be nursed
and cared for by good Father Foley yet he would not
have had the courage to crawl into the log with his
knife as Scotty did any more than Scotty would have
had the strength to carry Dan home those five miles
u VI there were some men at the post who were
- almost as strong as Dan and almost as brave as
SCOtty. Young can Letieur who had grown up there
was one of those strong fellows, who seemed to get
stronger every day and all should have liked him
almost in proportion to his size and strength if it
hadn't been for the coming of the logging camp be
low and the conceit Jean learned there while
spending the winter with the lumbermen.
These lumbermen not like the men at the
post. Most of them came from the lands of cities and
towns farther south and had ways different from
They were drinkers and gamblers while their
money lasted during the months and thev
didn't forget their sporty instincts when they came
back to the woods in the winter We older trappers
were sorry to have them come into our neighbor-
hood because their coming interfered with our trade
and showed that very we should have to
move farther into the woods
Young Jean didn't feel that way at all He liked
the lumbermen, and spent much time at their camp
and in the end he took up with them as a logger for
the winter instead of following the honorable trade
of trapping which his father had followed before
him. And there at the logging camp he learned how
strong he and learned also few tricks in wrest
ling that he could lay any man of us at the post
on his back when he came home in the spring
We could have put up with that-for some man
must be strOngest-if he hadn't learned boastfu
and conceit well. He never tired of strutinq
about, talking of - Nelson's" and hammer locks !"
and telling that man in all Canada or in the
States either could make his back dusty Every
and again good Father Foley lost his pa
tence with him. and the father was very patient