human
The canoe wants a patch on her bilge, he said.
gpt
Could you sew on a bit of the thin cedar with the copper wire, Graham? There's some caulking gum in the green can.
human
It would take me a day to make a neat job.
gpt
No hurry, replied Carnally.
human
The outlet from the lake's just beyond that rise and it looks pretty good. When you have finished the canoe, you and Andrew could take her down and wait for me where the creek runs into the river we're looking for.
gpt
It would be hard work at the portages. But why aren't you coming with us?
human
I ought to make the creek where Mappin cached the first lot of stores for our other trip in about two days' march.
gpt
We have enough without them.
human
That's so. Anyhow, I want to look at the cache. Stores are a consideration on a trip like this; the less you have to pack over the portages, the quicker you can travel. Though we didn't find it, Mappin knows where the cache was made.
gpt
I don't see the drift of this,
human
Hasn't it struck you that we might be followed? Sending up the canoe and camp truck would show the people at the Landing that we were ready to start, and Mappin knows our line roughly as far as the cache. You can't make camp and haul across brush portages without leaving a trail.
gpt
Ah! That makes one think. Of course, we would have no legal claim to the lode unless we got our stakes in before anybody else.
human
It's not enough. You have to get back to a government office and file your record before you're safe. Well, considering everything, I guess I'll start for the cache at sun-up.