I do n't think I 'd have bothered with him at all , only I wanted to set Mother 's mind at rest . She 'll never know he is n't with us till the trip is over , so that is all right . We 're going to have a glorious day . But , oh , for our lost ham ! ` The Ham That Was Never Eaten . ' There 's a subject for a poem , Phil . You write one when we get back to civilization . Methinks I can sniff the savoury odour of that lost ham on all the prairie breezes . '' `` Of all sad words of tongue or pen , The saddest are these -- it might have been , '' I quoted , beginning to wash the dishes . `` Saw ye my wee ham , saw ye my ain ham , Saw ye my pork ham down on yon lea ? Crossed it the prairie last night in the darkness Borne by an old and unprincipled Cree ? '' sang Kate , loosening the tent ropes . Altogether , we got a great deal more fun out of that ham than if we had eaten it . As Kate had predicted , the day was glorious . The mists rolled away and the sun shone brightly . We drove all day without stopping , save for dinner -- when the lost ham figured largely in our conversation -- of course . We said so many witty things about it -- at least , we thought them witty -- that we laughed continuously through the whole meal , which we ate with prodigious appetite . But with all our driving we were not getting on very fast . The country was exceedingly swampy and we had to make innumerable detours . '' ` The longest way round is the shortest way to Bothwell , ' '' said Kate , when we drove five miles out of our way to avoid a muskeg .
By evening we had driven fully twenty-five miles , but we were only ten miles nearer XXXXX than when we had broken camp in the morning .
Bothwell Cree Kate Methinks Mother Phil day muskeg odour right