Father visits our Mission--A dream that proved a portent--Drowning of Mr. Connor--"Straight fish" diet--We are visited by a war party of Crees--I am given a problem to solve--Francis and I set out to seek fresh provisions--Feasting on fat bear steaks--A lonely Christmas--Mr. Hardisty visits us--We in turn visit Mountain House--A hard winter in the Saskatchewan country--Rations on short allowance--A run to Victoria--David and I have a hard experience--Father and mother as "good Samaritans." During the autumn father visited our Mission, and as a large camp of Stonies had gone westward, among whom there were children to be baptized and couples to be married, I prevailed upon him to follow them up. Accordingly we set out on their trail, and after two days of steady travel, during which we made a considerable detour, we came up to them at Buck Lake. We spent a day and night with them, father marrying several couples and baptizing some children. On our way back father had a strange dream, which he related to me the next morning as we rode along. It was to the effect that Mr. Connor, who had returned from Ontario and gone into Lac la Biche to trade for the winter, was drowned. Father said he could not shake off the spirit of depression which the dream had created in his mind. Reaching Edmonton, he met the word that Mr. Connor was drowned, and, strangely enough, this had occurred at the time we were camping between Buck and Pigeon lakes. Readers of "SADDLE, SLED AND SNOWSHOE" will remember Mr. Connor as the gentleman who travelled with my party across the plains in 1864. Cutting and hauling timber, building a stable, whip-sawing lumber, making dog-sleds and horse-sleds, and fishing entailed an immense amount of work as winter came on. We made new nets and mended our old ones, built stagings and hung the fish until the real cold weather set in, when we froze them on the ice and then packed our catch. But while the fish were plentiful, they were of a very poor quality, both wormy and lean, so that out of hundreds a very small percentage was fit to eat. It was a case of over-production. Later, when some scores of thousands had been caught, there was a very perceptible improvement in quality; but that took years to accomplish.