At this honest speech many laughed, which did not hurt Colette's feelings as might have been expected. The only one who showed his disdain was Baptiste Ducrot. "Huh! I not run from de bear," he sniffed. "I keel two bear vonce--one wid a gun an' de udder wid a knife," and then he related the story to such of the crowd as cared to listen. It was a hair-raising tale and some enjoyed it, but it is doubtful if anybody believed Ducrot. "He's a blower," was Gilroy's comment. "He loves to make us believe he's a wonderful fellow, but I don't see it." The young lumbermen were afraid that their employer might find fault with them over the broken sleigh and harness, but Mr. Paxton said that he thought they had done very well, all things considered. "I had a little mare get scared over a bear once," he said. "She ran away with me and threw me into the river and smashed the chaise to flinders. A horse has no love for a bear, and even a bobcat makes them uneasy sometimes." The fall of snow lasted for several days. But after that the weather changed greatly, and soon the old lumbermen announced that the first of the spring thaws was at hand. The sun grew warmer, and during the middle of the day the snow melted rapidly in the nooks that were sheltered from the north wind and exposed to the sunlight. Old Joel Winthrop had already reached camp with two expert log drivers, and the work along the pond and the river went on unceasingly. Every log brought down to the yards had been marked, and now began the task of forming the rafts or drives that would be started on their long journey to boom or mill as soon as the river got to running freely. "I'd like to go down with one of the drivers," said Dale. "So would I, Dale," answered Owen. "But I guess we had better stay here as long as the work holds out. There is no telling what employment we'll be able to get after we leave the camp." "I know that, although I am sure John Larson or Peter Odell will give us work if they want men." A week later came the announcement that the ice in the river was breaking up. The whole camp was now a mass of slush and mud, and nobody thought of wearing anything but boots when he moved about. The last of the logs from the hills were coming down, and these were yarded at the extreme end of the pond, for Mr. Paxton was going to hold them back until the driving on the river was nearly over. "May get an extra order at the last minute," he explained. "Then the new cut can go in with the hold-overs." One fine spring day found Owen and Dale bound for the extreme northwest limit of the Paxton claim. Mr. Paxton had heard something about the man on the next claim cutting some of his lumber, and he wanted to find out if it was so. "You know my line," he said to Owen. "It's a cut like this." He showed them with a pencil. "All the timber this side of that line is mine."